War On You: Breaking Alternative News » Foreign Politics

Syria seizes Israeli weapons

WarOnYou — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:47:11 +0000

Syria seizes Israeli weapons

October 17, 2011

Source: Press TV

The Syrian security forces have seized Israeli weapons from armed groups responsible for the killing of hundreds of people across the country.

The Syrian envoy to the regional grouping of the Arab League (AL) made this announcement at an emergency meeting in the 22-member body’s headquarters in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Sunday.

Youssef Ahmad said, “They are Israeli made automatic weapons. This is proven and we’ll show it on TV channels,” Syrian state television reported.

“These are the weapons used by the armed opposition to kill the sons of our nation.”

Ahmad complained that no Arab partner had acted to condemn neither such instances of Tel Aviv’s contribution to domestic violence in Syria nor the killings of Syrian armed forces.

In addition, the envoy called on the Arab nations not to join, what he referred to as, a United States-backed plan to target Syria.

The meeting came amid continued unrest in Syria, which has been raging on since mid-March, leaving hundreds of casualties, including members of the security forces.

The Syrian government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists for the violence.

Read Full Article Here…

Israeli Police Captured On Video Violently Attacking Arab Family in Haifa

WarOnYou — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 06:43:02 +0000

Israeli Police Captured On Video Violently Attacking Arab Family in Haifa

Saed Bannoura

October 7, 2011

Two days ago, the Israeli Police violently attacked and evicted an Arab family who had been living in a vacant home in Salma Street, Haifa, mistreating the mother and her children, the Arabs48 news website reported. Video included.

After losing their home, the Arab family had been living in a protest tent in Al Ajamy Garden before moving to an unfurnished, abandoned home, seeking shelter for the children.

The Israeli Police attacked the home and and the mother, pushing her violently. One policeman also kicked the mother, and another held her by the neck. Other policemen chased the terrified children.

Some persons apparently tried to intervene but were forced away by the police.

The police also kidnapped two members of the family (brother and sister) and took them to a nearby police station. They were released later and went back to their protest tent in Al Ajamy Garden.

Video captured by Haim Schwartzenberg.

Source

US Congress freezes $200 million in aid to Palestinians

WarOnYou — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 01:43:42 +0000

US Congress freezes $200 million in aid to Palestinians

October 2, 2011

Print Version

Source: AFP

WASHINGTON — Key US lawmakers are blocking about $200 million in Palestinian aid in response to the territories’ UN statehood bid, congressional aides said Saturday.

Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have frozen the funding “until the Palestinian statehood issue is sorted out,” one of the aides told AFP.

The economic package is separate from security aid, which the US lawmakers say would be counterproductive to block. They fear that withholding those funds would weaken the ability of Palestinian security forces to quell anti-Israel violence.

A coalition of Israel-backing Democrats and conservative Republican lawmakers are angered by the Palestinian bid for United Nations membership. Both the United States and Israel insist that only direct negotiations can produce an accord leading to Palestinian statehood.

Full article here

The Conquest of Thieves

WarOnYou — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 05:41:56 +0000

The Conquest of Thieves

By Stanley Collymore

September 19, 2011

When Frankenstein decided to and ultimately created his monster he doubtlessly thought he was being quite clever, but what he clearly didn’t bear in mind while doing so and something that would highlight his astounding stupidity in the process, was the likelihood that his clever creation would in turn develop a mind and will of its own diametrically opposed to his own that would ultimately lead to it becoming not only his adversary but also his nemesis as well. But history shows just how short-sighted and completely wrapped up he was in himself over his personal achievement as well caught up in his own hubristic posturing that the possibility of his prized creation ever turning on him didn’t for a solitary second cross his mind let alone feature as a salient component in his arrogant thinking. Contemporary Frankensteins Nicolas Sarkozy, his co-conspirator David Cameron and their willing apprentices in the United States and the rest of NATO are similarly in for a rude awakening over the creation of their Libyan monster; and you heard it here first!

As I write, Monday 19 September 2011, a significant number of heavyweight and prominent French lawyers are preparing themselves to sue Nicolas Sarkozy for crimes against humanity that he has premeditatedly committed in Libya against the Libyan people. Chief among those in the vanguard of this popular opposition and utter abhorrence to what Sarkozy has done are Roland Dumas, former French Foreign Minister (1984-1986 and 1988-1993) who is not only implacably opposed to the appalling criminality of the incumbent French president, Nicolas Sarkozy but has also publicly pledged to personally defend Colonel Gaddafi in court were he to be captured and brought before the utterly biased ICC that has quite subjectively issued in tandem with a more than compliant and complicit Interpol a warrant for his arrest; though it’s the solid belief of Monsieur Dumas that despite their public posturing to the contrary neither the ICC, France, the UK, United States nor the other participating NATO countries that are themselves deeply mired in the calculated and horrific massacre of Libyans have any genuine wish to see Colonel Gaddafi brought before any court or tried for what they spuriously claim he has purportedly done; and quite frankly the only aim, and a well-rehearsed one at that, that they jointly have in mind is to extrajudicially murder him, primarily as an effective means of permanently shutting him up from exposing their own more feasible criminal undertakings.

Jacques Vergas, another renowned and very prominent French lawyer, likens the deliberately created situation in Libya by NATO member states, principally Britain and France, to that of Vietnam where the US on purpose sprayed tens of millions of litres of toxins on crops in the Sixties and Seventies causing multiple brain disorders, miscarriages and horrific birth defects that still linger to this day with the Vietnamese population. And he poignantly adds: “They’re using missiles with depleted uranium which causes cancer. In Tripoli I saw people crippled by NATO attacks; office workers who had nothing to do with the fighting, that’s why we’re suing President Sarkozy for crimes against humanity.”

In an RT report from Paris on the same theme Daniel Bushell recounted how in the bombing of a residence in which 13 civilians and 4 children were murdered NATO at initially denied it had anything to do with it, then changed its tune as the evidence of its involvement mounted to one of dishonestly claiming that the place was a military command centre. However, when respected journalists like Michel Collon visited the location in the immediate aftermath of the bombing and saw for themselves was actually in that house this is what he reported was fully on view in the rubble of NATO’s dispiriting but wilfully targeted civilian killing: “Videos by demand; toys and cultural books; nothing, nothing military!”

Marcel Ceccaldi another lawyer pulled no punches when he said that NATO is deliberately waging a campaign of terror, pointing out that “their bombings targeted the electricity, water and food supplies [of Libya]. After five months of day and night bombings and thousands of deaths people [understandably] will stop supporting the regime because they just can’t take it any more.”

Meanwhile, on the ground in Libya itself fighters backing the new leadership continue to pound what’s left of the old regime’s remaining holdouts; civilian causalities are still a very real possibility but countries quick to condemn Colonel Gaddafi’s threatened assaults on the so-called rebels back in March 2011 seem to have mysteriously gone quiet as Laura Emmett of RT reports: “David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy survey their handiwork; the most senior leaders to visit Tripoli since their countries began the NATO intervention in Libya they say their work is not yet done.” Total affirmation of this coming from David Cameron when he hubristically says: “We must keep on with the NATO mission until civilians are all protected and until this work is finished.”

Laura Emmett rejoins by vividly pointing out what David Cameron pointedly refuses to even countenance let alone acknowledge. “He’s right,” she says, “civilians are still being killed but now that Gaddafi is virtually powerless the people increasingly doing the killing are National Transitional Council forces together with NATO as they attack Bani Walid and other Colonel Gaddafi strongholds; on that Cameron and Sarkozy are silent.” A situation that induces John Laughland of the Institute of Democracy and Co-operation to pithily but rather sarcastically comment: “To paraphrase George Orwell in Animal farm some civilians are more equal than others.” Notwithstanding this NATO still persists in its transparently and utterly mendacious viewpoint that all of its attacks in Libya are specifically targeted ones, but as every reputable journalist, analyst and observer knows and as the weight of evidence against NATO patently shows this is a lie of monumental proportions as the plethora of NATO encouraged reprisal killings and black lynchings testify to.

