Saturday, July 31, 2010

Al-Jazeera Video: International activists help rebuild Palestinian homes repeatedly demolished



"Israel has demolished more than 20,000 Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem since 1967.

And some residents have had their houses torn down multiple times.

Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland reports from East Jerusalem on how a small group of Israeli and international activists are helping rebuild Palestinian homes that have been repeatedly demolished."

On Iran, Liberals Are Enabling Another Disastrous War


By Tony Karon

"In 2003, the United States launched an unprovoked invasion of Iraq, a country that had neither attacked nor threatened it — and we, and the Iraqis, are still living with the consequences. Going to war in Iraq was made possible — easy, even — for the Bush Administration not only by Republican hawks and neocon extremists (the wannabe Army Corps of Social Engineers) baying for blood, but even more importantly, by supposedly sober and moderate liberal voices — the Peter Beinarts, Ken Pollacks, George Packers and the editors of the New York Times — not only failing to challenge the basic logic of the case for war, but providing their own more elegant (although equally brutal when stripped of their high-minded rhetoric) rationalizations for invading Iraq......

And the bad news is that they’re doing it again on Iran....."

All Quiet on the Eastern Front


By Uri Avnery
Palestine Chronicle

"People endowed with sensitive political ears were startled this week by two words, which, so it seemed, escaped from the mouth of Binyamin Netanyahu by accident: “Eastern front”.

Once upon a time these words were part of the everyday vocabulary of the occupation. In recent years they have been gathering dust in the political junkyard.

The verbal couple “Eastern front” was born after the Six-day War. It served to buttress the strategic doctrine that the Jordan River is Israel’s “security border”.....

But the Americans are exerting tremendous pressure on Abbas, and Netanyahu fears that Abbas will give in. Therefore he declares that he cannot freeze the settlements, because in that case - God forbid! – his coalition would disintegrate. And if that does not suffice, here comes the Eastern Front. The Israeli government is giving notice to the Palestinians that it will not give up the Jordan Valley.

In order to emphasize the point, Netanyahu has started to remove the remaining Palestinian population in the valley, a few thousand. Villages are being eradicated, starting this week with Farasiya, where all the dwellings and the water installations were destroyed. This is ethnic cleansing pure and simple, much like the similar operation now going on against the Bedouins in the Negev.

What Netanyahu is saying, in so many words, is: Abbas should think twice before he enters “direct talks”......"

Video (Arabic): أن تكون عربيا في أيامنا .. د. عزمي بشاره

An Excellent Video. If you speak Arabic and you have 45 minutes to spare, I strongly recommend watching it.

Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:



Part 4:



Part 5:

المفاوضات المباشرة :انتحار سياسي../


هاني المصري

"أعطى قرار لجنة المتابعة العربية بالموافقة المبدئية على الانتقال للمفاوضات المباشرة "الضوء الأصفر وليس الأخضر" للرئيس محمود عباس لأنه ترك تقدير الموقف النهائي واتخاذ قرار المشاركة بهذه المفاوضات من عدمه له لاتخاذه في الوقت المناسب.

فلجنة المتابعة العربية لا تريد أن تغضب الإدارة الأميركية برفض توفير الغطاء العربي للقيادة الفلسطينية، فأعطت نصف موافقة، ولا تريد بنفس الوقت تحمل المسؤولية عن هذا القرار، فأعطت موعد تنفيذه للرئيس عباس.

إن هذا الموقف للجنة المتابعة يعكس الضعف والعجز العربي، خصوصاً لأنه لم يربط ما بين الموافقة المبدئية على الدخول في المفاوضات المباشرة بالشروط الفلسطينية والعربية، التي وضعت منذ قرارها الأول بالدخول في مفاوضات غير مباشرة لمدة أربعة أشهر، والذي اتخذ في بداية شهر أيار الماضي وينتهي في الثامن من أيلول القادم
.....
هذا يعني أن المفاوض الفلسطيني سيكون تحت رحمة المفاوض الإسرائيلي. والحجة الرئيسية لعدم الرفض الفلسطيني هي أن الضغوط والتهديدات الأميركية بممارسة عقوبات ووقف الدعم والانسحاب من الجهود الأميركية لفرض عملية السلام وصلت إلى درجة غير مسبوقة من قبل، كما صرح الرئيس أبو مازن أثناء لقائه مع رؤساء الصحف اليومية المصرية.

وهي حجة غير مقبولة لأنه لا يمكن مقايضة دعم السلطة بالتنازل عن المواقف والحقوق، فالسلطة وجدت من أجل دعم الحقوق، وليس مهمة القيادة الحفاظ على السلطة على حساب الحقوق
......"

One Martyred, 8 Others Injured in Israeli Strikes; Hamas Vows Revenge (Sure Hamas, Tell Us More About Your Repeated Threats of "Thunderous Response")


Al-Manar

"31/07/2010 A series of Israeli air strikes bombed the Gaza Strip Friday night killing one Palestinian and injured 8 others, Palestinian witnesses reported.

Al-Jazeera reported that among the targets bombed were Tel al-Hawa neighborhood and the Ansar compound, both in Gaza City, as well as targets in Rafah and Deir al-Balah.

The Hamas military group announced that one of its field leaders, 40-year-old Issa Abdul-Hadi Al-Batran [I wonder if he was talking to the IOF on his cell phone and confirming his phone number when the missile homed in on him. Don't laugh, it happened before more than once. Hamas and Islamic Jihad are immune to learning. It will happen again and again; I guarantee it.], was martyred by one of the strikes near the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip......

Palestinian sources described the strikes on Gaza as the heaviest since Israel's two-week aggression against the Strip a year and a half ago which killed more than 1400 Palestinians, including 420 children and injured over 5300 others......"

Not enough people know about Wikileaks


An Interview with Ray McGovern
By Press TV

"....The founder of whistle-blower website Wikileaks Julian Assanges argues that the US secret war files show a systematic pattern of criminal behaviors by the US military forces. Assanges says an official probe may reveal that war crimes have been committed by the US military in Afghanistan.

The US is scared that these documents will put their national security at risk.

The following is a rush transcript of Press TV's interview with Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst, on the leak of US military document by including the brutal helicopter attack on Iraqi civilians, which Wikileaks released on April 5, 2010.....

McGovern: Well it's very clear that the campaign is designed to divert attention away from the atrocities and to try and blame the whole mess on the people who made those documents available --Manning, if he was the one, and of course Wikileaks.

Now Wikileaks has performed a function that is known as the so-called the fourth estate -- the media in this country -- that is unable or unwilling to perform. In other words, we have a fifth estate. We have it in the ether. It is not susceptible to control by government or corporations or by advertisers. It's free and it's out there and what can happen now is that citizens can get informed.....

