PAKISTAN’S “democracy” Turns Bloody

Posted on August 31, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[Pakistan has gone through many cycles in their struggle to lay a claim on (BIG (D)emocracy for quite a while, as has India. At least two or three of these massive national protests have been US State Dept “colored revolutions.” The current Imran Khan-led protests fit that mold.

Pakistan’s “Green Revolution” coincides with the long-anticipated military “operation” in North Waziristan. The fact that the Army still calls the shots throughout the country (after years of democratic marches) is the key point of contention with the protesters. The Army (and police) suppression of human rights, especially in its efforts at “counter-terrorism” in the Tribal Regions, is the fire that propels the Imran/Tahrir locomotive of change. Now that Mr. Tahirul Qadri has made his unwise call to “kill Prime Minister Sharif” (if Qadri is killed), the risk that normal Pakistanis would take-up arms against the government is far higher this time. Army control over the situation is slipping away.

It remains unclear at this point just who was doing the shooting in Islamabad, or who fired the first shots. Effective “conflict management” requires that some element of “loyalists” remain in control of the (Army or police) killing, in order to prevent an unintentional repetition of the “Kiev Kure” in Islamabad. It seems as though the threshold to violence has been crossed rather early in the Islamabad contest. This should dictate the outcome of the struggle. If the Army takes control of the bloodshed quickly and massively, then Imran and his brave democracy troops cannot risk proceeding past that point, unless they are prepared to fully emulate the Ukrainian rebels. Mr. Qadri’s fiery Yum-e-Shuhada speech (unavailable in the West) claims that “Civil war is inevitable.”

Since Imran and Mr. Tahir are obviously intelligent men, then they must have known all along that their’s was a lost cause from the beginning. Then, Why? It is apparent, that the Western elite are prepared to take this confrontation far beyond their previous colored revolutionary attempts in Pakistan, just as they have done in Ukraine,Syria and Libya.

If Pakistanis are really ready for civil war, then I would suggest that divisive little wars, like the one in Miramshah, provide the perfect diversionary distraction.]

Islamabad: At least 7 killed due to police shelling, firing

ISLAMABAD: At least seven people were killed and 70 others wounded in firing and shelling by police at a pointblank range during an anti-government protest led by PTI and PAT in the Constitution Avenue, ARY News reported.

According to details, dead bodies of three protesting women have been brought to the Poly Clinic, Islamabad. So far, seven people have been killed reportedly and 70 are injured, as a result of shelling and firing of rubber bullets by the police.

Rescue sources told that nearly 40 injured have been brought to the PIMS hospital, while 30 to the Poly Clinic.

The administration of Poly Clinic has imposed emergency in the hospital.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) have announced for a strike on Sunday, over the use of force on peaceful marchers in Islamabad.

– See more at: http://arynews.tv/en/at-least-7-killed-70-injured-due-to-police-shelling-in-islamabad/#sthash.WA0LTjCX.dpuf

International Elite Frantically Talks-Down Military Intervention In Ukraine

Posted on August 31, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[Forbes is pushing to split Ukraine, while the Council on Foreign Relations (Trilateral Commission) is pushing a neutral Ukraine buffer state (see below). Why are the Washington/European elitists now pushing so hard to silence their military hawks and their interminable push for war against Putin, while hoping to turn the whole affair into a pure economic war? Economic war is their ace in the hole, while escalating war into world war remains their trump card. Are they afraid of getting their way, then seeing Western civilization destroyed?]

Political map of Ukraine, highlighting Donbass...

A Split Is Possible Way Out Of Ukraine Crisis

Marcel Michelson

There might still be a way to solve the Ukraine crisis without escalating military action and the debilitating economic consequences of increased and lengthy sanctions, and that would be to give up the east of the country, just as the Crimea, and quickly join the rest to Europe, according to some analysts.

European leaders are meeting this weekend and the NATO military alliance holds a summit in Wales next week, with President Barack Obama already in Europe making strong comments against Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The presence of Russian troops in the Donbass region shows that Moscow is involved in what up to now was an internal battle, but NATO and the West are unlikely to retaliate with ground troops.

Economic sanctions imposed by the West could be increased but as with the Russian sanctions on food stuff, these sanctions take months to really start to hurt and in any case are as costly for the export sector, employment and economy of Europe as they are for Russian consumers and the domestic political climate there.

Several analysts said the best outcome may be a “frozen” conflict, far removed from a return of a cold war, in which Donbass and the Crimea are run by Russian proxies but the rest of the Ukraine gets stronger ties with and support from the West. A standoff to cool down. (read HERE)

Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault

The Liberal Delusions That Provoked Putin

By John J. Mearsheimer

From our September/October 2014 Issue

A man takes a picture as he stands on a Soviet-style star re-touched with blue paint so that it resembles the Ukrainian flag, Moscow, August 20, 2014. (Maxim Shemetov / Courtesy Reuters)

According to the prevailing wisdom in the West, the Ukraine crisis can be blamed almost entirely on Russian aggression. Russian President Vladimir Putin, the argument goes, annexed Crimea out of a long-standing desire to resuscitate the Soviet empire, and he may eventually go after the rest of Ukraine, as well as other countries in eastern Europe. In this view, the ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014 merely provided a pretext for Putin’s decision to order Russian forces to seize part of Ukraine.

But this account is wrong: the United States and its European allies share most of the responsibility for the crisis. The taproot of the trouble is NATO enlargement, the central element of a larger strategy to move Ukraine out of Russia’s orbit and integrate it into the West. (READ HERE)

Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Mistake Awaiting Correction

Posted on August 31, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault

The Liberal Delusions That Provoked Putin

By John J. Mearsheimer

From our September/October 2014 Issue

A man takes a picture as he stands on a Soviet-style star re-touched with blue paint so that it resembles the Ukrainian flag, Moscow, August 20, 2014. (Maxim Shemetov / Courtesy Reuters)

Leb. Min. Claims Quran Verse Makes ISIS Flag Sacred, Burning It A Crime, Somehow

Posted on August 30, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[Rifi is a loyal Saudi/Hariri puppet. Instead of going after the terrorists who defame Allah and Islam by linking the Quranic verse to their genocidal actions in the first place, Rifi wants protesters arrested for burning this abomination to all religion. By Rifi’s measure, the Sunni terrorists could gain total immunity for their actions by simply writing this verse on their bodies or on their uniforms….Asshole.]

Rifi Demands Legal Action against Arsonists who Torched ISIL Flag

The minister said in a statement issued by his press office that the ISIL flag has the first pillar of Islam (Ashahada) written on it, which is the testimony that there is no god except for Allah and Mohammed is the messenger of Allah.

Several people were seen in Beirut’s Ashrafiyeh Sassine Square burning the flag of ISIL earlier in the day.

Rifi slammed the burning of the flag, which “is not related to ISIL and its terrorist course.”

He filed a request to General Prosecutor Samir Hammoud to pursue the assailants and detain them in order to prosecute them.

“This demeanor insults religions and could incite sedition,” Rifi considered.

The Lebanese army clashed with Syrian rebels in the northeastern border town of Arsal on August 2 after the army detained a leading jihadist.

It ended with a truce negotiated by Muslim clerics, but the jihadists withdrew from the area taking 24 policemen and soldiers hostage.

The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group has prompted widespread concern as it advances in both Syria and Iraq, killing hundreds of people, including in gruesome beheading and mass executions.

Later in the day, LBCI reported that Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan, who is also a lawyer, decided to defend the youth who burnt down the ISIL flag.

Time Warner Cable system back up after widespread outage

Posted on August 27, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Time Warner Cable system back up after widespread outage

Brett Molina and Mike Snider

During routine network maintenance at 4:30 a.m. ET today, “an issue with our Internet backbone created disruption with our Internet and On Demand services,” said Time Warner Cable vice president for public relations Bobby Amirshahi in an email exchange.

“As of 6 a.m. ET, services were largely restored as updates continue to bring all customers back online,” he said.

The outage affected the entirety of Time Warner Cable’s network. Time Warner Cable (TWC) operates in 29 states and has 11.4 million high-speed Internet customers.

Business Insider first reported news of the outage, which seem to have hit around 3 a.m., based on outage reports submitted to the website downdetector.com.

Beirut’s Syrian Refugee Flow Equal To US Absorbing Every Mexican

Posted on August 27, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

“It’s a scale of disruption that is hard to get your head around,” World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim told journalists in Beirut in June. “It’s the equivalent of having the entire population of Mexico entering the United States within a two- or three-year period and then integrating that population into your own school systems and health-care systems.”

Beirut’s Champs-Elysees Sees Despair of Syria’s Refugees

By Donna Abu-Nasr

Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

If You Want To Stop ISIS, It Will Take More Than Diplomacy or Deals With the Saudis

Posted on August 26, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

If You Want To Stop ISIS, Here Is What It Will Take

Killing the Islamic State requires neither more nor less than waging war

By Angelo Codevilla

The Islamic State’ video-dissemination of one of its goons beheading an American is an existential challenge from which we cannot afford to shrink. Until the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS) did that, it made sense for the U.S. government to help contain it because the Islamic world, which the IS threatens most directly, must destroy it sooner or later. But internetting that beheading was a gory declaration of America’s impotence—a dare-by-deed that is sure to move countless young persons around the globe to get in on killing us, anywhere they can. The longer the Islamic State survives, the more will take up its dare. Either we kill the IS, or we will deserve the wave of terrorism that will engulf us.

Killing the IS requires neither more nor less than waging war—not as the former administration waged its “war on terror,” nor by the current administration’s pinpricks, nor according to the too-clever-by-half stratagems taught in today’s politically correct military war colleges, but rather by war in the dictionary meaning of the word. To make war is to kill the spirit as well as the body of the enemy, so terribly as to make sure that it will not rise again, and that nobody will want to imitate it.

That requires first isolating the Islamic State politically and physically to deprive all within it of the capacity to make war, and even to eat. Then it requires killing all who bear arms and all who are near them.

Why It’s Now Our Business

The Islamic State is a lot more than a bunch of religious extremists. Its diverse composition as well as its friends and enemies in the region define its strength and its vulnerabilities. Its dependence on outside resources, its proximity to countries with the capacity and incentive to strike serious blows, and its desert location, make its destruction possible with little U.S. involvement on the ground, and providing the United States uses its economic and diplomatic power in a decisive manner.

It would have been better for America not to have taken sides in that region’s reshuffling, or to have done so decisively in a manner that commanded respect.

Geopolitically, the creation of a Sunni Arab state in western Mesopotamia should not be any of America’s business. For a thousand years, Sunni Assyrian Arabs from the northwest have fought for exclusive control of that area, against countervailing pressure from Shia Persians from the southeast and their Arab co-religionists. All the while, Kurds held fast to their northern mountains. In recent centuries, the Ottoman Empire arbitrated that ancient contest. In 1801, Sunni Wahabis from the Saudi clan invaded present-day Iraq and inflicted horrors that surpass even today’s. In response, the Ottomans nearly wiped out the Saudis and tortured the Wahabi leaders in the main cities of the empire. It would have been better for America not to have taken sides in that region’s reshuffling, or to have done so decisively in a manner that commanded respect. Alas, U.S. administrations of both parties intervened fecklessly. We are reaping the results.

Now one of the parties to the struggle is making itself our business, and is doing so globally. We have to mind that business.

How to Command Respect Again

To kill IS, take note of its makeup: Sunni Wahabis from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, Syrian Sunnis who rebelled against the Alewite regime of the Assad family, the Naqshbandi army constituted by the Ba’athist cadre of Saddam Hussein’s army and security services that fled to Syria in 2003, that ran the war against the U.S. occupation, and that now runs the IS military, plus assorted jihadis from around the world including the United States and Western Europe.

Breaking the hold of ISIS on the people it now rules will require a rude ‘awakening.’

Note, as well, that the IS did not have to exert much power to conquer Sunni majority areas in either former Syria or former Iraq. The people there want to be ruled by Sunni, unless they are given a compelling reason to accept something else. In former Iraq, the local Sunni tribes supported the Sunni Ba’athists’ fight against the Americans until, in 2006, the Shia death squads slaughtered them in such numbers as to lead these tribes to beg for a deal with the Americans. What the American spinners called “the Sunni awakening” resulted from the reality of imminent Sunni mass death. Breaking the hold of the IS on the people it now rules will require a similarly rude “awakening.”

Note the material sources of the Islamic State’s power: supplies from and through Turkey’s Muslim Brotherhood government, paid for largely with money from notables in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, as well as from the government of Qatar. Beyond religious sectarianism, the motivation for this support is the Qataris’ and the Turks’ foreign policy seemingly based on promotion of Sunni political Islam wherever possible.

The first strike against the IS must be aimed at its sources of material support. Turkey and Qatar are very much part of the global economy—one arena where the U.S. government has enormous power, should it decide to use it. If and when—a key if—the United States decides to kill the IS, it can simply inform Turkey, Qatar, and the world it will have zero economic dealings with these countries and with any country that has any economic dealing with them, unless these countries cease any and all relations with the IS. This un-bloody step—no different from the economic warfare the United States waged in World War II—is both essential and the touchstone of seriousness. Deprived of money to pay for “stuff” and the Turkish pipeline for that stuff, the IS would start to go hungry, lose easy enthusiasm, and wear out its welcome.

Next, the Air War

Striking at the state’s belly would also be one of the objectives of the massive air campaign that the U.S. government could and should orchestrate. “Orchestrate.” Not primarily wage.

Saudi Arabia has some 300 U.S. F-15 fighter planes plus another hundred or so modern combat aircraft, with bases that can be used conveniently for strikes against the IS. Because Saudi Arabia is key to the IS’s existence, to any campaign to destroy it, and to any U.S. decision regarding such a campaign, a word about the Saudi role is essential.

Wahabism validates the Saudis’ Islamic purity while rich Saudis live dissolute lives—a mutually rewarding, but tenuous deal for all.

The IS ideology is neither more nor less than that of the Wahabi sect, which is the official religion of Saudi Arabia, which has been intertwined with its royal family since the eighteenth century, and which Saudi money has made arguably the most pervasive version of Islam in the world (including the United States). Wahabism validates the Saudis’ Islamic purity while rich Saudis live dissolute lives—a mutually rewarding, but tenuous deal for all. But increasingly, the Saudi royals have realized they are riding a tiger. Wahabi-educated youth are seeing the royals for what they are. The IS, by declaring itself a Caliphate, explicitly challenged the Saudis’ legitimacy. The kingdom’s Grand Mufti, a descendant of Ab al Wahab himself, declared the IS an enemy of Islam. But while the kingdom officially forbids its subjects from joining IS, its ties with Wahabism are such that it would take an awful lot to make the kingdom wage war against it.

American diplomacy’s task is precisely to supply that awful lot.

Given enough willpower, America has enough leverage to cause the Saudis to fight in their own interest. Without American technicians and spare parts, the Saudi arsenal is useless. Nor does Saudi Arabia have an alternative to American protection. If a really hard push were required, the U.S. government might begin to establish relations with the Shia tribes that inhabit the oil regions of eastern Arabia.

Day after day after day, hundreds of Saudi (and Jordanian) fighters, directed by American AWACS radar planes, could systematically destroy the Islamic State—literally anything of value to military or even to civil life. It is essential to keep in mind that the Islamic State exists in a desert region which offers no place to hide and where clear skies permit constant, pitiless bombing and strafing. These militaries do not have the excessive aversions to collateral damage that Americans have imposed upon themselves.

Destruction from the air, of course, is never enough. Once the Shia death squads see their enemy disarmed and hungry, the United States probably would not have to do anything for the main engine of massive killing to descend on the Islamic State and finish it off. U.S. special forces would serve primarily to hunt down and kill whatever jihadists seemed to be escaping the general disaster of their kind.

That would be war—a war waged by a people with whom nobody would want to mess. Many readers are likely to comment: “but we’re not going to do anything like that.” They may be correct. In which case, the consequences are all too predictable.

Photo By: DVIDSHUB

Angelo M. Codevilla is professor emeritus of international relations at Boston University and the author of To Make And Keep Peace, Hoover Institution Press, 2014.

Prince Alaweed is probably Hariri’s number one political competition in Lebanon

Posted on August 26, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Saudi prince Walid bin Talal, Hariri’s opponent both in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia

Joseph Rustom: Conceiving Places of Worship in Postwar Beirut

[It was indeed, Al Walid’s long motorcade that was hit, leaving Al Walid’s hotel “George V,” but His Highness allegedly wasn’t in the entourage. French press accounts claim that the royal involved was notorious playboy prince Abdul Aziz bin Fahd, son of the late King Fahd. Abdul Aziz is widely known for his alleged rape of two women and the trial in 2012. Abdul Aziz is alleged to be close friends to Saad Hariri, while Lebanese/Saudi Prince Alaweed is probably Hariri’s number one political competition in Lebanon, since Alaweed’s mother was the daughter of Lebanon’s former monarch.]

Israel Bitches About Qatar’s American Immunity As It Sponsors Terror Everywhere

Posted on August 26, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

(L R) Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal arrive for a meeting in Doha. Photo: REUTERS

Qatar’s ties with US deterring Israel from all-out diplomatic offensive, official says

By HERB KEINON

The Israeli official’s comments came a day after the “New York Times” published an op-ed piece by Israel’s ambassador to the UN calling Qatar the “Club Med for Terrorists.”

Israel has not launched a full-court diplomatic campaign against Qatar for aiding and abetting terrorism because of concern that the closeness of US-Qatar ties would render such a campaign futile, according to a senior diplomatic official.

The official’s comments came a day after the New York Times published an op-ed piece by Israel’s ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor calling Qatar the “Club Med for Terrorists.”

“In recent years, the sheikhs of Doha, Qatar’s capital, have funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to Gaza,” Prosor wrote. “Every one of Hamas’s tunnels and rockets might as well have had a sign that read ‘Made possible through a kind donation from the emir of Qatar’.”

Even though that is the case, and even as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu continues to raise Qatar’s negative role in private meetings with US Congressman and world leaders, the senior diplomatic official said that there is no concerted campaign that has been accompanied by directives to Israel’s representatives abroad to underline Qatar’s singularly negative role in supporting terrorism and in the Gaza crisis.

Prosor’s piece, he said, was the envoy’s own “improvisation” and not part of a bigger Israeli diplomatic push against the Persian Gulf country.

Qatar is too big an ally of the US and the West, the official said, and any such campaign would be tantamount to “banging our heads on the wall.” He said Jerusalem is not interested in going “toe-to-toe “with Washington over the issue.

Qatar is the home of the US Central Command’s Forward Headquarters and the Combined Air Operations Center, and is the location of three US air bases, including its largest one in the Middle East. It also recently signed contracts to purchase some $11 billion in US arms and weapons systems.

Nevertheless, Netanyahu – in a meeting last week with US Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California) – did raise the subject of Qatar’s support of Hamas. As chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Issa is in a prime position to put Qatar’s role high on the agenda in Washington.

However, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, in an interview earlier this month with The Post, cautioned against exaggerating the leverage Qatar has over the terrorist organization.

Qatar was hosting Hamas and other terrorist organizations in Doha, and funding them handsomely, to ensure that they only operate outside Qatar, Liberman said. He characterized this as Qatar paying “protection money” to the terrorist organization.

“It is paying protection money in order to ensure security and quiet and calm inside Qatar, so they would work only outside,” he said. “I don’t know how much they are able to influence Hamas. I think Hamas has more influence on Qatar, than Qatar does on Hamas.”

Prosor, known for his sarcasm, wrote in the Times, after mentioning the tiny country’s petrol billions, that “it is time for the world to wake up and smell the gas fumes. Qatar has spared no cost to dress up its country as a liberal, progressive society, yet at its core, the micro monarchy is aggressively financing radical Islamist movements.”

He said that the “petite petrol kingdom” needed to be isolated internationally.

“In light of the emirate’s unabashed support for terrorism, one has to question FIFA’s decision to reward Qatar with the 2022 World Cup,” he said, stopping just short of launching a campaign to strip Qatar of the right to host the marquee soccer event.

Given Qatar’s alliances and influence, Prosor wrote, the prospect for many western countries of isolating Qatar is “uncomfortable.” Yet, he added, “they must recognize that Qatar is not a part of the solution but a significant part of the problem. To bring about a sustained calm, the message to Qatar should be clear: Stop financing Hamas.”

GOLDSTONE REPORT Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict

Posted on August 24, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

GOLDSTONE REPORT

Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict

Walid Jumblatt Rejects Saudi/US Manipulations Putting ISIS and Hezbollah On Same Side

Posted on August 24, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Jumblatt rejects Hezbollah-ISIS link

Socialist Party Leader Walid Jumblatt meets with Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah to discuss regional and local events. (TDS/Hezbollah Media Office)

BEIRUT: MP Walid Jumblatt rejected the idea that Hezbollah and ISIS were of a similar nature Sunday, saying that accusations linking the two were nothing more than “political accusations.”

“Likening Hezbollah to ISIS is a political accusation” the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party said in the Aley village of Keyfoun, stressing that ” ISIS is the only enemy.”

“Supporting the Army is essential, and our battle with terrorism is still at its start,” he said.

Speaking while on a tour of Aley, Jumblatt warned that the presidential vacuum was not just a concern for Lebanon’s Christians, but for the whole country.

There are attempts with Speaker Nabih Berri and Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah to reach a compromise that would enable the continuity of state institutions, Jumblatt said.

“The vacancy is destructive and it weakens Lebanon,” the Druze leader said, emphasizing that a compromise was necessary for the continuity of public institutions.

Address local issues, Jumblatt said the closure of the Naameh garbage dump might be delayed, stressing on the need to manage wastes in the Chouf and Aley.

Jumblatt also warned of an increase in the public debt due to a local electricity deficit, and called for the establishment of private hospitals in Mount Lebanon.

The ISIS/Saudi Reaction Captured In A Cartoon

Posted on August 24, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

FROM LEBANON’S DAILY STAR

After Ferguson, Obama orders review of police militarization

Posted on August 24, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[SEE: Is Obama Secretly Trying To End the Elitists’ War Against Humanity?]

President Barack Obama answers questions at a press conference after delivering a statement in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on Aug. 18, 2014 in Washington, D.C.

Win McNamee/Getty

Obama orders review of police militarization

By Benjamin Landy

President Obama has ordered a review of federal programs that help state and local law enforcement acquire military equipment, a senior administration official confirmed to NBC News on Saturday. The review comes amid national outrage at what many see as the growing militarization of policing in America.

The White House-directed review, to be announced in a press conference Monday, comes in the wake of the massive public outcry over what has been widely perceived as the excessive use of force by county police in Ferguson, Missouri, where officers recently deployed military-grade equipment to quell unrest following the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed teen who was shot and killed by a police officer.

Protesters in the majority-black St. Louis suburb were met by officers wearing gas masks and military fatigues, who made frequent use of tear gas, stun grenades, rubber bullets, and even sonic weaponry known as LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) that had previously been deployed in Iraq. A recent ACLU report found that the militarization of law enforcement has been on the rise in recent years, particularly as police departments make use of federal programs that allow them to cheaply acquire military gear designed for U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama has directed the review to assess whether those programs are appropriate, and whether police are receiving the necessary training to use the equipment correctly. It will also look at whether the federal programs are being audited sufficiently.

The review will be led by the White House and in coordination with Congress, the administration official said, and will include the Domestic Policy Council, the National Security Council, the Office of Management and Budget, as well as the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, and Treasury.

Is Obama Secretly Trying To End the Elitists’ War Against Humanity?

Posted on August 24, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[The following report is not your usual fare, when considered with the following link and more links below (SEE: Obama orders review of police militarization). Instead of my usual Obama-bashing, I have chosen an optimistic review of second-term Obama, hearkening back to my own last positive piece on Obama’s leadership, which was unlike all my other articles, it was written from a future perspective–after an imaginary moment which happened in October 2009–when Obama grew a backbone (SEE: Dreaming the World Awake).

Obama did set in motion a series of events in October, ’09, which did let in a little light of optimism–He vetoed Pentagon plans to multiply Afghan/Pakistani destruction (settling instead, for an escalation of drone strikes in FATA) and he stood-up to Israel (despite his quashing of the GOLDSTONE REPORT which can be read at NoSunglasses Library). Perhaps

HIGHLIGHTS FROM GOLDSTONE REPORT ON OPERATION CAST LEAD:

810. In reviewing the above incidents the Mission found in every case that the Israeli armed forces had carried out direct intentional strikes against civilians. The only exception is the shelling of the Abu Halima family home, where the Mission does not have sufficient information on the military situation prevailing at the time to reach a conclusion.
811. The Mission found that, on the basis of the facts it was able to ascertain, in none of the cases reviewed were there any grounds which could have reasonably induced the Israeli armed forces to assume that the civilians attacked were in fact taking a direct part in the hostilities and had thus lost their immunity against direct attacks.455
812. The Mission therefore finds that the Israeli armed forces have violated the prohibition under customary international law and reflected in article 51 (2) of Additional Protocol I that the civilian population as such will not be the object of attacks.

As reported at the time, the US was complicit in Israel’s war crimes in “Operation Cast Lead.” The previous worst destruction of the Gaza Strip, before the latest tragic series of Israeli war crimes.

I know that it may seem impossible to see optimism in Obama’s foreign policy at this point, but think how much more serious would be the Pentagon’s ongoing world war if Obama had let Special Ops freak McChrystal have his way in “AfPak.” The Mideast wars had to have happened in order to satisfy the gluttonous elite and their insatiable appetites for more. But now that five years have elapsed, a great antiwar groundswell is building up against Obama’s present and future wars, receiving better than average odds of success to prevail on Obama to resist the European/Internationalist elitists call to expand the terror war into Ukraine/Russia. as well as joint missions with the Syrian and Iraqi air forces to crush ISIS in both Arab nations.

Is it even possible for Obama to pull a ju-jitsu move against the Pentagon and the elite, by joining with the Presidents of Syria and Iraq to eliminate the Saudi/Qatari proxy army of fake Islamists? This may be what we are now experiencing.

That is the complex topic of the following report from Germany.]

Clinton, Obama and the new era of the American Empire

Norman Birnbaum

In a long interview in the Atlantic magazine, the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President Obama has criticized. Specifically, it has stated that the situation in Syria, another would be if the United States had supplied the original democratic opposition to the Assad regime with weapons, and that Muslim fundamentalists with their fanatical violence then could not have come across in this gap. While Clinton spoke in the subjunctive, to give the impression of a rather hypothetical consideration, but nobody believes it. Her words were immediately and consistently understood as an expression of their formal, although unexplained, but absolutely obvious presidential campaign. They were a detachment from a supposedly unpopular president, who is often portrayed as an intellectual who lacks the will to defend the interests of the nation. The President hit back by extremely skeptical about it remarked, if the democratic opposition in Syria successful military violence of the Assad regime could resist. The President replied scathingly to the accusation that the American indecision have the jihadists in Iraq opened the door.

The direct departure from the policies they supported as Foreign Minister, however, was not the most striking aspect of the interview. It was a systematic statement of American nationalism, which, disguised as a moral and political leadership, reclaims global hegemony. Clinton did not hesitate to defend what she calls the “ugly” sides of the Cold War – but they did not count the States in which the United States had intervened frequently to install brutal regime or support that reliably anticommunist were. Under proposed as covert interference in democratic states. Finally, she testified, have you won the Cold War, which means that led to justifier. She sounded hard as Kissinger, but did not feel to have also its historical intelligence.

That the end of the Cold War established the supremacy of global peace and prosperity, Clinton leads back to the hopeless nature of nations and peoples who unfortunately did not have the same fate as the United States. Clinton attacked Putin and Russia as particularly flawed out, stressed that Israel is morally and politically exemplary, and spoke condescendingly about Europe, skeptical about the possibility of an agreement with Iran and remarkably silent to Asia – apart from the praise for Prime Minister Abe and its efforts to increase the proportion of women among Japanese workers. You would have thought that Abe could be homage to Japanese nationalism of interest to them. It is finally not the first graduate of Wellesley College near Boston, which is interested in world politics. She was already gone before someone from the Sen family, later the wife of Chiang Kai-Shek.