Even so NATO and the NTC do have their supporters and one such still wet-behind-the airs and who hasn’t yet thrown off his maternal features is a nonentity that few if anyone has ever heard of before but as generally happens in such situations just emerge on cue like verminous cockroaches out of a pretty fetid sewer. His name is James Denselow (and the first part of his surname ought to give you an idea of his lack of intellectual rigour or commonsense) and he bills himself as a Middle East analyst. That’s equivalent, I would imagine, to a rather obscure and highly irrelevant desert camel driver billing himself as an English or EU analyst, which I don’t think any of you quite rightly would fall for; yet we persistently have no shortage at all of these limp-wristed, testosterone-deficient, pseudo males whose butch female counterparts plainly make them look and sound every bit like the pansies they are assuming that their skin colour, oftentimes quite privileged and cosseted backgrounds themselves buttressed by their colonialist nostalgia and imperialist designs unchallengably, in their eyes, designate them as spokespersons for every other race on planet earth in a manner that were this offensive boot on the other foot they would forcefully and vocally have something to say about it.

Nevertheless this is what Brains of Britain (I don’t think), James Denselow, had to say on the Libyan situation: “Clearly there are real problems on the ground and it’s the legacy of such a conflict that you will have human rights abuses taking part on both sides, and the NTC have promised to hold their own fighters to account; and I think that is a process we will see from now.” So there you have it then and right from the mouth of an expert that I’m perfectly sure, and I say this while trying to keep a straight face at the same time, whose measured sagacity and words of wisdom have markedly improved your own understanding a thousandfold, as it didn’t my own I must confess, about the intricacies of perpetual conflicts generally and the one in Libya in particular. How fortunate you are!

James Denselow’s opinion thankfully isn’t one that anybody with a functioning brain cell in his or her head would sensibly attach any credence to or come to that even remotely support. And among that are dubious about what he has to say on this issue is the absolutely brilliant and prescient-minded RT journalist and London correspondent, for whom I have the greatest of admiration and respect, Laura Emmett who perceptively remarks in relation to Denselow’s total hooey: “It doesn’t seem to be happening yet; the African Union alleges that transitional forces are hunting down and killing black Africans on the assumption that Gaddafi recruited them as mercenaries. That’s borne out by a report by Amnesty International [better late than never I suppose] which says the rebels are guilty of unlawful killings and torture.” She goes on to say; “It takes pains to point out that Gaddafi forces committed some terrible atrocities but [Amnesty International] also documented the brutal settling of scores by rebel forces that include the lynching of Gaddafi soldiers.”

At this point I would like to make an unequivocal comment of my own that anyone familiar with the rules of warfare and particularly bodies like NATO, its commanding officers and the leaders of its members states do know about, that it is a specific crime against humanity and the Geneva Conventions to subject regular combatants of an opposing army to degrading or cruel treatment let alone arbitrarily and sadistically kill them; and opposing soldiers captured on the field of battle must be treated as prisoners of war and accorded their due rights under the Geneva Conventions. Therefore, for the NTC with the blessing of NATO and particularly Britain, France and the United States that are fully aware of this, not least because they were instrumental in drawing up these rules and regulations themselves, to be a party to something like this that makes them culpable of what are basically war crimes, and one need not wonder what their reactions would be if the same treatment was being meted out to their servicemen and women or even elements of the SAS, CIA and others of their secret services operating clandestinely in Libya.

But I’m not alone of this point of view and credible political analysts on the Middle East like Dan Glazebrook commandingly make a very valid point when he says: “The problem for the west is that if Africa unites it will be able to break free from the colonial grip it’s been in for hundreds of years. And who was the leading force behind uniting Africa? It was Libya under Gaddafi’s rule. So NATO wants a government that will disunite Africa; that will draw North Africa away from its southern neighbours, so it’s very important for NATO that the regime is a racist one that will not continue with this Libyan project [sponsored by Colonel Gaddafi] of uniting Africa. So it’s no mistake that this uprising has been characterized by racist violence. This is part of [NATO’s] plan!”

Equally John Laughland, of the Institute of Democracy and Cooperation, also weighs in quite heavily on the issue stating unequivocally: “I don’t think that anyone bought the line that this intervention was about protecting civilians, that was merely the fig leaf, the legal fig leaf that France, Britain and America used to overthrow Gaddafi. The west by overthrowing Gaddafi wanted to maintain the fiction that the entire world is moving towards a western dominated model; a pro-western model. It [explicitly] wanted to show that the Arab Spring moment was a movement for liberal western-style democracy; and of course as soon as a regime stood in the way of that apparent wave, which is the case of Libya, its regime is brushed aside. That has now been achieved and that is why David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy have gone there [to Libya, 15 September 2011] today. It’s to demonstrate that fact, and it’s to publicly show to the world, to publicize their victory.”

Meanwhile Colonel Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte is one of the last holdouts against the NTC. In a letter purportedly from the colonel himself he allegedly begs the UN Security Council to protect Sirte from being pounded by NATO air bombardments and to tackle what it describes as crimes repeatedly committed by the undisciplined forces of the NTC; a scenario in which civilian deaths are seemingly assured. So far there has been no admission of the receipt of this letter by the UN Security Council or any of the requests it purports to make to it. But one thing is manifestly obvious in all this. David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy were very quick to vocally and viciously condemn Colonel Gaddafi for allegedly killing innocent civilians in the hot-headed rush leading up to NATO imposing it’s no-fly zone over Libya; however no such rhetoric is being aimed at the NTC. In fact it’s very much the opposite as Laura Emmett categorically points out: “Britain sponsored a draft UN resolution to ease sanctions against Libya and against the national oil corporation in particular [so] getting the oil flowing again.” All the while though civilians in rebel seized cities fall through NATO’s life saving net.

In this stark analysis of the myriad double standards, hypocrisy and premeditated murder that have become the trademark of the imperialist minded regimes and racist, colonialist fantasies of David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy I would like to leave you with the thoughtful words of distinguished lawyer Marcel Ceccaldi: “Western leaders are poised for their first big legal challenge over Libya; if they stop the cases coming to court altogether it will prove once and for all that western justice is really run by politicians not the rule of law.”

Are you listening judges across the EU and particularly in Britain; more importantly do you have the nous to do something positive about it instead of being just lickspittles?

Source

Here’s What Really Happens when one defies Israel:

WarOnYou — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 06:06:37 +0000

Here’s What Really Happens when one defies Israel:

It’s as easy as…..1……2……3……

1.

Belize recognizes Palestine Borders

“Press Release – Belize (Government) Press Office - September 9, 2011 – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is pleased to announce that the Government of Belize has decided to formally recognize Palestine as a sovereign and independent State within its pre-1967 borders.”

El Salvador recognizes Palestine as independent state

“S

AN SALVADOR | Thu Aug 25, 2011 6:21pm EDT

(Reuters) – El Salvador on Thursday recognized Palestine as an independent state in the midst of a drive by the Arab League to upgrade it to full membership status in the United Nations.”

US adds Belize, El Salvador to ‘major’ drug producing, transit countries

“

By Associated Press, Published: September 15

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has added Belize and El Salvador to the U.S. list of “major” drug producing and transit countries.

The annual list identifies countries playing a role in the drug trade that “significantly affect the United States.””

——————-

Egyptian protesters pull down Israel embassy wall

WarOnYou — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 07:22:07 +0000

Egyptian protesters pull down Israel embassy wall

September 10, 2011

Print Version

Source: Reuters

Egyptian activists destroyed a wall around the Israeli embassy and set police cars on fire in Cairo on Friday after thousands demonstrated at Tahrir Square to push for a timetable for reforms and an end to military trials for civilians.

Activists who spearheaded an uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak on February 11 have been piling pressure on the ruling military council to fix a date for parliamentary and presidential elections and to get rid of senior officials who served under Mubarak.

Thousands converged on Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the pro-democracy protests that toppled Mubarak, after Friday prayers for what was billed as “Correcting the Path” protests.

Some later marched to the opposite bank of the Nile in Giza. Demonstrators used hammers, large iron bars and police barricades to tear down the wall, erected this month by Egyptian authorities after daily protests over the killing of five Egyptian border guards in Sinai.

Protesters scaled the embassy building, removed the Israeli flag for the second time in less than a month and burned it.

Giza’s police chief said that two police vehicles were set alight near the Israeli embassy building during the protests. State television said four police vehicles were set on fire.

Read Full Article Here…

ISRAELI YELLOW PAGES: CODEWORD RACISM

WarOnYou — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 21:55:26 +0000

ISRAELI YELLOW PAGES: CODEWORD RACISM

September 4, 2011 at 08:41

Looking for a business that’s Arab-free? Try Yellow Pages!

