Update Syria: As Pepe Escobar points out regarding the Arab League monitors findings in Syria:
When the over 160 monitors, after one month of enquiries, issued their report ... surprise! The report did not follow the official GCC line - which is that the "evil" Bashar al-Assad government is indiscriminately, and unilaterally, killing its own people, and so regime change is in order.
...The report is adamant. There was no organized, lethal repression by the Syrian government against peaceful protesters.
Instead, the report points to shady armed gangs as responsible for hundreds of deaths among Syrian civilians, and over one thousand among the Syrian army, using lethal tactics such as bombing of civilian buses, bombing of trains carrying diesel oil, bombing of police buses and bombing of bridges and pipelines.
Obama doubles spending on Cybersecurity
Obama financing ,arming and training so-called Rebels in Syria.
Obama's counter-terrorism policy in Yemen backfires as extremist groups gain popularity
Update:#OWS Occupy Movement and the Obama government's increased spying on Internet Social Media.
R: Obama is not a member of the 99%
He is part of the 1% and it is to that group to which he owes his allegiance -Don't confuse him with Martin Luther King Jr. or Robert Kennedy, or Ted Kennedy or even FDR.
When will the majority of American realize the Obama administration may at times sound conciliatory to protesters but in fact fears the #OWS movement and wants to crush it if at all possible or if not then co-opt it and rid it of its radical platform. -
If Obama had followed through on all of his promises during the 2008 campaign that is to tell the Washington elites that the decades of business as usual in Washington is at an end.
Instead Obama is some ways more to the right on a number of issues than George W. Bush was ie immigration, the drug wars, bailing out big business and banks and investment firms while now tossing a few scraps to the average American such as 35 billion dollars while paying out a couple of trillion for his friends and other in his club known as the 1%.
SOPA bill takes on new name in the Senate
Uploaded by RTAmerica on Feb 17, 2012
Earlier this week President Obama revealed the 2013 military defense budget for the Department of Defense which is roughly $614 billion, and in it the cybersecurity budget has nearly double. Now the Department of Homeland Security plans to monitor social media sites. Also the Senate is attempting to return the controversial SOPA bill but under a new name. Ginger McCall, director for Epic's Open Government Programs, joins us to explain what this could mean to America's privacy.
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James Clapper insists that Iran is no where near the point of developing a nuclear bomb.
Before going to war with Iran it seems that first the Obama administration will have to neutralize ( bomb the crap out of) Syria and possibly Yemen.
Once Iran is isolated then the US or Israel will attack Iran . Taking out Iran will not only please the Israelis but also the Saudis .
So to take out Syria Obama's needs an excuse as he did in Libya no matter no matter how far fetched. George W. Bush use the intelligence community and the Pentagon and so on to invent enough evidence to convince the United Nations that war against Iraq was necessary but he lied and was supported by a large portion of the American people and now over 1,000,000 /One million Iraqis are dead the majority of which were non-combatants . Meanwhile Obama is playing the same game different president same old s..t .
There is mounting evidence that the US and other countries have been supplying arm and training of the so called Rebel Forces who just happen to want to create an Islamic state governed by Sharia just like the new government in Libya which only managed to take down Qaddafi by relying on constant carpet bombing of the country killing 150,000 people most of them non-combatants but that's how Obama and America Roll.
The Arab Monitors Report on the violence in Syria has proved that the Rebel Forces have been the cause of most of the civilian deaths in Syria. So it is the government that is responsible for the wanton murder of civilians which of course means that the report undermines the erroneous but convenient Obama /Saudi narrative which would allow the US and its allies to bomb the crap out of Syria to bring about a regime change. And a Regime Change as we see in Libya (or as we have seen in Honduras)does not mean more democratic system or giving the Syrian people their rights but rather Regime Changes is supposed to replace the old regime with an American/Saudi friendly and easily manipulated Regime.
America is playing a long game and they will use any and all means necessary including various forms of propaganda to convince the world that whatever America does is for "The Greater Good".
Is that why for decades and even generations the US has backed one autocratic brutal dictator after another.
As Lindsey Graham in the above video said Iran has been at war with America since 1979 but he ignores the fact that the USA had been meddling in Iranian politics since 1953 when it staged a coup in Iran. In 1979 the Iranian people rose up against a brutal dictator that is the American compliant Shah of Iran. Americans in their arrogance and hubris still see this as an attack on America. THe hostage incident was brought about by the US government defending and protecting the ousted Shah from facing justice in Iran or in the World Court .