Press TV: Many are saying they we are now seeing the dawn of a new era of transparency with new organizations like Wikileaks taking the first steps. Now how do you think this is going to affect the policies of key players around the world especially the United States?

McGovern: Well it's going to have a huge effect and that's why the administration is acting so vociferously to contain this genie which is now out of the bottle.

The Wikilinks' gun-barrel video photography with sound that showed a brutal attack on Iraq civilians in Baghdad on July 12, 2007 from Apache helicopter gunships and US soldiers is shocking. It showed in vigorous detail 12 Iraqis killed outright. They were civilians minding their own business, and two children were badly wounded. Now that was up on Wikileaks website and all you need to do is put in collateral murder on the URL line. That was good but you know what? Most of the people in the United States didn't know that. So as I go around making lectures and so forth and ask how many know about the Wikileaks' gun-barrel photography, only about five have. And I ask how many have downloaded it and have watched the full 39 minutes. It's only about one or two. So that's the missing link. It's out there. There's a new fifth estate and it's not controllable by anybody. But people need to know that it exists, and should know how easy it is to find out what's going on....."

Syria and Saudi leaders in mission to avert war


An unprecedented show of Arab cooperation reflects worries of fresh conflict in Lebanon. Robert Fisk reports from Beirut

"....It lasted only a few hours, but no one doubted the significance. Lebanon's chaos needs once more the guiding hand of Sister Syria. Not Syria's army – not yet – but even Assad's father Hafez only made a presidential trip to the Lebanese border. This is the first time in more than 40 years that the Caliph of Damascus – as head of state – has entered the holy of holies in Beirut....

...For this reason Hizbollah no longer accepted the legitimacy of the international inquiries and would not cooperate with the UN which, by awful chance, has more than 12,000 soldiers serving in the peace-keeping force in southern Lebanon – the setting for Hizbollah's next war against Israel. And the implications of Nasrallah's speech were dire indeed. For the ruling coalition government, run by Hariri's prime minister son, Saad, supports the Tribunal and, if Nasrallah means what he says – that the tribunal is an "Israeli project" – then he is also implying that most of the cabinet work for Israel. With unfathomable Lebanese irony, of course, Hizbollah's political party are junior members of the same coalition.

Many Lebanese, however, now fear that the accord which allowed Hizbollah to join the Cabinet is dead and that Nasrallah's speech was the announcement of its funeral....

There was Barak again this week, announcing that "if Hizbollah fires a rocket into Tel Aviv, we will not run after each Hizbollah terrorist or launcher. We will see it as legitimate to hit any target that belongs to the Lebanese state". Then Israeli chief of staff, Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, said that his forces would not hesitate to strike Lebanese towns and villages. "We will move in these areas if need be," he said. One very senior Lebanese army officer responded with due diplomacy. "The Israelis always attack our towns and villages and commit war crimes like the Qana massacre. But this must be the first time that a country has announced its war crimes before committing them."....

The "there will there be a third Lebanon war" myth is now being peddled by former US ambassador to Tel Aviv, Daniel Kurtzer. Kurtzer's latest wisdom would be outrageously funny if it wasn't taken seriously in Washington. It includes the recommendation that there should be an "upgrade" in US and Israeli "intelligence exchanges" and that the United States "should study ... the possibility of exploiting hostilities in Lebanon to launch a diplomatic initiative in the broader peace process." The idea that peace prospects of the Middle East would improve if more Lebanese were slaughtered is close to obscene.

Not that the Hizbollah have any reason to laugh. They used to be Tehran's toy, since their weapons came from Iran. But now that President Bashar, through whose country the arms flow into Lebanon, has made up with Hariri and turned up in Beirut, Syria is also going to be involved in Hizbollah's big military decisions..... Problems in Lebanon? Well, just call in at Damascus on the way. Syria is back."

Israel has crept into the EU without anyone noticing



By Robert Fisk

"The death of five Israeli servicemen in a helicopter crash in Romania this week raised scarcely a headline.

There was a Nato-Israeli exercise in progress. Well, that's OK then. Now imagine the death of five Hamas fighters in a helicopter crash in Romania this week. We'd still be investigating this extraordinary phenomenon....and so a question presents itself. What is Nato doing when it plays war games with an army accused of war crimes? [Answer to Robert: Learning how to commit even bigger war crimes in Afghanistan.] ....

Or, more to the point, what on earth is the EU doing when it cosies up to the Israelis? In a remarkable, detailed – if slightly over-infuriated – book to be published in November, the indefatigable David Cronin is going to present a microscopic analysis of "our" relations with Israel. I have just finished reading the manuscript. It leaves me breathless. As he says in his preface, "Israel has developed such strong political and economic ties to the EU over the past decade that it has become a member state of the union in all but name." Indeed, it was Javier Solana, the grubby top dog of the EU's foreign policy (formerly Nato secretary general), who actually said last year that "Israel, allow me to say, is a member of the European Union without being a member of the institution".

Pardon me? Did we know this? Did we vote for this? Who allowed this to happen?.....

...In the first three months of 2008, we gave licenses for another £20m of weapons for Israel – just in time for Israel's onslaught on Gaza. Apache helicopters used against Palestinians, says Cronin, contain parts made by SPS Aerostructures in Nottinghamshire, Smiths Industries in Cheltenham, Page Aerospace in Middlesex and Meggit Avionics in Hampshire.

Need I go on? Israel, by the way, has been praised for its "logistics" help to Nato in Afghanistan – where we are annually killing even more Afghans than the Israelis usually kill Palestinians – which is not surprising since Israel military boss Gabi Ashkenazi has visited Nato headquarters in Brussels to argue for closer ties with Nato.....


All in all, it's good to have such a stout ally as Israel on our side, even if its army is a rabble and some of its men war criminals. Come to that, why don't we ask Hizbollah to join Nato as well – just imagine how its guerrilla tactics would benefit our chaps in Helmand. And since Israel's Apache helicopters often kill Lebanese civilians – a whole ambulance of women and children in 1996, for example, blown to pieces by a Boeing Hellfire AGM 114C air-to-ground missile – let's hope the Lebanese can still send a friendly greeting to the people of Nottinghamshire, Middlesex, Hampshire and, of course, Cheltenham."

Friday, July 30, 2010

Israel Threatens Lebanon


The Existential Threat Facing Lebanon Today

A Good Piece

by Rannie Amiri
Global Research

"....Recent events belie Barak’s last two claims. Indeed, Israel is doing its best to goad, prod and provoke Hezbollah into firing that one rocket that can be used as pretext to wage all-out war and avenge their July 2006 invasion disaster:

· Military surveillance flights over Lebanon violate the country’s airspace and sovereignty daily.