By Dimi Reider

The Israeli licensees of the Yellow Pages trademark are allowing businesses to advertise themselves as Arab-free, using an old Zionist codeword.

It turns out that certain businesses advertising in the Yellow Pages in Israel use the term “Avoda Ivrit” (Hebrew Labor) in their adverts, to reassure readers that they won’t be interacting with any Arabs should they decide to take their business there. Happy days.

The term Avoda Ivrit harks back to a classic (and therefore, nostalgic and partly legtimized – see below) practice of the first Zionist communities in Palestine, who employed only Jews on farms, factories and so forth. At the time, it was described as a campaign to reduce (Jewish) immigrant unemployment and to solidify the Jewish Yishuv as an independent economic polity in Mandatory Palestine. In hindsight, Avoda Ivrit was the first modern segregationist institution in Palestine, and played a key role in ensuring that immigrant Jews never integrated with the Palestinian majority, contributing to turning existing tensions into the all-out ethnic conflict that has plagued the country for three-quarters of a century.

Since 1995, thankfully, employment discrimination by nationality has been illegal. The businesses that state they guarantee their customers will not have to interact with Arabs are violating the law. But since enforcing these laws against the businesses is likely to prove difficult if not futile, a campaign has now been launched to at least get the Yellow Pages to stop facilitating their discriminatory practice. The small umbrella organisation Shutafut-Sharakah has produced a short clip pointing out that prostitution ads are illegal and are not allowed in Yellow Pages, but Hebrew Labor , equally illegal, still gets a free ride. (Full disclosure: Our fab web manager Shir Harel also provided technical support for that campaign). I’m not sure a society as racist and sexist as ours will be particularly shocked by the comparison – I imagine precious few people go around reporting escort / massage parlours / prostitution ads on the Internet and in various small print publications – but here’s the clip:

Shutafut-Sharakah also offers a form that you can fill in, sending an email directly to Yellow Pages requesting they removing the term Hebrew Labor from their ads. The form is in Hebrew, but the order of the fields goes as follows: Name – Email – Subject line – Content – Tick here for updates from Shutafut-Sharakah – Send.

So far, Yellow Pages have been responding to protests with a uniform letter. It bears quoting here in full:

In the last two weeks Yellow Pages was approached several times from both sides of the spectrum on the issue of Avoda Ivrit.

First, we stress that the Yellow Pages company denounces any and all instances of racism and discrimination based on gender, race religion [sic], age and so on.

Secondly, Yellow Pages does not have and never had a category named Hebrew Labor. The business index of the company hold individuals and companies who added the words “Hebrew Labor” to their company name or the content of their advert, but Yellow Pages itself does not have bearing on this content. We should note that Yellow Pages serves as an advertising platform for its customers and is not responsible for the content of the adverts, most certainly when the adverts are by a business or a company licensed by the company registrar at the Justice Ministry. The company is not allowed [sic] to investigate the conduct of its customers beyond the advertising submissions done at their own risk.

We would also like to remind you that [Hebrew Labor] is a turn of phrase in use in Israel for many years, and using the term Hebrew Labor does not constitute a violation of the law. There are musical concerts, television programs, and more that also use this term, sometimes even in their title.

If there are indeed companies that have advertised themselves in the Yellow Pages index and actually engage in illegal activities (theft, discrimination and so on), they should be reported on this conduct to the relevant authorities, namely the legal authorities that enable that activity.

Kind regards,

Gilia Shapira

CEO Office Director

That letter is so convoluted and stumbling over its own feet it barely needs deconstruction. I just hope Shutafut’s next step will be placing advertising in Yellow Pages itself, under company names like “Hebrew Labor Cloak and Dagger solutions for business competitors” or “Hebrew Labor Burglars ‘R Us,” or “Small investment – big returns: Children kidnapping for Ransom, Hebrew Labor Ltd.” They can list the Yellow Pages’ own phone number for contact.

Source

Turkey expels Israel ambassador over flotilla raid

WarOnYou — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:38:26 +0000

Turkey expels Israel ambassador over flotilla raid

September 2, 2011

Print Version

Source: AJC

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey expelled Israel’s ambassador and cut military ties over Israel’s refusal to apologize for last year’s deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, further straining a relationship that had been a cornerstone of regional stability.

The rupture between the Jewish state and what was once its most important Muslim ally raised concerns Egypt and Jordan may follow, increasing Israel’s isolation in the region.

The dramatic move came ahead of the anticipated publication Friday of a U.N. report on the Israeli raid that killed nine activists.

Turkey had made an Israeli apology a condition of improved diplomatic ties. But Israel insisted there would be no apology, just an expression of regret for the deaths. The U.N. report, obtained by the New York Times and posted on its website, does not demand an Israeli apology, recommending instead that Israel should express regret and pay reparations.

The breakdown in ties has led to fears that other countries could follow Turkey’s example.

“If this ends with Turkey, it will be a miracle,” said Alon Liel, a former Israeli ambassador to Turkey. “There is a lot of internal pressure in Egypt, and Turkey could use its clout in the Arab and Muslim world to pressure other nations to follow suit.”

Turkey was once Israel’s closest ally in the region. Ankara had mediated several rounds of indirect negotiations between Israel and Syria in 2008, but the talks made no significant headway and were suspended following the Israeli military offensive in Gaza the following year.

Ties have soured further in recent years and deteriorated sharply after the flotilla bloodshed on May 31, 2010. The Israeli ambassador’s expulsion is the most significant downgrading in ties between the two countries.

Read Full Article Here…

14 Conspiracy Theories That The Media Now Admits Are Conspiracy Facts

WarOnYou — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:50:34 +0000

14 Conspiracy Theories That The Media Now Admits Are Conspiracy Facts

August 24, 2011

Print Version

By Michael Snyder – BLN Contributing Writer

How many times have you heard the mainstream media dismiss certain points of view as “conspiracy theories”? It seems as though one of the easiest ways to brush something off is to label it as something that only “conspiracy theorists” would believe. Well, you know what? A whole lot of the time the “conspiracy theorists” are right and the mainstream media is wrong. In fact, we owe a great debt to “conspiracy theorists” because they will go places and investigate things that the mainstream media would never even touch. The reality is that the mainstream media only tells us what the government and the big corporations want us to hear, and much of the time it is those in the alternative media that are left with the task of trying to figure out what the real truth is. So don’t look down on conspiracy theories or conspiracy theorists. In a world where almost everything we are told is a lie, the truth can be very difficult to find.

The following are 14 conspiracy theories that the media now admits are conspiracy facts….

#1 Fukushima Uninhabitable

Back in April, I published an article entitled “Much Of Northern Japan Uninhabitable Due To Nuclear Radiation?“ At the time, almost everyone in the mainstream media was insisting that Fukushima was nothing like Chernobyl and that those that lived near Fukushima would be able to return to their homes fairly soon.

Well, it turns out that those of us that feared the worst were right after all. Just consider the following quote from the New York Times….

Broad areas around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant could soon be declared uninhabitable, perhaps for decades, after a government survey found radioactive contamination that far exceeded safe levels, several major media outlets said Monday.

#2 U.S. Military Attack On Libya

At the beginning of this year, nobody would have dreamed that the U.S. military would have attacked Libya this year.

But it happened. At first those that tried to warn about an upcoming conflict with Libya were called kooks, and even up until recently many in the media were still trying to deny that NATO was arming and training the rebels.

Well, the truth is that NATO had special forces on the ground even before the conflict began.

The “rebel groups” (which include large numbers of al-Qaeda fighters) would have been soundly defeated by Gaddafi if not for relentless air strikes by the U.S. military and NATO.

Instead of a straightforward invasion like we saw in Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. military and NATO systematically developed, trained and equipped “rebel groups” within the country and have used them as the ground forces for this campaign.

That way the goals of the U.S. and EU could still be achieved, but in the end they would have less blood on their hands.

As the conflict winds down, now even the New York Times is admitting that we have trained and equipped the rebels….

“We always knew there would be a point where the effectiveness of the government forces would decline to the point where they could not effectively command and control their forces,” said the diplomat, who was granted anonymity to discuss confidential details of the battle inside Tripoli.