President Obama has recently taken a different approach in statements such as the interview with Thomas Friedman in the New York Times. He rejects explicitly from the view that the United States, so great its influence may be, their conceptions of the world could impose on others. He insists that there are many problems that are not solved by military means. States and peoples deceive themselves responsibility to overcome their own divisions. The United States had enough to do within their own borders and would, if they failed to solve their own tasks themselves become his own worst opponent. His words lacked the triumphalism of Clinton’s little original version of America’s uniqueness. No president since Kennedy (in his speech in 1963 in which he calls for the end of the Cold War) has so strongly defied the conventions of the elites of American foreign policy – where also their relentless denigration of our remarkably intelligent President stirred. However, he has some of the worst traditions of the Foreign Ministry apparatus and internal security made their own – especially with the unconstitutional surveillance of citizens and covert operations abroad, which are banned under our and international laws. Perhaps Kennedy’s fate has influenced him. A 10,000-mile journey begins with the first step, and he has made at least one of those first steps.

Clinton’s views are a return to the dogmatism that has let them be an enthusiastic supporter of a student for the furious provincialism of the prophets of the contemporary Republican imperialism, Senator Goldwater. The 1964 Republican presidential candidate was severely beaten by Lyndon Johnson. Johnson won, not least because he accused Goldwater of wanting to expand American involvement in Vietnam – and then did of course itself promptly exactly Johnson later said that he knew that the war was not to win, but that he was afraid. have to be killed if he had withdrawn American troops.

Now Clinton is, as a student once critic of the Vietnam disaster, even to the point of a superficially modernized war party. She obviously thinks the anti-imperialist Democrats of the Obama coalition have no choice but to vote for them – and meanwhile, mobilized the millions who sullenly leave the decisions about war and peace to those who keep looking for something better. You could live in a time warp, the anti-war voters could stay home, or a sufficient number could be a third candidate the vote and thus allow the Republicans the presidency. The Republicans themselves could turn away from the ongoing warfare. Has this educated and intelligent person committed a large, even huge historical mistake? It assumes that the conditions of the last half century persist indefinitely, under which the United States has exercised a hegemony over large parts of the world. This is not the case. The much younger Obama has a far more realistic view of past, present and future. Your argument is even go further, when both have long since left the political stage. It is, in fact, the debate that will shape American policy in the next half century. Clinton shows the meantime a maximum of opportunism in an attempt to distance himself from Obama. His persistence in the prevention of war is really popular, and the public will support him sooner rather than later against his critics, which are omnipresent in the media. His unpopularity is exaggerated. Thirty percent of the nation will never accept him, in cultural (it is formed) and racially. Stay seventy percent – and support him as forty percent of the total electorate, he has a majority of those he can reach.

The United States is a religious nation, but in foreign policy is the basis not ‘vox populi vox dei’. There are profound national trends morally and religiously loaded self-representation, the obvious but are contradictory. U.S. citizens face the nation as ultimately invincible, but threatened constantly before. Hold national loyalty to a supreme good, but let that one ill-mannered collection of ethnic, ideological, racial and religious groups bend foreign policy. The armed forces are venerated, but our elites take good care, not to reinstate conscription: a primary reason for the withdrawal from Vietnam was mutiny in the armed forces. Our government agencies, the military, universities, research centers are full of experts on the last corner of the world – but a notable proportion of the nation is quite confused what historical details such as the exact identity of the protagonists of the Second World War is concerned.

The public usually leaves these matters to Congress and the President. The constitutional power of Congress to wage war, and its control function in terms of foreign and defense policy staggers dizzily since the Second World War. The President has a rather extraordinary leeway – if he can count on the support of the foreign policy elites. This is made up of those of the government, the media, the military and the universities that literally live almost from American Empire. Given the large parts of the financial world and industry joined with international interests. And then to get the lead squads of churches and ethnic groups, who defend moral interests.

In recent decades the tendency has to moralize reinforced by a new lobby of human rights defenders (such as UN ambassador Samantha Power and the National Security Advisor Susan Rice). The exceptional strength of the Israel lobby, where but only two percent of the population are Jews can be explained by the alliance with the Bible-believing Christians, Protestants, expecting a imminent end of the story – predicted in their apocalyptic visions by the return of the Jews to the Holy Land. That their fiery worldview brings the downfall of the Jews and the conversion of the rest with it worried the leaders of American Jewish organizations not too much. The future is uncertain, they explain, but in the real presence we have the support of about 25 percent of the nation. A wider interfaith alliance spreads fear and loathing of Islam, fueled by the attacks of September 11, 2001 – but already deeply imprinted in millions of unsuspecting heads. Our foreign policy is often characterized by smaller groups, lace up the larger alliances. The aging Cuban exile population is still able to determine our grotesque hostility with Cuba. If the Kubano-American chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Mendenez, demands that NATO should support Ukraine, he intends thereby to maintain a high degree of tension to prevent peaceful co-existence in the Caribbean.

The state is currently more on its military than during the Cold War. Each contract for new weapons, any establishment of military facilities leads to local economic interests, which are reflected immediately in support for the Congress. Think. Against Keynes’ remarks about the benefits of pyramid construction The American equivalents are whole fleets of aircraft that can not fly, or gigantic aircraft carriers, which are vulnerable to diver. Our senior officials can not be held responsible for the maintenance of a permanent war economy. Many are formed and reflected and quite aware of the civil and economic foundations of world power. A significant presence of Catholics in the officer corps sensitized our admirals and generals often more for the principles of just war and the moral imperatives of proportionality in the use of force than many politicians. Nonetheless, the military component of the external apparatus to the provisos reasonable judgment seems to be immune.

Against this backdrop, Obama deserves praise for what he has achieved with the withdrawal from Iraq, the refusal to wage a war against Iran, and a small beginning of resistance against the excessive demands of Israel. He has managed to dampen the ever-present danger of an escalation of confrontation with China something and the Napoleonic fantasies Rasmussen to punish them with the contempt it deserves. He has not used his presidency for a larger educational campaign to encourage a national rethinking. This thing has him Clinton, who says to be sure to speak to both the elites and the general public, proved no service. With their recent challenge has forced him open to talk than in the previous five and a half years of his presidency. He still has two years and five months at the White House. Still enough time so for him to speak with greater clarity, while the scattered groups that are looking for a new America’s role in the world, prepare for moral and political efforts that Clinton is unable to address. More openness Obama could also lead to other candidates are encouraged to apply for the nomination for the Democratic presidential candidate for the election to 2016. In any case, the more Democrats will look for alternatives, the more Clinton is talking about.

Barack Obama and the “white man’s burden”

Posted on August 24, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Barack Obama and the “white man’s burden”

Wiesaussieht

by f.luebberding

Ever heard of South Sudan? Under #bytheendofseptember makes the Welthungerhilfe an imminent catastrophe attention. Jens Berger on the NachDenkSeiten explains the background. In short, it is the inability of the two parties to the conflict in southern Sudan, to form an effective government. Berger also points to the responsibility of the West for the local development. Now, this catastrophe is urged by the other crises medially in the background: The conflict over the Ukraine, the decay of the Middle East in Syria and Iraq, the disaster in Gaza and Israel. It actually needs only the images of starving children, to call the so-called world community again on the scene. But this will only work if not should absorb other disasters, such as an Ebola pandemic, the attention of policy. But South Sudan is an indication of what has changed in world politics in recent years. The world, until recently described as a “global village”, decomposes with the loss of their trading center called USA.

Welthungerhilfe acts in the same way as it has done for decades the West. In humanitarian disasters he has to take responsibility for the consequences. In the logic of the ” new wars “ was this form of humanity should be regarded always ambivalent. Disaster relief became part of the political calculus otherwise uncontrollable actors. The destruction of their own livelihoods by warlords and other factions they did not have to bother if they could be sure that the UN (and ultimately the West) intervene on behalf of the oppressed population. Their business models called war even sometimes based on this help.

The Middle East conflict is the best example. Since 1948 there is for the Palestinians a historically unique UN organization that does nothing but take care of the war of 1948 when the refugees (today their descendants and). The UNRWA guarantees the supply of the civilian population, provides for a ceasefire to rebuild the infrastructure, and thus prevented only one thing: The fact that both parties to the conflict for the consequences of this permanent war are to blame. Israel and Hamas have the responsibility for externalized to the UN. Otherwise, this war would not lead to more. Or wanted Hamas and the Israeli government seriously accept mass death in Gaza if this help ausbliebe in the future? You must not ask this question, and therefore lead a war without this a political decision brings. The war is a permanent condition and the state of exception to the rule. The humanitarian aid ensures that the real catastrophe is prevented. But in the cynical logic of the actors involved, it is also a condition for the continuation of the war. Because you should not fool yourself.

Welthungerhilfe bases its campaign for South Sudan on this logic of UNRWA. You certainly still the West’s self-understanding. The West – and ultimately the United States – has indeed a hegemonic imperialist interests. But He looks at the same time the responsibility for what happens in this world. It is nothing more than Kipling’s “white man’s burden” , which was none other than the late Peter Scholl-Latour describe as second to none. On the one hand trying to bring the blessings of Western civilization in the world, but at the same time exposing the permanent charge of hypocrisy. This entails the claim of the West after the fall of the Soviet Union as a force for order was to have to guarantee the stability of the international system. That is all over now. Scholl-Latour knew that early, unlike many others. He described those cultural centrifugal forces in the international system, which oppose the Western logic. President Obama is scolded for his weakness, but he can only take note of this decay. He leads already a multi-front war that the United States can not win. Against Russia in the conflict over the Ukraine, against China with uncertain allies like Japan in the Far East, the Middle East against the destruction of the existing state system in Iraq and Syria. Their regional powers such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia or Iran act already beyond the control of Washington.

The like a monstrance herget REGISTERED right to claim to Obama, he must act in Iraq, Syria, the Middle East (and possibly very quickly in the Far East) is to offer little absurdity. What will make the United States? Iraq and Syria occupy? Intervene in Southern Sudan? Force Israel and the Palestinians after decades of failed efforts to reach a compromise? Everyone expects the United States to assume responsibility for the stability of the international system. But at the same time no one explains how they will enforce Obama. With the help of the UN ? Where this may be only able to act when to communicate the great powers? Since especially the Europeans have to ask how meaningful it is to risk at the same time a major conflict with Russia over the Ukraine. But there is so loud Wolfgang Ischinger recently hope to Finlandisation . The real political cynicism about after the seizure of power by the military in Egypt, nobody wants to also make our own. Instead, moralizing talk of undemocratic relations in all possible regions of the world: From Putin’s Russia on Iran or China to Saudi Arabia. Obama, as grotesque as it sounds, Kipling has to wear “white man’s burden”, while it falls in Ferguson everyday racism in their own country in front.

But even a realist, the stability can not be guaranteed today. In Southern Sudan, the conflict parties must prevent the catastrophe #bytheendofseptember itself. Who should do it otherwise? Welthungerhilfe? The future of Iraq or Syria is no longer decided in Washington, as commentators in the tradition of Kipling mean:

“In the long term, as a guess, Assad wants to demonstrate that he and America fighting on one side against the Islamic state. The question is whether America falls for it. “

This question is no longer confront America, but only those who existential interests will be affected if they “should fall for” not on Assad. For Europeans, it looks different: you have no ocean between himself and the Middle East. The refugees, and victims of ethnic cleansing (as Yazidis and Christians in Iraq), want to join Europe. We will see how Europeans react to it.

The “white man’s burden” might be in the future, therefore, after the collapse of the global political center USA acknowledge his impotence. Not only #bytheendofseptember. Peter Scholl-Latour knew by the way.

update

Although the Federal Minister of Defence can no functioning equipment delivered to the Peshmerga in Iraq, but discussed them weapons deliveries to Ukraine. You can overdo it with the game theory also.

Norman Bierbaum on the NachDenkSeiten the future role of the United States.

The anger and the media .

14:15 clock

The murder of American journalist James Foley by the ISIS generated a debate that meets the calculus of Sunni jihadists against their will. Must take responsibility for forming ISIS massacres are part of their strategy of ethnic cleansing of the areas under their control. The used their media strategy of spreading fear and terror. This is historically not new. However, it is now useless to describe the ISIS than what they are: A breakdown of civilization . The war has always been a break with the applicable standards of civilized societies in peace. ISIS is no exception in that respect. But one also needs no recourse to the early days of Islam, as at Leon de Winter. Order to communicate only what ISIS intends to achieve: to understand oneself as a representative of the true Islam. There is probably no better argument for ISIS as the dynamics of early Islamic history to be compared. This includes not answered declaration of war by Ulf Poschardt at ISIS.

The West leads have long war with the help of the Peshmerga against the ISIS. Only he has still not found an answer on the war goal he wants to achieve. A compromise in Syria with Assad? A separate Kurdish state against Turkey? Will de Winter now consider the Ukraine-conflict unlike a few weeks ago? Since he has the evil found in the separatists. This form of declaration of war against an enemy civilization leads to nothing, except to risk it on the domestic policy transfer. ISIS to build a monster, that only benefits the group itself. Even if the video of the beheading of Foley’s with good reason from the banished social networks . With the justified outrage and the understandable horror can not make policy: The strategy of ISIS is primarily due to the loss of cold rationality in the West, not the propaganda in the social networks. The actual breakdown of civilization took exactly the way this rationality . That should not be forgotten.

15:15 clock

Poroschenkos plight . Nobody has de jure abandon the Crimea. The white Putin also, so I assume once.

Merkel Has No Balls–Qatar Is Buying Silence On ISIS

Posted on August 23, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

News of the German govt bowing to Qatar’s demands is proof that Merkel’s Germany “has no balls.” This action by Qatar is a type of commercial extortion. Even if Development Minister Gerd Muller wasn’t expressing official German govt position on Qatar and ISIS, he still had the right to his own opinions. By recanting for him, Martin Schafer surrendered another big piece of (big D) Democracy to the barbarians, in order to satisfy Qatari demands for non-specific wording of any government-level anti-ISIS statements, outside of court, that is.

Qatar knows that the US military keeps the searchable part of the Internet free of any specific proofs of Qatar’s providing material or financial support to the ISIS terrorists, thus making it safe for the Fat Pig’s representatives to raise the stakes with legal and commercial action and bluff their way out of the torrent of public condemnation that is now building-up in the West over Qatar’s being on the wrong side in the terror war. Things are going to get very hot for the errant emirate over the billions and billions poured into the terror war to employ this army of terrorists to whack Assad and Maliki. I am afraid that Doha’s big plans to buy respectability through investments in big-ticket sporting events will all be washed-out with the anti-ISIS tide.

The anti-ISIS tide is now intensifying over the obvious brutality of the Foley murder. Qatar, like Saudi Arabia, is now deeply invested in an all-out effort to clean-up its reputation on the Internet, the only real, uncontrolled news medium. Both states are waging offensive defenses, hoping to crush the free-floating “truth tellers,” with rivers of petrodollars, and threats of legal actions. That may work for Qatar when dealing with governments that have something to lose, but “lone wolves” with little to lose are another matter. Ignoring them has always worked in the past, but things have changed…voices are now amplified worldwide. By calling attention to obscure websites, hoping to silence the voices that dwell there, the Saudis and Qataris risk amplifying exponentially,the very words which must be silenced, .

Two days ago, “Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Thursday the murder of US journalist James Foley at the hand of a criminal group,” trying to separate themselves from the beasts that they have become linked with and the global revulsion which has been generated by this latest gruesome act. THIS IS A FIRST…Qatar has never before issued a statement on any beheading, never before labeled a particular beheading “against the principles of Islam and humanity.” Was it just Foley’s case that violated the laws of God and society, or are all beheadings now “haram“?

Perhaps His Eminence, the Fat Pig, would like to denounce the following violations of some Iraqis and Syrians most basic RIGHT TO LIFE?

WHAT ABOUT HER? Wasn’t this a total violation of everything in the Quran?

HOW ABOUT THESE GUYS?

HOW ABOUT CRUCIFYING A FEW DOZEN CHRISTIANS IN MOSUL?

HELL, WHY NOT LINE-UP THEIR KIDS AS WELL? WHAT KIND OF A MONSTER DOES IT TAKE TO EVEN POSE IN OR TAKE SUCH A PHOTO OF A CHILD?

IT’S A LITTLE LATE NOW, QATAR.

Your boys have become too famous and their boisterous bragging is becoming much too loud. Your handiwork has caught-up to you, and it is beginning to wash away your protection. Something’s gotta give…your bankroll isn’t big enough to hide your big ass behind forever….

Germany is just the beginning of something so wonderful that it has always been beyond your imagination to see. The entire world will throw a huge party the day that regime change comes to Qatar and the House of Saud.]

Peter Chamberlin
peter.chamberlin@hotmail.com

Germany ‘Regrets’ Comments on Qatar Support for ‘Islamic State’

Berlin, August 22 (QNA) – Germany’s government has no direct evidence that Qatar is funding the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) group that operates in Iraq and Syria, Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schafer said.
“If there were misunderstandings, we regret these,” Schafer told reporters in Berlin after Qatar contacted the German government over comments made by Development Minister Gerd Muller during a televised interview in which he said that cutting off funding to “IS” had the “keyword Qatar.” Schafer described Qatar as an important partner for Germany but added that the two countries “are not always of the same opinion” on some issues. (QNA)

World Caught In Spiral of Societal Self-Destruction

Posted on August 23, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[The following is an outstanding piece of positive journalism, even though the subject matter is extremely negative in tone. Why do the disenfranchised of this world strive to make everyone disenfranchised? Why destroy hope, in the form of infrastructure when the destroyers need it as much as anyone else?

Ignore the Cape Town setting for the following piece and read-in any similar story from anywhere on the planet and the story will read exactly the same.

Why the suicidal self-destruction?]

Caught in spiral of society self-destruction

CAPE ARGUS

The burnt-out shell of the train set alight during protests in Khayelitsha. Photo: Tracey Adams

It has become routine for “protesters” to destroy crucial infrastructure, directly worsening the lives of the poor, says Murray Williams.

Cape Town – All too often, it feels as if this country is tearing itself apart. This week, again, we experienced this extraordinary phenomenon of protesters who show their alleged frustration at their poverty-stricken circumstances by breaking things. By setting a train alight.

Metrorail was left tearing its hair out, understandably.

Spokeswoman Riana Scott pleaded: “It’s misdirected, self-defeating destruction. How can you destroy today what you’re going to need tomorrow?

“How do those lucky enough to have jobs get to work? How do kids get to school?”

The Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry was even harsher: “It is time for all community leaders, unions and business organisations to stand together to expose the perverted logic behind the fire-bombing of trains and other disruptive protest action.

“Nobody gains anything from these attacks but everybody, including the perpetrators, are left poorer,” said Dr Ruben Richards, executive director.

“The people who suffer most are those who are trying to help themselves and their families by going to work and to colleges and universities.

“There are many who claim concern and have raised their voices about commuters and public transport in this city,” charged the City of Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for Transport, Brett Herron

“Their silence at a time when the services that are provided are under attack is deafening and it is becoming increasingly obvious that they are more interested in political opportunity than the mobility of our residents.”

The attack on the train service would not be calamitous on its own if it was an isolated incident.

But it’s not.

Instead, it has now become routine for “protesters” to destroy crucial infrastructure that immediately and directly worsen the lives of the poor.

It’s called a society self-destructing.

Herron asks: “Where is Cosatu’s condemnation of this vandalism and sabotage?

Herron added: “Most of all, where are the local ANC councillors and where is the ANC leadership?

“When will they condemn the destruction of public infrastructure and call for respect and restraint?”

Cosatu and the ANC have both, in the past, damned the attacks.

And both will hopefully exercise their right of reply, again, in response to Herron.

But perhaps that won’t be enough.

Perhaps there’s a far greater urgency here.

And perhaps that’s called “bipartisanship”.

Political parties will and must continue to contest the political space – to fight for their constituents’ needs.

But have we not yet reached the point at which this city, this province and this country’s leaders can – for a moment – share a public space, in unified support of common ground?

It would take a degree of political maturity.

It would take a degree of organisational maturity.

And it might even take a degree of personal maturity, to stand, together, and say: “Our economy is too precious, our poor are too fragile, our country is too vulnerable, to allow violent thugs to relentlessly sabotage our slender gains.

“We disagree on a whole lot.

“But on this – and on crime, and on violence against women and children, on these crucial few fundamentals – we stand together.

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.

“And on these, we speak as one.”

Will anyone take the lead?

* Murray Williams’ weekly column Shooting from the Lip appears in the Cape Argus every Friday.

Cape Argus

Attack On Mosque Is Pure Sabotage NOT REVENGE, As Support for New Iraqi Govt. Crumbles

Posted on August 23, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Iraq’s Sunnis halt govt talks after 68 killed in gunmen attack on mosque

File photo (Reuters)

Gunmen opened fire inside a Sunni mosque in Iraq’s eastern Diyala Province, killing at least 68 people, Reuters said citing medical officials. As Shia militia were blamed for the incident, Sunni politicians withdrew from talks on forming a new government.

According to AP, a suicide bomber broke into the Musab bin Omair Mosque during Friday prayers in the village of Imam Wais and detonated his explosives. He was followed by gunmen, who rushed in and opened fire, an army officer and a police officer at the scene told the agency.

However, Reuters quoted a lawmaker from Diyala as saying that it was “sectarian militias” who entered the mosque and started shooting just as about 150 worshipers were praying.

Earlier an Iraqi security source confirmed the shooting, adding that dozens of bodies had arrived at a hospital in the city of Baquba. Aljazeera reported a higher death toll of 73, and over 50 people wounded in the attack.

There are conflicting reports as to who was behind the attack – Shia militiamen or Islamic State insurgents.

Two influential Sunni politicians – Deputy Prime Minister Saleh Mutlaq and Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jibouri – announced that they are pulling out of talks on forming a new government until the investigation into the attack is completed.

“I confirm we have suspended negotiations with the National Alliance because of this crime, until the results of the investigations are announced,” Reuters quoted the lawmaker with Jibouri’s bloc, Raad al-Dahlaki, as saying.

Iraqi security forces said they tried to get to the scene after the attack, but were repelled by bombs planted by the militants, which allowed the attackers to get away.

The village of Wais is controlled by the Iraqi government, but a number of neighboring towns and villages have fallen to the Islamic State militants.

Officials said that Islamic State fighters have been trying to convince members of two prominent Sunni tribes in the area – the Oal-Wassi and al-Jabour – to join them, so-far without success.

The attack may have also been in retaliation to a roadside bomb attack at a recruitment event organized by the Shia militia, media reports speculated.

Attacks on mosques in Iraq have surged in recent years, with revenge killings and counter attacks contributing to the worst bloodshed in the country since the 2006-2007 sectarian civil war.

In July, Shia armed groups executed 15 Sunni Muslims and hung them from electricity poles in a public square in Baquba. Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces killed more than 255 Sunni prisoners in retaliation for the killing of Shias by the Islamic State.

Sectarian violence will undermine efforts by Iraq’s new moderate Shia Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to form a government that can unite the country against the Islamic State, which controls vast areas of the north and west of Iraq.

Iraq’s most influential Shiite cleric, grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has said the next government should be made up of people who “care about the country’s future and its citizens” regardless of their ethnic or religious background.

Israel and Saudi Arabia in a jam on Gaza

Posted on August 23, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[excellent summation of the mess that we (the US) has created with the help of every other govt. It took a lot of teamwork to completely destroy the playing field. The question of WHEN the bombing of ISIS in Iraq will translate into a joint effort with Assad against them in Syria, is a moot point, since it is inevitable that it has to happen, in order to contain the terrorist beast of Western/Saudi creation. Even US Joint Chiefs Gen. himself has declared this openly. In my opinion, this has been the point of the entire “ISIS/Al Qaeda in Iraq” scenario, to get everybody behind the Pentagon chanting “USA, USA, USA” while the cheerleading section shouts in unison, “ISIS MUST GO!”
When the Hummus Hits the Fan, Israel Will Choose Bashar al-Assad Over Radical Islamists
https://therearenosunglasses.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/when-the-hummus-hits-the-fan-israel-will-choose-bashar-al-assad-over-radical-islamists/]

Israel and Saudi Arabia in a jam on Gaza

Saeed Naqvi
US decision for limited strikes to check the ISIS in Iraq and Gaza initiatives in Cairo are obviously linked.
To understand the collective Arab panic over the weekend in Cairo on Gaza ceasefire, an overview is required. Ever since King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia came out of convalescence from Europe in February 2011 to see the first two casualties of the Arab Spring – Hosni Mubarak and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali – his heart sank.
Logically, next to fall would be Monarchies and Emirates – Saudi, Jordan, Qatar, Morocco, Bahrain, the GCC in general. “Never!” screamed Abdullah. Dmitry Medvedev in the Kremlin and Amr Moussa in the Arab League provided an enabling provision in Security Council Resolution 1973. First the Europeans – remember British Intelligence men in dark suits arrested in Libya raising a storm in the House of Commons – and then the Americans got involved. Well, Qaddafi’s ouster has led to the current state of affairs in Libya.
Thus began the destruction of Syria, another efficient secular dictatorship with areas of civility and gracious living. Qatar and Turkey were alongside Saudi Arabia in this project of regime change. A clever psychological moment was chosen to lure Turkish Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan into the trap. This is his last term as Prime Minister. In popularity he is already ahead of Kemal Ataturk. Here is his chance to play a pan-Arab role by, to begin with, facilitating Assad’s ouster from neighbouring Syria.
Erdogan took off his secular clothes (mandated by the Kemalist constitution), slipped into his Muslim Brotherhood garb and turned up in Tripoli, Cairo joining congregational prayers with such frequency that the Saudis panicked. The idea was to dethrone Assad, not strengthen the Brothers whom Saudis fear more than even the Shias eversince they laid siege to the Grand Mosque in Mecca in November 1979, soon after the Ayatullahs came to power in Iran.
On the Syrian operation, Qatar too was mobilized by the Saudis for two reasons: Riyadh was keen to compose traditional differences with Qatar so that regional monarchies could provide a united front. Secondly, the credibility of Western mainstream media was being questioned. Qatar’s Al Jazeera was therefore required. But as soon as Qatar started talking to the Taleban in Afghanistan and Hamas in Gaza, the Saudis panicked once again. Qatar, with its Muslim Brotherhood affiliation, had to be pushed out of the equation. Al Jazeera’s support was concurrently lost.
The Saudis then bankrolled Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to oust Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood and become President.
In the summer of 2014 the line-up in West Asia was as follows:
Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain and Emirates, fiercely opposed the Brothers. Israel is most comfortable with this grouping, now more than ever. Egypt has coordinated with the Israelis in keeping the Refah crossing closed for Gazans unless Israel winks.
This has inspired Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to float an alliance of the countries listed above. Even in normal times, an Israeli overture towards an Arab regime shows diminishing returns among the population. After the Israeli bombing of Gaza, comprehensively covered on the social media, such an overture would greatly accentuate popular anger against their own regimes.
Should the ceasefire fail and bombing of Gaza resume? Regimes whose support Israel seeks may not be able to withstand popular unrest at the plight of Gazans, every detail is available on the social media.
Consider the alternative lineup, Hezbullah, Syria, Iraq are all a huge moral support for Hamas. But at the moment they are overdrawn either in Syria or against ISIS in Iraq. Turkey and Qatar, along with their Muslim Brotherhood affiliation, are openly supporting Hamas. Their regional influence has not been overlooked: Secretary of State John Kerry invites them for a meeting in Paris to consider a way out in Gaza.
Either the Gaza ceasefire will breakdown or the Americans will have to prevail on Saudi Arabia and Egypt to accommodate Qatar and Turkey, directly or indirectly in discussing Gaza peace in Cairo.
Qatar meanwhile has set the cat among the pigeons by announcing that Bahrain’s opposition members – which means majority of Shias – can seek Qatari citizenship.
The ISIS, running wild across Syria and Iraq, also has a Muslim Brotherhood link. Two days ago their blackshirt troops moved into the enclave of Arsal in Lebanon, abutting Syria. Immediately the Saudis turned up in Beirut with $ one billion dollars to enable the Lebanese army contain the ISIS.
To placate Qatar, President Obama presses Sisi to release three Al Jazeera journalists in Egyptian prison for having supported the Muslim Brotherhood when Morsi was being ousted.
Meanwhile, ISIS, encouraged by its own successes, begins to uproot some ancient church congregations in the Kurdish part of Iraq.
Enough is enough, says Obama, and orders limited airstrike on ISIS positions. If Americans are bombing one set of Arabs, can their friends, the Israeli, resume bombardment of another set of Arabs?