· In mid-July, an Israeli patrol crossed the border into Lebanon and attempted to abduct a shepherd.

· A week later, an Israeli vessel fired artillery rounds at a Lebanese fishing boat located within Lebanese territorial waters.

· Israel ’s designs on Lebanon ’s offshore gas reserves and the prospect of using force to secure them has been recently discussed, as has evidence suggesting their involvement in the Hariri assassination.

Barak clearly intimates that any war Israel wages will not spare civilian lives or infrastructure, as Gaza will testify. In fact, he simply reiterated what has become known as the “Dahiya Doctrine.”

In an October 2008 interview with Yedioth Ahronoth , Israel Defense Forces Northern District Commander Major General Gadi Eisenkott explained it:

“What happened in the Dahiya Quarter of Beirut in 2006 will happen in every village from which shots are fired on Israel . We will use disproportionate force against it and we will cause immense damage and destruction. From our point of view these are not civilian villages but military bases. This is not a recommendation, this is the plan, and it has already been authorized.”

The Dahiya Doctrine: a strategy used to justify collective punishment and the commission of war crimes, and an existential threat to present-day Lebanon .

One wonders whether King Abdullah—busy running interference in Lebanon and Syria on the United States ’ behalf—understands that his March 14 allies would not be spared."

Ahmadinejad makes a call to arms

By Kaveh L Afrasiabi
Asia Times

"President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's hint that Iran could come under attack in the next few months could be a political gamble to make it easier for him to show flexibility on the nuclear question. Simultaneously, allusions to an imminent attack are a call for national mobilization in preparation for confronting the military muscles of a Western superpower and its Israeli ally...."

Do drone attacks make life and death worth less?


Jonathan Cook
The National

".....What is to deter our rulers from waging wars if few, or no, practical costs accrue? Typically, fighting comes to an end only when the price – in treasure, blood or domestic political damage – becomes too high to bear. Remote killing could be a prescription for endless wars.

Nowhere has the danger become more apparent than in Gaza, where not only has Israel imprisoned the Palestinians behind walls but is starting to create an infrastructure of automated armed guards. Gaza’s skies are filled with drones, its coast is patrolled by remotely-controlled boats, and its walls topped by unmanned machine guns.

But why must these systems be operated by relatively expensive Israeli conscripts? Why not farm out the job to workers in the equivalent of a call centres in other countries, as has occurred with so many services in our globalised economies?

It sounds like a scene from a dystopian horror film, but it may not end there. If governments lose authority and legitimacy, may they not one day consider turning those remotely controlled guns and missiles on their people too?"

The Real Aim of Israel’s Bomb Iran Campaign


A Good Piece
By Gareth Porter
Common Dreams

"Reuel Marc Gerecht's screed justifying an Israeli bombing attack on Iran coincides with the opening of the new Israel lobby campaign marked by the introduction of House Resolution 1553 expressing full support for such an Israeli attack.

What is important to understand about this campaign is that the aim of Gerecht and of the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu is to support an attack by Israel so that the United States can be drawn into direct, full-scale war with Iran.....

The idea of waging a U.S. war of destruction against Iran is obvious lunacy, which is why U.S. military leaders have strongly resisted it both during the Bush and Obama administrations. But Gerecht makes it clear that Israel believes it can use its control of Congress to pound Obama into submission. Democrats in Congress, he boasts, "are mentally in a different galaxy than they were under President Bush." Even though Israel has increasingly been regarded around the world as a rogue state after its Gaza atrocities and the commando killings of unarmed civilians on board the Mavi Marmara, its grip on the U.S. Congress appears as strong as ever....."

It's no secret what Pakistan's been doing with the Taliban


All sides know what's been going on since Afghanistan was first occupied. It's also clear that this war can't be won

Tariq Ali
The Guardian, Friday 30 July 2010

"....The drone attacks were intended to burn out support for the insurgents across the border. Instead, they have resulted in destabilising Pakistan. Last year, the army forcibly removed 250,000 people from the Orakzai district on the Afghan border and put them in refugee camps. Many swore revenge, and militant groups have targeted the ISI and other military centres. On 8 June this year militants bearing grenades and mortars attacked a Nato convoy in Rawalpindi. Fifty Nato vehicles were burnt and more than a dozen soldiers were reported dead.

This can only get worse. Time for Obama to abandon all pretences used to justify a war that can only lead to more deaths but no solution. An exit strategy is now desperately needed."

Qana…Where Jesus’s 1st Miracle Turns Bloody


Al-Manar

"30/07/2010 “We have lived through hell,” Qana resident, Fawzeya Atwi cried. “The people were chopped into pieces by the Israeli bombs. They bleed these people. You should have seen the heads.”

“Do you know what the dogs did at night after the killings? They were hungry and I saw them in the ruins eating fingers and pieces of our people,” Atwi said about the Qana massacre during the July 2006 Israeli War on Lebanon.

Head of the Red Cross in Tyre Sami Yazbak, who was helping to pull bodies from the ruins, told The Guardian that the first call about the bombing was received at 7 a.m., 6 hours after the bombing took place. He said that previous shelling on the road to Qana had delayed the arrival of Red Cross personnel.

Yazbak said that “many of the children who were sleeping inside were handicapped.”

Many journalists who arrived in Qana to cover the incident became rescuers, dugging through the rubble with the Red Cross in search for bodies.....

WINE TURNS TO BLOOD

The southern Lebanese town of Qana is believed by some to be where Jesus performed his first miracle of turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee mentioned in the Gospel of St John.

But in modern times it is blood, not wine, that is indelibly linked with the town. The blood of Lebanese civilians killed in Israeli bombing.

In 1996, one of the deadliest single events of the whole Arab-Israeli conflict took place there - the shelling of a UN base where hundreds of local people were sheltering.
More than 100 were killed and another 100 injured, cut down by Israeli anti-personnel shells that explode in the air sending a lethal shower of shrapnel to the ground.

Ten years later, the town is again in the headlines, this time because of a massive bomb dropped by an Israeli aircraft, causing a building to collapse on top of dozens of civilians - many of them children in their pajamas- taking cover in the basement...."

Protest against Israeli Razing of Al-Araqib Village as Arabs Support Direct Talk


Al-Manar

"30/07/2010 Two days after Israel demolished the Al-Araqib village across the Negev, Arab foreign ministers gave the Palestinians another slap in the face during their meeting on Thursday.

Instead of halting the indirect talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, the Arab League declared in its meeting that it would give the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas the green light if he decided to enter into direct “peace talks” with the Israeli occupation government.