“At the same time,” the diplomat said, “the learning curve for the rebels, with training and equipping, was increasing. What we’ve seen in the past two or three weeks is these two curves have crossed.”

Sadly, there is still a very good chance that U.S. troops could end up on the ground in Libya.
Many prominent officials are already calling for the U.S. and the EU to provide occupation forces. Richard Haas, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, has authored an opinion piece for the Financial Times entitled “Libya Now Needs Boots on the Ground“.

If that happens, it will likely end up being a situation very similar to what we have today in Iraq.

#3 Widespread Use Of RFID Chips In Humans

The doubters said it would never happen. They said we would never see the day when RFID chips were implanted in humans on a widespread basis.

Well, today there are examples of this all over the world. One of the most stunning examples recently has come out of Mexico. According to the Washington Post, “thousands of worried Mexicans” have been having “satellite and radio-frequency tracking products” implanted in their skin in order to protect themselves against abduction.

#4 $2000 Gold

It was only a matter of months ago that we were told that gold was “in a bubble” at $1400 or $1500 an ounce.

Well, gold recently crossed the $1900 an ounce barrier, and appears poised to go much higher as global financial instability intensifies.

#5 Obama Wants To Impose Backdoor Amnesty

Those that warned that Barack Obama was going to impose amnesty for illegal immigrants by executive fiat were called “nuts” and “conspiracy theorists”.

Well, it has happened. The Obama administration has now instituted “backdoor amnesty” for illegal immigrants and even plans to provide them with work permits.

#6 U.S. Government Provides Weapons For Mexican Drug Cartels

For a long time there were those that claimed that the U.S. government was providing guns to Mexican drug cartels, but nobody wanted to listen.

Well, it is all now a matter of public record. It turns out that the U.S. government facilitated the transfer of thousands of guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

The following is a brief excerpt from a CBS News report that discusses the fierce opposition that many ATF agents expressed to allowing thousands of guns to be given into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels….

On the phone, one Project Gunrunner source (who didn’t want to be identified) told us just how many guns flooded the black market under ATF’s watchful eye. “The numbers are over 2,500 on that case by the way. That’s how many guns were sold – including some 50-calibers they let walk.”

50-caliber weapons are fearsome. For months, ATF agents followed 50-caliber Barrett rifles and other guns believed headed for the Mexican border, but were ordered to let them go. One distraught agent was often overheard on ATF radios begging and pleading to be allowed to intercept transports. The answer: “Negative. Stand down.”

CBS News has been told at least 11 ATF agents and senior managers voiced fierce opposition to the strategy. “It got ugly…” said one. There was “screaming and yelling” says another. A third warned: “this is crazy, somebody is gonna to get killed.”

Amazingly, three of the key ATF officials involved in putting thousands of guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels were recently promoted.

#7 Fluoride Is Harmful

Incredibly, the federal government is finally admitting that high levels of fluoride in our drinking water can be harmful. In fact, the feds have reduced the “recommended amount” of fluoride in our drinking water for the first time in 50 years.

We probably won’t see them ban fluoride any time soon, but for them to even acknowledge a problem with fluoride is a major step. In a recent article on CNN, it was reported that the federal government is now saying that high levels of fluoride in the water have now officially been linked with fluorosis….

The Department of Health and Human Services and Environmental Protection Agency are proposing the change because of an increase in fluorosis — a condition that causes spotting and streaking on children’s teeth.

#8 The Federal Reserve Favors The Big Banks

We were always told by the media that the Federal Reserve was “above politics” and that it did not show favoritism.

Well, we all know now that the Fed is deeply corrupt and about the only people that they actually help are their friends.

It turns out that the Federal Reserve very quietly showered the big banks and their friends with hundreds of billions of dollars in loans at rates that were substantially below market during the financial crisis. While Wall Street was being flooded with easy loans, none of the small banks that were deeply suffering and no average Americans got any money.

#9 Cell Phones Linked To Cancer

For years, “conspiracy theorists” have been claiming that cell phone use can cause cancer.

Well, the mainstream media is starting to catch up. Some very startling scientific studies have come out recently that are hard to ignore.

The following is an excerpt from a recent CNN article about one of these studies….

At the highest exposure levels — using a mobile phone half an hour a day over a 10-year period — the study found a 40 percent increased risk of glioma brain tumors.

#10 The Credit Rating Agencies Are Corrupt

We have all been taught that the credit rating agencies are supposed to be objective.

But in the real world things are not that simple.

For example, just a short time after long-term U.S. government debt was downgraded, the head of Standard & Poor’s is resigning, and is being replaced by Douglas Peterson, the former COO of Citigroup.

Do you think the former COO of Citigroup is going to come down hard on his former comrades over at the big Wall Street banks?

Also, a whistleblower has come forward with some stunning revelations about Moody’s. The following is what former analyst William Harrington says was going on over at that credit agency during the financial crisis….

“The track record of management influence in committees speaks for itself — it produced hollowed-out (collateralized debt obligation) opinions that were at great odds with the private opinions of committees and which were not durable for even a short period after publication”

#11 Prescription Drugs Kill A Lot Of Americans

Growing up, I never even imagined that prescription drugs could be dangerous. I had complete faith in the medical community and the government to only allow drugs on the market that were fully tested and proven to be 100% safe.

Well, I was dead wrong. The truth is that adverse reactions to prescription drugs kill a huge number of Americans every year. A recent Vanity Fair article entitled “Deadly Medicine” began with the following statement….

Prescription drugs kill some 200,000 Americans every year. Will that number go up, now that most clinical trials are conducted overseas–on sick Russians, homeless Poles, and slum-dwelling Chinese–in places where regulation is virtually nonexistent, the F.D.A. doesn’t reach, and “mistakes” can end up in pauper’s graves?

#12 Bisphenol-A Is Linked To Infertility

A very common chemical known as bisphenol-A is found in thousands upon thousands of our plastic products. It also turns out that it has some really nasty effects on the human body.

Fortunately, some in the mainstream media are beginning to acknowledge this. Back in October, one of the largest UK newspapers published an article entitled “Bisphenol-A now linked to male infertility” which made the following unequivocal statement about the dangers of BPA….

Bisphenol-A (BPA), known as the “gender bending” chemical because of its connection to male impotence, has now been shown to decrease sperm mobility and quality.

#13 The “Super Congress” Is In The Pocket Of Wall Street Interests

The amount of money that has been donated to the campaigns of those on the “Super Congress” is absolutely astounding.

Just check out what a recent CNBC article had to say about the matter….

Overall, according to the center’s research, the dozen super committee members have raised more than $50 million from the finance, insurance and real estate sector since the 1990 election cycle.

How much influence do you think 50 million dollars is going to buy?

#14 The Targeting Of Christian Groups

We are increasingly hearing from the Obama administration and some members of Congress that we need to be really concerned about “homegrown terrorists” and “Christian extremists”.

For example, during a recent Congressional hearing U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee warned that “Christian militants” might try to “bring down the country” and that such groups need to be investigated.

In addition, according to a shocking document obtained by Oath Keepers, the FBI is now instructing store owners to report many new forms of “suspicious activity” to them. According to the document, “suspicious activity” now includes making “extreme religious statements” and believing in “radical theology”.

Not only that, a Department of Homeland Security report on “right wing extremism” from April 2009 lists the following people as potential terrorists….

-those that believe in “end times” prophecies

-those that believe abortion is wrong

-those that stockpile food, ammunition or weapons

-those that are against same-sex marriage

-those that believe in “New World Order” conspiracy theories

I don’t know about you, but when the federal government starts targeting people based on their religious beliefs, that makes me very nervous.

This world is officially going crazy. So don’t blame “conspiracy theorists” for wanting to dig around and get the facts. The mainstream media sure doesn’t give us much of the truth.

As the world continues to fall apart and as the propaganda from the mainstream media gets even more blatant, the hunger for the truth is only going to grow.

Who knows? Perhaps before it is all over you will be a “conspiracy theorist” too.

WILL THERE BE ANYTHING LEFT OF PALESTINE BY SEPTEMBER?

WarOnYou — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 20:17:13 +0000

Almost certainly, the United Nations General Assembly will vote in September to grant statehood to Palestine, thus legally removing it from Israeli authority. Almost every U.N. member will vote “aye.” See growing map of support HERE

BUT … before the long awaited for vote takes place Israel has been systematically destroying whatever remains of Gaza and demolishing homes in the Occupied West Bank. So, I ask again, will there be anything left of Palestine by September?