Saudis Have Always Funded Al-Q-In Iraq—Iraq Study Group

Posted on August 23, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Saudis reportedly funding Iraqi Sunni insurgents

Updated 12/8/2006 7:29 AM ET


	AP

An insurgent holds a grenade launcher Tuesday in Ramadi, Iraq.

CAIRO (AP) — Private Saudi citizens are giving millions of dollars to Sunni insurgents in Iraq and much of the money is used to buy weapons, including shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles, according to key Iraqi officials and others familiar with the flow of cash.

Saudi government officials deny that any money from their country is being sent to Iraqis fighting the government and the U.S.-led coalition.

But the U.S. Iraq Study Group report said Saudis are a source of funding for Sunni Arab insurgents. Several truck drivers interviewed by The Associated Press described carrying boxes of cash from Saudi Arabia into Iraq, money they said was headed for insurgents.

Two high-ranking Iraqi officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity, told the AP most of the Saudi money comes from private donations, called zaqat, collected for Islamic causes and charities.

Some Saudis appear to know the money is headed to Iraq’s insurgents, but others merely give it to clerics who channel it to anti-coalition forces, the officials said.

In one recent case, an Iraqi official said $25 million in Saudi money went to a top Iraqi Sunni cleric and was used to buy weapons, including Strela, a Russian shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile. The missiles were purchased from someone in Romania, apparently through the black market, he said.

Overall, the Iraqi officials said, money has been pouring into Iraq from oil-rich Saudi Arabia, a Sunni bastion, since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq toppled the Sunni-controlled regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Saudi officials vehemently deny their country is a major source of financial support for the insurgents.

“There isn’t any organized terror finance, and we will not permit any such unorganized acts,” said Brig. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, a spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry. About a year ago the Saudi government set up a unit to track any “suspicious financial operations,” he said.

But the Iraq Study Group said “funding for the Sunni insurgency comes from private individuals within Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.”

Saudi officials say they cracked down on zakat abuses, under pressure from the United States, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

The Iraqi officials, however, said some funding goes to Iraq’s Sunni Arab political leadership, who then disburse it. Other money, they said, is funneled directly to insurgents. The distribution network includes Iraqi truck and bus drivers.

Several drivers interviewed by the AP in Middle East capitals said Saudis have been using religious events, like the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and a smaller pilgrimage, as cover for illicit money transfers. Some money, they said, is carried into Iraq on buses with returning pilgrims.

“They sent boxes full of dollars and asked me to deliver them to certain addresses in Iraq,” said one driver, who gave his name only as Hussein, out of fear of reprisal. “I know it is being sent to the resistance, and if I don’t take it with me, they will kill me.”

He was told what was in the boxes, he said, to ensure he hid the money from authorities at the border.

The two Iraqi officials would not name specific Iraqi Sunnis who have received money from Saudi Arabia. But Iraq issued an arrest warrant for Harith al-Dhari, a Sunni opponent of the Iraqi government, shortly after he visited Saudi Arabia in October. He was accused of sectarian incitement.

Saudi Arabia is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East. The Iraq Study Group report noted that its government has assisted the U.S. military with intelligence on Iraq.

But Saudi citizens have close tribal ties with Sunni Arabs in Iraq, and sympathize with their brethren in what they see as a fight for political control — and survival — with Iraq’s Shiites.

The Saudi government is determined to curb the growing influence of its chief rival in the region, Iran. Tehran is closely linked to Shiite parties that dominate the Iraqi government.

Saudi officials say the kingdom has worked with all sides to reconcile Iraq’s warring factions. They have, they point out, held talks in Saudi Arabia with Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militia is accused of killing Sunnis.

These officials say zakat donations are now channeled through supervised bank accounts. Cash donation boxes, once prevalent in supermarkets and shopping malls, have been eliminated.

Still, Iraq’s foreign minister expressed concern about the influence of neighboring Sunni states at a recent Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo.

“We hope that Saudi Arabia will keep the same distance from each and all Iraqi parties,” Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari later told the AP.

Last month, the New York Times reported that a classified U.S. government report said Iraq’s Sunni Arab insurgency had become self-sufficient financially, raising millions from oil smuggling, kidnapping and Islamic charities. The report did not say whether any money came from Saudi Arabia.

Allegations the insurgents have purchased shoulder-fired Strela missiles raise concerns that they are obtaining increasingly sophisticated weapons.

On Nov. 27, a U.S. Air Force F-16 jet crashed while flying in support of American soldiers fighting Anbar province, a Sunni insurgent hotbed. The U.S. military said it had no information about the cause of the crash. Gen. William Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman, said he would be surprised if the jet was shot down because F-16’s have not encountered weapons capable of taking them down in Iraq.

But last week, a spokesman for Saddam’s ousted Baath party claimed that fighters armed with a Strela missile had shot down the jet.

“We have stockpiles of Strelas and we are going to surprise them (the Americans),” Khudair al-Murshidi, the spokesman told the AP in Damascus, Syria. He would not say how the Strelas were obtained.

Saddam’s army had Strelas; it is not known how many survived the 2003 war. The Strela is a shoulder-fired, low-altitude system with a passive infrared guidance system.

The issue of Saudi funding for the insurgency could gain new prominence as the Bush administration reviews its Iraq policy, especially if it seeks to engage Iran and Syria in peace efforts.

Bush’s national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, wrote in a recent leaked memo that Washington should “step up efforts to get Saudi Arabia to take a leadership role in supporting Iraq, by using its influence to move Sunni populations out of violence into politics.”

Last week, a Saudi who headed a security consulting group close to the Saudi government, Nawaf Obaid, wrote in the Washington Post that Saudi Arabia would use money, oil and support for Sunnis to thwart Iranian efforts to dominate Iraq if American troops pulled out. The Saudi government denied the report and fired Obaid.

Posted 12/8/2006 5:51 AM ET

Whoever Created Al Qaeda and ISIS Wanted To Imitate the Apocalypse

Posted on August 23, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[With US Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dempsey attempting to deploy this gambit (placing ISIS in the Biblical/Quranic “end of days” scenario), the great fraud formerly known as “the war on terrorism” has come full-circle. Personally, I have been warning that this was being planned for many years—Bible-thumping politicians were trying to construct an “end of time” simulation, in order to scare or persuade the American Bible-belt into buying into the great lie. If ISIS has an “END OF DAYS” belief structure, then it learned it in Iraq, acquired through Saudi brainwashing, according to CIA design.]

“Elites, using prophecy to mislead the religious, are seeking prophetic rewards for their own cunning. By causing religious people to believe that this might be the “end of days,” they have dissuaded them from rising in opposition to them, as this might also be seen as interfering with God’s work. This deception is as effective for parts of the Muslim faith as it is for some of the Christians. Convincing superstitious people that this man-made end of days might be God’s will is using scripture to bring them into line with the script.”–Judgment Day, Information Liberation, Dec 06 2007

Dempsey hits Islamic militant ‘end-of-days’ vision

FILE – This Aug. 20, 2014 file photo shows Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey speaking at Madison Square Garden in New York. During a Pentagon briefing Thursday, Dempsey said it’s possible to contain the Islamic State militants, but it can’t be done permanently without going after the group in Syria. Speaking to reporters with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Dempsey said he wasn’t predicting U.S. airstrikes in Syria, but said the problem must be addressed diplomatically, politically and militarily by America and its regional partners. Kathy Willens, File / AP Photo

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — America’s top-ranked military officer says the surging Islamic State group has an “apocalyptic, end-of-days strategic vision” in the Middle East and cannot be defeated unless the United States and a coalition of partners confront it head-on in Syria.

“They can be contained, not in perpetuity,” Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a news conference.

The United States so far has restricted a series of airstrikes to Iraq, but concerns have increased as the Islamic militant group has extended its reach from safe havens in civil-war-ravaged Syria across the Iraqi border.

Appearing with Dempsey at the Pentagon Thursday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel credited U.S. bombing as well as U.S. arms supplies to Iraqi and Kurdish forces as key factors in the recapture this week of the Mosul Dam in Iraq that had been in the hands of the Islamic State militants.

Hagel said the U.S. airstrikes have helped Iraqi and Kurdish fighters regain their footing in Iraq. But the secretary also said in a question-and-answer session with reporters that the well-resourced Islamic State militants can be expected to regroup and stage a new offensive.

Dempsey said that taking on the Islamic State more forcefully would not necessarily require airstrikes by the U.S. in Syria, although Hagel appeared to leave open that possibility by saying, “We’re looking at all options.”

Hagel said operations the U.S. military has undertaken so far “have stalled ISIL’s momentum and enabled Iraqi and Kurdish forces to regain their footing and take the initiative.” ISIL and ISIS are alternate acronyms for the Islamic State group that is an outgrowth of the al-Qaida terrorist network.

The U.S. has restricted its military action to Iraq, but concerns have increased as the Islamic militant group extends its reach from safe havens in Syria across the Iraqi border.

Dempsey, who served multiple tours in Iraq during the 2003-2011 war, was pointed in his comments about what it would take to ultimately defeat the Islamic State group.

“They can be contained, not in perpetuity,” Dempsey said. “This is an organization that has an apocalyptic, end-of-days strategic vision and which will eventually have to be defeated.

“To your question, can they be defeated without addressing that part of their organization which resides in Syria? The answer is no,” he said. “That will have to be addressed on both sides of what is essentially at this point a nonexistent border.

“And that will come when we have a coalition in the region that takes on the task of defeating ISIS over time,” Dempsey added, using another acronym for the group. “ISIS will only truly be defeated when it’s rejected by the 20 million disenfranchised Sunni that happen to reside between Damascus and Baghdad.”

Neither Hagel nor Dempsey gave any indication of an imminent change in the U.S. military approach in Iraq, which President Barack Obama has said will include further airstrikes but not the introduction of American ground forces.

The Pentagon on Thursday said U.S. warplanes had launched six airstrikes overnight to help solidify Iraqi and Kurdish forces’ efforts to retake and maintain control of the Mosul Dam.

It said the latest strikes destroyed or damaged three Humvees, multiple roadside bombs and another insurgent vehicle. The attacks brought to 90 the number of U.S. airstrikes in northern Iraq since Aug. 8. Fifty-seven of the 90 have been in support of Iraqi forces near the Mosul Dam.

NUKE ISIS!!—Terrorist Email To Mr. Foley’s Parents and Link To Execution Video

Posted on August 22, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[IT GRIEVES ME TO POST THE FOLLOWING, BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT MUST BE DONE. FULLY EXPOSING THESE MONSTERS OF OUR OWN CREATION IS NECESSARY, IN ORDER TO HELP WARRANT THE FULL USE OF ANY AND ALL US WEAPONRY WHICH WILL ENSURE THEIR COMPLETE ELIMINATION….YES, I MEAN NUKING THE CALIPHATE (mini-nukes).

The SPOOK game has always been to create these dangerous, seemingly out-of-control head-chopping “holy warriors,” in order to justify full use of any of America’s genocidal weapons in their elimination. The truly degenerate, ignorant, “bloodthirsty” (THEIR OWN ADMISSION BELOW) evil individuals who gleefully cut-off the heads of innocent people (under the code name ISIS), crucify children and machine-gun hundreds or thousands of innocents, tied and stacked-up like cord-wood….ALL INDIVIDUALS who fit this description, must be speedily removed from the face of the earth, exterminated like we would any other pestilence. If they are concentrated anywhere en masse, even in Fallujah, tactical nukes would be justified, if that was the only certain method of total elimination, just like any other global threat of this magnitude would justify any means necessary for eradication.

ANYWAY, the following is allegedly an email from ISIS to the parents of James Foley, announcing his impending assassination. Following that nearly illiterate piece of trash is the video of Mr. Foley’s tragic, gut-wrenching death…….]

Full text of the last email the Islamic State sent to the Foley family

HOW LONG WILL THE SHEEP FOLLOW THE BLIND SHEPPARD?

A message to the American government and their sheep like citizens:

We have left you alone since your disgraceful defeat in Iraq. We did not interfere in your country or attack your citizens while they were safe in their homes despite our capability to do so!

As for the scum of your society who are held prisoner by us, THEY DARED TO ENTER THE LION’S DEN AND WHERE EATEN!

You were given many chances to negotiate the release of your people via cash transactions as other governments have accepted,
We have also offered prisoner exchanges to free the Muslims currently in your detention like our sister Dr Afia Sidiqqi, however you proved very quickly to us that this is NOT what you are interested in.

You have no motivation to deal with the Muslims except with the language of force, a language you were given in “Arabic translation” when you attempted to occupy the land of Iraq!
Now you return to bomb the Muslims of Iraq once again, this time resorting to Arial attacks and “proxy armies”, all the while cowardly shying away from a face-to-face confrontation!

Today our swords are unsheathed towards you, GOVERNMENT AND CITIZENS ALIKE! AND WE WILL NOT STOP UNTILL WE QUENCH OUR THIRST FOR YOUR BLOOD.

You do not spare our weak, elderly, women or children so we will NOT spare yours!

You and your citizens will pay the price of your bombings!

The first of which being the blood of the American citizen, James Foley!

He will be executed as a DIRECT result of your transgressions towards us!

James Foley murder video: watch it and you risk terror charges

WATCH IT HERE, IF YOU DARE

Lebanon’s Grand Mufti Replaced For Opposing Intelligence Agency Plots and Saad Hariri

Posted on August 20, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[The following interview of the Grand Mufti by the Daily Star in January 2012 was most likely the real reason for the cleric’s forced replacement.]

Grand Mufti fixes on not yielding to intimidation as to expired Islamic Council elections

Mufti: Intelligence bodies behind terror

January 19, 2012

Qabbani rejects “refugee” label for Syrians who have fled unrest for Lebanon. (The daily Star)

BEIRUT: Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani rejects the widespread linkage of Islam to extremism, holding that militant Muslim organizations blamed for terrorist attacks in the world are the creation of foreign countries’ intelligence agencies. In an interview with The Daily Star, the Grand Mufti of the Republic also blamed the Future Movement of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri for strained ties with Dar al-Fatwa, the seat of the Sunni mufti, saying Future MPs are still boycotting him.

Asked for his assessment of extremist Muslim groups blamed for terror attacks around the world, Qabbani told The Daily Star Tuesday: “Any assessment of Islam that is distant from its substance and its content, which are based on mercy and openness toward others, is a mistaken assessment that does not reflect the spirit of Islam and its reality. Therefore, there is no such thing as extremist Islam.

“The foreigners’ portrayal of Islam in the guise of extremism is aimed at distorting the image of Islam and Muslims and also at making Muslims abhor their religion. It is also aimed at creating a hypothetical opponent of the West that can be used as a gateway to attack and tamper with the East,” he said.

Qabbani stressed that the rulings, teachings and practices of Islam show it to be a religion of “forgiveness, love, cooperation, centrism and openness that calls for respecting others [non-Muslims] and living with them in peace, prohibits killing, and punishes the killer even if he is a Muslim.”

Referring to militant Muslim groups blamed for terror attacks in the world, the mufti said: “This continuing extremism adopted by misled groups or fictitious organizations are all the work of foreign intelligence agencies and leading powers, which seek to strike Islam in its own countries and tarnish its image in various parts of the planet so that they can tamper with our countries’ security, control our economic systems and launch wars with a view to fully achieving their aims.

“But the killing continues falsely in the name of Islam,” Qabbani said, adding that crimes committed falsely in the name of religion are an attack on the Muslim faith.

Qabbani voiced understanding toward fears voiced by Christians about their presence in the Middle East, especially amid a wave of popular upheavals in the Arab world that has led to election victories by Islamist groups in countries such as Egypt and Tunisia. He said Muslims were keen on the freedom of Christian sects in the region.

“The Christians in this Levant are an indivisible part of the social fabric in it. They are not aliens, but citizens bound with their Muslim brothers by an identity of fully belonging to this Levant,” Qabbani said.

“Muslims are keen on the dignity and freedom of Christian sects in this Levant. This keenness on the part of Muslims is not a gift, but a duty dictated on us by our creed and belief,” the mufti said, adding: “But at the same time we show understanding toward fears felt today by Arab minorities, particularly Christians, because there are invisible parties that seek to spread panic in the Arab world in order to undermine the unity of Arab peoples and set the stage for foreign intervention on the pretext of protecting minorities.”

As for the domestic scene, Qabbani said Future MPs are still boycotting him, blaming the Future Movement for the rift between the two sides.

“We maintain good relations with everyone in Lebanon. There is no dispute between us and any of the political parties in Lebanon. But sometimes some [politicians] may interpret our position or openness as directed against him. Thus, he put his political team and loyalists in a state of dispute with the mufti of the republic and Dar al-Fatwa,” the mufti said.

Qabbani added that this had happened in the past with March 8 parties, followed by the current situation with the Future Movement.

“There is no problem between us and the Future Movement. They [Future Movement] sparked a hypothetical dispute with us and mobilized [people]. They boycotted Eid al-Fitr prayers with the mufti of the republic, in an unprecedented act, not even carried out by any of renegades in the history of Islam and Muslims,” Qabbani said.

“They boycotted the visit of the mufti of the republic to the villages of Arqoub in the south on Lebanon’s border with occupied Palestine. They are today boycotting Dar al-Fatwa and the mufti of the Republic,” he added.

Qabbani called on the Future Movement to reconsider its stance on “the mufti of the republic, who does not change his national stands an inch.”

At the root of the rift between the Future Movement and Dar al-Fatwa was Qabbani’s meeting last year with a Hezbollah delegation on the day the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon issued its indictment accusing four party members of involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The Future Movement was also reported to have been irked by Qabbani’s meeting with the Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel-Karim Ali.

The Future Movement’s relations with Hezbollah have been strained since Saad Hariri’s Cabinet was toppled by the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance in January last year.

Qabbani said the aim of last week’s visit to Lebanon by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who met with the country’s top political and spiritual leaders, including the mufti, was to show “Turkey’s keenness to see safety and stability in Lebanon amid the current conditions in the Middle East, since Turkey has a major role in regional politics.”

The mufti rejected labeling as refugees the more than 5,000 Syrians who have fled to border areas in north Lebanon as a result of the violence in Syria. Qabbani also rejected a proposal to establish camps for Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

“Those [Syrians] are not refugees. They are brothers who were forced to leave their houses in tense areas fearing for themselves and for their wives and sons to safer areas inside our Lebanese border. Therefore, we must treat them as our relatives and guests, not as strangers,” Qabbani said. “We must pay attention to their social, health and humanitarian conditions.”

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on January 19, 2012, on page 2.

Why Does Netanyahu Let The Fat Pig of Qatar Get Away With Murder?–Why No Bombers Over Doha?

Posted on August 20, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, left, shakes hands with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, right, as the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, center, looks on, after signing an agreement in Doha, Qatar, Monday, Feb 6, 2012 (photo credit: AP/Osama Faisal)

[Why is Netanyahu afraid of little Qatar? Any other state blamed for supporting Hamas, like IRAN, would have been threatened with military annihilation. Is “Bibi” afraid to defend his people against the Fat Pig of Qatar. When will IDF bombers fly over Doha?]

Israel singles out Qatar as key Hamas terror sponsor

Gulf emirate is branded the villain behind Hamas belligerence, with PM’s former security adviser saying it funds tunnel diggers and rocket launchers

By Elhanan Miller

“Qatar does not have the right to send money for rockets and tunnels which are fired at innocent civilians,” the outgoing statesman told UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Jerusalem. “Their funding of terror must stop. If they want to build then they should, but they must not be allowed to destroy.”

A spokesman for Peres would not comment on the information on which the president was basing his accusation, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s former security adviser said Qatar was relentlessly financing Hamas terror.

Qatar’s recently attempted to transfer funds for the salaries of Hamas civil servants in Gaza, following the formation of a Palestinian unity government, but was blocked by the United States, which pressured the Arab Bank not to process them. But former national security adviser Maj. Gen. (res) Yaakov Amidror told The Times of Israel that the emirate’s funding for the organization’s terror apparatus, including tunnel diggers and rocket launchers, has continued unabated.

“Hamas currently has two ‘true friends’ in the world: Qatar and Turkey,” Amidror said. The small Gulf state is currently Hamas’s closest ally in the Arab world, after the movement’s relations with Egypt soured following the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood president Mohammed Morsi in June 2013. Qatar, which has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in reconstruction and infrastructure projects in Gaza, is also home to the movement’s political leader Khaled Mashaal in Doha.

“The one supporting this organization financially, almost alone, is Qatar,” Amidror said.
In this Monday, April 8, 2013 photo, Palestinians work on a Qatar-funded road in Gaza City photo credit: AP/Hatem Moussa)

In this Monday, April 8, 2013, photo, Palestinians work on a Qatar-funded road in Gaza City photo credit: AP/Hatem Moussa)

Qatar isn’t only being accused of funneling funds to Hamas. Israel and Egypt are also blaming it for blocking Egypt’s efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza. On July 17, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said that Qatar and Turkey were undermining Egypt’s quiet-for-quiet ceasefire initiative, a position echoed by Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman.

As reported in these pages, Qatar drafted its own ceasefire plan last week, adopting most of Hamas’s demands. The plan — penned before the start of Israel’s ground offensive – was reportedly presented to Western officials and to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas has denied the existence of any ceasefire plan besides that put forth by Egypt.

A Western source close to the Qatari regime, speaking to The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity, denied that Qatar was blocking the Egyptian initiative.
Former Israeli national security adviser Yaakov Amidror (photo credit: Flash90)

Former Israeli national security adviser Yaakov Amidror (photo credit: Flash90)

“Qatar is not blocking anything, it simply realizes that a ceasefire needs to take Hamas into account,” the source said. “You can’t have a ceasefire agreed upon between Israel, Egypt and Fatah while the actual authority on the ground doesn’t have a say. The only solution is to use Qatar’s leverage over Hamas to come up with an initiative that all sides can agree on.”

However, the ceasefire draft presented to Abbas in Qatar over the weekend “had Hamas’s handwriting all over it,” the source acknowledged, even while Qatar claims neutrality as a mediator. “Qatar is clearly biased toward Hamas over Fatah.”

“The international and Arab communities want a solution between the PLO and Israel, but Qatar wants to see a ceasefire agreed between Hamas and Israel, without PLO involvement,” he said. Qatar doesn’t necessarily see the solution in Gaza in the context of a comprehensive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, “but within the immediate context of the Gaza war.”

Another aspect of Qatar’s destructive influence, Israel believes, is state-backed news channel Al-Jazeera. Communications Minister Gilad Erdan requested of the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council this week that it stop broadcasting Al-Jazeera due to its “extremely severe incitement against the State of Israel as well as enthusiastic support for Hamas and its terrorist actions.” Liberman said his ministry was examining the possibility of shutting Al-Jazeera’s offices in Israel, Israeli news site Walla reported.

On Tuesday, the channel evacuated staff from its Gaza bureau after coming under fire, allegedly from Israel. Speaking to Israel’s Army Radio, the channel’s Jerusalem bureau chief, Walid Al-Omari, accused the Israeli ministers of inciting against his channel and placing TV crews at physical risk.

Meanwhile, a diplomatic tug of war has been underway in the Arab Gulf between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — both staunch supporters of the new Egyptian regime — on the one side and Qatar on the other. On Tuesday, Qatari emir Tamim bin Hamad arrived in Jedda, Saudi Arabia, to discuss the Palestinian situation with Saudi King Abdullah. No details of the meeting were immediately available.

mesofisrael on Facebook

Pakistan Is World Trailblazer For Conducting Proxy Wars By Terrorist Armies

Posted on August 20, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Blunt talk by India’s Afghanistan envoy riles Pakistan

Indrani Bagchi,TNN

Afghan security forces inspect the site of a suicide attack in Kabul on August 10, 2014. Indian envoy in Kabul on Tuesday blamed Pakistan for attacks in Afghanistan. (AFP file photo)

NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s proxy war in India is well-known, but for the first time, India is speaking out against Pakistan-sponsored violence in Afghanistan.

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Pakistan of conducting a proxy war in India last week, the Indian ambassador to Afghanistan, Amar Sinha did some plain speaking to an Afghan TV channel: “The terrorists who come to Afghanistan, do they come from Africa? Do they come from Mali or Nigeria? No. We know what these elements are; thousands of books have been written on the sanctuaries of terrorism. Unfortunately, one particular area has become a nursery for training terrorists,” Sinha said. “They are located in Pakistan and it is not a secret.”

On Tuesday, Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, presiding over his last Afghan independence day celebrations in Kabul, echoed Modi publicly asking Pakistan to stop its attacks inside Afghanistan. Afghan sources told TOI their security forces have been routinely arresting or killing Pakistani regulars who were attacking Afghan border provinces in tandem with the Taliban. In preparation for a territorial battle post the US withdrawal, the Taliban, with Pakistani help, is now active in almost 14 Afghan provinces, raising serious questions about the future of the country after NATO forces leave.

While the Pakistan government did not object to Modi’s accusations, they protested against Sinha. In a statement, the Pakistan embassy in Kabul, dismissing the allegations as “baseless”, said, “It is against diplomatic norms to use Afghan soil to speak against a third country and try to create a rift in Afghanistan’s relations with its neighbours.”

In his interview, Sinha was also clear when he stressed that Taliban was being used by the ISI for their old policy of gaining strategic depth in Afghanistan. “The definition of proxy war is when any nation or agencies or institutions of a nation, take or start fighting with the neighbours but without declaring a war,” he explained. “Proxy war is also an undeclared war, so in this proxy war that we see in Afghanistan, we see that terrorists are being used as the proxy of a state.”

Last month, in his first meeting with the new Chinese special envoy for Afghanistan, Sun Yuxi, Karzai admitted that the peace talks were essentially with Pakistan, not Taliban, because the latter were controlled by Pakistan. Our peace talks are in fact, with Pakistan and not with the Afghan Taliban,” Karzai said.

Imran and Qadri Hand Pak Govt Back To The Generals

Posted on August 20, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Pakistan crisis puts army back in the driving seat

ISLAMABAD: As tens of thousands of protesters advanced on the Pakistani capital last week to demand his resignation, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif dispatched two emissaries to consult with the army chief.

He wanted to know if the military was quietly engineering the twin protest movements by cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan and activist cleric Tahir ul-Qadri, or if, perhaps, it was preparing to stage a coup.

According to a government insider with a first-hand account of the meeting, Sharif’s envoys returned with good news and bad: there will be no coup, but if he wants his government to survive, from now on it will have to “share space with the army”.

Even if, as seems likely, the Khan and Qadri protests eventually fizzle out due to a lack of overt support from the military, the prime minister will emerge weakened from the crisis.

The army may have saved his skin, but its price will be subservience to the generals on issues he wanted to handle himself — from the fight against the Taliban to relations with arch foe India and Pakistan’s role in neighbouring, post-NATO Afghanistan.

“The biggest loser will be Nawaz, cut down to size both by puny political rivals and the powerful army,” said a government minister who asked not to be named. “From this moment on, he’ll always be looking over his shoulder.”

A year ago, few would have predicted that Sharif would be in such trouble: back then, he had just swept to power for a third time in a milestone poll that marked nuclear-armed Pakistan’s first transition from one elected government to another.

But in the months that followed, Sharif — who had crossed swords with the army in the past — moved to enhance the clout of the civilian government in a country that has been ruled by the military for more than half of its turbulent history.

He irked the generals by putting former military head Pervez Musharraf, who had abruptly ended his last stint as prime minister in a 1999 coup, on trial for treason.

Sharif also opposed a military offensive to crush Taliban insurgents, sided with a media group that had accused the military of shooting one of its journalists and sought reconciliation with India, the perceived threat that the army uses to justify its huge budget and national importance.

India rapprochement at risk

Sources in Sharif’s government said that, with civilian-military relations in such bad shape, Sharif suspected that the street protests to unseat him were being manipulated from behind the scenes by the army.

He also feared that, if the agitations turned violent, the army would exploit the situation to seize power for itself.