This comes at a time the residents and supporters of the Al-Araqib village, where 35 homes were demolished on Tuesday, were preparing for demonstrators on Friday, following calls for a mass protest against the demolitions.

Residents say 250 men, women and children were left homeless by the move, when Israeli tractors accompanied by an estimated 1,500 occupation police officers entered the Bedouin village and destroyed homes it claimed were built illegally.

Protesters will demand recognition of Bedouin villages across the Negev, many of which existed before the Israeli occupation, but go without access to water, electricity and medical services......"

COMMENT

The demolition of Arab villages in the Naqab (Negev) and the attempts to Judaize the region is the direct implementation of what the traitor Abbas agreed to when he told AIPAC on June 9, "I would never deny [the] Jewish right to the land of Israel" .

US war machine receives billions


(Cartoon by Carlos Latuff)

Press TV Interview with
Conn Hallinan of Foreign Policy in Focus

"US President Barack Obama has signed a multi-billion dollar spending bill for American-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan after recently giving Israel billions of dollars.

The funding has brought the amount of money the US Congress has appropriated for the unpopular wars since 2001 to over one trillion dollars.

The current package will cover troop build up, the war and spending for military operations in Iraq. More Republicans voted for the bill than Obama's Democratic cronies implying there is really no difference between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to the US president and foreign policy agenda.

For a deeper analysis, PressTV spoke with Conn Hallinan of Foreign Policy in Focus....."

Larijani: Iran proud of backing Hezbollah


Press TV

"Iranian Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani says Iran takes pride in Lebanon's Islamic resistance movement for its steadfast Islamic stance.

Speaking in Iran's northern Mazandaran Province on Thursday, Larijani praised Hezbollah for its resistance against oppression and said, "Hezbollah nurtures the original ideas of Islamic Jihad," IRNA reported.

The Iranian official further slammed the West for charging Iran with "its support of terrorism" and said, "The real terrorists are those who provide the Zionist regime with military equipment to bomb the people" in the region....."

Egypt in Afghanistan?


By Salama A Salama
Al-Ahram Weekly

"The war in Afghanistan is drawing to an end, with the US and NATO coalition forces practically admitting defeat. The Taliban and Al-Qaeda are now in control of much of the countryside, and inside the cities their combatants hide by day and fight by night.

Representatives of 70 countries, including Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit, were recently in Kabul, attending the Afghanistan Donor Conference, a gathering of all nations that, in one way or another, contributed to the war effort in Afghanistan....

Most of the countries that went to the Kabul conference want to have a piece of the cake. They want a chunk of the stunning resources, worth trillions of dollars, found hidden under the shifting sands of Afghanistan. Needless to say, no one knows where Egypt stands on this matter, or what it hopes to accomplish[part of the Obama Imperial "Coalition of the Willing"? Iran was there too!].....

Still, I don't quite understand what Egypt was doing in the conference. Have we ever donated anything to Afghanistan."

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Don't deny our rights: open letter to Mahmoud Abbas


open letter, various undersigned, 29 July 2010

The following open letter to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose elected mandate expired in July 2009 and who has remained in power under controversial emergency laws, was issued on 22 July 2010:

"We are Palestinians of diverse perspectives and affiliations -- scholars, intellectuals, artists, activists, trade unionists, human rights advocates and civil society leaders, inside historic Palestine and in exile -- who are united in our commitment to the fulfillment of the fundamental rights of all Palestinians, particularly our inalienable right to self-determination. This universally sanctioned right encompasses, at a minimum, freedom from occupation and colonization in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem; full equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel; and the right of return for Palestinian refugees and their descendants.

During a 9 June meeting with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, you reportedly said: "I would never deny [the] Jewish right to the land of Israel," a statement that you have yet to retract. We regard this announcement, which adopts a central tenet of Zionism, as a grave betrayal of the collective rights of the Palestinian people. It is tantamount to a surrender of the right of Palestinian citizens of Israel to live in equality in their own homeland, in which they have steadfastly remained despite the apartheid regime imposed on them for decades. It also concedes the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes.

No Palestinian institution or leader has ever accepted an exclusive Jewish claim to Palestine, which is irreconcilable with the internationally recognized rights of the Palestinian people. Our rights inhere in us as a people; they are not yours to do with as you please.

We, as Palestinians urgently need a legally and democratically elected leadership that is responsible, capable and committed to the fulfillment of our national rights and aspirations to live in freedom, dignity and just peace in our ancestral homeland. We call on all Palestinians to immediately revive the democratic processes that our people have struggled so hard to build, so that we can designate leaders with an effective vision and strategy for achieving our rights as a people......"

Wikileaks, by Khalil Bendib


The Eunuchs Agreed....



Surprise, Surprise!
The Eunuchs Have Agreed to Washington's Orders....

"Direct Negotiations" to Start....
The Stooge Abbas is to Determine The Exact Date!

I Am Shocked (NOT).


An ancient vision

INTERVIEW WITH JULIAN ASSANGE
Asia Times

"Julian Assange, the founder of the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, says his work is based on the "ancient vision" of uncovering the truth. And he says sources would rather turn over their information to him than to traditional news outlets because he can protect them better. Assange spoke with RFE/RL's Ron Synovitz and Christopher Schwartz on July 27 by phone from London.

RFE/RL: What is your response to those in Pakistan who doubt the veracity of WikiLeaks' "Afghan War Diary?" In particular, Hamid Gul, the former chief of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, has said he thinks the reports are fabrications......."

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll


This New poll asks:

Do you support direct negotiations with Israel?

With over 650 responding so far, 88% said no.

Al-Jazeera Video: Wikileaks: Canadian soliders 'killed' in friendly fire



"As the US government assesses the impact of the wiki leaks revelations on military operations in Afghanistan, the posting of the material online has unveiled another previously unknown incident.

The documents suggests that four Canadian soldiers who died in 2006 were actually killed when a US jet dropped a bomb on a building they were occupying.

Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab reports from Toronto."

Al-Jazeera Video: Israel cracks down on dissent



"The Israeli parliament is considering several new laws that could seriously impact the ability of citizens to criticise the government, according to rights groups.

Human Rights Watch is reporting a crackdown on political activists who criticise Israeli's treatment of the Palestinians.

In what rights groups consider part of an alarming pattern, Shin Bet, Israel's internal security agency, recently admitted to spying on a young Australian activist in the West Bank.

Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros reports from Jerusalem."

Patrick Cockburn on Missing Billions in Iraq and Soaring Cancer & Infant Mortality Rates in Fallujah


Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman


"In Iraq, an official audit by the US Special Investigator for Iraq Reconstruction found that the Pentagon cannot account for almost nine billion dollars taken from Iraqi oil revenues between 2004 and 2007 for use in reconstruction. Meanwhile a new medical study has found dramatic increases in infant mortality, cancer and leukemia in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, which was bombarded by US Marines in 2004. We speak with Patrick Cockburn, Middle East correspondent for the London Independent....."