Join those who SAY NO to the destruction of Palestine!

Demolitions by Israel increase fivefold, says new UN report

The Israeli army has increased the number of demolitions of Palestinian homes in the West Bank. (Keren Manor / ActiveStills )

RAMALLAH, Each year, hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank have their homes demolished by the Israeli authorities because they are unable to obtain permits for their buildings, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The demolitions take place in Area C, a zone designated by the Oslo accords covering 60 percent of the West Bank with a Palestinian population of about 150,000.

Israel retains military authority and full control over building and planning in Area C: as much as 70 percent of it is inaccessible to Palestinians, classified as Israeli settlements, firing zones or nature reserves.

In the remaining 30 percent there are a number of other restrictions that reduce the possibility for Palestinians to obtain a building permit, reports OCHA. In practice, Palestinian construction is normally permitted only within the boundaries of a plan approved by the Israeli Civil Administration, which covers less than 1 percent of Area C, much of which is already built-up, according to OCHA.

Many Palestinians living in Area C are left with no choice other than to build without a permit.

Israel says authorities have only demolished illegal structures, and that Jewish and Palestinian residents in Area C are subject to the same restrictions.

An August 2011 OCHA report highlights the concerns of 13 Area C communities, including restrictive and discriminatory planning and zoning policies which limit Palestinian construction and use of the land, and lack of effective law enforcement in response to settler attacks.

Also, movement and access restrictions, like those created by Israel’s wall in the West Bank, limit access to land and water resources for many communities.

Racist grafitti

Residents of Khallet Zakariya, located in Area C south of Bethlehem say Israeli authorities are demolishing their homes and settlers have destroyed their livelihoods in an effort to force the community to relocate.

Farmer Mohamed Khalil, 55, from Khallet Zakariya, says Israeli settlers ruined about half a hectare of his agricultural fields in June and spray-painted “death to Arabs” in black on the wall of his home, which is still visible.

“It’s not the first time settlers destroyed my land,” said Khalil. “It takes 3-4 years to cultivate crops of grapes and plums.”

The lost crops will affect income for three families, including 19 people. Mohamed has filed a complaint with Israeli police.

According to Khalil, officials from the Civil Administration, the Israeli governing body that operates in the West Bank, came and offered to relocate his community of about 350 people to an area west of Bethlehem called Nahhlin.

“My father cultivated this land — we declined,” he said.

With the Bat Ayin settlement located directly west and the Rosh Zurim settlement directly to the north, residents of Khallet Zakariya say there is a strategy to force them out to allow further settlement expansion.

However, expansion has mostly been in larger settlements over the past year, according to Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem.

20 minutes notice before bulldozing

Fatima Saed, her husband Mahmoud, and their four children had 20 minutes notice to pack their belongings and evacuate their home in Khallet Zakariya before it was bulldozed by Israeli authorities on 25 July.

“Our lawyer was not informed that we had lost our court case disputing the demolition order for our home,” said Fatima. Her family is now living at her brother’s house nearby, with 21 people crammed into two rooms.

“We built here without a permit, because my family owns the land,” she said.

In the first six months of 2011, OCHA reports that the Israeli authorities demolished 342 Palestinian-owned structures in Area C, including 125 residential “structures,” displacing a total of 656 Palestinians, including 351 children — almost five times as many demolitions and people displaced as during the first half of 2010.

Guy Inbar, the Israeli coordinator of government activities in the occupied Palestinian territory (COGAT), said: “There is no policy to move people from their homes.”

He acknowledged, however, that Israel has increased action to monitor unapproved building, both in Jewish and Palestinian sectors within Area C. Under international law, all Israeli settlements in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) are illegal. But Israel has created confusion by referring to settlement expansions not officially authorized by its governments as “illegal outposts.”

“A similar number of illegal Israeli and Palestinian structures have been demolished by Israel so far in 2011,” said Inbar, and “Israel is working to approve and authorize more areas within Area C that Palestinians will be permitted to live [in] and build [on].”

Few building permits

B’Tselem spokesperson Sarit Michaeli said: “Israeli settlements were built in contravention of international law in the West Bank, while the Palestinian population in Area C is under occupation and protected by international law.”

Another Israeli organization, Bimkom, comprised of planners and architects to strengthen human rights in the field of planning, published a comprehensive report in 2008 detailing what it describes as separate planning systems for Israeli settlements that allow for growth and expansion.

From 2000 to 2007, the Civil Administration approved 5 percent of the applications for building permits submitted by Palestinians in Area C. The total number of building permits issued to Palestinians during these seven years was 91, an average of 13 building permits per annum, Bimkom reported.

This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer to the copyright page for conditions of use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Source

PHOTO ESSAY ~~ NEW YORKERS STAND WITH GAZA

WarOnYou — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 00:50:15 +0000

PHOTO ESSAY ~~ NEW YORKERS STAND WITH GAZA

August 20, 2011 at

Friends of Palestine and Gaza demonstrated in front of the Israeli Consulate in New York last night. Their demands were simple and to the point….

STOP BOMBING GAZA!

Economic Stimulus: Military-led Investigation Concludes U.S. Taxpayer $2.16 Billion Funneled to Taliban Under Transportation Contract

WarOnYou — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 04:57:48 +0000

Economic Stimulus: Military-led Investigation Concludes U.S. Taxpayer $2.16 Billion Funneled to Taliban Under Transportation Contract

“Dear Ma – Sorry the bank took our house because the Government exported all of our jobs overseas to bring about this engineered economic collapse and capitalizing on Wall Street’s fraudulent mortgage backed securities, needing our houses to balance their books, needing real assets, not fake paper money printed out of thin air. Those bankers needed that $144 billion christmas bonus last year for all the hard work they do.

Look on the bright side, though, the economic stimulus package has worked out well and brought good will to the Taliban here, promoting Afghan businesses. Don’t worry though, I’ll be bringing back a lot of black tar heroin that I’ve been guarding for the CIA, the main reason we’re here. That was the one thing Jane’s Defense didn’t mention when they reported on our looming attack on Afghanistan in February, 2001, as the U.S. Government was alerting most nations around the world regarding the invasion for Halliburton, Enron and Unocal. That’s why I deployed just outside the border of Afghanistan almost a year early in 2000, well before Bush signed the order to invade September 9, 2001.

Anyway, I’ll be taking that job with Blackwater, er, I mean Xe soon. Can’t wait.

- Love Timmy

Ps. I‘ll be shipping back the heroin in the body bags of dead soldiers and friends the same way it was done during Vietnam. I’ll get you a new robo-signed mortgage backed house soon! Hope they still send you you’re Social Security. They say they’re broke, but the Government spends tons of money over here.

By Karen DeYoung, Sunday, July 24, 9:38 PM | Washed-up Post

A year-long military-led investigation has concluded that U.S. taxpayer money has been indirectly funneled to the Taliban under a $2.16 billion transportation contract that the United States has funded in part to promote Afghan businesses.

The unreleased investigation provides seemingly definitive evidence that corruption puts U.S. transportation money into enemy hands, a finding consistent with previous inquiries carried out by Congress, other federal agencies and the military. Yet U.S. and Afghan efforts to address the problem have been slow and ineffective, and all eight of the trucking firms involved in the work remain on U.S. payroll. In March, the Pentagon extended the contract for six months.

According to a summary of the investigation results, compiled in May and reviewed by The Washington Post, the military found “documented, credible evidence . . . of involvement in a criminal enterprise or support for the enemy” by four of the eight prime contractors. Investigators also cited cases of profiteering, money laundering and kickbacks to Afghan power brokers, government officials and police officers. Six of the companies were found to have been associated with “fraudulent paperwork and behavior.”

“This goes beyond our comprehension,” said Rep. John F. Tierney (D-Mass.), who last summer was chairman of a House oversight subcommittee that charged that the military was, in effect, supporting a vast protection racket that paid insurgents and corrupt middlemen to ensure safe passage of the truck convoys that move U.S. military supplies across Afghanistan.

The military summary included several case studies in which money was traced from the U.S. Treasury through a labyrinth of subcontractors and power brokers. In one, investigators followed a $7.4 million payment to one of the eight companies, which in turn paid a subcontractor, who hired other subcontractors to supply trucks.