However, the two close aides who went to see army chief Raheel Sharif in the garrison town of Rawalpindi last Wednesday were told that the military had no intention of intervening.

“The military does not intend to carry out a coup but … if the government wants to get through its many problems and the four remaining years of its term, it has to share space with the army,” said the insider, summing up the message they were given.

“Sharing space” is a familiar euphemism for civilian governments focusing narrowly on domestic political affairs and leaving security and strategic policy to the army.

The army’s media wing declined to comment on the meeting.

The fact that the military is back in the driving seat will make it harder for Sharif to deliver the rapprochement with India that he promised when he won the election last year.

Indian media speculated this week that Sharif had already been forced by the generals to scuttle peace talks.

New Delhi on Monday called off a meeting between foreign ministry officials of the two countries, which had been set to take place on August 25, because Pakistan announced its intention to consult Kashmiri separatists ahead of the meeting.

The Pakistani army’s predominance could also mean it could torpedo the government’s relationship with Afghanistan, where a regional jostle for influence is expected to intensify after the withdrawal of most foreign forces at the end of this year.

Paying the price

Few believed that the army would back Khan’s bid for power even if it used him to put Sharif on the defensive.

“Even the army knows that Imran Khan may be a great pressure cooker in the kitchen, but you can’t trust him to be the chef,” said a former intelligence chief who declined to be named.

Sharif may now pay the price for miscalculating that the military might have been willing to let the one-time cricket hero topple him.

“Thinking that Imran could be a game-changer, Nawaz has conceded the maximum to the army,” a Sharif aide said.

“From a czar-like prime minister, they (the army) have reduced him to a deputy commissioner-type character who will deal with the day-to-day running of the country while they take care of the important stuff like Afghanistan and India. This is not a small loss.”

But Sharif’s aides say a stint in jail under Musharraf, followed by exile from Pakistan and five years as leader of the opposition party, have made him realize that he needs to share power to survive.

“This is not the old Nawaz, the wild confrontationalist,” said an adviser to the prime minister in Lahore, the capital of his Punjab province power base. “This is the new Nawaz who has learnt the hard way that politics is about living to fight another day.”

Before the infestation—PALESTINE 1896

Posted on August 19, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

PALESTINE 1896

(Before the infestation)

(UPDATE)Saudi Prince Al Walid bin Tallal’s Motorcade Held-Up By Masked Robbers In Paris

Posted on August 19, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[It was indeed, Al Walid’s long motorcade that was hit, leaving Al Walid’s hotel “George V,” but His Highness Prince Al Walid bin Tallal allegedly wasn’t in the entourage. French press accounts claim that the royal involved in the attack was notorious playboy prince Abdul Aziz bin Fahd, son of the late King Fahd. Abdul Aziz is widely known for his alleged rape of two women and the trial in 2012. Abdul Aziz is alleged to be close friends to Saad Hariri, even though Lebanese/Saudi Prince Alaweed is considered to be Hariri’s number one political and economic competitor in Lebanon. This explains to us that Abdul Aziz was probably acting as an intermediary between the wealthy prince entrepreneur and the son of Lebanon’s political hierarchy.

The reported “missing documents” were undoubtedly the objective of the militarily precise raid by masked assailants, bearing AK-47s in downtown Paris]

“Saudi prince Walid bin Talal, Hariri’s opponent both in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia…”—Joseph Rustom: Conceiving Places of Worship in Postwar Beirut

Ben Talal Hariri meeting in Paris

George V owned by Alaweed’s Kingdom Holding Company

“The historically competing interests of two political and economic titans: Saudi Prince, HRH Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the late Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafic Hariri. Both were simultaneously partners in Medgulf – as Aziziah and Saudi Oger respectively – and both, Zein states, “were always at odds.””–Steely Resolve

Saudi Prince pointed to Paris would be close to Saad Hariri

In the press Abdel Aziz bin Fahd “is one of those wealthy rentier regime, turned into businessmen pulling dividends apartment complexes in the United States and Europe.”

“Who is the Saudi prince pointed at the gates of Paris?” wonders Le Monde on Tuesday, two days after the armed attack that a Saudi prince has been the victim Porte de la Chapelle.

In the columns of French daily, we learn that this is Fahd Ben Abdel Aziz, a son of the late King Fahd, he is 41 years old, he “is one of those wealthy rentier regime, turned into businessmen pulling dividends apartment complexes in the United States and Europe. “ It is also learned that the prince “is considered a playboy, and is considered by experts as a member of the” second circle “of Saudi Arabia, less close to the government.”

World journalists also claim that when he goes to Paris, Prince “often found Saad Hariri.”

In an article dated February 2012 devoted to charges against a relative of the prince, the New York Times states that “the links between Saudi Oger and Prince are known in Saudi Arabia.” Founded by Rafik Hariri, Saudi Oger is now led by Saad Hariri.

Prince Abdul Aziz bin Fahd. Joseph Barak / Archives AFP

This is a squad of armed men, “clearly informed” who robbed Sunday night the convoy of Saudi prince, an unprecedented attack on Paris. The convoy consists of ten cars had left the hotel George V on the Champs-Elysees, one of the most luxurious of the capital belonging to the group Kingdom Holding of Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal palaces, and went to Le Bourget (Seine-Saint-Denis) airport. It was attacked around 9:00 p.m. at the Porte de la Chapelle, in northern Paris. The “declared prejudice (east) of 250,000 euros,” said a police source, that there are no injuries. According to a source close to the case, diplomatic documents were also stolen. “But for now, we have no details on the nature of these documents. It can equally well be sensitive documents as unimportant papers,” said she told AFP. Targeted by car commando “five to eight robbers,” holders of handguns, according to another police source, was a support vehicle and opened this impressive convoy.

Like many members of the royal family to Paris on a spree, says Le Monde, Prince is housed in palaces overlooking the Eiffel Tower where “upon arrival, their Lebanese and Egyptian intermediaries bring up to them all kinds of canvassers, jewelers, carpet dealers or real estate agents. “ And invoices are often settled in cash.

Now, Because of ISIS, When the Syrian Terrorists/Rebels Beg for Air Support, the World Will Listen

Posted on August 18, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[Between the following two reports on the same event–Syrian warplanes bombing in Raqqa— we have an obvious breakdown of communications between what’s left of the Free Syrian Army and their Saudi patrons.

Syrian warplanes hammer ISIS targets in Raqqa
Assad’s Air Force Hammers Al Raqqa, 11 Killed

The first report from Saudi-owned Alarabiya press reflects the latest Saudi position–ISIS is evil and all govts want to get rid of them–while the report bearing the logo of the National Coalition of Syria is not on the same page as the rest of the world, still blaming Assad for “killing civilians,” indicating a lapse in command from Saudi to Syrians.

We all want the same thing–all available bombers striking Islamic State positions–as indicated by the main article in this report from Qatar’s Al Jazeera. Now that everybody is supporting the anti-ISIS position, the US wants the Syrian rebels to beg the world to bomb ISIS for them (since nobody is willing to bomb Bashar Asad).

Since the Islamic State began to ooze its particular brand of stench in the Levant, the bigger war seems to have been going Obama’s way. I have always said that the Pentagon’s primary intention was to create such a fearsome, or repulsive situation, one that was so big that only a “Superpower” could handle it.

We have all been played for suckers. The Caliphate is no bigger than the surrounding states’ capabilities for to destroy them, in other words, ISIS is a controlled “threat” that has been blown way out of proportion by the Western/Arab press.]

US ‘told Syria rebels’ to seek intervention

Washington wants opposition to call on international community for support in fighting Islamic State group, sources say.

US officials have asked the Syrian opposition to call on the international community to hit positions belonging to the Islamic State group and help rebels eliminate the self-declared jihadists, Al Jazeera has learned from sources inside the opposition.

The Syrian National Coalition, the main political opposition bloc, and the leadership of the Free Syrian Army, a loose conglomeration of armed rebel, are expected to make the appeal from Turkey on Saturday, the sources said.

The news come as the US is carrying out air strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq and a day after the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution that aims to weaken the Islamic State and al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s Syria branch.

Commenting on the resolution, the Syrian Coalition’s Special Representative to the UN, Najib Ghadbian, said: “The Syrian Coalition calls for targeted air strikes in Syria. Strikes should be backed up by intensive train and equip programmes for the moderate Syrian opposition forces that have been effectively fighting ISIS [Islamic State] for over a year.”

Another member of the coalition told Al Jazeera that the group was “getting different promises” from the US.

The Islamic State, an al-Qaeda splinter group, has in the recent months seized swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria and declared a caliphate.

In Syria, the group enforced its rule in the province of Raqqa and other eastern parts of the country through conducting public executions and imposing strict social codes that have many residents living in fear while others have been forced to flee their homes.

Activists who stood up against the rule of the Islamic State have been met by a brutal crackdown. Many of those activists had already been campaigning for the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s rule since 2011.

Opposition politicians in exile have expressed dismay as to why three years of bloodshed has not led to the same rapid response by the international community as the escalating crisis in Iraq.

The Islamic State’s swift push to the borders of Iraq’s autonomous ethnic Kurdish region and towards Baghdad prompted President Barack Obama to authorise airstrikes on the group’s strongholds earlier this month. Since then, US military aircraft have carried out several bombings and air-dropped food and water to help tens of thousands of civilians fleeing the fighters’ advance.

On Saturday morning, the US launched more air strikes on positions belonging to the Islamic State in northern Iraq, according to the Kurdish news agency Roodaw.

Sanctions against ’emirs’

Friday’s resolution named six people who will be subject to an international travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo, including Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, an Iraqi described by UN experts as one of the group’s “most influential emirs” and close to its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The Security Council resolution “deplores and condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist acts of ISIL [Islamic State] and its violent extremist ideology, and its continued gross, systematic and widespread abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law”.

The resolution, drafted by Britain, condemned the recruitment of foreign fighters and expressed readiness to blacklist people financing or facilitating travel of foreign fighters.

The resolution is under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which makes it legally binding for UN member states and gives the council authority to enforce decisions with economic sanctions or force. However, it does not mandate military force to tackle the fighters.

Order Out Of Chaos–The Doctrine That Runs The World

Posted on August 17, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Order Out Of Chaos: The Doctrine That Runs The World

Brandon Smith

“From the days of Spartacus-Weishaupt to those of Karl Marx, and down to Trotsky (Russia), Bela Kun (Hungary), Rosa Luxembourg (Germany), and Emma Goldman (United States), this world-wide conspiracy for the overthrow of civilization and for the reconstitution of society on the basis of arrested development, of envious malevolence, and impossible equality, has been steadily growing. It played, as a modern writer, Mrs. Webster, has so ably shown, a definitely recognizable part in the tragedy of the French Revolution. It has been the mainspring of every subversive movement during the Nineteenth Century; and now at last this band of extraordinary personalities from the underworld of the great cities of Europe and America have gripped the Russian people by the hair of their heads and have become practically the undisputed masters of that enormous empire.”

– Winston Churchill, February 1920, in an article that appeared in the Illustrated Sunday Herald

The concept of conspiracy frightens some people, so much so that they are willing to overlook any and all evidence that world events are for the most part directed, rather than chaotic and coincidental. For those who are uneducated and unaware, explanations for the terrible tides of politics and war generally revolve around a false understanding of Occam’s razor. They argue that the theory states that the “simplest explanation” is usually the correct one for any particular problem or crisis. But Occam’s razor actually states that the simplest explanation according to the evidence at hand is usually the correct answer for any given problem. That is to say, the simplest explanation must conform to the evidence, or it is likely not correct.

Unfortunately, “skeptics” of directed conspiracy often turn a blind eye to evidence that is contrary to their simple explanations, while arguing that simplification is its own vindication. In other words, they don’t feel the need to defend their simplistic world view because, in their minds, simplicity stands on its own as self-evident. There was a time when men believed that the planets revolved around each other because they were tied together by long glass strings, and this was evident to them because it was the simplest explanation they could come up with. The thinking of skeptics of the New World Order and concerted globalization is much like this.

The most common argument they tend to exploit is that the world is far too “chaotic” and that if the elites are actually seeking a fully centralized one-world system, they are “failing miserably” because so many cultures are so clearly divided. For anyone who holds this argument as logical or practical, first I would suggest they look beyond the surface of the various conflicts at the similarities between these so called “enemies.”

For example, what about the United States versus Russia? These two nations have a long history of opposing ideologies and have come close to war time and time again. Certainly, average Americans see themselves as individualists and Russians as socialist or communist. Average Russians see Americans as capitalist imperialists and see themselves as humanists. But what about their respective governments? What about their respective financiers and oligarchs? Do they really see each other as enemies?

If that were so, then why did American Wall Street tycoons and the U.S. military aid the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917?

A false paradigm was created when internationalists supported the Bolshevik Revolution and allowed Russia to become a communist-held country. The eventual Cold War that resulted created the rationale used by the military-industrial complex to build a massive standing army (which is not part of the U.S. Constitution), an army which could then be sent around the world to subdue various nations and even possibly be used to oppress the American people.

Even today, the false East/West paradigm continues, with America painted as the bumbling villain and Russia painted as the stalwart and reasonable objector. Yet Russia’s top government officials and our top government officials work closely with and answer to the same international financiers and elites, like the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of International Settlements, as I outlined in great detail in False East/West Paradigm Hides The Rise Of Global Currency and Russia Is Dominated By Global Banks, Too.

Even closer to current events, the U.S. has now entered into military operations against ISIS insurgents moving rapidly through Iraq’s northern regions toward Baghdad. However, if ISIS is the enemy, why did the U.S. and our ally, Saudi Arabia, support and train ISIS agents in Syria as well as Iraq?

Is it just irony that our government helped birth ISIS and now the White House is at war with the group? Or is it possible that maybe, just maybe, a greater plan is afoot?

As the sinister Rahm Emanuel famously said: “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”

If a crisis of opportunity does not present itself in the time frame you need, why not ENGINEER a crisis to fit your goals? This is a tactic that has been used by elites for generations, and it is called the Hegelian dialectic.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s work was the very foundation of the collectivist/socialist ideology, and it inspired Karl Marx during his writing of The Communist Manifesto. Hegel was an avid statist who believed that the collective must be ruled and directed by centralized governance and that all individualism should be sacrificed for the greater good.

Hegel wrote that the state “has supreme right against the individual, whose supreme duty is to be a member of the State… for the right of the world spirit is above all special privileges.”

In his dialectic theory, Hegel conjured a strategy by which the establishment elites could control the masses through deliberately created division. To define the Hegelian dialectic method simply, the ruling body must first trigger a problem or crisis that causes the citizenry to react with fear and demand a solution. The rulers then offer a solution, which they had already predetermined before they had started the crisis; this solution would usually entail more power for the elites and less freedom for the citizens.

The world appears divided and chaotic exactly because it has been MADE that way by a select few in the globalist establishment. In fact, if you were to name any war in the past 100 years, any competent alternative analyst would easily produce undeniable evidence of the involvement of international banks and think tanks pulling strings on both sides.

If you don’t understand the concept of “order out of chaos,” then you’ll never understand a thing.

Engineered chaos serves several purposes. It provides distraction and cover for the elites to implement other plans that they would rather not have noticed.

It also provides a scapegoat for the masses, who are now divided against each other. When violent changes are implemented that produce destructive consequences, the people must be placated with an easily identifiable villain. Certain changes globalists wish to make in the way the world functions require the careful exploitation of scapegoats.

For example, the globalists at the IMF have been discussing the establishment of a global basket currency for years to replace the U.S. dollar.

Russia and the East have also, conveniently, been calling for the IMF to replace the dollar with their Special Drawing Rights basket.

And finally, as well as conveniently, the elites in the U.S. government have launched a controlled coup in Ukraine and initiated direct economic confrontation with Russia, thereby giving the East the perfect excuse to dump the U.S. dollar as world reserve and replace it with a basket currency system under the IMF. Despite claims that Vladimir Putin is “anti-globalist,” the Russian is in fact an avid supporter of the IMF, and has stated his goal is to continue Russia’s IMF membership in a larger capacity:

“In the BRICS case we see a whole set of coinciding strategic interests. First of all, this is the common intention to reform the international monetary and financial system. In the present form it is unjust to the BRICS countries and to new economies in general. We should take a more active part in the IMF and the World Bank’s decision-making system. The international monetary system itself depends a lot on the US dollar, or, to be precise, on the monetary and financial policy of the US authorities. The BRICS countries want to change this.”

Yes, Vladimir, and so do the manipulative social engineers at the IMF…

Hopefully, you have the sense to see how this works: problem, reaction, solution. Economic or physical war is launched between East and West, while the dollar is killed in the process. The masses react by demanding a fair and balanced replacement for the dollar as world reserve so that economic stability can return. The Americans blame Russia and the East for their fiscal misfortune. The East blames the hubris of the West for its own downfall. Neither side blames the banksters, who started the whole calamity to begin with. And the elites swoop in as saviors with a new Bretton Woods-style agreement to appease all sides and cement their global currency system, the system they had always wanted. And with a global economic currency and authority in place, global governance is not far behind — order out of chaos.

This process is more psychological than political in its goals. One could argue that if the elites already have control of all central banks and governments, then why do they need a global government? The answer is that these men do not want secret global governance, they want open global governance. They want us to ACCEPT the idea as a fact of existence, for only when we agree to participate in the lie will they then have truly won.

The end result of World War I was the creation of the League of Nations and the argument that sovereignty leads to disunion and catastrophe. World War II led to the creation of the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund. I believe that a third world war is nearly upon us, one that may involve weapons of monetary destruction more so than weapons of mass destruction. Each supposed disintegration of global unity has eventually led to greater centralization, and this is something the skeptics seem to forget. The progression of crises suggests that the next war will lead to total globalization under the dominance of a minority of elitists posing as “wise men” who only wish to bring peace and harmony to the masses. In the meantime, the skeptics will continue to mindlessly debate in the face of all reason that the whole thing was a fluke, an act of random mathematical chance, leading coincidentally to the one thing the establishment rulers crave: total global totalitarian micromanagement.

You can contact Brandon Smith at: brandon@alt-market.com

Maronite Patriarch Says East and West must stop financing terrorism

Posted on August 17, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Rai: East and West must stop financing terrorism

BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai called on eastern and western states to stop funding terrorism Sunday, urging them to stop sending militants to battle in Iraq and Syria.

Rai renewed his appeal to the international community to stop financing terrorist organizations with money and weapons.

The Patriarch also urged states to cease “from sending mercenaries to demolish, murder and displace” innocent citizens in Syria and Iraq.

“The Arab League, the United Nations, the Security Council and the International Criminal Court should join the fight against terrorist organizations and protect religious minorities,” said Rai during Sunday Mass at his summer residence in Diman.

Rai urged international organizations to assist in returning the Christians of Mosul to their homes and to observe the protection of all their rights.

Rai also said that he is set to visit Christians expelled from Mosul and Nineveh in the next couple of days.

With respect to ISF and Army members captured by Syrian militants during the Arsal clashes, Rai prayed that “God would enable the government to liberate detainees from the military and Internal Security Forces.”

The patriarch lauded the principles of diversity and coexistence that are characteristic of the National Pact on Saturday night, saying that all components of Lebanese society constitute an added value to a united national fabric.

“The National Pact is like the spirit of the Lebanese entity,” said Rai, highlighting that it is based on a rejection of religious theocracy as well as atheistic secularization.

The patriarch spoke on the core principles of the National Pact, saying that the Lebanese have embodied all its components through an equal power sharing formula between Christians and Muslims in the fields of governance and administration.

Rai said that the Lebanon “is fully independent, with an Arabic identity and belonging.”

“ Lebanon collaborates with Arab and foreign countries while keeping a balance between both,” he added, saying that Lebanon grants neither entities guardianship nor privilege over the country.

During a graduation ceremony hosted in Biel in Downtown Beirut, seventy students from the Lebanese diaspora were awarded certificates that would allow them to receive a Lebanese citizenship from the respective embassy or consulate in their home state.

“Citizenship will give you and generations after you, all civil rights, and will keep [official] records of your names,” he said.

“The immigrant cannot be equal to the deceased,” Rai added, saying that members of the Lebanese diaspora ought to be recorded in official records.

The National Pact, set up by Christians and Muslims in 1943, is a charter that lays down the principles of coexistence between the two religions.

White Phosphorus Incendiary Shelling of Civilians In Donetsk

Posted on August 16, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Kyiv Dispatches Rival Aid Convoy, As Russian Relief Caravan Waits At Ukrainian Border

Posted on August 15, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Rival convoy: Ukraine has also dispatched its own fleet of trucks to Lugansk, pictured above being dispatched from the capital Kiev

Now armoured personnel carriers join the Russian aid convoy as shelling of besieged rebel city stepped up

Heavier Russian military presence was seen today around the fleet of 262 trucks, parked near the border
Russians say the vehicles are carrying food and supplies for besieged rebel regions – but Ukraine demanded checks
Shells kept raining down on stronghold city of Donetsk, which city council says killed 11 people yesterday
Armoured personnel carriers also seen driving into Ukraine ahead of the convoy – which Moscow had denied

By Kieran Corcoran For Mailonline

Armoured personnel carriers have joined a controversial Russian ‘aid convoy’ parked outside the Ukrainian border, as Kiev sends its own inspectors into Russia amid diplomatic tensions

The Russian military presence around the convoy became more evident today, as the Ukrainian government said it had sent in ‘large numbers’ of border guards to verify the contents of the 262 trucks – which Russia says are full of food and other essentials such as sleeping bags for the rebel city of Lugansk, which is without food, electricity or water.

Rows on rows of the trucks came to a standstill in a field by the border town of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky yesterday, after Ukrainian prime minister Petro Poroshenko insisted his government be allowed to inspect the cargo, and that anything less would be considered an act of war.

It came as shelling of the rebel stronghold city of Donetsk intensified, where artillery fire killed 11 people yesterday. Many of the city’s million-strong population have taken to makeshift bomb shelters and are facing shortages of water and electricity, according to relief agencies.

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Military presence: Russian Armoured Personnel Carriers line up near the Ukrainian border region of Russia, where the aid convoy has been parked since yesterday

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Standstill: The fleet of 262 trucks – which the Russians say are stacked with food, sleeping bags and electricity generators – have been waiting since yesterday to cross

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Tensions: Ukraine has demanded to be allowed to inspect the trucks, some of which are reportedly almost empty

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Panorama: The trucks have spent three days on their journey to Ukraine from Russia, and have yet to pass into the country due to a demand for inspections

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Cargo? The left truck appears not to be carrying a significant amount of cargo, while the right one is filled with sacks of aid

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Just milk: A soldier, standing in a truck which is not heavily loaded, shows a tin of condensed milk – part of the promised aid shipment – to waiting photographers

The city’s council announced the new deaths this morning after a night of fierce fighting in the centre and west of the industrial city. Yesterday they said that 74 Donetsk residents had been killed since Monday.

The fate of the Russian convoy now seems more hopeful, after Ukrainian news sources reported that the cargo is now set to pass into the country through the Izvaryne crossing, under the management of Ukraine and European monitors.

But in a bizarre twist it emerged that some of the trucks are practically empty. Reporters allowed inside the vehicles saw stacks of just a few boxes, or isolated bags of grain in the huge cargo holds.

Drivers at the scene claimed the trucks were underfilled in case some vehicles broke down and needed to hand over their freight.

Kiev has also dispatched its own convoy of 75 aid trucks to the region.

However, reporters travelling with the convoy said as many as a dozen military vehicles drove straight across the border last night without waiting for inspectors. A correspondent for the Telegraph said the vehicles ‘didn’t even turn off their headlights’.

Ukraine has long claimed that this sort of incursion happens constantly, though Moscow denies it. A Ukrainian spokesman yesterday said: ‘These movements into take place practically every day with the aim of provoking [Ukraine]. Last night was no exception. Some armoured vehicles came across. We are checking on the quantity and the number of people who came over.’

Ukraine has expressed fears that Russia could use the aid shipment as cover for a military incursion in support of the separatists and threatened to use all means necessary to block the convoy if Ukrainian officials and the Red Cross were not allowed to inspect the cargo.

The Ukrainian government threatened to use all means available to block the convoy if the Red Cross was not allowed to inspect the cargo. Such an inspection would ease concerns that Russia could use the aid shipment as cover for a military incursion in support of the separatists, who have come under growing pressure from government troops.

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Heavy arms: A Ukrainian soldier sits atop a self-propelled artillery gun headed towards Donetsk, which has been shelled for several days

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Heavy weapons: The Ukrainian artillery pieces were pictured rolling towards Donetsk yesterday as the Kiev government put more pressure on the rebel forces

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Angled for destruction: A Ukrainian fighter poises a mortar cannon in a field near Illoviask, a town near Donetsk which has also been under fire

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Emplacements: Row on row of mortars, and boxes full of ammunition, were arrayed in the field yesterday at sunset as the offensive intensified

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Fields aflame: Ukrainian soldiers patrol the roads as the destruction wrought by artillery cannon can be seen in the distance

The Russian convoy set out Thursday morning from a military depot in the southern Russian city of Voronezh where it had been parked since late Tuesday. Moscow says the convoy has 262 vehicles, including about 200 trucks carrying aid.

The white trucks, some flying the red flag of Moscow and escorted by military vehicles, drove down a winding highway through sunflower fields and then turned west toward the rebel-held border crossing of Izvaryne.

But about 17 miles from the border, the trucks pulled off and parked in a large field where dozens of beige tents had been set up. Drivers in matching khaki shorts and shirts piled out stopped for the night.

The route suggested Russia has decided not to abide by a tentative agreement to deliver aid to a government-controlled border checkpoint in the Kharkiv region, where it could more easily be inspected by Ukraine and the Red Cross.

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Stopped: The trucks halted less than 20 miles from the Russian border. Russians authorities say they are full of food, sleeping bags and emergency generators

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Downtime: The drivers of the trucks, all dressed in the same tan t-shirts and shorts, amassed outside their trucks near Kamensk-Shakhtinsky after being ordered to stop

Ukraine fears the convoy could be a pretext for a Russian military invasion or further support for the pro-Russian rebels it has been fighting since April.

After a clumsy and ineffectual start, Ukraine’s forces have taken back much of the territory once held by rebels.

As the circle around the separatists tightens, two of their top figures have resigned in the past week. On Thursday, the rebel Donetsk People’s Republic said its defense minister Igor Girkin had resigned.

Both Girkin and former rebel prime minister Alexander Borodai, who was replaced last week, are Russians and both were replaced by Ukrainians. Those moves could indicate an attempt by the separatists to distance themselves from allegations by Kiev and the West that Russia supports or directs the insurgency, charges that Russia denies.

Moscow has insisted it coordinated the dispatch of the goods – which it says range from baby food and canned meat to portable generators and sleeping bags – with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

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Rolling: The Ukrainian government dispatched its own convoy as tensions rose over the destination – and cargo – of the 262 Russian trucks

ICRC spokeswoman Anastasia Isyuk said talks were continuing but she could not confirm where the Russian convoy was headed.

‘The plans keep changing, the discussions are going ahead and we will not confirm for sure until we know an agreement has been reached,’ Isyuk said in Geneva.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, addressed hundreds of lawmakers Thursday in the Black Sea resort of Yalta in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in March. He did not speak specifically about the convoy.

In a relatively subdued address, Putin said only that his goal was ‘to stop bloodshed in Ukraine as soon as possible.’ Moscow should improve life in Ukraine ‘without building a wall from the West,’ he said, but asserted that Russia would ‘not allow anyone to treat us with arrogance.’

Iraq’s PM Maliki gives up his post

Posted on August 15, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Iraq’s PM Maliki gives up his post, supports his successor Abadi

Iraq’s Prime Minister Nour al-Maliki (Reuters / Thaier Al-Sudani)

Iraq’s Nouri al-Maliki has announced his resignation from the post of Prime Minister of the embattled state in a speech on state television. He said that he supported his nominated replacement in the post, Haider al-Abadi.

Nouri al-Maliki has surrendered his power in face of the ISIS onslaught in Iraq and now supports his replacement, Haider al-Abadi that was nominated by the country’s president on Monday.