Syrian Gore Or US Awe: Looking For The Moral High Ground By Mike Carey February 16, 2012 "ABC"
- - On the ABC's AM program, US president Barack Obama was quoted as describing the killings in Homs as outrageous.
Outrageous in what sense? That they were not as numerous as the civilians killed in the American assault on the besieged Iraqi city of Fallujah in 2004? Barely noteworthy when compared to Israel's 2008 bravura performance in Gaza when Operation Cast Lead saw so much lead cast that about 1,000 civilians, including lots of kiddies , out of a 1,400 total were dispatched without much complaint from the White House. Not a first division death toll at all when measured against the lethal effect of western sanctions against Iraq after operation Desert Storm in 1991.
When asked on US television, if she thought that the death of about half a million Iraqi children, due to sanctions, was a price worth paying, then-US secretary of state, Madeline Albright replied:
"This is a very hard choice, but we think the price is worth it."
Now, that's a beautiful set of numbers!
It's almost up there with George Bush's 2003 shock and awe extravaganza. The US news-sharing website, Information Clearing House has been keeping a tally and as of St Valentine's Day 1,455,590 have, in its words, been "slaughtered in the US war and occupation of Iraq". Even if it's half wrong the blood harvest is immense. That too, completely ignores the supreme crime committed by the 'Coalition of the Willing'. What did the post-WWII, International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg say about waging an aggressive war "essentially an evil thing... to initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime, differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole."
I fully understand that many wrongs don't make a right but western hypocrisy leaves me numb. How can the United States, Great Britain or Australia lecture Syria and expect to be taken seriously?
Mind you, Western motives might be totally cynical and pernicious. According to Debkafile, an Israeli website with close links to intelligence sources, British and Qatari troops are already directing rebel ammunition supply, communications and tactics in the battle for Homs and that concern topped the agenda in talks between president Assad's officials and the head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, Mikhail Fradkov.
If that is true then it is following a well-beaten path established in oil rich Libya. It's now clear that foreign Special Forces led the rebels on the ground there, covert arms supplies were parachuted in by France and Saudi Arabia and Qatar, provided fighters, funds and diplomatic cover...
The Arab League sent in 160 monitors to check out the situation in Syria but their findings have been manipulated and mischaracterized to suit Washington's and the West narrative that depicts the government as evil and wantonly killing civilians while the so-called rebels who are backed by President Obama and the West are only defending themselves. But the facts on the ground do not necessarily support that narrative so anyone who contradicts that Narrative is depicted as siding with the Syrian government and therefore lying.
Obama it appears is doing all he can to lay the ground work to convince the American people and of course its media and America's allies to take action to overthrow the Syrian government as they did Libya
Arab League Report Shows that Syria Has Been Mischaracterized By WashingtonsBlog February 07, 2012
-- While the Western media act like the Syrian government is wantonly and indiscriminately killing its own people without provocation, an independent investigation has found a different reality on the ground.
Specifically, over 160 monitors from the Arab League – comprised of both allies and mortal enemies of Syria – toured Syria and published a report on January 27th showing that the situation has been mischaracterized.
Initially, the report noted general cooperation by the Syrian government:
The Mission [i.e. the Arab League investigative team] noted that the Government strived to help it succeed in its task and remove any barriers that might stand in its way. The Government also facilitated meetings with all parties. No restrictions were placed on the movement of the Mission and its ability to interview Syrian citizens, both those who opposed the Government and those loyal to it.
The report noted that the media has greatly exaggerated the amount of violence in Syria:
The Mission noted that many parties falsely reported that explosions or violence had occurred in several locations. When the observers went to those locations, they found that those reports were unfounded.
The Mission also noted that, according to its teams in the field, the media exaggerated the nature of the incidents and the number of persons killed in incidents and protests in certain towns.
***
Since it began its work, the Mission has been the target of a vicious media campaign. Some media outlets have published unfounded statements, which they attributed to the Head of the Mission. They have also grossly exaggerated events, thereby distorting the truth.
Such contrived reports have helped to increase tensions among the Syrian people and undermined the observers’ work.
Indeed, some of the observers themselves violated their oath of neutrality and exaggerated the violence:
Some observers reneged on their duties and broke the oath they had taken. They made contact with officials from their countries and gave them exaggerated accounts of events. Those officials consequently developed a bleak and unfounded picture of the situation.