US Foreign Policy and Wikileaks, by Mr. Fish


Who Owns General Petraeus?


by Philip Giraldi, July 29, 2010

"....The report’s full title is "Statement of General David H. Petraeus, US Army Commander, US Central Command before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the Posture of US Central Command, 16 Mar 2010." This is what it says:

"The enduring hostilities between Israel and some of its neighbors present distinct challenges to our ability to advance our interests… Israeli-Palestinian tensions often flare into violence and large scale armed confrontations. The conflict foments anti-American sentiments, due to perception of US favoritism for Israel. Arab anger over the Palestinian question limits the strength and depth of US partnerships with governments and peoples in the region and weakens the legitimacy of moderate regimes in the Arab world. Meanwhile, al-Qaeda and other militant groups exploit that anger to mobilize support."

Though carefully expressed, there is no ambiguity to the statement and no doubt that it represents General Petraeus’ thinking. It means what it says, basically that Israel’s behavior weakens Arab regimes friendly to the US, makes it impossible to develop popular support for Washington’s programs, and strengthens terrorism. The result is that American soldiers and diplomats in the Middle East and Central Asia are threatened by irresponsible and unsustainable Israeli policies.

This means that the genie is out of the bottle no matter what Max Boot does to try to coax it back in or spin it into meaninglessness. It is also important to bear in mind that the Petraeus’ statement was not an isolated incident, a sign of what might amount to a new awareness in Washington that Israel represents a strategic liability......"

US-led soldiers feel free to kill Afghans


Interview with Gareth Porter
By Press TV

"The Wikileaks website has released over 90,000 classified records of military conduct in Afghanistan during the period 2004-09.

The documents point to abuses and cover-up by the US led forces. At the same time, the US general, Admiral Mike Mullen, nominated to lead the US Central Command, has warned that the US-led forces in Afghanistan are losing credibility....

Press TV has conducted an interview with historian and investigative journalist Gareth Porter in Washington to shed more light on the situation.

The following is the transcript of Press TV's interview.....

Porter: I think one of the themes these documents clearly reveals is the casual way the US, and the NATO forces as well, kill civilians not in a battlefield but in situations very far from the fighting. Most of the civilian casualties appeared to have been committed in cities where US soldiers are involved in traffic situations with buses and other automobiles. They seem to be feeling very free to kill civilians when it is convenient as opposed to when they present any sort of threat to the troops. This obviously indicates very clearly that the way the war has been practiced by the United States and NATO is one in which the lives of Afghans are simply not important."

Saudi king kicks off 'Arab unity tour'


Press TV

"Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah visits Egypt on the first leg of a four-nation "Arab unity tour" that will focus on easing the recent tensions in Lebanon.

King Abdullah met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday in Cairo where the two leaders held talks on the Arab-Israeli peace process.

The monarch was scheduled to arrive in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Thursday and meet President Bashar al-Assad on the second-leg of his tour that will also take him to Lebanon and Jordan.....

The Saudi king's tour comes at a time when the results of a UN tribunal's investigation into Hariri's murder -- expected to be announced by the end of the year -- have sparked a great deal of tensions in Lebanon.

The tense atmosphere is further soured by threats of a war against Lebanon by Israel, who has been accusing Lebanon's resistance movement, Hezbollah, of receiving weapons from Syria -- a claim also echoed by Washington......"

COMMENT:

The bastard King is coordinating how to carry out Washington's orders to "restart the peace process" and to shift focus to the upcoming attack on Iran and Hizbullah.

نصر الله نصف المعركة نصف هزيمة إسرائيل


نواف الزرو

Al-Jazeera

"
هزيمة لن تنسى على مدى الأجيال
الإسرائيليون ينتظرون خطابات نصر الله
صواريخ سيكولوجية عابرة للمعنويات
مصداقية نصر الله في الحرب القادمة
.....
مصداقية نصر الله في الحرب القادمة

واستتباعا -ونحن اليوم أمام أربع سنوات على العدوان وهزيمتهم- فإن المؤشرات تؤكد أن الكيان يستعد لعدوان جديد على لبنان. والمؤشرات حول النوايا العدوانية الجديدة تتراكم.

فلم يعد سرا أن المؤسسة العسكرية الأمنية السياسية الإسرائيلية تجمع منذ ذلك الوقت على أن "إسرائيل" لا يمكنها أن تتعايش مع حزب الله مدججا بالعقيدة والإرادة والقيادة الفذة والإستراتيجية والتدريب والتنظيم الفولاذي، كما لا يمكنها أن تتعايش على نحو حصري مع ذلك المخزون الصاروخي الهائل بحوزته الذي يطال كافة المدن والأهداف الإسرائيلية على امتداد مساحة فلسطين. والأهم من كل ذلك أنها لا يمكنها أن تتعايش مع قائد كبير فذ صادق تفوق شعبيته -كارزميته- ومصداقيته شعبية ومصداقية أي زعيم عربي أو حتى أممي على الإطلاق.

ولذلك غدت "إسرائيل" بكاملها -مؤسسات عسكرية أمنية استخبارية سياسية أكاديمية بحثية وإعلامية، إضافة إلى الرأي العام الإسرائيلي- تتابع متابعة حثيثة تحركات وخطابات وتحذيرات وتهديدات السيد نصر الله ببالغ الاهتمام والترقب والتحسب، فهو يفعل ما يقول، ويقرن الأقوال بالأفعال على نحو يثير ذهولهم على مختلف انتماءاتهم ووظائفهم وأدوارهم.

ما ينسحب على احتمالات الحرب القادمة
ففي آفاق الحرب القادمة التي تعد"إسرائيل" العدة لها، فعندما يعلن نصر الله على سبيل المثال:" أن إسرائيل يمكن أن تشن حربا على لبنان .. نحن لا نريد هذه الحرب، لكن إذا هجمت إسرائيل علينا.. فإن مقاوتنا ستسحق وتدمر وتشتت جيشها وستضيع فلوله .. وسيتغير وجه المنطقة لأنه إذا حطمنا جيشها (إسرائيل ) وسنحطمه وندمره في لبنان، عندها أي مستقبل لإسرائيل.. عندها سنذهب بالسيارات والباصات إلى بيت المقدس/ السبت 19/ 9 / 2009"، فإن في ذلك دلالات حقيقية ومصداقية يلتقطها الإسرائيليون بلا شك وبلا تردد، بل وبمصداقية عالية.