“It is my duty to fix any mistake that may impede on constitution process,” Maliki said in his televised address to the nation, cited by Al Arabiya.The outgoing PM defended his time in office claiming that he has “opened up Iraq to the world” and has chosen from the beginning to “distance” himself from using force.

“I am not the only target, all of Iraq is,” he said claiming that ISIS’ power stems from the Syrian conflict. “The Syrian conflict paved the way to re-define the political map of the region,” Maliki stated.

“I withdraw my candidacy for PM in favor of Abadi to safeguard the unity & stability of Iraq, political process,” Maliki wrote on his Facebook page before the address.

Maliki has been facing pressure to step aside for a new leader who would be capable of countering Islamic State militants – the biggest security threat in the country.

Newly elected Iraqi parliament speaker Salim al-Juburi (L) watching as Iraqi President Fuad Masum (2nd L) shakes hands with deputy parliamentary speaker Haidar al-Abadi (R), (AFP Photo / Iraqi Prsident Office)

“Maliki will withdraw the complaint against the president and will back the prime minister designate,” his spokesman Ali Mussawi told AFP earlier.

Al-Maliki has been struggling for months to stay for a third four-year term as PM of the country after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. He has been widely criticized for his pro-Shiite stance that resulted in the marginalization of the Sunni minority, leading to wide discontent in the country.

The pressure from criticism reached a boiling point at the start of the week when the Shiite political alliance backed Haider al-Abadi, to replace him. On Monday Iraqi President Fouad Massoum nominated al-Abadi to form the next government and has given him 30 days to do so. Maliki initially refused to step aside saying that such a move violated the constitution.

The international community also applied vast pressure on Maliki to step down by endorsing the new PM. The Security Council on Wednesday urged Iraq’s new PM to form an inclusive government to preserve state integrity and ease sectarian tensions.

Haider Al-Abadi, in a UN Security Council statement, is asked “to work swiftly to form such a government as quickly as possible and within the constitutional time-frame” and called on “all political parties and their supporters to remain calm and respect the political process governed by the Constitution.”

“We urge him to form a new cabinet as urgently as possible, and the US does stand ready to fully support a new and inclusive Iraqi government,” US Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday.

The UN has declared the highest level of emergency in Iraq on Wednesday as the ISIS advance threatens minority groups in the country. Thousands of mainly Yazidi refugees left Mount Sinjar and fled to a camp just over the border in Syria that the International Rescue Committee is setting up.

Earlier on Tuesday, the UN Human Rights office said it received “verified reports” that the Islamic State is systematically hunting down members of minority groups who remain trapped in areas under their control and giving them the ultimatum, “convert or die,” stated Christof Heyns, UN Special Rapporteur.

Last week it was reported that extremists from the Islamic State have killed at least 500 people, including women and children, Iraqi officials said. Some of the victims were buried alive.

In addition, ISIS militants have taken over large parts of the country and now control at least 5 oil fields and almost half of Iraq’s wheat crop.

The Islamic State has gained significant ground in both Syria and Iraq after its initial assault on the city of Mosul in mid-June. The group has since declared the creation of an Islamic state, or caliphate, straddling the Iraq-Syria border. Its presence continues to hang over the Iraqi capital Baghdad, although it seems to have halted after capturing key Sunni areas. ISIS has also been gaining ground in the autonomous region of Kurdistan.

The group is famous for torture, public punishments and executions of anyone so much as daring to deviate from the strict form of Islam it propagates.

Pentagon Takes Credit After Syrian Kurds Save Yazidis Held Hostage By ISIS

Posted on August 14, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Sinjar’s fall on Aug. 3

After taking Sinjar, IS draws Iraqi Kurds into full-scale war–Aug.7

Iraq ISIS Airstrike Sinjar—Aug 08, 2014

Why the US is bombing ISIS in Iraq–Aug 08, 2014

TURKISH MILITARY DENIES ‘WARPLANES OVER IRAQ’ CLAIM–Aug. 8

Syrian Kurdish fighters rescue stranded Yazidis

Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, who fled the violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, flash signs as they take part in a demonstration at the Iraqi-Syrian border crossing in Fishkhabour, Dohuk province, August 13, 2014.

US Military Team Lands on Mt. Sinjar in Iraq to Assess Yazidi Crisis

US: Evacuation Mission of Refugees on Iraqi Mountain Now ‘Less Likely’

U.S. declares Yazidi intervention a success,

….says rescue mission unneeded.

3 Former French PMs Urge Hollande To Undertake New Crusade–“A mission of protection of the Eastern Christians”

Posted on August 13, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Middle East: the letter Fillon, Juppe and Raffarin in Holland

By François Fillon (former Prime Minister), Alain Juppe (former prime minister) and Jean-Pierre Raffarin (former Prime Minister)

Les trois anciens premiers ministres UMP François Fillon, Jean-Pierre Raffarin et Alain Juppé appellent la France à répondre aux urgences humanitaires en Irak et à Gaza.

The Middle East is burning and Europe look elsewhere. All the fragile balance of this region are challenged. The United States and Russia have lost much of their influence. New powers are emerging: the Iran , the Turkey . The Arab states are weakened by disorders that affect their company s. The result is a resurgence of sectarian conflict between Shiites and Sunnis with its dramatic consequences on the Christian minorities of the East. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is in a bloody stalemate in Gaza.

Europe not only has the duty to intervene , it is his interest: we have, for five centuries, a mission of protection of the Eastern Christians we need to take . The crater opened in Syria and that of Iraq feed French-European terrorist threat that tomorrow can have dangerous consequences on the security of our country and of Europe. Finally, the area is vital to our energy security.

SOLID COMMITMENT NEEDED

For two years, the policy French foreign oscillates in the Middle East between passivity and conformism. That of Europe is unreadable. We can not we be content to be spectators incurred before the tragedy that ties our eyes: we must respond without waiting to humanitarian emergencies in Gaza and Iraq.

Indeed, there are reports of 200,000 people, mostly Christian, which should help emergency in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Initiatives of France and Great Britain in the right direction, but they are insufficient. It is a massive commitment of the European Union is necessary and this is now! The question of the reception of refugees of the conflict in our country must be resolved collectively. Our support for military action to stop the advance of jihad must be unambiguous. Finally, we must take into account new geopolitical balances and involve Turkey, Iran and the Gulf countries to resolve the crisis.

Only heads of state and government can give the diplomacy European legitimacy and strength to act . Only the commitment of Heads of State and Government can afford to engage regional dialogue without which no solution can emerge .

The summer break can not be an obstacle to a general mobilization of Europeans without which the dramas that the Christians of Iraq, Syria and the civilian population of Gaza are likely to become detonators of a serious global crisis that permanently affect our future common. The temptation to violence and war springs from the weakness of diplomacy. The return to a singular diplomacy unaligned but catchy, especially for Europe, remains to France how to fulfill its mission.

TRAGEDY IN OUR DOORS

Today, Mr. Speaker, for emergencies on the international scene, France, to make hear his voice, must have the audacity of the initiative and ask the meeting without delay an extraordinary European Council, and propose to Agenda to reaffirm the need for a cease-fire and a humanitarian program for Palestinians in Gaza, the immediate release of a massive program of aid humanitarian displaced populations in Iraq, support American strikes against Iraqi jihadists, a collective policy of supplying arms to Kurdish fighters as the only bulwark against the massacre of Christians in Iraq and meeting emergency involving a regional conference including Turkey, Iran and Qatar , which alone can still stop the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

The opposition is more than ever a need for modesty. And our place probably requires a lot of action. It prohibits us many keep silent. Because, for the tragedies that unfold before our eyes if not around the corner, France itself has the duty to do hear his voice. At the risk of dishonor.

François Fillon Alain Juppé and Jean-Pierre Raffarin are co-chairs of the UMP acting.

François Fillon (former Prime Minister)

Alain Juppé (former Prime Minister)

Jean-Pierre Raffarin (former Prime Minister)

* * * * * * * * * *

Proche-Orient : la lettre de Fillon, Juppé et Raffarin à Hollande

LE MONDE

Le Proche-Orient brûle et l’Europe regarde ailleurs. Tous les fragiles équilibres de cette région sont remis en cause. Les Etats-Unis et la Russie y ont perdu une grande partie de leur influence. De nouvelles puissances émergent : l’Iran, la Turquie. Les Etats arabes sont affaiblis par les désordres qui affectent leurs sociétés. Il en résulte une résurgence du conflit religieux entre chiites et sunnites avec ses conséquences dramatiques sur les minorités chrétiennes d’Orient. Le conflit israélo-palestinien est dans une impasse sanglante à Gaza.

L’Europe n’a pas seulement le devoir d’intervenir, c’est son intérêt : nous avons, depuis cinq siècles, une mission de protection des chrétiens d’Orient que nous devons assumer. Le cratère ouvert en Syrie et celui de l’Irak nourrissent une menace terroriste franco-européenne qui, demain, peut avoir des conséquences redoutables sur la sécurité de notre pays et de l’Europe. Enfin, la zone est capitale pour notre sécurité énergétique.

UN ENGAGEMENT MASSIF NÉCESSAIRE

Depuis deux ans, la politique étrangère française oscille au Proche-Orient entre passivité et suivisme. Celle de l’Europe y est illisible. Nous ne pouvons pas nous contenter d’être des spectateurs engagés devant le drame qui se noue sous nos yeux : nous devons répondre sans attendre aux urgences humanitaires à Gaza comme en Irak.

En effet, il est fait état de 200 000 personnes, essentiellement de confession chrétienne, qu’il convient de secourir d’urgence au Kurdistan irakien.

Les initiatives de la France et de la Grande-Bretagne vont dans le bon sens, mais elles sont insuffisantes. C’est un engagement massif de l’Union européenne qui est nécessaire et c’est maintenant ! La question de l’accueil des réfugiés de ce conflit dans nos pays doit être résolue collectivement. Notre soutien aux actions militaires pour stopper l’avance des djihadistes doit être sans ambiguïté. Enfin, nous devons tenir compte des nouveaux équilibres géopolitiques et associer la Turquie, l’Iran et les pays du Golfe à la résolution de cette crise.

Seuls les chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement peuvent donner à la diplomatie européenne la légitimité et la force nécessaires pour agir. Seul l’engagement des chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement peut permettre d’engager le dialogue régional sans lequel aucune solution ne pourra émerger.

La trêve estivale ne saurait être un obstacle à une mobilisation générale des Européens sans laquelle les drames que vivent les chrétiens d’Irak, de Syrie et les populations civiles de Gaza risquent de devenir les détonateurs d’une grave crise mondiale qui affectera durablement notre avenir commun. La tentation de la violence et de la guerre naît de la faiblesse de la diplomatie. Le retour à une diplomatie singulière, non alignée, mais entraînante, notamment pour l’Europe, reste pour la France la manière d’assumer sa mission.

TRAGÉDIE À NOS PORTES

Aujourd’hui, monsieur le Président, face aux urgences de la scène internationale, la France, pour faire entendre sa voix, doit avoir l’audace de l’initiative et demander la réunion sans délai d’un conseil européen extraordinaire, et proposer à l’ordre du jour de réaffirmer l’exigence d’un cessez-le-feu et d’un programme humanitaire pour les Palestiniens de Gaza, le déblocage immédiat d’un programme massif d’aide humanitaire aux populations déplacées en Irak, le soutien aux frappes américaines contre les djihadistes irakiens, une politique collective de fourniture d’armes aux combattants kurdes qui constituent le seul rempart contre le massacre des chrétiens d’Irak et la réunion d’urgence d’une conférence régionale associant notamment la Turquie, l’Iran et le Qatar, qui seuls peuvent encore stopper l’Etat islamique en Irak et au Levant.

L’opposition a plus que jamais un devoir de modestie. Et notre place exige sans doute beaucoup de mesure. Elle nous interdit autant de garder le silence. Parce que, face aux tragédies qui se déroulent sous nos yeux si ce n’est à nos portes, la France elle-même a le devoir de faire entendre sa voix. Au risque du déshonneur.

François Fillon, Alain Juppé et Jean-Pierre Raffarin sont coprésidents de l’UMP par intérim.

François Fillon (ancien premier ministre)

Alain Juppé (ancien premier ministre )

Jean-Pierre Raffarin (ancien premier ministre)

Obama Uses Kurds As “Kindling,” To Stoke the Iraqi Fires

Posted on August 13, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[Washington persuaded Kurds, Arabs and Sadr Shiites to sabotage Maliki’s coalition. Now, they are all begging the central govt for air support in the battle with ISIS…PRESTO!!! Washington rides to the rescue! This is how they successfully escape guilt for destabilizing the world. Despite diplomatic denials, Washington has a long history of creating terrorists as an excuse to fight terrorism….First, they trick needy, yet unwary, minority power blocks to cut their own throats, before their issues actually erupt into cross-communal violence….Then, the predator press screams “BLOODY MURDER” over the rivers of blood being spilled, just in time for the Hollywood heroes to offer their help….MORE WEAPONS are the solution, giving all sides the capability to turn the rivers of blood into vast corpuscular oceans.

IF THIS IS NOT PURE EVIL, THEN I DON’T KNOW WHAT “EVIL” IS!

The result is that now, WASHINGTON, RIYADH AND TEHERAN ARE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE, behind the guy that America has selected to execute the state (soon to be) known as “IRAQ.” Likewise in Lebanon, ALL CLAIM TO BE ON THE SAME PAGE AGAINST ISIS…

THOSE CLEVER LITTLE BASTARDS OVER AT CIA PLANNED ALL THIS FROM THE BEGINNING…PRE-911.

ALL THAT WAS NEEDED,

to create the outcome we see today–WHERE EVERYBODY SUPPORTS AMERICA’S DESTROYING AN AMERICAN-CREATED MONSTER (i.e., ISIS, “nee,” AL-QAIDA)–

was the destruction of 3 AMERICAN AIRLINERS…

a “catastrophic and catalyzing event––like a new Pearl Harbor.”

IN OTHER WORDS…BUSH, CHENEY, THE CIA, THE NEOCONS…PRACTICALLY EVERYBODY WHO WAS ANYBODY IN THE US GOVT, KNEW IN ADVANCE THAT THE NEW PEARL HARBOR WAS IN THE WORKS…NOT BY TERRORIST ENEMIES, BUT BY THE CIA, WHICH WAS PLOTTING AN AIRSTRIKE ON THE AMERICAN HOMELAND, AS THE DOORWAY TO A THIRTY-YEAR TERROR WAR.

This is a diabolic deception of incomprehensible proportions, something without precedent throughout all known human history. Obama and the CIA will surpass Hitler and his Third Reich, in the annals of the study of pathological evil, for this criminal war.]

peter.chamberlin@hotmail.com

Iraq Policy: Washington’s Puzzle Palace Keeps Getting Curiouser

by David Stockman
[Yeah, this is Reagan’s budget director, David Stockman…the guy who called Reagan’s exorbitant tax cuts a “Trojan Horse,” intended to hide the destruction hidden within Reagan’s attempt to carve-up the welfare state. Regardless of his past sins, Stockman nails the Iraq/ISIS cancer and its Presidential cause with the following report.]

Let’s count the ways. It goes without saying that Obama is now busily bombing American military equipment. Some of that equipment is pretty high tech gear and especially lethal—not the kind that jihadists ordinarily train with in their desert lairs or mountain redoubts.

But then again, ISIS got provisioned by none other than the Iraqi Army. The latter not only dropped its uniforms for civvies during the battle for Mosul, but also left behind armored Humvees, heavy artillery, night vision systems, state of the art firearms and much else of like and similar nature. Nor was this the first time that the Iraqi Army disarmed itself unilaterally. A while back they also surrendered their uniforms and guns when another American President—George W. Bush—-bombed them.

That was called “shock and awe”. Afterwards, the remnants of the Iraqi army must have found it indeed shocking and awesome that Washington immediately pivoted— after hanging the country’s leader—and spent $25 billion re-equipping and training them in brand new uniforms and with far better weapons.

Fast-forward to 2014. The hasty hand-off of these American weapons to ISIS during its June blitzkrieg was easy enough to explain. On their way out of Baghdad, the Washington “nation builders” had equipped and trained a native army so that it could defend a “nation” which did not exist. What passed for “Iraq” was some very long, straight lines drawn on a map exactly 98 years ago by the British and French foreign offices as they carved up their winnings from the Ottoman Empire. What passed for governance within these so-called Sykes-Picot boundaries was a series of kings, generals and dictators—- culminating in Saddam Hussein—-who ruled from the barrel of whatever gun had been supplied by the highest bidder among the Great Powers.

Thus, Brezhnev gave the Iraqi generals weapons in the 1970s. In the 1980s, President Reagan joined in, green lighting exports of the components and precursors for chemical weapons and providing Saddam with the satellite-based intelligence to practice using them on his “enemies” ( i.e. teenage boys in the Iranian Army) before he used them on his own people (i.e. the Kurds and the Shiite).

Not surprisingly, after the US had “liberated” Iraq from 90 years of dictatorship—democracy took hold with lightening speed subsequent to the 2011 departure of American GIs. The “rule of the majority”—that is, the Shiite majority—-soon ripped through most governmental institutions, but especially the military. In short order the “Iraqi” army became a Shiite army. Hence the precipitous surrender and flight from the battles of Mosul and other northern cities. That was Sunni and Kurd territory—–not a place where Shiite soldiers wanted to be shot dead or caught alive.

The more interesting mystery is how the ISIS fighters learned how to use Uncle Sam’s advanced weaponry so quickly. Perhaps the CIA knows. It did train several thousand anti-Assad fighters in its secret camps in Jordan in preparation for Washington’s “regime change” campaign in Syria. Undoubtedly, in the fog of war—-especially the sectarian wars in the Islamic heartland that have been raging for 13 centuries—it is difficult to have friend and foe vetted effectively.

But effective vetting or no, the purpose of training Sunni fighters in Syria was to achieve a key Washington strategic objective. Namely, to breakup and disable the fearsome “Shiite Crescent”, ranging from Hezbollah in Lebanon through Assad’s Alawite-Shiite regime in Syria to the seat of the Axis-Of-Evil itself—-the purportedly nuke seeking Shiite theocracy of Iran.

To be sure, the CIA had re-certified as recently as 2008 that the Iranians had disbanded a few incipient nuclear weapons experiments years earlier. Likewise, the medieval mullahs who rule Iran had issued fatwas against a nuclear weapons program in any form. But so great was the Shiite threat deemed to be by Washington that both Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the peace president himself announced the Assad “must go” peacefully or Washington would wage war against him. And this was all part of the grand scheme of disabling the fearsome Shiite Crescent.

Needless to say, Washington’s war on the Shiite Crescent caused a certain awkwardness in the newly “democratic” nation of Iraq. The political forces that had done the democratizing—al Maliki’s Shiite coalition—-hailed from the southern regions of the Sykes-Picot map located at the headwaters of the Persian Gulf’s hydrocarbon infused sediments. Not only did this Shiite homeland have most of Iraq’s oil reserves and host all the crucial Shiite shrines of the 7th century battles which gave rise to the great Islamic schism, but it was also geographically the crucial land-bridge between the Iranian power to the east and the balance of the Shiite Crescent to the west.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the rise of ISIS earlier this year did not result in a plea to Washington from the al-Maliki government for help. Iraq’s Grand Ayatollah Sistani not only opposed American re-entry, but issued the first fatwa since the 1920s calling upon the Shiite militias to repel the ISIS invader—just as they had been called to arms against the British 90-years back. Likewise, the al-Maliki government’s Iranian allies loudly announced “no thanks” to Washington’s offers of help, as did leaders of the Shiite street like the firebrand preacher, Motqua al-Sadr.

So the tangle thickened. Making war on the Shiite Crescent, Washington was poorly positioned to repel the ISIS hordes through local proxies because most of the candidates were aligned with the wrong side or entangled in the fictional state of Iraq. Obviously, Assad of Syria and the mullahs of Iran—-the natural state enemies of the emerging Sunni Caliphate—were not going to help because they knew full well that they were on Washington’s enemies list.

But the internal Iraqi entities were no more available. Yes, the Kurds have an army called the Peshmerga, which is comprised of motivated, seasoned fighters who’s battlefield exploits reach all the way back to the time of Saddam’s genocidal campaign against the Kurds led by his cousin, “Chemical Ali”.

However, the Kurd army is, unfortunately, illegal under the Iraqi constitution. So now the Obama Administration’s belated attempt to bolster the peshmerga will require a convoluted maneuver. To not offend the Iraqi government in Baghdad and its constitution, the Kurdish fighters will not be supplied with advanced American weapons like those being used by its ISIS enemy. Instead, they will be “unofficially” supplied with Russian weapons through a CIA back-channel!

But it probably doesn’t matter. While the ISIS was busy taking Mosul and the Iraqi army weapons from the central government, the Peshmerga was busy doing the same thing a little further south. After years of failing to annex the oil capital of the north—Kirkuk—through legislative action in the Iraqi parliament, they were able to accomplish this in recent weeks on the battlefield. At Kirkuk, the Iraqi Army also shed its uniforms and left its American supplied weapons behind. So the Peshmerga has American weapons after all!

And now the Kurds are ready for the obvious. Namely, to hold a referendum on independence which will be as decisive as that in Crimea. So “Kurdistan” will soon occupy the northeast portion of the Sykes-Picot map that used to be called Iraq.

The virtually certainty of an independent Kurdistan leaves a striking awkwardness with respect to the struggle over control and the constitution currently raging in Baghdad. Al-Maliki has been dismissed by the Iraq’s president and has been urged to go quickly into the night by Washington’s leaders and strategists including the President and John Kerry. But the President of Iraq is a Kurd who claims to be upholding the nation’s constitution—-at the very moment that his countrymen are fixing to secede from the union, so to speak.

That leaves al-Maliki to defend himself against a constitution upholder who represents a multi-million person enclave of people who despise the Iraqi constitution, its government organs in Baghdad and its historic appropriation of the region’s considerable oil revenues. So the Iraqi “constitutional crisis” is everything the phrase implies, and much more.

Nevertheless, al-Maliki may be able to defend himself. His militia and special forces are equipped with the latest and greatest American weapons! If need be, they can be turned against his designated successor. And, oh, he’s a militant Shiite too—–who spent most of his adult life in London, presumably on the Iranian payroll. Either way, therefore, the nascent Shiite state in the southern regions of the Sykes-Picot map will remain an integral part of the Shiite Crescent.

So there are no proxies and there is no functioning Iraqi state. If the Washington war party decides to keep bombing just exactly what purpose will be served—other then defending a map which is now heading for the dustbin of history?

China Accuses U.S. of Creating Chaos

Posted on August 13, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

China Accuses U.S. of Creating Chaos

By MarEx

The United States will monitor the South China Sea to see whether “de-escalatory steps” are being taken, a U.S. State Department official said on Monday, a day after China resisted pressure to rein in actions in the disputed waters.

The official spoke as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Sydney for talks on regional security with Australian officials, which will also involve Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

A U.S. proposal for a freeze on provocative acts in the South China Sea got a cool response from China and some Southeast Asian nations at a regional meeting at the weekend, an apparent setback to U.S. efforts to thwart China’s assertive moves.

The U.S. official said the United States would follow up on those talks by assessing an ASEAN-China meeting due in a few weeks’ time on implementing a 2002 declaration on conduct in the South China Sea, something that “equates to the freeze.”

“We will also be monitoring the actual situation around the rocks, reefs, and shoals in the South China Sea,” he said.

China’s Xinhua state news agency accused Washington of “stoking the flames,” and “further emboldening countries like the Philippines and Vietnam to take a hardline stance against China, raising suspicion over the real intention of the United States and make an amicable solution more difficult to reach.”

“It is a painful reality that Uncle Sam has left too many places in chaos after it stepped in, as what people are witnessing now in Iraq, Syria and Libya,” Xinhua added in a commentary. “The South China Sea should not be the next one.”

A spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department hit back by saying the United States was not responsible for instigating instability in the South China Sea.

“It’s the aggressive acts the Chinese have taken that are doing do,” Marie Harf told a regular news briefing.

“Everything that we are doing is designed to lower tensions, to get people (to) resolve their difference diplomatically and not through coercive and destabilizing measures like we’ve seen the Chinese take increasingly over the past several months.”

Spike in tensions

South China Sea tensions spiked in May when China parked a giant oil rig in waters also claimed by Vietnam. The United States and the Philippines have both called for a freeze in such moves, as well as on building and land reclamation work on disputed islands.

The rancour over the disputed sea has split ASEAN, with several states including some of the claimant nations reluctant to jeopardize rising trade and investment ties with China.

China has been able to head off regional action on the maritime issue before, most notably in 2012 when an ASEAN meeting chaired by Chinese ally Cambodia broke down in acrimony.

Australia was one of the countries to support the U.S. proposal at the weekend ASEAN meeting in Myanmar.

The U.S.-Australia meetings will include discussions on cooperation in missile defence, cyber security and maritime security, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters at a briefing with Australian counterpart David Johnston.

The two sides will also sign an agreement reached between U.S. President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on the deployment of U.S. marines to Australia for joint exercises and training in areas such as disaster relief.

Hagel said the Unite States was firmly committed to its policy of a strategic rebalance to the Asia-Pacific, something that has irked China and been questioned by allies who wonder the extent of U.S. commitment to the region.

“We have an interest here, we will continue to have an interest here, we are a Pacific power,” he said.

Some 1,150 Marines are stationed in Darwin in Australia’s tropical north under a 2011 agreement that launched Obama’s “pivot” to Asia.

The contingent, primed to respond to regional conflicts and humanitarian crises, is expected to swell to 2,500 by 2017. Johnston said troop numbers would be discussed at Tuesday’s talks, amid reports that the U.S. plans to station more fighter jets and bombers in Australia’s north.

Document rationalization of Jihad in Egypt and the world

Posted on August 13, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

وثيقة ترشيد العمل الجهادي “The document, Guidance for Jihad “

Document rationalization of Jihad in Egypt and the world

Sayyid Imam al-Sharif / Cairo

[CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW]

Document rationalization of Jihad in Egypt and the world–Imam al-Sharif

Sayyid Imam al-Sharif and the Anti-Al Qaeda Current

Posted on August 13, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

mentor of Zawahiri

[SEE: Document rationalization of Jihad in Egypt and the world ]

Sayyid Imam al-Sharif (Dr Fadl) takes Islam out of the Alqaeda equation leaving only criminality behind!

By iqbal.latif

This is no peacenik speaking “Every drop of blood that was shed or is being shed in Afghanistan and Iraq is the responsibility of bin Laden and Zawahiri and their followers,” writes Dr Fadl. He thinks 9/11 “a catastrophe for Muslims,” because Al Qaeda’s actions “caused the death of tens of thousands of Muslims—Arabs, Afghans, Pakistanis and others.”

The equation is simple, Alqaeda terror = Islam+ wanton killing.

Take Islam out and what is left is needless criminality and personal egos of the leadership. (Laden looks at the rule over House of Saud and Zahwari aims for Khalifat of Egypt. In the name of Islam they have destroyed lives of millions). Sayyid Imam al-Sharif (Dr Fadl) has taken Islam out of the Alqaeda equation leaving only criminality behind.

This is no less a person but ‘Sayyid Imam al-Sharif,’ aka Dr Fadl, the person who helped bin Laden create al-Qaeda. Fadl is reported to be one of the first members of Al Qaeda’s top council. Sharif, a surgeon who is still known by his underground name of “Dr Fadl”, is famous as the author of the Salafi jihadists’ “bible” – Foundations of Preparation for Holy War. Twenty years ago, Dr Fadl became al-Qaeda’s intellectual figurehead with a crucial book setting out the rationale for global jihad against the West. He is said to be “one of Ayman Al-Zawahiri’s oldest associates, and his book Al-‘Unda fi I’dad Al-‘Udda (“The Essentials of Making Ready [for Jihad]”), was used as a jihad manual in Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. It was like what Das Kapital was to the Marxists.

This recantation and damning indictment of Zahwari is no less a denunciation than Marx denouncing Friedrich Engels as his editor of the book. Without legitimacy from scriptures there could have been no jihad, Dr Fadl have dealt a fatal blow to the war of terror by withdrawing the ideological basis of the war. His change of heart renews hope of an end to this long struggle but it is definite that it was policy of ‘long stick’ that finally changed many a heart of stone.