...While the government has not withdrawn all of its forces, the military has withdrawn from many areas:
Based on the reports of the field-team leaders and the meeting held on 17 January 2012 with all team leaders, the Mission confirmed that all military vehicles, tanks and heavy weapons had been withdrawn from cities and residential neighbourhoods. Although there are still some security measures in place in the form of earthen berms and barriers in front of important buildings and in squares, they do not affect citizens.
Perhaps most importantly, the report notes that the Syrian people do not want foreign intervention:
However, the citizens believe the crisis should be resolved peacefully through Arab
mediation alone, without international intervention. Doing so would allow them to live in peace and complete the reform process and bring about the change they desire.
The report condemns violence by both sides, but stresses that much of the violence has been perpetrated by the rebels against government forces:
In Homs and Dera‘a, the Mission observed armed groups committing acts of violence against Government forces, resulting in death and injury among their ranks. In certain situations, Government forces responded to attacks against their personnel with force. The observers noted that some of the armed groups were using flares and armour-piercing projectiles.
In Homs, Idlib and Hama, the Observer Mission witnessed acts of violence being committed against Government forces and civilians that resulted in several deaths and injuries. Examples of those acts include the bombing of a civilian bus, killing eight persons and injuring others, including women and children, and the bombing of a train carrying diesel oil. In another incident in Homs, a police bus was blown up, killing two police officers. A fuel pipeline and some small bridges were also bombed.
***
...Recently, there have been incidents that could widen the gap and increase bitterness between the parties. These incidents can have grave consequences and lead to the loss of life and property. Such incidents include the bombing of buildings, trains carrying fuel, vehicles carrying diesel oil and explosions targeting the police, members of the media and fuel pipelines. Some of those attacks have been carried out by the Free
Syrian Army [the main opposition group] and some by other armed opposition groups.
Also see: THE ROVING EYE Exposed: The Arab agenda in Syria By Pepe Escobar at AsiaTimesonline, feb. 4,2012
When the over 160 monitors, after one month of enquiries, issued their report ... surprise! The report did not follow the official GCC line - which is that the "evil" Bashar al-Assad government is indiscriminately, and unilaterally, killing its own people, and so regime change is in order.
...The report is adamant. There was no organized, lethal repression by the Syrian government against peaceful protesters. Instead, the report points to shady armed gangs as responsible for hundreds of deaths among Syrian civilians, and over one thousand among the Syrian army, using lethal tactics such as bombing of civilian buses, bombing of trains carrying diesel oil, bombing of police buses and bombing of bridges and pipelines.
Once again, the official NATOGCC version of Syria is of a popular uprising smashed by bullets and tanks. Instead, BRICS members Russia and China, and large swathes of the developing world see it as the Syrian government fighting heavily armed foreign mercenaries. The report largely confirms these suspicions.
Note: Will update the Yemen controversy next time:
Meanwhile the US intervention in Yemen has been a disaster increasing the popularity of anti-government forces and extremist Islamic groups. While US supplied hundreds of millions of dollars given to the Saleh government to supposedly take on Al Qaeda Islamists and other terrorists in fact the money and weapons were and are mostly used to defeat government opponents who have no connections with terrorists or AlQaeda. The Saleh government is failing to provide public services including maintaining basic law enforcement. While Saleh ran a notoriously draconian brutal state which imprisons, tortures and kills those who dare complain or protest against the government.
Meanwhile poverty is increasing and government services are collapsing.
Elections are supposed to be taking place to represent a democratic change but in fact only Saleh's vice president is running in the election so it the election is a farce.
U.S. Has Ignited Islamist Uprising in Impoverished, Divided Yemen Jeremy Scahill at Democracy Now!February 16, 2012
---------- Has U.S. counterterrorism policy in Yemen strengthened the very threat it sought to eliminate? We speak with journalist Jeremy Scahill, who reports in a new cover story for The Nation magazine that U.S. drone strikes, civilian drone casualties and deepening poverty in Yemen have all contributed to the rise of an Islamist uprising. "The arrogance of the U.S. was always thinking that whatever U.S. official was sent to Yemen was smarter than Ali Abdullah Saleh," Scahill says. "[Saleh] was a master chess player, and he milked counterterrorism as his cash cow... [U.S.-supplied] forces have almost never been used to actually battle anyone determined to be terrorists. They’ve existed primarily for the defense of the Saleh regime.
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