وحينما يعود ليعلن مرة أخرى:" سنغير وجه المنطقة في أي مواجهة مقبلة مع إسرائيل وسنصنع النصر التاريخي الكبير/الجمعة 15 / 1 / 2010 "، فان ذلك يعني بالنسبة لهم أن حزب الله بات يمتلك المزيد من الأسلحة الإستراتيجية والمفاجآت القادرة على تغيير مجريات الحرب والنتائج والخرائط، وهم أيضا يصدقون السيد في ذلك.

وحينما يعود علينا مرة ثالثة ليعلن:"أن حزب الله سيقصف البنى التحتية في إسرائيل، وهو "يملك الإمكانات لذلك"، فـ"إذا ضربتم مطار الشهيد رفيق الحريري الدولي في بيروت سنضرب مطار بن غوريون في تل أبيب، إذا ضربتم موانئنا سنقصف موانئكم، إذا ضربتم مصافي النفط عندنا سنقصف مصافي النفط عندكم، وإذا قصفتم مصانعنا سنقصف مصانعكم، إذا قصفتم مصانع الكهرباء عندنا سنقصف الكهرباء عندكم/ وكالات- 16/2/2010"، فإنهم هناك في الكيان يفتحون أفواههم ذهولا من هول التهديد.

وليس في ذلك أية مبالغة أبدا..

فإن كان السيد نصر الله يحظى بشعبية ومصداقية عربية إسلامية جارفة على امتداد مساحة الأمة كما تثبت مجسات الرأي العام في كل مكان، فإن مصداقيته على مستوى الكيان الصهيوني كبيرة وراسخة ومتزايدة ومدعمة باقتران أقواله بأفعاله في كافة محطات الحروب والمواجهات في الساحة اللبنانية.. بل إنه يحظى بمصداقية تفوق مصداقية قياداتهم العسكرية والسياسية والإعلامية.

بل إنهم يعتقدون أن حزب الله بقيادته يشكل خطرا وتحديا إستراتيجيا حقيقيا يقض مضاجع المؤسسة والقيادات والجماهير الإسرائيلية.
"

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Israeli forces demolish Bedouin village [video]

Student Loses an Eye Protesting in Israel—But None of Her Vision

A tear-gas canister fired by the Israel Defense Forces hit her in the face and blasted her left eye out of her head. The grandchild of Holocaust survivors and daughter of a man who was born in Israel and emigrated to the U.S., she had been protesting at a West Bank checkpoint the morning after the IDF had killed nine people aboard a Turkish aid flotilla bound for Gaza.

Video: Afghan shootings raise war crimes question

Evidence examined by Channel 4 News could indicate "war crimes" in Afghanistan

">
Exclusive: questions are being asked about shootings involving US marines which left over a dozen people dead after an international lawyer said evidence examined by Channel 4 News could indicate "war crimes" in Afghanistan....."

WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange: "Transparent Government Tends to Produce Just Government"


DON'T MISS THIS SEGMENT

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman


"We spend the hour with Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, talking about the biggest leak in US history: the release of more than 91,000 classified military records on the war in Afghanistan. As the Pentagon announces it is launching a criminal probe into who leaked the documents, Assange asks what about investigating the "war crimes" revealed in the leaked military records? He also talks about the media, why he isn’t coming to the US anytime soon, and what gives him hope. "What keeps us going is our sources. These are the people, presumably, who are inside these organizations, who want change," Assange says. "They are both heroic figures taking much greater risks than I ever do, and they are pushing and showing that they want change in, in fact, an extremely effective way."....."

Jerusalem: Accused torturer set to head police- Arab relations

"The former military interrogator known as 'Captain George' has been appointed the director of Arab affairs for the Jerusalem District Police.

The post includes responsibilities such as being a liaison between the police commander and the Arab community as well as filing reports on Arab opinion in the city. It is considered a very important post by the Jerusalem police commander, Aharon Franco.

'Captain George' reached notoriety when a unit he was commanding was accused of torturing Mustafa Dirani, a Lebanese citizen kidnapped by Israeli forces in 1994.

Mustafa sued Israel for 6 million shekels in damages and in his testimony recalled how his captors had raped him with a baton. The case has been in limbo since 2005.

'Captain George' was appointed to the position a couple of months ago and the police had this to say of him, "There is no link between the previous role held by Major D. ["George"] and his current position. The officer is carrying out his duties to Franco's satisfaction, and is contributing a great deal to the good relationship between Jerusalem police and the Arabs of East Jerusalem." "

Thank God for the Whistle-Blowers


By Robert Scheer
TruthDig

"......Our government recruited terrorists from the Arab world to go to Afghanistan and fight in that holy war against godless communism with even greater enthusiasm during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, who proclaimed the Muslim fanatics “freedom fighters.” As the 9/11 Commission report stated, those freedom fighters included Osama bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged architect of the 9/11 attacks.

Three years before that attack, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter’s national security adviser, was asked in an interview with Le Nouvel Observateur if he regretted “having given arms and advice to future terrorists,” and he answered: “What is most important to the history of the world? Some stirred-up Muslims or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the Cold War?”

One of Carter’s advisers back then was Richard Holbrooke, now Obama’s top civilian adviser on Afghanistan. Clearly he knows quite a bit about stirring up Muslims, and someone should ask him about the brilliant decision to give heat-seeking Stinger rockets to those same fanatics who then turned them against our side, according to the recently disclosed documents. They never learn. It was Holbrooke who helped design the Vietnam-era assassination programs exposed in the Pentagon Papers and now replicated in the Afghanistan documents.

Thanks to Daniel Ellsberg, who risked much to make the record of the Vietnam War public, we learned about the madness that Holbrooke and others were creating. We should be grateful to the whistle-blowers who gave us the Afghanistan war documents for once again letting us in on the sick joke that passes for U.S foreign policy."

When Zionists carried out atrocities, Israeli press calls it "resistance"


(King David Hotel After Zionist Bombing)

By Ali Abunimah

"Interesting to note that a Ynet article profiling one of the Zionists who bombed the King David Hotel in Jerusalem on July 22, 1946, killing almost one hundred people including dozens of civilians, refers to the act as "Jewish resistance." Of course Zionists were not "resisting" anything when they introduced terrorism as we know it today to Palestine. They were in the process of a violent takeover of Palestine from its indigenous people. This is notable given that the Israeli media routinely refer to attacks or self-defence by Palestinians, even against armed, combatant Israeli occupation soldiers as "terrorism."....."

Israel's Secret Police Exposed


By Jonathan Cook - Nazareth
Palestine Chronicle

"The arrest by Israel's internal security service, the Shin Bet, of an Israeli Jew accused of killing at least four Palestinians has thrown a rare light on the secret police, including attempts by one of its agents to enlist the accused to assassinate a Palestinian spiritual leader.