The reports have been emerging of an impending publication since July 2008 but in an article ‘The Telegraph’ today it is reiterated that in a new 200 page soon to be published book written from inside an Egyptian prison, he has launched a frontal attack on al-Qaeda’s philosophy and the delicate flaws of bin Laden and chiefly his Egyptian second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri. He is not alone in this recantation recently the top militant ideologues have written 25 volumes of revisions and recanting their previous positions in a series called Tashih al-Mafahim (Corrections of Concepts). These tackle key doctrinal issues such as the concept of “takfir” – declaring a Muslim an apostate and therefore permissible to kill; attacks on civilians and foreign tourists; and waging jihad against a Muslim ruler who does not apply sharia law.

Before his approaching volte-face he had written the second book under the title of ‘The Compendium of the Pursuit of Divine Knowledge.’ Al-Sharif’s book is more than a thousand pages long and he used the pseudonym Abdul Qader bin Abdul Aziz. It opens with the assertion that salvation is available only to the perfect Muslim. “A man may enter the faith in many ways, yet be expelled from it by just one deed.” Al-Sharif gave a copy of his finished manuscript to Zawahiri in 1990, saying that it could be used to raise money.

His book defined Islam narrowly and takfir very broadly. It was Dr. Fadl’s that first led EIJ into the Takfiri theology that allows Muslims to excommunicate other Muslims for any petty offense against Sharia and lawfully kill them in Jihad. His thesis is definitely the cause celebre of the ‘Global Inc.’ nature of terror. It is the concept of ‘Tafkir’ that tied Egyptian, Saudis, Pakhtoons and Nejadis.using the broad definition of ‘Tafkir’ this book actually cemented the ideological underpinning of terror infested Alqaeda; it was this massive ideological groundwork that saw ‘Asir boys’ trapped in the tentacles of the organisation. He was a revisionist even in 1990 he thought that Dr. Zawahiri was rushing to take up arms against the Egyptian state before the ground was ready. So even in the midst of his involvement with EIJ he was seen as less bloodthirsty than Zawahiri and the other hotheads.

According to Fadl, Zawahiri was delighted with the result, saying, “This book is a victory from Almighty God.” ‘Among those who were not only sinners but apostates of Islam and deserving of death, according to Fadl, are the rulers of Egypt and other Arab countries, those who obey them, and those who participate in elections. “The infidel’s rule, his prayers, and the prayers of those who pray behind him are invalid,” Fadl decrees. His blood may be shed legally by true Muslims. “I say to Muslims in all candor that secular, nationalist democracy opposes your religion and your doctrine, and in submitting to it you leave God’s book behind.” Other Muslims who are actually infidels include anyone employed by the government, the police, and the courts, and anyone who works for peaceful change instead of violent jihad. In addition, those who disagree with these ideas are also heretics and deserve to be killed.’

Zawahiri was attempting in 1990 to wangle an amalgamation with al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya – and he changed the title to Guide to the Path of Righteousness for Jihad and Belief. Al-Sharif became furious with Zawahiri when he found this out, refusing to accept his apology and telling Al Hayat recently, “I do not know anyone in the history of Islam prior to Ayman al-Zawahiri who engaged in such lying, cheating, forgery, and betrayal of trust by transgressing against someone else’s book.” *

Dr Fadl’s new book is comparable to ideological overthrow and dethronement of present Alqaeda leadership. In what is thought to have been an effort to dismiss doubts that the book did not represent Al-Sharif’s true feelings, Muhammad Salah, the Cairo bureau chief of Al Hayat, was allowed into Tora Prison to interview Fadl. The result was published in a six-part series, where Fadl defended the work as his own and “left no doubt of his personal grudge against Zawahiri.” In the interview, Fadl labels 9/11 “a catastrophe for Muslims,” because Al Qaeda’s actions “caused the death of tens of thousands of Muslims—Arabs, Afghans, Pakistanis and others.”

The terrorist attacks on September 11 were both immoral and counterproductive, he writes. “Ramming America has become the shortest road to fame and leadership among the Arabs and Muslims. But what good is it if you destroy one of your enemy’s buildings, and he destroys one of your countries? What good is it if you kill one of his people, and he kills a thousand of yours?” asks Dr Fadl. “That, in short, is my evaluation of 9/11.”

ISIS As A Tool Of US Imperialism?–BBC Dares To Ask

Posted on August 13, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

The US, IS and the conspiracy theory sweeping Lebanon

Image grab taken from a propaganda video released on 17 March 2014 by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS, ISIL) al-Furqan Media shows fighters (militants) raising their weapons in Anbar province.

Is America behind the creation of the Islamic State? The BBC’s Suzanne Kianpour, in Beirut, looks at the latest conspiracy theory doing the rounds in Lebanon.

“In the Middle East, conspiracy theories are in our blood,” one former Lebanese official said over lunch in a restaurant in central Beirut.

He was referring to the latest talk of the town: the United States is behind the creation of the Islamic State group (formerly known as Isis, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and Hillary Clinton admitted it in her book “Hard Choices”.

As Islamic State (IS) militants advanced into Lebanon last week – spreading terror into the village of Arsal, bordering Syria, and driving hundreds out of their homes – whispers pinned the blame for their actions on the US.

Horrific videos of IS atrocities against Lebanese Armed Forces circulated on the internet. So did the theory that America is behind the existence and emboldening of the group.

To back up their claim, conspiracy theorists online pointed to a powerful piece of “proof”: the word of Hillary Clinton – the former US secretary of state widely expected to make a bid for the presidency.

Dispelling rumours

Screenshots of supposed “excerpts” from her book spread far and wide on social media in Lebanon, claiming the US created IS to instil instability in the region for American gain.

The rumour even prompted the Lebanese foreign ministry to summon US Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale.

Furthermore, to try and quash the gossip, the US embassy in Beirut issued a statement on Facebook:

Hillary Rodham Clinton signs copies of her new book "Hard Choices" at the Common Good Books store on 20 July 2014 in St Paul, Minnesota

Conspiracy theorists in Lebanon refer to Hillary Clinton’s book to push their argument that the US created IS

“Any suggestion that the United States ever considered recognising the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as anything other than a terrorist organization, or had any role in its creation, is patently false. Allegations circulating in Lebanon to the contrary are a fabrication.”

Instead, what Hillary Clinton has said is that the failure to help Syrian rebels led to the rise of IS.

It’s not completely shocking that such a theory may have started, given America’s history of supporting militant and guerrilla groups; the mujahideen in Afghanistan, from which al-Qaeda emerged, quickly comes to mind. The fact that US allies in the Gulf are accused of supporting IS also doesn’t help their case.

“Such theories abound, largely because Washington has shown a propensity for outsourcing regime change. Support for insurgent groups in that context is certainly not a new practice and, as of late, has not been a particularly effective one,” says Octavius Pinkard, a Brussels-based specialist in foreign policy analysis and Middle East politics, who has been conducting fieldwork in Beirut.

Tarnished image

Rumours like these risk harming US interests in Lebanon – a nation where they have a keen interest in maintaining soft power. Symbolic confrontation and proxy battles for clout with another group also seeking to win over the Lebanese people, Hezbollah, are nothing new.

But a theory that America is to blame for beheadings and the barbaric acts attributed to IS can be severely damaging to the US image – leaving them at risk of losing support and the tide turning against them.

Lebanon has felt the knock-on effects of the conflict in neighbouring Syria, with a rise in sectarian tension

Recently, the narrative on the streets of Beirut has increasingly been that Hezbollah won’t let IS get to the Lebanese capital, not “America will help us.”

“Most people here believe the US and Saudi are one and when it comes strictly down to oil money, the ultimate benefactor from the whole IS debacle is Saudi/the US. As history has taught us, it is usually the benefactors who are the instigators,” says Amer Murad, a native of Beirut.

“An important development that we have seen is the collaboration between the Lebanese Army and Hezbollah in their efforts to protect Lebanon from threats posed by the Syrian civil war spilling over into Lebanese territory,” Octavius Pinkard says.

As the conflict in Syria/Lebanon evolves, so does the perception of Washington. And it appears the Hezbollah/Damascus/Tehran trio is winning the propaganda battle.

However, when Obama announced airstrikes against IS in Iraq on Thursday, love for the US returned to Facebook.

“I’ve never been happier for American intervention,” one Lebanese user posted.

Perhaps it may be too soon to say if US popularity in Lebanon might recover based on their progress in Iraq, but at the moment, America appears to be suffering a PR crisis among the people normally supportive of it.

Heroic Actors Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem Do the Right Thing, Despite Zionist Hollywood’s Scorn

Posted on August 12, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Hollywood execs may blacklist Cruz, Bardem for accusing Israel of ‘genocide’

Actors Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem (Reuters / Danny Moloshok)

Hollywood producers have signaled a potential blackballing of actress Penelope Cruz and her husband, actor Javier Bardem, after the Spanish couple criticized Israel for its offensive on Gaza.

In July, Bardem and Cruz signed an open letter decrying the “the genocide perpetrated by the Israeli occupation army.”

The letter blames the latest bloodshed on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.

“Gaza is living through horror…while the international community does nothing,” said the Spanish letter, signed by 100 top figures in the film industry.

One “top producer” who has worked with Cruz anonymously told The Hollywood Reporter that he would never hire her again.

Another top executive said he is “furious at Javier and Penelope” and could not say whether he would ever work with the Oscar winners in the future.

Only one studio leader was willing to publicly state his views.

“As the grandson of Holocaust survivors, I know that anyone calling what’s going on in Israel ‘genocide’ vs. self-defense is either ignorant and shouldn’t be commenting or is truly anti-Semitic.” said Relativity Media chief executive Ryan Kavanaugh.

Relativity Media CEO Ryan Kavanaugh (Reuters / Danny Moloshok)

Kavanaugh had previously told The Hollywood Reporter that the letter “makes my blood boil.” He now says that he received more than 500 calls, emails, and texts in approval of his comments in the 24 hours after his comments were published. He said that support included top Hollywood executives.

But, ultimately, he said he does not believe the actors’ careers will be affected by their statements as long as their films are successful.

Another film producer said, “I think the thing any executive or producer will try to calculate before working with Penelope Cruz or Javier Bardem in the near future is what their value is in the all-important international marketplace. And what territories they might have alienated people in by what they said. It might not be that many. But it’s really all about business.”

Virulent pro-Israel celebrities have also criticized those who signed the letter. Actor Jon Voight, a frequent supporter of right-wing causes, wrote his own letter calling on Cruz and Bardem to “hang your heads in shame.”

“I am asking all my peers who signed that poison letter against Israel to examine their motives. Can you take back the fire of anti-Semitism that is raging all over the world now?”

Actor Jon Voight (AFP Photo / Getty Images / Terry Wyatt)

Washington Allows Kyiv To Allow Russian Humanitarian Aid To Eastern Ukraine

Posted on August 12, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Lavrov: Western govts’ points about humanitarian aid for Ukraine represent “outrageous cynicism”

SOCHI, Russia. Aug 11 (Interfax) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday accused the leaders of Britain, the United States and Germany of “outrageous cynicism.”

“We don’t cease to be amazed at statements coming from Western capitals about what is happening in south-eastern Ukraine,” Lavrov told reporters.

“If what has been reported by press services in London, Washington and, I think, Berlin as well, is true – about telephone contacts between the leaders of the United States, Britain and Germany, – if it’s true that the three leaders agreed that there’s no need for humanitarian relief for south-eastern Ukraine because all necessary measures are already being taken, it is outrageous cynicism,” the minister said.

He said that what was happening in eastern Ukraine could be seen from footage that journalists were sometimes risking their lives to capture. He also accused the Western media of ignoring the suffering of the population in the part of the country.

“Today I have again watched what mainly took up the programming on Euronews, and I didn’t hear anything about Ukraine, anything but the tragedy that has become a humanitarian disaster already,” he said.

“It is the peak of cynicism. I believe that our Western colleagues are thus trying to distort the true picture, distract attention from the armed force that is being used to suppress those who can’t accept the armed coup that violated all European values and violated the Constitution of Ukraine,” Lavrov said.

He claimed that what the West says determines what Kyiv does.

“In our contacts with Western leaders, we again call all parties in the conflict to stop and to fulfil what they have agreed on, namely to sit down at the negotiating table and start a comprehensive constitutional process with the participation of all regions. So that the Ukrainians themselves can agree on how they should live together in the same country,” Lavrov said.

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(Our editorial staff can be reached at eng.editors@interfax.ru)

Russian humanitarian convoy departs to E. Ukraine (VIDEO)

Russian humanitarian convoy to Ukraine departs from Alabino, Moscow region. (RIA Novosti / Maksim Blinov)

Children, Drugs, Food, Health, Human rights, Russia, Transport, Ukraine, War

Almost 300 trucks carrying 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid have been sent towards the border with Ukraine, Moscow regional authorities say. Earlier, Russia and Ukraine agreed on a humanitarian mission under the authority of the Red Cross.

Russia and Ukraine agree on humanitarian operation – Lavrov

Some 280 Kamaz trucks carrying food, medication, and drinking water were sent out by Russia’s Emergencies Ministry from the Moscow region on Tuesday morning, Russian media reported.

“The contact group has decided on Monday that the humanitarian aid convoys will cross over at the Kharkov Oblast border. The Lugansk route has also been agreed upon,” Leonid Kuchma, Ukraine’s second President and the mediator in the operation told journalists.

He added that “the aid will be distributed by the Red Cross – the convoy will be accompanied by representatives from the OSCE.”

“The convoy will deliver to the inhabitants of eastern Ukraine around 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid collected by Muscovites and residents of the Moscow region,” the administration of the Moscow region told Ria Novosti.

Among the provisions is also aid from Ukraine, the United States and the European Union.

It includes 400 tons of grains, 100 tons of sugar, and 62 tons of baby food, as well as 54 tons of medical equipment and medication. The convoy will also deliver around 12,000 sleeping bags and 69 power generators of various types.

“It is of the utmost importance that the distribution be carried out in hospitals, kindergartens, foster homes and other institutions helping the needy and underprivileged. Not a gram must reach the militants,” Kuchma, told journalists.

The humanitarian mission is carried out without any participation of the Russian military, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized earlier.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso earlier on Monday that Russia, in cooperation with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, is sending a humanitarian convoy to Ukraine.

Russian humanitarian convoy to Ukraine departs from Alabino, Moscow region. (RIA Novosti / Maksim Blinov)

On the Brink of Survival: No electricity, water, communications in besieged Lugansk, E. Ukraine

Prior to that, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that “all possible and impossible pretexts have been dismissed,” referring to discussions with Kiev. Lavrov also expressed hope that “Western partners won’t put a spoke in the wheel and will think about the people who are badly in need of water and electricity.”

In the latest statement, the ICRC emphasized the urgent need for the aid to reach the areas affected by fighting, but said it expects more details of the operation from Moscow.

“Prior to the beginning of the operation, the ICRC should receive without undue delay from the authorities of the Russian Federation all necessary details concerning the aid, including the volume and type of items, and requirements for transport and storage,” the organization said.

A polyclinic damaged during shelling of Donetsk by the Ukrainian military on August 8, 2014. (RIA Novosti / Mikhail Voskresenskiy)

Russia initially came up with a proposal to send humanitarian aid under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross to Ukraine’s troubled eastern regions last week at the UN Security-Council meeting. However, the leaders of the US, UK, and Germany seem to be stalling the operation, Lavrov said, accusing the states of “blatant expression of cynicism” for claiming that all necessary humanitarian measures “are already being taken” by Kiev authorities.

Why America began beating Daash now?

Posted on August 12, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Why America began beating Daash now?

Abdul Khaliq Hussein

“The United States said that the flight military launched an air strike targeting militants organization” Islamic State “(Daash) in Iraq … and attacked the sites for artillery organization was used to bomb Kurdish forces defending the city of Arbil … President Barack Obama has instructed to launch such These raids on Thursday (07/08/2014), but he stressed that he does not intend to return any ground troops to Iraq. “(1)

The burning question that imposes itself is: Why now?
Observed that most of the terrorist acts usually start justifications “legitimate”, or so it claims is backed by the organizers of the politicians and the media, starting with the founding organizations of Islamic militants, including al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, and to Daash in Syria and Iraq now. There are studies to Western researchers confirm that the organization is Daash American industry, intended to provoke chaos in any state graduated policy on America and its allies in the region, to be converted into state ungovernable (Ungovernable). This is the mystery of the sudden meteoric rise to Daash, and superior military capability to invade the northern provinces in western Iraq.
It is worth mentioning that the campaign began threatening civil war and the division of Iraq since the start of the recent parliamentary elections, if he wins Maliki insisted on the nomination of the third term. This campaign carried out by the leaders of the Sunni front, the head of Kurdistan Regional Government, and the heads of political entities within the National Alliance bloc to which he belongs Cieiyh Mr. Maliki himself. This opposition supported by America and its allies in the region such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Turkey, and Israel, and for each purpose.

Daash American industry
We said that Daash are American industry, and this is not the belief b (conspiracy theory), as alleged by some, but its implications are seeing on the ground, as follows:
First, there are several reports of writers and analysts, Western politicians, as well as statements by Edward Snowdon, confirms this fact, we have stated that these sources in our previous articles, we refer here to one of them (in the margin link No. 2).
Secondly, I played regional states such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Jordan an important role in the establishment of Daash, financing and arming, training and shipped Wahhabi doctrine incitements, and the latest evidence is Daash supporters hold a conference in Amman a few weeks ago. These countries are affiliated to America and it can not act without the consent and blessing of America. And also to publish a report entitled (Bandar bin Sultan Mall Amman conference, a meeting of supporters of terrorism in Istanbul next month) (3)
Third, America’s insistence on not supporting Iraq in its war on Daash under false pretenses, the same arguments being made by opponents of the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, marginalization and exclusion and dictatorship … etc.. Maliki had asked in June to help American according to the strategic framework agreement, to face Daash progress, but Washington has ignored the demand.
Fourth, America’s opposition to the fatwa of Imam al-Sistani against Daash, and were roasting in the maximal response of the masses to her, knowing that this fatwa were not directed against a wide range of other, but the call for national unity and to take up arms against Daash Altcfhirien. While America did not condemn hundreds of fatwas issued by Wahhabi sheikhs in Saudi Arabia and Qatar for the extermination of Shiites “rejectionists” in their words, since before the overthrow of Baath Party rule and to now.

Why now?
We return to our question above: Why, then, America has begun to strike Daash now?
Is it really terrible crimes against religious minorities in the province intend is the reason? I do not think so, because these crimes started since the first day of the invasion Daash connector at 06/10/2014), killing not Christians and Yazidis, and Shabak, but the killing of thousands of Shiites and killed (1700 pupils) from the College of the Air Force in Tikrit, hundreds prisoners Shiites in Badush prison in Mosul, also killed thousands of Shiite Turkmen in Tal Afar and Tuz Khurmatu, and other massacres terrible that began since the early days of “Invasion” Daash of the area, so why not move all these massacres eyelash Obama, but after reaching artillery Daash to the outskirts of Erbil, and after reaching a climax in the plight of Christians, Yazidis, and became a stain on the conscience of America to silence about these crimes? See what I wrote for British newspapers, especially the reluctance of the West to support Obama in the race (4)

The real reasons for the move against America Daash is as follows:
First, that Daash such as al Qaeda, draws its founders to achieve certain goals, and put her red lines can not be overcome, but in most cases turn on the magic magician, and cross the red lines, which requires entry-founder to stop the regulation when alone.

Secondly, exceeded gangs Daash where the red lines and reached the outskirts of Erbil, and in particular the risk of control over American interests in the nearby oil firms and other companies. This is what I heard from the news bulletin presenter BBC evening 8/8, a one interviews American officials, who denied it, of course.

Third, the Obama administration began frequency that the solution is political, and that the formation of an inclusive government for all. As if Aovernmhalhalah not exhaustive, Vsedk Pfria marginalization and exclusion! So warplanes struck Bdaash coincided with what was published some reports that “al-Maliki perhaps forced to issue assurances that he would step down to help meet the American military.” (BBC report) (same source -1). It also reported that there was pressure on al-Maliki even from leaders of his own party (the call) and mass (state law), urging him to step down, although he more entitled than anyone else in the nomination for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers according to the elections, in order to calm the situation and persuade America to help Iraq beat Daash, and silence opposed him. It was said that al-Maliki gave in to these pressures to meet with American military aid. This in my opinion is the real reason to launch an airline American air strikes on artillery Daash after having achieved its objectives.

Fourthly, and confirmation of what came out in paragraph 3, said in testimony before a congressional committee, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State in charge of the file of Iraq, Brett Maghurk, about the American position after the entry “Daash” to Mosul and other cities: “The topic needs to be a political solution, and Washington can not do something before they see political change in Iraq. “ When asked by one of the members: What if al-Maliki remains in the premiership? Maghurk replied: “In this case we will be forced to stand with our allies in the region.” (5)
This means standing with Saudi Arabia and Israel on the spectators Daash crimes against humanity in Syria and Iraq.

The statements made by the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday: “The progress of the organization of the Islamic State in Iraq threatens genocide, although the risks regarding the future of the country can not become more pronounced.” (6), they are just excuses to save face for their silence about the crimes Daash against humanity and which amounted to egregious so claimed the world public opinion to draw heavy criticism from the State Great silence for these heinous crimes that unspeakable affront to humanity, America, which owns technological possibilities and tremendous experience to crush these gangs.

And what after the departure of al-Maliki?
Since the beginning we said that Daash is the product of regional governments and international, are used as a barbaric and brutal strike to achieve the purposes of these agencies and the support of the internal forces of the democratic opposition. After that destroyed Syria on behalf of democracy to get rid of the rule of Bashar al-Assad, who came to Iraq to get rid of Nuri al-Maliki, who is completely different from Bashar al-Assad in the fact that al-Maliki supporter of democracy, but will meet with Assad because he does not see the interest of the people of anti-Iran to appease America and Israel, Saudi Arabia and others.
The all welcomed Maliki’s opponents enter Daash on the line, and Bchwi and gloating despite the fact that crimes Daash is against the Iraqi people, who claim to represent and defend their interests, and the truth was entering Daash arrange them, to achieve their purpose the main, a cancellation of the election results and to get rid of al-Maliki and the formation of a government in accordance with the will of the elite and not according to the results of the ballot boxes. And now backfired, where they exceeded Daash on Ataiwk red, and began to cause them harm, and threatening to occupy their cities, they started paying the price of their fingers and Edmon dentex remorse for their cooperation with terrorism hatred for the owners to get rid of it.

If true, the news about the acquiescence al-Maliki, under pressure to step down from the right to the nomination preserve the integrity of Iraq, I was expecting to get a truce sudden with Daash and there will be calm throughout Iraq, and possibly withdraw gangs Daash areas occupied by, and will be celebrated Maliki’s opponents advertisers weddings, and every point will claim it that is inflicted defeat Bdaash, Vlnasr many fathers, and Sidqon bells “great victory”, but for a while. He drew honey this will be short, and will be followed by the month of onions! Or rather months, dark, and perhaps without passing honeymoon originally, because the purpose of the opponents of Maliki’s cross, and violation of the Constitution, Animosity hidden among them most of their hostility to the advertiser of the owners, but united by one thing, which is to get rid of al-Maliki in order to form a weak central government in Baghdad at the expense of the interests of people, and hit the violation of democracy and the Constitution.
Therefore I believe that al-Maliki will be the victor even in the case of stepping down, because the fact that his opponents Stnkhv of the people and to the world very clearly, and enough royal pride and honor and national that his opponents could not dislodge the means of constitutional legitimacy, Fastaanwa Organization (Daash) terrorist to get rid of it.
Therefore it has hit the nail on the head when al-Maliki said: (violation of constitutional contexts that will open the “fires of hell” on Iraq and opens massive holes for external intervention). Fab him some young minds this to say, Vsrōh that threatens Iraq and succeeded to open the fire of hell, while the fact that it was intended that the lack of commitment to the contexts in constitutional form of government would be a precedent for the disregard of the Constitution and the elections and democracy, and return to the lead and the use of terrorism and bullying and blackmail people and the threat of civil war and genocide sex, rather than the ballot box for the exchange of peaceful transfer of power.

Whatever happens to the owners, both remained in office or out of it, it has proved to be the strongest and the highest position of his opponents, and revealed to the people and to the world what they are clearly, and it is more committed to the constitution and democracy and the interests of the national interest, and that tomorrow to sight a close.
abdulkhaliq.hussein@btinternet.com
http://www.abdulkhaliqhussein.nl/

Sources
1-US warplanes alter the militants “Islamic state” in Iraq
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arabic/middleeast/2014/08/140807_iraq_sistani_new_govt.shtml

2- MIKE WHITNEY: Splitting up Iraq: It’s all for Israel
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/06/20/its-all-for-israel/

3 Bandar bin Sultan Mall Amman conference, a meeting of supporters of terrorism in Istanbul next month
http://alakhbaar.org/home/2014/7/172911.html

4 British newspapers: Western inaction led to a growing “Daash”
http://alakhbaar.org/home/2014/8/174147.html

5 Salem ăÔßćŃ: our absence and presence ..
http://alakhbaar.org/home/2014/8/174069.html

6 Kerry: progress in Iraq militants vow carries genocide
http://alakhbaar.org/home/2014/8/174030.html

Related Link
Salem Almrzuk movie: “The Prophet,” al-Baghdadi
http://alakhbaar.org/home/2014/8/174152.html

the real story of the rise of ISIS

Posted on August 12, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

ISIS: the US saves Iraq, yet again?

By As’ad AbuKhalil, The Angry Arab

Angry Corner

The tweets of US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power deserve to be added to the speeches of George W. Bush as examples of rhetoric-in-the-service-of-an-empire. Her statements give the impression that the US is a charitable organization desperately looking for colored people to save around the world. The distinctions between Obama and Bush were only great in the minds of those liberals who projected so much of their dreams and aspirations on the campaign of Obama in 2008. By 2012, it was was clear that Obama was following in the footsteps of his predecessor with less fanfare.

Obama returns to Iraq grudgingly: people forget how close the views of Obama are to those of Donald Rumsfeld. The latter never believed in whole-scale invasions by massive armies. He was an advocate of quick wars on the cheap – for the US, that is – where only the air force and special forces are used in relatively non-extended operations. The structures that are left or not left behind are less important.

Obama made one thing clear: that he won’t accept the creation of a caliphate anywhere in Syria or Iraq. The almost century-old Saudi quasi caliphate never offended the US or its Western allies – who actually helped create it – although the ideological foundations of Saudi Arabia and ISIS are one and the same. The ISIS official statement about “the destruction of gravesites and tombs” was not published or even covered in the Saudi-dominated Arabic press. They found it too embarrassing to give any coverage to the argument pushed forward by ISIS, whose religious rationalizations and justifications rely on the views and practices of none other than Mohammed ibn ‘Abdul-Wahab, the founder of Wahhabiyyah which is the ruling religio-political doctrine of both Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

ISIS is not something that is alien to religious Muslims although many Muslims are becoming way too defensive in their need to explain to Westerners that “Islam” – what is Islam, and which Islam? – does not really endorse the views and interpretations of ISIS. But that is not inaccurate. Indeed, mainstream Islam (three out of the four schools of Sunni jurisprudence and Ja`farite twelver Shia) frowns upon the views, excesses, practices and interpretations of ISIS. But Wahhabiyyah is fully in sync with ISIS.

On another level, one can speak of an ISIS-like trend or schism in every religion out there, including in Buddhism which is still widely perceived to be peaceful and even pacifist despite the pogroms against Muslims that Buddhist monks are leading and cheerleading in Burma and Sri Lanka. It is by nature of religion that such intolerant, exclusivist and murderous trends are produced and endorsed by a religious elite and by a segment of the population. Of course, ostensible Western seculars see threats to secularism only from Muslims, when threats to secularism emanate even from the Supreme Court of the US.

Obama started the bombing campaign with food drops in Sanjar mountain. One can only hope that the deadly mistakes from Afghanistan are not repeated; when US planes dropped gigantic food packages resulting in the death of innocent civilians who perished from too much “rice and beans,” so to speak. One hopes this time the packages are smaller.