The trucking subcontractors then made deposits into an Afghan National Police commander’s account, already swollen with payments from other subcontractors, in exchange for guarantees of safe passage for the convoys. Intelligence officials traced $3.3 million, withdrawn in 27 transactions from the commander’s account, that was transferred to insurgents in the form of weapons, explosives and cash.

A senior U.S. defense official said that a radically revised transport system, replacing the Host Nation Trucking contract when it expires in September, will be announced in a few weeks. Based on the findings of the investigation, the new contract will expand the number of companies from eight to at least 30 and change the security system for the truck convoys. It will require detailed information on all subcontractors and supervision by military units in the field rather than headquarters-based contracting officers.

In the meantime, interim steps have been taken to improve oversight and accountability within the murky web of companies and individuals involved in the shipment of more than 70 percent of all U.S. military food, fuel, weapons and construction material within Afghanistan, said the official, who was authorized to discuss the issue only on the condition of anonymity.

“It’s still ugly,” the official said. “But it’s getting better.”

Problems with local vendors

Unlike in Iraq, where the U.S. military favored using American contractors who made millions providing security, reconstruction and training, local hires have performed the bulk of those tasks in Afghanistan. During the first quarter of this fiscal year, the U.S. military’s Central Command reported that 53 percent of more than 87,000 contract personnel it employed in Afghanistan were locals.

The U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department together signed nearly 1,000 contracts with non-U.S. vendors in Afghanistan last year.

The employment, under a government-wide policy called Afghan First, is an integral part of the Obama administration’s counterinsurgency strategy and calls for promoting Afghan capabilities, businesses and infrastructure.

The extensive military use of contractors for tasks such as transport, security and construction is also designed to free U.S. troops for warfighting and, in most cases, is deemed far less expensive than using American resources.

But “awards to local vendors in Afghanistan pose particular challenges,” according to a General Accountability Office report issued last month, because of the large size of the U.S. effort, the great distances that must be traveled on often-dangerous roads and “the potential for fraud, corruption, or the siphoning of funds to organizations hostile to U.S. forces.”

The GAO report concluded that the number of contracts was so huge that it was impossible to vet them all, and it recommended assessing only the most risky. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the State Department, the GAO said, have no vetting system in Afghanistan, and the Defense Department’s practice is to vet contractors only after contracts have been issued.

The GAO noted that one Defense Department vetting system averages 15 vendors per week and would take until March 2012 to vet the 1,042 Afghan vendors awarded new military contracts in fiscal 2010. The estimate did not include a backlog of contracts from previous years or any contract valued at less than $100,000.

Weak contractor oversight

Massive amounts of food, fuel and warfighting material are needed to support U.S. troops in Afghanistan; their number has more than tripled to about 100,000 since President Obama took office. Most supplies are brought by ship to neighboring Pakistan and transported by truck to central military depots in Afghanistan.

From there, the goods are trucked to hundreds of military installations across the country, usually along desolate stretches of road controlled by or vulnerable to attack from warlord militias and Taliban insurgents. Moving the supplies requires 3,000 to 4,000 trucks per week.

Six of the eight companies chosen as prime contractors under the Host Nation Trucking contract are owned by Afghans or are joint Afghan-international ventures. Two are considered U.S.-owned, including the Washington-based Sandi Group and NCL Holdings, whose founder and president, Hamed Wardak, is the son of Afghanistan’s defense minister. The new investigation, conducted by a military-led task force that included officials from the FBI, Treasury and U.S. intelligence, did not identify which of the companies are implicated in payments to insurgents, nor does it quantify how much money has been misspent or transferred to insurgents.

Wardak, in an interview last year, denied that his company was involved in any kickbacks or indirect payments to insurgents. The Sandi Group did not respond to requests last week for comment.

For the life of the contract — one year, with options for a second year and the recently exercised six-month extension — each company was guaranteed a minimum of $250,000 and a maximum of $360 million. U.S. expenditure was capped at $2.16 billion, although less than $600 million had been paid out through March.

rime contractors were responsible for furnishing up to 600 trucks and protecting them. But five of the eight prime contractors had no trucks of their own, two had fewer than 200, and all hired subcontractors to provide security, according to the investigation. From the start, the companies have served largely as brokers atop scores of subcontractors.

As early as the summer of 2009, amid frequent reports that subcontractors and middlemen were paying contract money to warlords and the Taliban to guarantee safe passage for the convoys, U.S. Army investigators prepared a briefing for senior commanders that bore the blunt title “Host Nation Trucking Payments to Insurgents.” Investigators estimated that the going rate for protection was $1,500 to $2,500 per truck, paid by contractors and their subs to private Afghan security companies allied with warlords or insurgents — or, in some cases, directly to militias or Taliban commanders.

The military maintained that federal contracting rules did not require, and by some interpretations prohibited, a close look below the level of prime contractors. Investigating the relationships behind the kickbacks and protection rackets would have been expensive, time-consuming and difficult. Many military officials in charge of overseeing the contracts were reluctant to disturb the status quo, believing it was far more important that food, fuel and bullets for U.S. forces were delivered intact and on time.

“These people should be fired and sent home,” the senior defense official said of the military overseers. “The attitude is crazy — it’s okay to pay the enemy because then we have better snacks” if the convoys travel unimpeded. “I think everybody gets that now.”

Concern in Washington

In the fall of 2009, problems with the trucking contract were discussed during a closed-door review by the administration of its war strategy. That December, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and then-Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates voiced public concern that the United States was funding the very people it was fighting against in Afghanistan.

Since then, Afghan and U.S. officials have made changes on the margins as they tried to unravel the complicated web of actors and track the money. In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai pledged to disband all private security contractors and form a new government security force to guard supply convoys, but implementation has been slow.

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In Washington, impatient lawmakers began their own investigations. In early 2010, Tierney charged the military with foot-dragging in its response to the subcommittee’s request for “all documents related to HNT security.” In May, after the military refused to turn over the 2009 briefing prepared by Army investigators, Tierney wrote a letter of complaint to Gates.

The document was supplied in June, along with a redacted copy, in which most or all of every page was blacked out, that the Defense Department deemed suitable for public disclosure. A department lawyer wrote Tierney to warn of “serious consequences” for what were still “open criminal investigations” and “for our relationship with the government and people of Afghanistan” if the unredacted document was publicly revealed.

Last summer, after the release of the House subcommittee report, the then-U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David H. Petraeus, appointed task forces to investigate contracting and corruption, including Task Force 2010, which carried out the investigation of the trucking contract. In September, he released new guidelines making commanders accountable for monitoring contracts within their areas of responsibility.

The next month, a separate Senate Armed Services Committee investigation into contracting confirmed the House report, concluding that the military had only minimal knowledge of — and exercised virtually no control over — the thousands of Afghans contracted to guard its installations and supply convoys.

Both reports identified the security wing of the Watan group, a business conglomerate run by relatives of Karzai, as involved in bribing officials for control over convoy routes and making payments to Taliban commanders. In the most substantive action by the military, Watan was barred in December from receiving new U.S. contracts. But it has contested the action in court, denying the allegations, and has been allowed to continue its security work so the company could “fully exercise due process,” the senior defense official said.

The House and Senate have adopted measures this year, attached to fiscal 2012 defense spending legislation, giving military commanders additional powers to investigate and cancel contracts in which insurgent ties have been found.

Tierney, now the top minority member of the national security subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, voiced sharp criticism of the length of time it took the military-led task force to reach the same conclusions that lawmakers made public a year ago.

“I would hate like hell to think my kid was over there” and the Taliban was “coming after them with something bought with our taxpayers’ money,” Tierney said.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-trucking-funds-reach-taliban-military-led-investigation-concludes/2011/07/22/gIQAmMDUXI_story.html?wpisrc=al_national

At least two terrorists behind Norwegian youth camp massacre – witnesses

WarOnYou — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 18:43:44 +0000

No way one guy can do that much damage without several fully autos and a confined place. You cant compare it to a school shooting. The doors are locked you can only hide for so long and even those are carried out by multiple parties. These kids had access to boats if there was one guy going around they couldve drifted out to sea before he even realized it. Look at how the bodies are side by side in clearings not much more then a few feet away from the others. This was a raid with 4-5 people converging on the location and possibly gathering the kids in the open fields.This is mossad special ops all the way.