Chaim Pearlman, who was arrested a fortnight ago, has been charged with murdering four Palestinians in Jerusalem and injuring at least seven others in a series of knife attacks that began more than a decade ago. Police are still investigating whether he was involved in additional attacks.

Although Pearlman was denied access to a lawyer until last Friday, far-right groups have rapidly come to his aid, waging what the Shin Bet officials have described as “psychological warfare” by revealing damaging details about the case. Pearlman has released tape recordings he secretly made of recent conversations with an undercover Shin Bet agent who tried to get Pearlman to incriminate himself.

The agent, who befriended Pearlman and was known as “Dada”, can be heard exhorting him both to go to an “Arab village” to “turn it into a fireworks display” and to execute Sheikh Raed Salah, a leader of the Islamic Movement and a recent participant in the aid flotilla to Gaza that was attacked by Israel......

Dada says: “Why haven't soldiers killed Raed Salah, may he die? … Someone should take care of him, send him to the next world.” He then suggests Pearlman shoot at the sheikh’s car or put a bomb under it. “That's the classic one. Nothing’s left, everything goes everywhere,” he adds.

Dada’s advice is particularly controversial given that at the time Salah had recently stated that Israeli commandos onboard the Mavi Marmara ship had tried to kill him...."

Why Is the Antiwar Movement Stalled?

In two words: the left

by Justin Raimondo, July 28, 2010

".....As long as the organized antiwar movement remains a leftist sandbox, where sectarians get to pontificate – and do little else – it will stay a sideshow. Once we get beyond all that nonsense, however, there are no limits to what we can do: just look at the polls. The American people are with us – and they’re ready to join us in our fight. Indeed, they’ve never been readier. The question is: are we ready to receive them, and lead them?

Right now, the answer is no: I’m hoping that – someday soon – the answer will be an emphatic yes."

Shooting the messenger

By Mark Steel
The Independent

"Why are the British and US governments saying the leak of military documents about Afghanistan has "put our soldiers at risk?" It's us who's been kept hidden from this information, not the Taliban. For example, many of the revelations are previously hidden details of civilian casualties, but Afghans in those areas probably already knew about those deaths. I don't suppose local insurgents have said "Well well, I've read the leaked documents, and you know that family whose house was bombed to rubble by an American plane, and the rest of the village arrived and wailed for three days and swore revenge and then there was a funeral that we all went to. Well it turns out they're dead."....."

Chilcot inquiry: too late, Hans Blix, too late


The weapons inspector has spoken out at the Chilcot inquiry. If only he had done so in 2003

Sami Ramadani
The Guardian, Wednesday 28 July 2010

"With its sedate pace and genteel drip, drip revelations, one could be forgiven for thinking of the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war as an academic exercise, delving into some distant historical event in an attempt to understand what happened. But to many Iraqis, the inquiry is something else entirely. It is an inconsequential charade, a classic case of fiddling while Baghdad burns.

Yesterday it was Hans Blix's turn to appear before the laid back and suitably emotionless inquisitors. The former chief UN weapons inspector revealed nothing we didn't know. He told Chilcot there was no justification for war, because his inspectors found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction; and he told them that he had needed a few more months to finish his task.

As an Iraqi living in Britain, and fearful for my compatriots back home, I remember waiting with baited breath for Blix to utter those undiluted words when he appeared before the UN security council in 2003, 11 days before the war of aggression was launched. Back then, he minced his words, providing enough ambiguity for Tony Blair and Jack Straw to push on with their plans to drag Britain into the US-led war....."

A history of folly, from the Trojan horse to Afghanistan


By recording failure in meticulous detail, the leaked war logs bear devastating witness to our incompetence

Simon Jenkins
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 27 July 2010

"Is it the death of war? In Vietnam the horror of fighting was brought to TV screens in real time. Such was the reaction that American citizens withdrew their consent. In the 1980s computers were said to have restored the aloofness of battle by enabling armies to fight and defeat an enemy by remote control. They could locate the foe, direct fire and drop bombs with pinpoint accuracy.

That thesis is now threadbare. There is no such thing as a secure computer, let alone an accurate one....

I cannot avoid the conclusion that, just as the Pashtun are said to be "hardwired to fight", so now are certain western regimes. War is about sating the military-security-industrial complex, a lobby so potent that, long after the cold war ended, it can induce democratic leaders to expend quantities of blood and money on such specious pretexts as suppressing dictators in one country and terror in another.

Like puppets dancing to manufactured fears and dreams of glory, these leaders have lost their grip on Plato's "sacred golden cord of reason". Until that grip is restored, the folly revealed by the war logs will continue."

Ethnic cleansing in the Israeli Negev


The razing of a Bedouin village by Israeli police shows how far the state will go to achieve its aim of Judaising the Negev region

Neve Gordon
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 28 July 2010

"A menacing convoy of bulldozers was heading back to Be'er Sheva as I drove towards al-Arakib, a Bedouin village located not more than 10 minutes from the city. Once I entered the dirt road leading to the village I saw scores of vans with heavily armed policemen getting ready to leave. Their mission, it seems, had been accomplished.

The signs of destruction were immediately evident. I first noticed the chickens and geese running loose near a bulldozed house, and then saw another house and then another one, all of them in rubble. A few children were trying to find a shaded spot to hide from the scorching desert sun, while behind them a stream of black smoke rose from the burning hay. The sheep, goats and the cattle were nowhere to be seen – perhaps because the police had confiscated them....

They say the next intifada will be the Bedouin intifada. There are 155,000 Bedouins in the Negev, and more than half of them live in unrecognised villages without electricity or running water. I do not know what they might do, but by making 300 people homeless, 200 of them children, Israel is surely sowing dragon's teeth for the future."

Egypt Worried: May 7 Events Should Not Be Repeated!


Al-Manar

"27/07/2010 Egypt seems to be "worried" these days…

The source of Egypt's "concern" is simply Lebanon, believed to constitute the "headlines"…

In Lebanon, nothing can be taken for granted. The country is facing tens of threats: threats of an Israeli war that could erupt at any moment alongside worries of political strife as a result of an "already written" verdict in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri's case, in a US-Israeli scheme.

Egypt is not "worried" because of the Israeli threats. Israel can "legislate" hitting any target that belongs to the Lebanese government. This is not worrying.

For Cairo, what's worrying is the "campaign" launched by some parties against the international tribunal, the tribunal that proved its credibility in many occasions.

Egyptian Foreign Minister [Break-Their-Legs] Ahmed Abul Gheit took the charge of defending the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, recalling that it has previously released certain individuals and that should boost its credibility. He advised the Lebanese not to jump to conclusions that would undermine domestic stability......"