And whenever the subject of minorities is brought up, the typical Western orientalist cliches are invoked. That minority Christians and Yazidis (or it should be Azidis) are suffering at the hands of Muslims. But those minorities have existed side by side under “Islam” for centuries. To be sure, they did not live in a state of equality but who did? They were able to survive under Saddam far better than non-religious minorities could survive under the rule of the Jewish state of Israel. In fact, Israel is a culmination of an ISIS-like ideology, but it happens to be in alliance with the West just like Wahhabiyyah.

Azidis are now the talk of the town. They are represented as the quintessential victim when all are victims from the project of Saudi Arabia and ISIS. Those are ideologies that target fellow Muslims before they target others. Mohammed Ibn `Abdul-Wahab began his campaign of fanaticism by stoning a Sunni woman, long before he went about his rampage against Shia up north. Azidis have been misunderstood by both Muslims and Christians, and they suffered from anti-Kurdish discrimination and hostility. Both Muslims and Christians did not bother to learn their teachings and less so to understand them. Their complicated belief system involved worship of the Peacock god, but the latter has been consistently confused by Muslims and by Christians with Satan. But Azidis, like all religious groups have their own prejudices as well. Members are not permitted to convert to other religions: in 2007, a Azidi woman was stoned to death in that same talked about area for converting to Islam. That triggered a sectarian mini-war.

The US, says Obama, wants to protect a political order. Those who defy US will in Iraq, even if they were only a few years ago hand-picked by the US, will have to go. US planes will ensure that US occupation can continue in other means and airports for the operation of drones will soon fill the entire Middle East landscape, if they have not already.

The US starts wars that it does not want to end, and new presidential candidates have to pledge to fight new wars once they are elected, provided those wars are launched against Arabs or Africans. Fighting “terrorism” is the catchphrase and funding and troops can always be made available for that eternal mission (the Baath ideology comically was described by its founder as containing an “eternal message” but the US “war on terrorism” is proving more eternal than the message of the Baath).

The most glaring omission in the discussion of ISIS is the Syrian dimension. ISIS did not come out of thin air: it was raised, nurtured and cuddled through US policies in two adjacent countries, Syria and Iraq. In Iraq, the US occupation gave impetus to new militant ihadi groups where none existed (just like the NATO intervention in Libya). In Syria, the US did something even more sinister: it permitted its allies, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey to arm and fund all militias that were operating under Bashar al-Assad, even if those militias have ideologies that even al-Qaeda finds to be too extreme. The US did not think that the effort would take too long: it was assumed that Bashar would fall in a matter of weeks, or a month at most, and that those groups would then simply and voluntarily disband. That is the real story of the rise of ISIS.

The US is still dealing with a region that it had tried to remake after September 11. But the US never ceases to express surprise that it does not control all pieces of the region. It still believes that with one “small” war, or one additional bombing campaign, the pieces will fall into place and the American-Saudi-Israeli order would prevail. This wishful thinking by the US will be increasingly put to the test, especially as elements of its own coalition turn on one another.

Dr. As’ad AbuKhalil is a Professor of Political Science at the University of California, a lecturer and the author of The Angry Arab News Service. He tweets @asadabukhalil.

American Self-Destruction

Posted on August 12, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

A Ringside Seat To Our Own Destruction

Headlines have focused on the atrocities committed by ISIS on the northern Iraqi front. The leading stories seem almost expressly written by the Onion to make fun of political correctness. Crucified by the Caliphate monsters: Iraq descends into apocalypse as Islamic State fanatics seize towns and tell terrified Yazidi ‘Become Muslims by noon today… or we kill all of you’. Then there’s Islamic militants ‘buried alive Yazidi women and children in attack that killed 500′. Try topping: Anglican Vicar of Baghdad: ‘Child I baptized cut in half by ISIS’.

How about this lead paragraph? “BAGHDAD (AP) — Hundreds of women from the Yazidi religious minority have been taken captive by Sunni militants with “vicious plans,” an Iraqi official said Friday, further underscoring the dire plight of Iraq’s minorities at the hands of the Islamic State group.” Vicious plans is the 21st century journalistic equivalent of the Victorian phrase, “a fate worse than death”.

This eyewitness account is pretty close to the best reportage, however. “On board Iraqi army helicopter delivering aid to the trapped Yazidis, Jonathan Krohn sees a hellish sight”.

Mount Sinjar stinks of death. The few Yazidis who have managed to escape its clutches can tell you why. “Dogs were eating the bodies of the dead,” said Haji Khedev Haydev, 65, who ran through the lines of Islamic State jihadists surrounding it.

On Sunday night, I became the first western journalist to reach the mountains where tens of thousands of Yazidis, a previously obscure Middle Eastern sect, have been taking refuge from the Islamic State forces that seized their largest town, Sinjar.

I was on board an Iraqi Army helicopter, and watched as hundreds of refugees ran towards it to receive one of the few deliveries of aid to make it to the mountain. The helicopter dropped water and food from its open gun bays to them as they waited below. General Ahmed Ithwany, who led the mission, told me: “It is death valley. Up to 70 per cent of them are dead.”

The story adds, almost superfluously, that ISIS is attempting to shoot down aid deliveries. They would do that, wouldn’t they? Yet all this time the world was assured there was nothing to worry about in the hundreds of radical mosques, the thousands of militants eagerly received into the West and creeping sharia law in its institutions. The dangers, they were told, all lay in the Tea Party and elusive militia groups holed up in a cabin in the Ozarks.

But if the calamities in Kurdistan were all it would be a good week for the Obama administration. Now tanks are reported in the streets of Baghdad. “Security forces have encircled the residence of the Iraqi President – Sharqiah News”. Other reports allege its a coup being staged by Maliki to establish himself as dictator. It now appears that Maliki is suing the Kurds for not supporting him in office.

That’s not the end of it. The Washington Post writes “Libya crumbles as the United States looks the other way”. Libya, the crown jewel of “responsibility to protect”; the epitome of Zero Footprint has now blown up into fragments.

Three years after U.S. and NATO forces helped liberate Libya from the dictatorship of Moammar Gaddafi, the country is beginning to look a lot like another nation where an abrupt U.S. disengagement following a civil war led to chaos: Afghanistan in the 1990s. In Libya, heavily armed militias are battling for control of Tripoli and Benghazi as well as the international airport. The United States, France and other Western governments involved in the 2011 military intervention have evacuated their diplomats and abandoned their embassies. A U.N. mission that was supposed to help broker political accords also left.

ISIS, not content with its forays into Saudi Arabia and Jordan is now setting its sights on Lebanon — the better to get at Hezbollah. The Institute for the Study of War Syria covers the Battle of Arsal. “For the first time, large-scale fighting from Syria has spilled into Lebanon. The Lebanese Armed Forces is currently battling rebels affiliated with Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and Jabhat al-Nusra (JN) in and around Arsal, a Lebanese town 13 km west of the Syrian border in which a massive influx of refugees and rebels has long made the area a lawless enclave in a relatively weak state.”

The border battles may ultimately break up the Lebanese state as the Lebanese Sunnis are coopted by ISIS. Then it will be civil war all over again with ISIS pitted against Hezbollah with a supporting cast of dozens of militias. “The Institute for the Study of War assesses that a large portion of the rank-and-file of the LAF are likely Sunni. Long-term fighting may lead to defections if Sunni LAF members are increasingly ordered to crack down on Sunni-dominant areas such as Arsal.”

There’s worse to come. Obama’s negotiations with Iran are in shambles. The Telegraph reports that “Vladimir Putin signs historic $20bn oil deal with Iran to bypass Western sanctions”. How long before Iran gets the bomb? How long before everything is so bad that nobody notices Iran has the bomb? It’s almost a parody re-imagining of World War 2 with an Axis but no Allies.

Or rather there are Allies but Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin are on vacation and unavailable for comment.

The military historian Max Hastings basically accused Obama of phoning it in when he fulminated over “barbarians, genocide and a terrifying lack of Western leadership”. He added that “professor Sir Michael Howard, Britain’s most distinguished historian and strategist, now 92, lamented to me last month the tottering, if not collapse, of every pillar that has supported international order through his lifetime. By that he means the UN, Nato and a strong America.” The fish rots from the head, and the head’s not been this rotten in all of Sir Michael Howard’s long memory.

The Middle Eastern crisis is no longer a regional crisis. It has now become part of a global crisis, a link in a great chain of blunders engineered by the Great Golfer, whose most profound utterance is now, ‘who me?’ That explosive sequence includes but is not limited to the tensions in Eastern Europe, the continuing crisis in Southwest Asia and the ever-growing danger in the East as the Chinese dragon stirs. That clamor can now be heard even in Western streets, yet it beats like noiseless rain upon the glazed glass panes of the White House. The most amazing sight is not the catastrophe itself but the seeming paralysis of the Western institutions. Prominent newspapers may issue warnings, former high military officers might wring their hands, congressmen even threaten impeachment, yet but only momentary awareness flits across the dull countenances of the bovine LIVs as they await their next dose of spectacle and reality TV.

CBS gushed, “MARTHA’S VINEYARD (CBS) – Beautiful weather greeted the First Family on Martha’s Vineyard on day one of their vacation.”

The First Family’s motorcade pulled into their secluded island getaway with the First Couple and daughter Malia. Younger daughter Sasha will join later. Neighbors watched as the fleet of vehicles rolled in. “It was great fun,” said Linda Lundblad of Milton, who’s renting a home just down the street. Shortly after arriving, the President turned up at the Farm Neck Golf Club.

The former head of the British Army, Lord Dannatt pleaded with David Cameron to reconvene parliament and cancel his vacation: “now was not the time for political leaders ‘to be on holiday’ and [he] demanded they return to Westminster.” Translation: don’t just stand there, do something! Yet what earthly good could returning politicians to work do when it is the politicians themselves who are defective, as was underscored by president Obama’s assertion that withdrawing from Iraq was not his decision.

“Mr. President, do you have any second thoughts about pulling all ground troops out of Iraq?” the reporter asked. “And does it give you pause as the U.S.–is it doing the same thing in Afghanistan?”

“What I just find interesting is the degree to which this issue keeps on coming up, as if this was my decision,” Obama said, indicating he does not believe it was his decision as commander in chief of U.S. troops in a congressionally authorized action in Iraq to decide whether the troops should stay or leave.

What will it take to get him off the links? More to the point, do people really want him off the links?

The Western left has finally manufactured a world that it likes, led by the object of their adulation. How could they have known it would be this way? They are like the dog that caught the car and found the occupants liked dog meat. And now we are about to witness a clash between the “how could we know” PC elites and a resurgent militant Islam. What can those caught in the middle do? Many are simply stupefied. The remainder seem to lack to tools to return to their previous homely, but familiar lives. The Yehzidis found there was no way back; no way forward either except through the slave market or the mass grave. Can the rest of the world still roll back events? Or do they let the monsters fight and scurry beneath their trampling feet?

Unless the citizenry of the world can get their destinies back from the crazy elites and crazy headchoppers, they can only watch the destructive spectacle and hope to survive as the monsters wreck civilization.

action…for…”humanitarian” purposes, without the…consent…of the…government…a violation of international law

Posted on August 11, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[If you read between the lines (the words in red) in this White House release of a Biden to Poroshenko call, you will see a simple truth.]

action…for…“humanitarian” purposes, without the…consent…of the…government…unacceptable and a violation of international law, (if you are Russian),

but not if you are the President of the United States.

Readout of the Vice President’s Call with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko

Aug.9

Vice President Joe Biden spoke today with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko about the situation in eastern Ukraine. The two leaders agreed that any Russian action in Ukraine, even for purported “humanitarian” purposes, without the formal, express consent and authorization of the Ukraine government would be unacceptable and a violation of international law. President Poroshenko informed the Vice President of his communication with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) regarding ICRC’s ongoing efforts to distribute multilateral humanitarian aid — including assistance from the United States – to the vulnerable populations in eastern Ukraine. The two leaders agreed that if Russia were serious about improving the humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine, it had to immediately stop its shelling of Ukrainian troops and release Ukrainian hostages being held inside Russia, as well as cut its provision of weapons to Russian proxies operating in Ukraine. The Vice President and President Poroshenko reiterated that we continue to urge Russia to engage with the international community and the Ukrainian government to find a political solution to the crisis.

[CSTO peacekeeping exercise Enduring Brotherhood-2014 just wrapped-up in Astrakan Region (Southern Russia) and in Kyrgyzstan,where armed forces practiced “blocking and destruction of illegal armed groups, accompany humanitarian aid. etc.”]

The Unreported War Crimes of Afghanistan

Posted on August 11, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Left In The Dark Afghanistan

If Everybody Is Really Behind The Leb. Army, Then Who Still Stands Behind ISIS?

Posted on August 11, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Radical threat unites Lebanese and strange allies behind army

(Reuters) – Beating back an incursion by Islamists from Syria, Lebanon’s poorly armed military has paid a high price – 36 of its soldiers have been killed or captured. But it has gained in one important respect by winning support from Lebanon’s fractious politicians.

At odds about so much, including just who their enemies are, leaders from across Lebanon’s sectarian divide have shown rare unity by agreeing they have a common foe in the Islamic State – the radical Islamist group that is dismembering Iraq and Syria.

The concern among the Lebanese appears to be shared by their rival foreign patrons, determined to prevent a radical Sunni “caliphate” stretching from the Tigris to the Mediterranean.

With the Lebanese army part of a regional battle against the Sunni radicals, statements of support have come from an unlikely array of countries including Syria and Saudi Arabia, the United States and Iran.

As Syria and Iraq have fragmented with the stunning advance of Islamic State fighters – an offshoot of al-Qaeda – protecting Lebanon from renewed instability is a concern shared by all.

In the case of Saudi Arabia, support came with a promise of an extra $1 billion for the Lebanese security forces.

That put Riyadh – a sponsor of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad – on the same side as Syria, whose warplanes were bombing the militants in the border zone as the Lebanese army attacked on the other side.

The militants’ incursion into the border town of Arsal on Aug. 2 heightened fears they could extend their battleground into Lebanon, already destabilised by the Syrian civil war that has inflamed sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shi’ites.

The militants pulled out of the town on Wednesday, after sustaining dozens of fatalities, according to Lebanese security officials. They took 19 soldiers with them as hostages.

POLITICAL COVER

Lebanon’s most significant players have rallied behind the army. They include former prime minister Saad al-Hariri, the most influential Sunni figure, and Hezbollah, the heavily armed, Iranian-backed Shi’ite group that has been fighting alongside Assad’s forces in Syria.

Hariri, bitterly at odds with Hezbollah for years, returned to Lebanon on Friday for the first time in three years, saying he planned to discuss how the Saudi funds could be used.

“There are, of course, still many divisions in Lebanon. But no one has a choice other than to back the army,” said Nabil Boumonsef, a columnist at the Lebanese daily An-Nahar.

“We know what it means if the army breaks up and what will happen in the whole country. We will become part of a picture stretching from Mosul to Arsal,” he said, referring to the Iraqi city on the Tigris River seized by the Islamic State in June.

The Lebanese army’s role is twofold, confronting the new militant threat while also helping to shore up national unity at a time of regional upheaval and sectarian strife.

Though it remains hamstrung by outdated weapons – its oldest tanks date to the 1950s – and ammunition shortages, the army has at least obtained the political support needed to act at all.

“Agree on what you want to do and I am ready. We just need political cover,” General Jean Kahwaji, the army’s Maronite Christian commander, told ministers at a cabinet meeting during the crisis, according to a source who attended.

Wary of sectarian tensions exacerbated by its role fighting just over the border in Syria, Hezbollah said it stayed out of the battle for Arsal, a Sunni town that has already been a flashpoint for tensions unleashed by the Syria war.

Though it has thousands of hardened fighters and its arsenal is more powerful than the army’s, including state-level rocket systems, Hezbollah said the battle was the military’s to fight.

“IRANIAN-SYRIAN PLOT”

The Lebanese are all too aware of the risks of sectarianism spreading into the army. Lebanon’s slide into the 1975-90 civil war was accelerated by the disintegration of the army along sectarian lines.

The Arsal operation risked sucking the army, drawn from Lebanon’s patchwork of religious communities, into a sectarian fire storm. With Hezbollah fighting the same militants on the other side of the border, a handful of Sunni critics said the army appeared to be taking sides with the Shi’ite group.

As the fighting escalated, one Sunni MP – a hawkish member of Hariri’s party – ratcheted up the sectarian rhetoric by describing events in Arsal as part of an “Iranian-Syrian plot to subdue the Sunnis”.

The lawmaker, Mohamed Kabara, “warned of any decision that turns our inclusive, national army … into something resembling Maliki’s army”. He was referring to the Iraqi military which critics say has become a sectarian weapon in the hands of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi’ite.

Sectarian turbulence has spread from Arsal to other Sunni areas of Lebanon as a result of the battle. Soldiers have come under fire in the northern city of Tripoli. On Wednesday, a bomb targeting an army patrol killed one person in the same city.

But influential voices such as Sunni cleric Sheikh Dai al-Islam Al-Shahaal have helped to contain the fallout. He issued a fatwa, or religious edict, forbidding fighting with the army.

The battle has coincided with national army day. Banners pledging support for the army abound in the streets.

One of Lebanon’s mobile operators has launched a campaign allowing subscribers to donate to the army from their cell phones. In a Christian district of Beirut, a church invited worshippers to attend a nighttime vigil for the army.

THE STATE VS. TERRORISM

Including reservists, the army currently numbers about 65,000. It is the most trusted security force in Lebanon, enjoying the support of far more Lebanese than more overtly sectarian internal security agencies.

Experts say Sunnis make up its largest sectarian component, many of them from poor areas of northeast Lebanon. At least eight of the 17 soldiers killed in Arsal were Sunni.

A Shi’ite politician said concerns about the potential for sectarian tensions in the army faded early into the Arsal operation when it became clear that mainstream Sunni politicians, chief among them Hariri, were fully on board.

“The matter is now one of the state, represented by the army, against terrorism, and this has, to a great degree, reduced the tension,” said the politician, talking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing national security.

The government, responding to the Arsal crisis, has asked France to accelerate the delivery of weapons being bought with $3 billion of previously pledged aid from Saudi Arabia.

Announcing the extra $1 billion Saudi pledge, Hariri poured scorn on Hezbollah, likening its role in the Syria war to the militants’ incursion into Arsal. But he added: “There is a Lebanese consensus on supporting the army and the internal security forces and all Lebanese institutions.”

(Additional reporting by Noura al-Sharif in Dubai; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Paul Taylor)

Maliki Circles the Tanks In Baghdad

Posted on August 11, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

“We stand absolutely squarely behind President Masoum,”–John Kerry

[SEE: Maliki Deploys Tanks in Baghdad as U.S. Backs President]

Iraqi PM in show of force amid mounting speculation of a coup

AFP

Anti-terror forces and Shiite militia loyal to Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have been deployed en masse in Baghdad amid a looming political crisis and mounting speculation that he is preparing to take control of government.

US Secretary General Ban Ki-moon meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (R) in Baghdad in July 2014. Source: AFP

As a midnight deadine passed for Iraq’s political parties to form a coalition government, Mr al-Maliki went on state television to announce that he was taking President Fuad Masoum to court for violating the consitution by failing to designate him as the prime minister.

In a televised address at midnight local time on Sunday (7 am AEST), Mr al-Maliki, who has come under increasing pressure to stand down, made it clear he intended to stay on and announced; “I will submit today an official complaint to the federal court against the president of the Republic for committing a clear constitutional violation for the sake of political calculations.”

Soon after his address, Haider al-Abadi, the deputy speaker of parliament, tweeted that a bloc comprising Iraq’s biggest Shi’ite parties is close to nominating a prime minister, suggesting that Mr al-Maliki might be forced to step aside.

Mr al-Abadi is one of a number of people who have been mentioned as a possible successor to the divisive Mr Maliki, whom many blame for the sweep of Islamic State militants through northern Iraq for having institutionised sectarianism.

The US quickly threw its support behind the newly elected President Masoum. Speaking in Sydney, Secretary of State John Kerry made it clear that Washington supported the President and warned Mr al-Maliki not to cause trouble.

“We stand absolutely squarely behind President Masoum (who) has the responsibility for upholding the constitution of Iraq,” said Mr Kerry, who is in Australia for talks on regional security. “Our hope is that Mr. Maliki will not stir those waters.”

Earlier, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement: “(The US) reaffirm our support for a process to select a prime minister who can represent the aspirations of the Iraqi people by building a national consensus and governing in an inclusive manner.”

Mr al-Maliki won the April election but has been unable to form a majority coalition government. He has been serving in a caretaker capacity and has rejected calls to step aside, despite flagging support from nearly all his erstwhile allies including the US, Iran, Shiite clerics and even his own Dawa party.

The mass deployment of forces has given rise to speculation that Mr al-Maliki might try to seize full control of the government, with Iraqis taking to Twitter to debate whether Mr al-Maliki’s actions indicated plans for a coup.

Shortly before he made his address, Iraqi police, army and counter-terrorism troops were deployed across strategic locations in Baghdad in an obvious show of force.

Security officials said the measures were similar to those brought in during emergencies.

“There is security everywhere in Baghdad, these are very unusual measures that look like those we impose for a state of emergency,” a high-ranking police official said.

“Several streets have been closed, as well as some key bridges,” said an official at the interior ministry. “It’s all linked to the political situation.”

A senior police officer said the deployment began at around 10.30pm local time, just 90 minutes before Mr al-Maliki gave his speech.

“There is a huge security presence, police and army, especially around the Green Zone,” (the highly-protected district that houses Iraq’s key institutions), he said.

In his brief address, Mr al-Maliki said Iraq was facing a “dangerous” situation and urged “the sons of Iraq” to be on alert.

Ms Harf made it clear that any attempt at “coercion” would face opposition from the US.

“We reject any effort to achieve outcomes through coercion or manipulation of the constitutional or judicial process,” she said. “The United States stands ready to support a new and inclusive government, particularly in the fight against ISIL,” she added, referring to the Islamic State jihadists who have launched a powerful offensive in northern Iraq.

“We believe such a new and inclusive government is the best way to unify the country against (IS), and to enlist the support of other countries in the region and international community.”

Ms Harf’s statement echoes an earlier tweet from Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Brett McGurk, who posted on Twitter: “Fully support President of #Iraq Fuad Masum as guarantor of the Constitution and a PM nominee who can build a national consensus.”

Saudi/Egyptian Regional Alliance To Give “Bandar the Commandar” Access To 500,000 Egyptian Troops?

Posted on August 11, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[After his royal scolding by Bandar (SEE: Bandar Threatens To Return Chaos To Egypt If al-Sisi Ever Criticizes ISIS Or Iraq Project Again), al-Sisi is now towing the mark, on his knees before the obese monarch, awaiting his next royal direction. According to the article below, al-Sisi and the fat king are discussing the deployment of Egyptian troops to the Saudi/Iraqi border. The king and Sisi were also talking about helping the CIA out with Libya’s borders (SEE: Will Egypt’s military intervene to secure Libyan border?).

What remains to be seen in all of this is the Russian question. What does al-Sisi hope to obtain for the fat king from Putin? Neither the Iraqi, nor the Libyan discussions concern Russia….That leaves Syria….How does Bandar plan to use the troops from the new regional alliance in the king’s “battle royale” with Bashar Assad and Iran?

What does Putin have to say about all of this?]

Sisi in Jeddah .. and from there to Moscow:
New alliances to confront the danger “Daash”?

AS SAFIR

King Abdullah during imitate Sisi necklace King Abdul Aziz in Jeddah yesterday ("SPA")

Mustafa Bassiouni

In his first television during the campaign, did not hesitate to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in answer to the question “Where would be your first visit out of Egypt?”. Sisi was the answer quickly, as if he had decided before, he said: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
Yesterday evening, Sisi arrived to Jeddah, where he held talks with King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.
Although the visit Sisi to Saudi Arabia is not his first outside Egypt, where he was preceded by visits to Algeria and Guinea, but it is of particular importance, Vazayartan previous two came in the context of the post of Field Marshal in the figures and conferences, Kaalghemh Africa, while the current visit carries special character expresses the attention span Egyptian administration of new relations with the Kingdom.
And appeared so obvious when singled out Saudi Arabia and its king-Sisi thanks in his inauguration ceremony, and when the plane ascended to the property at the airport in Cairo for a summit meeting with the hijacker’s King Abdullah.
Come and visit Sisi to Saudi Arabia at a critical moment, not to Cairo or Riyadh, but for the region as a whole, which is witnessing some of its central radical changes, and threatened by the specter of collapse.
The visit comes, which meets the two regional centers have two main, at a time when approaching the limits of their respective danger of Islamic extremism represented by the organization “Daash”: Saudi Arabia’s gateway to Iraq, Egypt and Libya from the gate.
The means of understanding between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the order of a lot of situations in the next phase, or perhaps the emergence of a new regional alliance becomes the cornerstone of the future plans for the region.
The visit also probably turn to visit a typical open files where some regional and international coordination of positions and being of different issues, and discuss the future cooperation between the two countries.
But in each case, the Egyptian-Saudi rapprochement after the “revolution of June 30,” and the great support provided by the Hacdth Kingdom and Egypt in that period, which exceeded twenty billion dollars from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE may lead to new alliances hubs in the region.
He says Egypt’s former ambassador to Washington, Abdel Raouf El-Reedy’s “ambassador” that “Sisi visit to Saudi Arabia at this time, is gaining great importance., Not only on the economic level, but especially at the political level.”
He believes that “The visit underlines the strategic relationship between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and remember the position of the great pro and pro-Egypt in difficult circumstances by Saudi Arabia.”
Adds Reedy that “the Arab region undergoing circumstance is difficult, do not pass it by. Regional centers affecting such as Cairo and Riyadh have to cooperate first to stop the expansion of the danger, as happened in Lebanon, and to address the political situation in Iraq,” pointing out that “the dumping of gravity Egyptian and Saudi together may have a crucial role in important issues and critical situation which is passing through the region. “
On the possibility of the emergence of a new regional alliance in the region, led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia Reedy says: “It does not matter the formal framework, there is a coalition already exists, and more importantly, a framework or a legal formality is the availability of political will.”
On the economic dimension of the visit says Reedy said that “the visit primarily political. As for economic support and the donors’ conference, it must be an Egyptian plan for economic reform to succeed efforts to support and economic support,” noting that “donor countries need to be assured to reform plans pursued by the The Egyptian government. “
Reedy denied the seriousness of the informal talk about the use of Egyptian troops to Saudi Arabia to confront the threat on its borders with Iraq.
Remarkably, the Sisi visit to Saudi Arabia precedes his visit to Russia, a visit the other carries special significance for observers of the Egyptian diplomacy.
He says political science professor at Cairo University and Wahid Abdel Meguid’s “Ambassador,” “The visits are linked certainly. Ironically, the closest party to Egypt regionally is Saudi Arabia, and the closest party to Egypt internationally is Russia., And the two countries in a state of hostility full., And this is a problem in front of the Egyptian foreign policy. So It was necessary to precede a visit to Russia Sisi visit to the kingdom, so there is no misunderstanding. “
He adds Abdul Majeed “can not be considered the visit of an economic nature, the more likely that Saudi Arabia wants a strategic alliance with Egypt, but this is hampered by the variation in the positions of the two allies from a number of issues and files, such as the Syrian file and the Iranian file and the Iraqi file, and others,” noting that “the positions of Saudi Arabia Some of these critical issues, while the positions of Cairo centrist, and will be the most important in this period of the parties to maintain the relationship and the lack of convergence or divergence gap. “
According to Abdel-Majid that there is no need for the role originally Egyptian military on the border with Saudi Arabia, saying that everything revolves around this role does not have a real basis.

RFID Tracking Chips?—Not Yet…Maybe

Posted on August 10, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Microchips Will Be Implanted Into Healthy People Sooner Than You Think

Dina Spector

Mark Gasson

In March 2009, British researcher Mark Gasson had a chip injected under the skin of his hand. The chip, a slightly more advanced version of the tags used to track pets, turned Gasson into a walking swipe-card. With a wave of his wrist, he could open security doors at the University of Reading laboratory, where his experiment was being conducted, and he could unlock his cell phone just by cradling it.