At least two terrorists behind Norwegian youth camp massacre – witnesses

Witnesses of Friday’s mass killings in the Norwegian youth camp say there were two terrorists as the shootings were coming from “two different places on the island at the same time,” Norwegian VG paper reported on Saturday.

At least 92 people were killed in two separate attacks in Norway on Friday. Seven people reported to be killed in a bomb explosion at a government headquarters in Oslo and 85 were killed in a shooting at a youth summer camp on the Utoya island, near the capital.

Several young people who survived Utoya’s massacre, told VG paper that the shootings were coming from “two different places on the island at the same time.”

“I believe that there were two people who were shooting,” VG quoted a 23-year old Alexander Stavdal.

Norwegian police arrested on Friday a 32-year-old ethnic Norwegian, Anders Behring Breivik, who is believed to be behind the attack.

The witnesses described the second man as a 180-centimeter tall, dark-haired man with Nordic appearance with “a pistol in his right hand and a rifle on his back.”

An anonymous 16-year old girl told VG paper that the gunmen seemed to be in a hurry, but nevertheless “always made ??sure that their victims were shot dead.”

“I saw a boy lying on the ground. He shivered and shook before they came over and shot him again,” VG quoted the girl as saying.

Among those escaped the camp, were Marius Roset, Matts Kristiansen and Jostein Helsingeng. Roset managed to shelter in a rock while the other guys were hiding in the forest.

“The first thing the crazy [gunman] did was to shoot the first cute girl he saw,” Roset told VG.

One of the boys, Kristiansen, told the VG that “it was the longest two hours of my life.”

“Fifteen out of fifteen were killed at once. We thought life was over, while we ran. Many phoned home to parents to give them a final message,” VG cited Stavdal as saying.

Terrorist attacks have been virtually unknown in Norway, the home of the Nobel peace prize and one of the world’s most prosperous and stable societies.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20110723/165350450.html

“You will not bomb us into silence” – Norway

WarOnYou — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 07:09:18 +0000

“You will not bomb us into silence” – Norway

“No one will bomb us to silence. No one wil shoot us to silence. No one will ever scare us away from being Norway,” Mr Stoltenberg says.

Excellent speech and it seems to be squarely directed at israel because rather than suggest Norwegians are being punished for their actions, he says clearly that those responsible are attempting to silence Norway.

When asked specifically about the attack on the youth camp, he characterize Norwegian youth as having very strong political views and he grew visibly agitated, suggesting he suspects the youth were targeted because of this.

“Attacking one of the most peaceful places, a political youth camp, is especially brutal – an act of cowardice,” Mr Stoltenberg says.

I doubt that they will come right out and blame israelis, but in the coming days it will become apparent, based on their reluctance to verify the “islamic terrorists” as the culprits, whether or not they suspect israel.

BTW – Gunman is Norwegian.

More to follow.

SEE: Norwegian Labor Party Youth Movement (AUF) Demands that Ariel Sharon and Other Israeli Leaders be put on Trial.

On 10.07.2002, Mrs. Eva Kristin Hansen, the leader of the Norwegian Labor Party Youth Movement (AUF), called upon the Attorney General of Norway to investigate whether “Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other Israeli leaders can be put on trial for crimes they committed” (http://norskisraelsenter.no/engl/auf-sharon-vg-engl.htm). Kristin explained that this AUF demand for an indictment comes in light of “…$nbsp;killing of ambulance personnel, occasional destruction of civil targets and the illegal execution of civilians”.

Less than a day after this AUF petition was sent to the court, Norwegian former Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg (Labor) spoke before the AUF and attacked Israel. NIS notes that it was not so long ago – 20.4.2002 -, that Stoltenberg gave a speech attacking Israel, while Nazi Swastikas and other horrible anti-Jewish banners were held up in front of the Norwegian parliament (http://norskisraelsenter.no/engl/ap-stoltenberg-eng.htm). Such symbols are otherwise forbidden for use in demonstrations organized by Neo-Nazis.

NIS is aware of the important position that the AUF has in the political life of Norway, particularly concerning the Norwegian Labor Party. AUF has produced many important leaders of the Labor Party. Naturally, their opinions influence their environment and Norway.

As young AUF members, future central Norwegian Labor Party leaders, called in 1971 for the destruction of Israel: “The qualification for lasting peace must be that Israel cease to exist as a Jewish state”. (As quoted by Haakon Lie, former Secretary General of the Norwegian Labor Party, in his book: Slik Jeg Ser Det – As I See It – part II, p. 132.)

Seems to me pretty clear why the Labor Youth Camp was targeted – israelis are attempting to nip it in the bud. No Labor Youth – no future central Norwegian Labor Party Leaders to stand against them.

UPDATE: image of Kristian “Varg” Vikernes, an allegedly “anti-Semitic” leader of some white nationalist group in Norway taken from here

Below: gunman they arrested (taken from HERE).

UPDATE:

Man Held After 87 Killed In Norway Attacks

Norway’s TV2 claimed the suspect has links to right-wing extremism, without disclosing its sources.

Around 600 people were believed to be taking part in the summer camp on Utoya – most of whom were teenagers aged between 14 and 18. [!!!]

SEE crucial MUST READ info on the shooter by Joe, HERE!

Foreign Ministry says Norwegian authorities funding anti-Israel film, exhibition, and play. Norway: We support freedom of expression

Itamar Eichner

Serious diplomatic conflict: Israel is accusing the Norwegian government of funding and encouraging blatant anti-Israel incitement.

According to reports received by the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, the Trondheim Municipality is funding a trip to New York for students taking part in the “Gaza Monologues” play, which “deals with the suffering of children in Gaza as a result of the Israeli occupation.”

The play, written by a Palestinian from Gaza, will be presented at the United Nations headquarters. It joins an exhibition by a Norwegian artists displayed in Damascus, Beirut, and Amman, with the help of Norway’s embassies in Syria,Lebanon, and Jordan.

The exhibition shows killed Palestinian babies next to Israel Defense Forces helmets, which are reminiscent of Nazi soldiers’ helmets, and an Israeli flag drenched in blood.

The Norwegians are also helping the distribution of a documentary film called “Tears of Gaza” to festivals across the world. According to the Foreign Ministry, the film deals with the suffering of Gaza’s children as well, without mentioning Hamas, the rockets fired at Israel, and Israel’s right to defend itself.

The film shows Gazans chanting, “Itbah al-Yahud,” but the Norwegian translation says “slaughter the Israelis” instead of “slaughter the Jews”.

In addition, a book written by two Norwegian doctors who were the only foreigners in Gaza to give interviews during Operation Cast Lead was published recently. The book, which accuses IDF soldiers of deliberately killing women and children, is a bestseller in Norway and has been warmly recommended by none other than Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

The Israeli Embassy in Norway strongly protested the authorities’ involvement in Israel’s demonization. “The open and official Norwegian policy talks about understanding and reconciliation,” a senior Israeli official said Sunday evening, “but ever since the war in Gaza, Norway has become a superpower in terms of exporting multimedia aimed at de-legitimizing Israel, while using the Norwegian taxpayer funds for creating and transporting this multimedia.”

Canada government committee declares that criticism of Israel Crimes should be considered anti-Semitic

WarOnYou — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 07:03:12 +0000

Canada clamps down on criticism of Israel

In an affront to free speech, government committee declares that criticism of Israel should be considered anti-Semitic.

Jillian Kestler-DAmours Last Modified: 22 Jul 2011 10:28

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a staunch supporter of Israeli policy, has described criticism of Israeli as a form of ”new anti-Semitism”. [EPA]

Nearly two years after the first hearings were held in Ottawa, the Canadian Parliamentary Committee to Combat Anti-Semitism (CPCCA) released a detailed report on July 7 that found that anti-Semitism is on the rise in Canada, especially on university campuses.

While the CPCCA’s final report does contain some cases of real anti-Semitism, the committee has provided little evidence that anti-Semitism has actually increased in Canada in recent years. Instead, it has focused a disproportionate amount of effort and resources on what it calls a so-called “new anti-Semitism”: criticism of Israel.

Indeed, the real purpose of the CPCCA committee seems to be to stifle critiques of Israeli policy and disrupt pro-Palestinian solidarity organizing in Canada, including, most notably, Israeli Apartheid Week events. Many of the CPCCA’s findings, therefore, must be rejected as both an attack on freedom of speech and freedom of protest, and as recklessly undermining the fight against real instances of anti-Semitism.