A year later, Gasson infected his own implant with a computer virus, one that he could pass on to other computer systems if the building’s networks were programmed to read his chip. As Gasson breezed around the the workplace, spreading the virus and corrupting computer systems, certain areas of the building became inaccessible to his colleagues.

At the time of the experiment, theoretical physicist and author of “The Future of the Mind” Michio Kaku told FOX News that demonstrating the ability to spread infection was an “important point” because “we’re going to have more chips in our body and clothing.”

Thousands of Americans already have implanted medical devices, including pacemakers, which are inserted into the chest to treat abnormal heart rhythms, and cochlear implants, which help deaf people to hear.

But the future, Gasson says, is going to focus on implantable technology for healthy people. Part of the reason is that we continually look for ways to make our lives easier. The question is whether we’re willing accept both the unintended and unknown consequences that come with giving up partial control of our bodies to technology.

Human vs. Machine

Implantable microchips provide a more intimate connection with technology than that of any other portable electronic device, like a cell phone or iPod, because the tag becomes a direct part of us when it’s inserted into our body. Implants “have the potential to change the very essence of what it is to be human,” Gasson said at a 2012 TEDX Talk.

The susceptibility of human microchips to cyber attacks is one worry, but Gasson wanted to explore issues beyond common concerns related to privacy and security.

That’s why he conducted the experiment in two stages: A surgeon initially inserted a clean computer chip into his hand, and the computer virus was unleashed a little over a year later. During that time, Gasson and his team were particularly interested in studying the psychological implications of implanted devices.

“There’s an underlying feeling that [having an implantable device] is an alien phenomenon,” said Gasson, a cybernetics expert. The only way to properly explore the psychological aspect was to have the device himself, he said.

What is an RFID implant?

Mark Gasson

A close-up of the implant device next to a match stick. The microchip, encased in glass, is about the size of a grain of rice.

RFID stands for radio frequency identification. The chip doesn’t have its own battery, powered instead by a reader that pulls information out of the chip. The reader gets the chip’s unique ID number and then cross references it to a database. RFID chips are found in lots of things we use every day, including credit cards.

Similar, if not creepier, technology is currently at work in things like Disney World’s MagicBand, which tracks a wearer’s location within the park and connects to that person’s accounts, according to a recent Medium post. These technologies have been useful not just for the company but for park guests — it makes their experience seamless.

These technologies are also being used for payment services: Some people use Google Wallet and Tap-To-Pay services to pay using their phones at stores and in cabs, instead of whipping out their wallet or carrying all their cards with them. The Hilton just recently announced a feature to replace keycards at its hotels. Guests will use an app to access their room.

As these technologies get more advanced and their uses get more varied, why would we be carrying a phone around when we could do all these things with a swipe of the hand?

Why an implant?

Vimeo/DangerousThings

The chip implanted in Gasson’s thumb, which is roughly the shape and size of a grain of rice, functions “like a tiny computer.” It can store information like a small USB memory stick.The chip appears as an extremely small, though visible, bump on the side of his finger. “It does freak people out quite a bit,” Gasson said. “But it doesn’t look grotesque.”

Unsurprisingly, Gasson says the chip did not immediately feel like part of his body. But the distinction faded over time as he used the chip more and more. “Unlike keys or a phone, you don’t have to think about carrying this type of device, and then you seamlessly use it and forget about it.”

Gasson has no plans to remove the chip.

Mark Gasson

Mark Gasson from the University of Reading holding the computer chip that was injected into his hand.

Gasson’s research in human microchips parallels the work of a growing community of people, so-called biohackers, who view microchipping as the next form of human evolution. Hacking tends to have a negative connotation, but this new group of technology enthusiasts offers a different meaning. In their world, the goal of hacking is not to inflict harm, but to transform something from its original purpose into something more useful.

The human body has limitations, but biohackers are constantly thinking of how those limitations can be overcome — how life can be made better or more convenient (like removing the need to carry around keys all the time) through the use of technology.

And the desire for these technologies is there. The company Dangerous Things has developed the first DIY kit for implantable devices, which back in December raised more than $30,000 from it’s $8,000 Indiegogo goal. The package comes with everything you need to insert the chip yourself. The chip allows you to interact with other devices by waving your hand or entering a room. You can buy one now for $99.

Vimeo/Dangerous Things

Dangerous Things founder Amal Graafstra.

In the accompanying video, Dangerous Things founder Amal Graafstra describes how he uses his implant:The primary use is to be able to program a tag with a url or information you want to share. I use my implants to get into my house, I use it for access control solutions, to get into my back door every day after I get home. I use it get access to my car; I can unlock my car and get in. I use it to log into my computer. I also use it to share contact details with people.

Challenges Ahead

The Dangerous Things kit isn’t the first commercially available RFID microchip — a company called VeriChip actually got FDA approval to market an implant back in 2004. The implant was designed to carry a unique ID number that hospitals could use to pull up a patient’s medical records if he or she were unconscious. But the chip was discontinued in 2010 over privacy concerns.

The failure of VeriChip, later rebranded as PositiveID, highlights the legal issues of microchipping people. Since 2009, at least nine states have either passed laws or proposed bills to prohibit the enforced implantation of chips.

Some states, including California, have enacted an “age of consent” clause, which allows parents to override the right of children under a certain age to decide if they want to be implanted. This inevitably kicks off the discussion of whether it’s ethically sound to microchip one’s child at birth. Supporters love the idea because they say it would prevent kidnappings. Critics worry that if a chip gave parents the ability to track their kids, then predators could, too.

But these ethical questions are not yet urgent. The technology is not yet useful or developed enough for everyone to have it, or even want it.

To start, there are several user-related misconceptions about RFID implants, namely the idea that these chips can be used to track one’s location every second of the day. This is not yet possible, because today’s RFID chips do not contain GPS trackers. Someone could track the computer systems that were accessed throughout the day (in the same way a credit card company can track purchases and where they were made), but the technology doesn’t provide real-time location data.

Other people worry about chips being used to covertly access unauthorized systems. As with other smart cards, which are programmed to be read by specific systems, someone with an RFID implant can’t just go about gaining entry to any old computer system. It takes a specialist reader to access a certain device.

“Anything that’s useful is going to happen in the next 10 to 20 years,” Gasson said, referring to a time in which we may start merging devices created by tech enthusiasts and medical-type technology to do things like store or download memories from the brain.

The Psychological Trauma of Catastrophe–Gaza’s Children

Posted on August 10, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Future “freedom fighters”/terrorists of Palestine

The Psychological Trauma of Catastrophe: Gaza’s Children

Louisa A. Lamb

Despite the on-again, off-again ceasefires between the Palestinian Resistance and Israel, attacks in Gaza have continued. According to 8/10/14 announcement from Tel Aviv, they will continue, doubtlessly as ruthless as ever. After Israel launched the first attack on July 7^th, tension continues as an omnipresent essence whirling about the winds of the greatly sought-after Holy land. Bombarded by airstrikes, shelling and bombs, civilians of the Gaza strip are incarcerated in what seems to be a never-ending battle with no escape. Recent reports from numerous sources and journalists describe the weight of the devastation Palestinians have endured in Gaza.

Within the last ten years, Israel has provoked three offensive movements against the Palestinian territory in Gaza: Operation Cast Lead, which began at the end of 2008 and 2009, Operation Pillar of Defense, which last eight days in November 2012, and most recently, Operation Protective Edge, which started on July 7^th, 2014. During this period of devastation, homes have been obliterated, nearly two thousands civilians have been killed, and humanitarian resources are extremely limited due to the Israeli blockade. Catastrophic damage has already been done, some irreparable and some of the most important consequences are often overlooked.

According to Dr. Jesse Ghannam, a clinical psychologist working for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, reported that the rate of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among children has doubled since the 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense attack. These children will most likely suffer from mood disorders, anxiety, depression, problems with attachment and develop antisocial personality traits. Children of Gaza who are nine years old have spent whole lives experiencing the terror of ruthless violence.

The UN relief and works agency reported that approximately 270,000 Gazans are taking UN schools as shelters. The organization also calculates that more than 350,000 children need mental health services because of severe and persisting psychological trauma. How can children cope when they witness the loss of their homes and their entire families from a single explosion? These children are witnessing their mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, friends and neighbors being blown apart with no understanding of why.

Many Gazan children who have survived view life as an inescapable war. There are many psychological principles to consider when assessing the future of these children, psychosocial development being a prominent one. The UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization recently stated that about 75% of teachers at primary and secondary levels reported a decline in their students’ academic performance since Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012. Furthermore, Operation Protective Edge has damaged 138 schools, including 89 run by the UNRWA.

IRIN, a UN Humanitarian news and information service, reported that the lack of locations to attend school and lack of education resources leaves students having to wait, prolonging their education with no guarantee of returning. Erica Silverman reported from the 2008-2009 attack that due to the trauma of these children and lack of psychological counseling resources, many are hesitant and anxious about even going to school. Six years later, with two more perennial offenses, these children of Gaza are overwrought. Iyad Zaqut, a psychiatrist managing the UN community mental health programs in the Gaza strip, reports fewer than 100 specialist teachers are treating more than 100,000 children.

The lack of schools, teachers, and school supplies make education for these children a fallacy. In addition to the scarcity of academic availability, many of these schools do not offer mental health services because of the abundance of children suffering from psychological trauma and limited mental health providers. As a result, these children are in dire need of aid which is unattainable. It’s important to consider Maslow’s hierarchy of needs when thinking about these children. These kids do not even have their basic safety and physiological needs met, which are basic human rights which many take for granted. They have nothing but memories of explosions and imprinted images of violence in their minds.

They live in a world they cannot change, that is cruel and violent. Their only solace is uttering the words “Inch’Allah” as they hide with their families and try to avoid the destruction surrounding them. Many of them don’t. Thousands of Palestinians are restricted from leaving Gaza Strip and are confined, condemned by the Israeli agenda with their fate already determined. How can children conceptualize this, what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamen Netanyahu has described as “complicated” yet “justified”?

Children are unable to understand the nature of this ongoing destruction. The children who have witnessed all three of the Israeli offenses are old enough to have reached Concrete Operations of Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development. Even so, how can they begin to conceptualize such oppression being justifiable? They don’t. Instead, these children, who are completely traumatized, are taught that survival is retaliating against these forces. The innate human compassion that every single human is born with is drowned with the blood of their people, leaving these children as empty shells, with their only hope to survival becoming filled with hatred and violence to join an extremist organization, where they will become like their oppressors—ruthlessly inhuman and unaffected by bloodshed.

In addition to the trauma they experience from witnessing these horrors themselves, family tensions contribute to their psychological issues. It’s difficult for children to feel safe when their parents, older relatives and other adults are stressed. Children need reassurance from adults and a healthy and supportive environment. Their parents are also suffering and face their own worries, so these children of Gaza cannot even retrieve comfort from their family.

The children of Gaza, who may initially be socially withdrawn and reclusive, quiet yet scarred and suffering, are at grave risk of growing into killing machines with nothing but bitter resentment for Israel. The attacks on children in Gaza are only fueling the ongoing violence, because for these children the only option is to avenge their dead family members, their homes, their schools, and their lack of human resources. Essentially, these kids have never known a proper society and will undoubtedly return to a very barbaric nature because that is their only means of survival.

These children are unable to have normal lives and development—besides the psychological trauma and lack of resources—because their identity is not fostered in a normal, healthy way. One of the most notable theories of development comes from Erik Erikson, who developed the 8 stages of psychosocial development. The nine-year old survivors of the Israeli offenses in Gaza, for instance, would be in Erikson’s stage of Industry vs. Inferiority. This is a crucial stage of human development, but these children will not be able to surpass this stage and continue to develop in a healthy manner. The Industry, which we can compare to the Israeli militant forces, dominate over the Palestinians. The children of Gaza who have lost everything—while never really having anything—are robbed of their dignity and the right to a stable life and identity of self.

The Palestinian suffering and Israeli-Palestinian conflict is nothing new. This problem has been raging on, but it is important to ease the suffering of these children and provide resources to help them and help the world. There is a way to stop the cycle, with humanitarian efforts and discussion about what needs to be done. These children are innocent, and yet they are subjected to so much. It is a moral responsibility of the international community to provide assistance to alleviate the strife of these children and rebuild what is left of the home of the Palestinian people.

Louisa Lamb is an independent researcher and journalist reporting on the underclass and marginalized. She can be reached c/o louisaalamb@gmail.com

Hillary Trying To Ride ISIS Wave Into the White House

Posted on August 10, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[ISIS is everybody’s “Plan B for Syria.” The Islamic State goons originally crawled out of Iraq to take-away the weapons given to the FSA, after the American people became wise to the Evil Empire’s original plan to use the “Free Syrian Army” terrorists to turn Syria into a Saudi colony. It is a total fabrication pushed by the Saudi royal bastards, and now by Billary, that ISIS is a byproduct of our failure of will, rising out of the ashes of Obama’s foreign policy. Hillary is singing the Saudi’s (CIA’s) tune, hoping to rouse her feminist-interventionist troops, feeding them a new round of false “humanitarianism,” hoping to “guilt” the American people into another headlong stampede back into Iraq and Syria. Saudi/American puppet Saad Hariri has managed to open the door to international troops along the Syria border…a small first step into a wider regional military role under UN (American) control…what the American neocon imperialists have been after all along is being handed to them all over the region…by the ISIS shock troops.

Hillary is a dangerous BITCH.]

Hillary Clinton: ‘Failure’ to Help Syrian Rebels Led to the Rise of ISIS

Islamic State Scum Burns Refugee Camp Down During Retreat From Arsal

Posted on August 10, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

War victims flee back to Syria as refugee camp in Lebanon is burned to the ground by invading Islamic State fighters

Refugees poured out of border town Arsal, heading back to war-torn home
Follows incursions by Islamic forces into Lebanon over the past week
Troops took Arsal, but were forced back by Lebanese army on Thursday

By Kieran Corcoran

Refugees taking shelter in Lebanon from violent jihadists have turned around and headed back into war-torn Syria after insurgents launched repeated attacks across the border.

The fleeing victims of the Syrian civil war were seen yesterday at the border town of Arsal, picking through the remains of a refugee camp which Islamist fighters burned to the ground.

Having previously thought of Lebanon as a relatively safe haven from the long-running civil war between Syria dictator Bashar Assad and hard-line Muslim forces in the country, the Syrian victims found themselves in the firing line earlier this week after new attacks.

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Fleeing: Syrian refugees gather their effects and head back to their homeland after jihadists made incursions into Lebanon

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Driving away: The convoy of cars and vans is pictured waiting in Arsal, which was captured by the jihadists last week before being won back by Lebanese forces

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Razed: The Arsal refugee camp, pictured, was burned down by the invading militants

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Lives destroyed, again: Children look on at the damaged remains of the tents where they had lived

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Collateral: In the background surviving tents can be seen, but the damage was too much for the refugees, who made the decision to head back to Syria

Today a new wave of Jihadists attacked the village of Kfar Qouq, but were forced back by armed locals.

Some of the fighters are thought to be members of the Islamic State (IS) group, despite their strongholds being hundreds of miles away in the north-east of Syria and parts of Iraq.

Lebanese security sources said the jihadist forces had also been under attack from Syrian government forces that day.

Kfar Qouq is near the Bekaa Valley town of Rashaya, 60 miles south of Arsal, which was seized a week ago by Islamist militants who crossed from Syria. That incursion was the most serious spillover yet of Syria’s three-year-long civil war into Lebanon.

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On the way out: This car, lined up with other traffic on the road out of Arsal, was damaged in the fighting

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Queues: Syrians have loaded everything they can carry onto trucks and into smaller cars for their ride home

Dozens of people were killed in five days of fighting between the army and the militants who included Islamists affiliated to the Islamic State, which has seized territory in Syria and Iraq.

The militants pulled out of Arsal to the mountainous border zone on Thursday, taking with them 19 captive soldiers.

Militant sources said on Friday that they sought to exchange them for Islamists held in Lebanese jails.

Two commanders close to the group said the demands had been sent to the Lebanese government and army

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Loaded up: Refugees are seen here in the Lebanese village of Labweh in the Bekaa Valley on their way to Syria

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Crammed in: Dozens of refugees pile into one truck, seen here between checkpoints by the Syrian border

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Hurt: Injured Syrians are seen inside a van. They hope to be safer inside their own country

The militants withdrew from Arsal into the mountainous border region after a battle in which dozens of people were killed, including 17 soldiers.

The militants said their list of Islamist prisoners they want released included Emad Gomaa, whose arrest last Saturday sparked the incursion into Arsal. The army has said the attack by the Islamists had been long-planned.

Gomaa had been a commander in the Nusra Front, al Qaeda’s affiliate in the Syrian civil war, but he switched affiliation to the Islamic State in the weeks before his arrest.

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Reprisals: Members of the Lebanese army patrol near Arsal earlier this week

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Damage: This army building in Arsal was damaged by jihadist gunfire in an attack this week

The militants are also seeking the release of other Islamists jailed since a 2007 insurrection by an al Qaeda-inspired group at a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon.

Last month, the Nusra Front issued a statement promising to secure the release of Islamist detainees being held at Roumieh prison, northeast of Beirut.

‘This has taken a long time and the government does not seem to be willing to listen or understand. Maybe this time they will,’ said the second militant source. ‘We have nothing to lose now, we have lost people and our people are refugees again so there is nothing more to lose.’

An army patrol entered Arsal town on Friday for the first time since the militants pulled out, a security source said.

Hariri To Use Saudi $1Billion To Force Hezbollah Out of Syria

Posted on August 10, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[This bribe to Hariri represents the fat king trying to buy what he couldn’t obtain diplomatically or on the battlefield.]

March 14 Reunites with Hariri: Controlling Border is Not Complete without Hizbullah Withdrawal from Syria

W460

The March 14 coalition held an extraordinary expanded meeting at the Center House on Friday evening, in the presence of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri for the first time in over three years following his surprising return to Lebanon earlier in the day.

The conferees called for controlling the Lebanese-Syrian border by deploying army troops supported by international peacekeeping forces, according to the stipulations of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701.

“But controlling the border in all directions cannot be completed without Hizbullah’s immediate withdrawal from the Syrian war to avert the repetition of scourges that threaten Lebanon and its security,” a statement released by the coalition after the meeting said, highlighting the unrest in the northeastern border town of Arsal and its surroundings.

“March 14 is committed to continuing its struggle for Lebanon’s stability and sovereignty, and for freeing the country from all types of mandates by illegally armed” groups, the statement assured.

It also stressed the alliance’s commitment to the state and to “all its political, military and security institutions.”

“These are the only guarantee for Lebanese people’s safety and stability, and for Christian-Islamic coexistence,” it elaborated.

“Our only project remains building a constitutional state, starting from the election of a new president.”

The conferees lauded during the meeting Hariri’s return as a proof of his “commitment to Lebanon’s unity and independence.”

“His return is a ray of hope,” the alliance expressed.

As well, the March 14 leaders thanked Saudi King Abdullah for “supporting the Lebanese army and security forces in the fierce battle against terrorism.”

Hariri had arrived in Beirut earlier on Friday after spending three years abroad.

He left Lebanon in early 2011, months after the collapse of his national unity cabinet. He has repeatedly claimed that security reasons were preventing his return to Beirut.

He arrived on Friday amid security tension in the Bekaa region of Arsal, where army troops battled jihadist militants for several days.

The clashes resulted in the martyrdom of scores of soldiers, and the injury of over 80 others.

Prior to his return, the former Premier declared on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia has provided Lebanon’s army with one billion dollars to strengthen security.

Hariri explained during a security meeting on Friday afternoon that he was tasked by King Abdullah with supervising the spending of the Saudi grant.

Malaysian Airline Top Shareholders and 2013 Annual Report

Posted on August 9, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[SEE: Malaysia Air Hit $.24 Per Share and the Govt Announced A Takeover]

Malaysian Airline System Berhad (10601-W) / Annual Report 2013

159/ Analysis of Shareholdings /
No. Name No. of Shares %
1 KHAZANAH NASIONAL BERHAD 11,592,389,200 69.37

2 AMANAHRAYA TRUSTEES BERHAD
SKIM AMANAH SAHAM BUMIPUTRA
278,054,835 1.66
[Amanah Raya Berhad or AmanahRaya is wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia–ED.]

3 MALAYSIA NOMINEES (TEMPATAN) SDN BHD
GREAT EASTERN LIFE ASSURANCE (MALAYSIA) BERHAD (PAR1)
100,371,700 0.83
[subsidiary of OCBC, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited–ED.]

4 CITIGROUP NOMINEES (ASING) SDN BHD
EXEMPT AN FOR UBS AG SINGAPORE (FOREIGN)
73,039,500 0.41

5 WARISAN HARTA SABAH SDN BHD 50,302,884 0.30

6 STATE FINANCIAL SECRETARY SARAWAK 45,833,333 0.27

7 PUBLIC NOMINEES (ASING) SDN BHD
PLEDGED SECURITIES ACCOUNT FOR CHUA KEE TEE (E-JBU/SKI)
36,500,000 0.23

8 MEGA FIRST HOUSING DEVELOPMENT SDN BHD 31,849,000 0.19

9 CHIEF MINISTER, STATE OF SABAH 29,809,116 0.19

10 HSBC NOMINEES (ASING) SDN BHD
EXEMPT AN FOR JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (U.S.A.)
29,612,767 0.19

11 CITIGROUP NOMINEES (ASING) SDN BHD
CBNY FOR DIMENSIONAL EMERGING MARKETS VALUE FUND
28,540,700 0.18

12 RHB CAPITAL NOMINEES (TEMPATAN) SDN BHD
PLEDGED SECURITIES ACCOUNT FOR NOOR AZMAN @ NOOR HIZAM B MOHD NURDIN (CEB)
24,000,000 0.18

13 KENANGA NOMINEES (TEMPATAN) SDN BHD
PLEDGED SECURITIES ACCOUNT FOR TIONG THAI KING
23,000,000 0.16

14 OSK CAPITAL PARTNERS SDN. BHD. 22,127,800 0.16

15 CITIGROUP NOMINEES (ASING) SDN BHD
UBS AG SINGAPORE FOR KEEN CAPITAL INVESTMENT LIMITED

16 CARTABAN NOMINEES (ASING) SDN BHD
EXEMPT AN FOR STATE STREET BANK & TRUST COMPANY (WEST CLTOD67)
20,780,800 0.13

17 RCI VENTURES SDN BHD 19,675,000 0.13

18 CITIGROUP NOMINEES (TEMPATAN) SDN BHD
EMPLOYEES PROVIDENT FUND BOARD
19,561,740 0.12

19 HSBC NOMINEES (ASING) SDN BHD
KBC SECS NV FOR KBC EQUITY FUND
18,097,000 0.12

20 HSBC NOMINEES (ASING) SDN BHD
EXEMPT AN FOR BNP PARIBAS WEALTH MANAGEMENT SINGAPORE
BRANCH (A/c CLIENTS-FGN)
17,100,000 0.12

21 UOB KAY HIAN NOMINEES (ASING) SDN BHD
EXEMPT AN FOR UOB KAY HIAN PTE LTF (A/C CLIENTS)
14,097,866 0.11

22 ORIENTAL DRAGON ENTERPRISES INC. 13,095,900 0.11

23 MALACCA EQUITY NOMINEES (TEMPATAN) SDN BHD
EXEMPT AN FOR PHILLIP CAPITAL MANAGEMENT SDN BHD (EPF)
12,605,000 0.10

24 CITIGROUP NOMINEES (ASING) SDN BHD
CIPLC FOR ASIA PACIFIC PERFORMANCE FUND
12,088,000 0.10

25 DB (MALAYSIA) NOMINEE (ASING) SDN BHD
SSBT FUND NT6P FOR CANADA PENSION PLAN INVESTMENT BOARD
10,990,000 0.09

26 MAYBANK SECURITIES NOMINEES (TEMPATAN) SDN BHD
PLEDGED SECURITIES ACCOUNT FOR MOHD NOOR BIN MOHD IDRIS (REM 822)
10,950,000 0.08

27 CARTABAN NOMINEES (ASING) SDN BHD
SSBT FUND J728 FOR SPDR S&P EMERGING ASIA PACIFIC ETF
10,568,930 0.07

28 TAN SAW GNOH 10,221,800 0.07

29 CITIGROUP NOMINEES (ASING) SDN BHD
EXEMPT AN FOR CITIBANK NA, SINGAPORE (JULIUS BAER)
10,174,423 0.07

30 HOR ING NOAR 10,150,000 0.07

Malaysia Air Hit $.24 Per Share and the Govt Announced A Takeover

Posted on August 9, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[According to the graph above, on August 18, 2013, three/fourths of one-billion shares of MAS BHD traded hands, at $.34 US.]

[What preceded Aug.18, which would trigger such a sell-off of shares of the flat stock?

Four similar sell-offs of smaller volume are indicated in March, May June and July. What events coincide with these spikes?]

Malaysia Airlines to be delisted in Govt takeover

Malaysia’s state investment company plans to remove struggling Malaysia Airlines from the stock exchange, making it fully state-owned before a far-reaching overhaul of its business.

Malaysia Airlines has been hit by two major disasters this year, which added to its longstanding financial woes.

Khazanah Nasional, which owns 69 percent of the carrier, said it plans to buy out minority shareholders at 27 sen (8 cents) a share, a 12.5 percent premium to the airline’s closing share price on Thursday.

Khazanah said the delisting will represent the first stage of a “complete overhaul” of the loss-making airline, and that detailed plans will be announced by the end of this month.

“The proposed restructuring will critically require all parties to work closely together to undertake what will be a complete overhaul of the national carrier,” it said in a statement. “Nothing less will be required in order to revive our national airline to be profitable as a commercial entity and to serve its function as a critical national development entity.”

In March, Flight 370 disappeared with 239 people on board after flying far of course during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The plane has still not been found, with a search in the southern Indian Ocean underway.

While the airline was dealing with that, in July 298 people were killed when Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine. It was heading to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam and was shot out of the sky over an area of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatist rebels.

Before the disasters the carrier’s financial performance was among the worst in the industry, posing question marks over its future even before its brand was tied to two almost unfathomable tragedies.

Some analysts last month said the state-owned airline would not survive a year without a substantial cash injection from the Malaysian government.

Pentagon Denies Airstrikes In Iraq, Then it admits it

Posted on August 8, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

[SEE: American Warplanes Bombed “Daash” Sites Around Sinjar In Support of Peshmerga Forces]

Press reports that US has conducted airstrikes in Iraq completely false. No such action taken.

–
Rear Adm. John Kirby (PentagonPresSec) August 07, 2014

New York Times reports US airstrikes in Iraq; Pentagon denies: ‘completely false’

Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby is denying press reports that the United States has conducted airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq, calling them “completely false.”

NOW FOR THE WTF? MOMENT…check-out Kirby’s Twit Tweets:

Rear Adm. John Kirby @PentagonPresSec ·

US military aircraft conduct strike on ISIL artillery. Artillery was used against Kurdish forces defending Erbil, near US personnel.

Rear Adm. John Kirby @PentagonPresSec ·

#Secdef proud of troops who conducted air drops of supplies to Iraqi’s in need. US military will remain ready for airstrikes as authorized.

Rear Adm. John Kirby @PentagonPresSec ·

Press reports that US has conducted airstrikes in Iraq completely false. No such action taken.

Was the Pentagon’s spokesman confused? Was the Pentagon confused? Was he just lying, when he denied the NYTimes report?

150 Saudi Intelligence Officers Enter Mosul As Planners for ISIL

Posted on August 8, 2014 by therearenosunglasses

Entry 150 Saudi intelligence officer in Mosul by Al-Hasakah in Syria

15/06/2014
According to well-informed security sources, said on Sunday that 150 Saudi intelligence officer entered the city of Mosul by al-Hasakah province Syrian border controlled by elements of the organization “Daash” terrorist.
Media sources said, “The 150 officers in the Saudi intelligence led submitted Fahd lamp entered the city of Mosul after they were employed as elements linked with planning terrorist organization Daash in the city of Al-Hasakah Syrian border.”
The sources, who asked not to refer to it, “a journalist with Al-Watan Saudi Arabia was accompanied by officers when they entered the city of Mosul.”