The CPCCA and its findings

The Canadian Parliamentary Committee to Combat Anti-Semitism (CPCCA) was born out of a conference held in London in February 2009 by the Inter-Parliamentary Committee for Combating Anti-Semitism. Formed in March 2009 and not directly linked to the Canadian government, or to any NGO or advocacy group, the CPCCA included 22 Canadian Parliament members from across party lines. Former Liberal MP Mario Silva chaired the Inquiry Panel and Conservative MP Scott Reid led the Steering Committee.

Between November 2009 and January 2010, the CPCCA held ten separate hearings during which time representatives of various non-governmental organizations, religious institutions, police departments and Canadian and Israeli universities presented papers meant to assess the level of anti-Semitism in Canada. While groups critical of Israel were denied the chance to address the committee, major Zionist organizations like B’nai Brith Canada, Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, and the Canadian Jewish Congress were welcomed.

“Much of today’s anti-Semitism manifests in anti-Israel agitation around boycotts, divestment and sanctions,” said Avi Benlolo, President and CEO of the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, during a hearing in November 2009. “It deploys an unfair double standard against the Jewish state, singling out of Israel alone for one-sided, harsh criticism and calls for punitive actions.”

Throughout the consultation process, the CPCCA regularly focused on Canadian university campuses, which were routinely described as hotbeds of anti-Semitism, where Jewish students or students with pro-Israel leanings are often intimidated and threatened. This accusation was made repeatedly, and included in the CPCCA’s final report, despite the fact that Dr. Fred Lowy, President Emeritus of Concordia University in Montreal, stated in his address to the CPCCA that, “by and large, Canadian campuses are safe and are not hotbeds of anti-Semitism of any kind”.

In its final report, the CPCCA made about two dozen recommendations on how best to fight anti-Semitism in Canada. While the report states that “criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitic, and saying so is wrong”, it also found that “singling Israel out for selective condemnation and opprobrium … is discriminatory and hateful” and many of its recommendations deal with combating this “new anti-Semitism”.

A major recommendation issued by the CPCCA was that the Canadian government should promote the working definition of anti-Semitism used by The European Union Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC). This definition categorizes “applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation” as anti-Semitic.

In other words, the CPCCA is supporting a definition whereby individuals who focus their attention on Israeli human rights violations, yet don’t level an equal amount of condemnation on other states for their human rights violations, can be labeled as anti-Semitic. This is obviously problematic since Palestine solidarity activists - like any other people – have commitments that make it impossible to engage with every issue they are otherwise interested in. They shouldn’t be labeled as anti-Semitic due to their inability to participate in every single human rights struggle happening around the world.

Another dangerous recommendation made by the CPCCA was that Canadian university administrators should condemn “discourse, events and speakers which are untrue, harmful, or not in the interest of academic discourse, including Israeli Apartheid Week”. Even the use of the word “apartheid” in relation to Israel is anti-Semitic, the CPCCA found, since it amounts to the “denial of the Jewish people their right to self- determination … by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor”.

This clearly violates freedom of speech and an open exchange of ideas at Canadian universities, and also unfairly and inaccurate labels Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) as anti-Semitic. In reality, IAW has since 2005 brought together respected activists, academics, journalists and cultural figures from around the world, including Judith Butler, Ronnie Kasrils, Noam Chomsky and Ali Abunimah, among others, to openly discuss ideas related to Israel/Palestine.

IAW provides an educational space for understanding Israel’s apartheid policies - as evidenced, for example, through the separate legal systems used by Israelis and Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank or the discriminatory land ownership laws operating inside Israel - and supports the growing campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS), which aims to non-violently pressure Israel to respect international law. It is far from the “uniformly well-organized, aggressive [campaign] designed to make the Jewish state and its supporters pariahs” the CPCCA report makes it out to be.

The CPCCA also recommended that the Canadian Committee of Foreign Affairs undertake a study on the United Nations Human Rights Council, “particularly regarding its over-emphasis of alleged human rights abuses by Israel, while ignoring flagrant human rights abuses of other member states”.

This clearly demonstrates how the committee has confounded anti-Semitism with criticism of Israel, and is prepared to levy dubious suspicions against UN bodies and tarnish Canada’s international standing in the process.

In a statement released on July 8, Thomas Woodley, President of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), said that the CPCCA’s recommendations, “if implemented, will inhibit public discussion of Israel’s conduct”.

“CJPME believes that conclusions and recommendations generated by a process in which the same body – the CPCCA - is prosecutor, jury, and judge, are not credible. Although a few of the witnesses recounted incidents that were indeed indicative of genuine anti-Semitism, many were complaining about merely being exposed to criticism of the Israel’s conduct,” the CJPME press release stated.

Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) Canada also criticized the committee, stating that “the CPCCA’s goal is to criminalize criticism of Israel and Zionism, not to hold impartial hearings. Therefore, we oppose the CPCCA as an ideologically biased organization with an agenda that will harm free speech and human rights activity in Canada. We oppose the CPCCA’s Orwellian distortion of anti-Semitism. It is a danger to both Canadian liberties and to the genuine and necessary fight against anti-Semitism.”

Reflection of official Canadian policy

While labeling critics of Israeli policy as anti-Semitic is nothing new, the level at which this accusation is now being used in Canadian discourse must be seen as a reflection of the Canadian government’s official and current policy on the Middle East.

“When Israel, the only country in the world whose very existence is under attack, is consistently and conspicuously singled out for condemnation, I believe we are morally obligated to take a stand. Demonization, double standards, de-legitimization, the three D’s, it is the responsibility of us all to stand up to them,” Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in 2010 at the Ottawa Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism, which was supported by the CPCCA. Harper added:

“Harnessing disparate anti-American, anti-Semitic and anti-Western ideologies, it targets the Jewish people by targeting the Jewish homeland, Israel, as the source of injustice and conflict in the world and uses, perversely, the language of human rights to do so. We must be relentless in exposing this new anti-Semitism for what it is.”

Under Harper, Canada has routinely defended Israeli intransigence and disregard for international law and the human rights of the Palestinian people under its control. In return, trade cooperation and military and security technologies ties have been strengthened between the two states.

In May of this year, it was reported that Harper was adamantly opposed to making any reference to the 1967 borders in a G8 summit statement calling for renewed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Far-right Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman thanked Harper for his position, and stated, “Canada is a true friend of Israel”.

In 2010, Canada announced it would discontinue its financial contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the organization that provides support and resources to approximately 4.7m registered Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the occupied Palestinian territories, and funnel the money into greater policing and security institutions run by the un-elected and corrupt Palestinian Authority leadership instead.

In January 2009, as the Israeli army continued its disproportionate attack on the besieged civilian population in Gaza that left 1,400 Palestinians dead in the span of three weeks, Canada was the only country out of 47 that voted against a motion at the United Nations Human Rights Council condemning the Israeli violence.
In addition to providing diplomatic cover for Israel, the Canadian government has attacked and cut funding to various non-governmental organizations working on issues related to Israel/Palestine, including Kairos Churches and Alternatives International.

Canadian Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney, who led the formation of the Canadian Parliamentary Committee to Combat Anti-Semitism (CPCCA) and is an ex-officio member, has also repeatedly alleged that the Canadian Arab Federation promotes anti-Semitism and hatred. While Kenney never backed up these claims, the Canadian Arab Federation’s contracts with the government - which helped finance language programs for Toronto-area immigrants (the majority of whom are of Chinese origin) - were not renewed in 2009.

Undermining the fight against real anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitism, like all other forms of racism, is appalling and must be strongly and unequivocally condemned.
But by defining legitimate criticism of Israeli policy and pro-Palestinian activism in Canada as anti-Semitic, the CPCCA is not only threatening free speech and freedom of protest, but it is undermining the fight against real cases of anti-Semitism and weakening the seriousness with which such cases should be dealt.

This is something that Canadians, and people everywhere, should be adamantly against.

Jillian Kestler-D’Amours is a Canadian freelance journalist based in Jerusalem. She regularly contributes to The Electronic Intifada, Inter-Press Service and Free Speech Radio News. More of her work can be found at http://jkdamours.com/

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent Al Jazeera’s editorial policy.

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