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Leaks make war policy vulnerable


By Gareth Porter
Asia Times

"The impression given by leaked United States military documents of Pakistani double-dealing for the Taliban exposes one of the Barack Obama administration's greatest political vulnerabilities since it bears on worries about whether there is any hope for US military success in Afghanistan. Pakistan's long-standing association with the insurgency is not going to change....."

Daniel Ellsberg describes Afghan war logs as on a par with 'Pentagon Papers'Former US military analyst leaked documents in 1971 revealing how the Amer


Former US military analyst leaked documents in 1971 revealing how the American public was misled about the Vietnam war

Richard Norton-Taylor
The Guardian, Tuesday 27 July 2010

"Daniel Ellsberg, a former US military analyst, has described the disclosure of the Afghan war logs as on the scale of his leaking of the "Pentagon Papers" in 1971 revealing how the US public was misled about the Vietnam war.

"An outrageous escalation of the war is taking place," he said. "Look at these cables and see if they give anybody the occasion to say the answer is 'resources''. He added: "After $300bn and 10 years, the Taliban is stronger than they have ever been … We are recruiting for them."

However, the equivalent of the Pentagon Papers on Afghanistan – top secret papers relating to policy – had yet to be leaked, he said.

People could read the logs to discover what they now need to ask, such as what their money was being spent on, he said. They would have an effect on public opinion, but the question, Ellsberg said, was how they would influence the US and UK governments...."

Leading article: A light shone on the dark side of this war

The Independent

"....In their response to these documents the authorities have demonstrated that they have learned little since the leaking of the Pentagon Papers in 1971. Washington has once again attacked the messenger for compromising national security, rather than addressing the substance of the revelations. Instead of complaining about whistleblowers, the US and other Nato governments, including our own, need to explain how they will perform a thorough audit of civilian casualties in Afghanistan and prevent military spokesmen misinforming the public again. Until they make a serious commitment to enhance transparency, the only conclusion that many will draw is that the appalling picture these documents paint of the Afghan war remains the reality."

The battle to justify this as a war worth fighting just got a lot harder

The people of Afghanistan keep losing their trust in government because of corruption

By Patrick Cockburn

"....Much of what is now documented from official sources had already been exposed by journalists. But the 91,000 leaked reports paint a more detailed picture than ever before of the realities of life in contemporary Afghanistan.

As with Abu Ghraib, the reality of the Afghan war as described by frontline US officers and officials is as bad or worse than anything reported by the media.

As was to be expected, the White House and the Pentagon have denounced the revelations as giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Yet few secrets have actually been revealed.....

Overall, the Wikileaks dossier gives the impression of the US military machine floundering into war and only gradually realising the crippling weakness of the Afghan government. There is intermittent understanding on the ground that the presence of foreign occupation forces is itself the main recruiting sergeant of the Taliban.

Above all, the documents convey a sense of bewilderment that the US military should be making such great efforts and achieving so little."

The Wikileaks Revelations, by Dave Brown


Six Israeli Soldiers Killed in Romania Helicopter Crash


Al-Manar

"27/07/2010 An Israeli military helicopter carrying six Israeli soldiers and one Romanian crashed on Monday in mountainous terrain near Brasov, in central Romania.

According to local sources, seven bodies had been recovered by rescue forces at the crash site by nighttime. The Israelis on board the chopper included four Israeli army pilots and two airborne mechanics.

The Israeli occupation army released on Monday night the names of the six Israeli crew members

According to Bucharest media reports, the Romanian Defense Ministry said the helicopter, a CH-53 Sikorsky, crashed during Blue Sky 2010 – an 11-day joint Romanian-Israeli aviation exercise. The exercise began on July 18 and is set to conclude on July 29....."

What’s Going On In Lebanon’s Parliament this Summer?


By Franklin Lamb
Al-Manar

"Shatila Palesitnian Refugee Camp, Beirut
Some members of Parliament prefer that the camps explode and then they will insist that “Palestinian security problems must be resolved before Parliament can consider giving them civils rights”—meaning several more years of delay.That would be a disaster for all concerned.”

‘Ahmad’, Resident of Al-Buss refugee camp, Tyre, Lebanon

Following some initiial optimism after MP Walid Jumblatt’s June 15 introduction of draft legislation that would exempt Palestinians from the Kafkaesque work permit process, grant them the right to own a home outside their oxygen scarce ‘sardine can’ camps, and allow them to receive some worker paid earned social security benefits, progress has dramatically slowed .....

Parliament appears to be ‘playing’ the Palestinians this summer, as well as ‘playing’ the international community that expects more courage, compassion and respect for international human rights from a gifted people. Parliament risks degrading Lebanon in the process and its leaders should schedule a straight up vote without further dilatory tactics such a ‘more study’ and ‘building near unanimous consensus’ that appears designed to produce the lowest common denominator which means that without political will and courage it will likely produce not much at all. Regarding six decades of annual calls for ‘more study of this sensitive problem’ there are already more than 30 studies completed just since 2000. They unanimously conclude what nearly every ten years old in Lebanon understands needs to be done and that is to grant the internationally mandated right to work, to own, inherit and bequeath a home, and access to some social security protection without further dilatory tactics."

'US psywar plan includes 2 hot wars'


Press TV

"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the United States and Israel plan to attack two countries in the Middle East as part of a conspiracy to apply pressure on Iran.

"We have precise information that the Americans have devised a plot, according to which they seek to launch a psychological war on Iran," Ahmadinejad stated in an exclusive interview with Press TV on Monday.

"They plan to attack at least two countries in the region within the next three months," he added.

He said the US seeks to achieve two main objectives with the scheme.

"First of all, they want to hamper Iran's progress and development since they are opposed to our growth, and secondly they want to save the Zionist regime because it has reached a dead-end and the Zionists believe they can be saved through a military confrontation," Ahmadinejad explained......"

Exclusive Press TV interview with Ahmadinejad

"....
Press TV: Turkey and Brazil said 'no' to the fourth round of UN Security Council sanctions against Iran. But perhaps surprisingly to many, Russia and China did not. I'd like to have your opinion about Russia's position and the follow-up when it comes to comments when President Medvedev talks about Iran reaching the capability of making a nuclear bomb, which is kind of close to the comments we hear from Washington. Would Iran reconsider its relations with Russia in the face of such growing comments from Moscow?

President Ahmadinejad: Russia had voted in favor of resolutions already passed against Iran. It's nothing new. There are different viewpoints in Russia today. What Mr. President says is in blatant contravention of Russia's interests. It's kind of echoing what the US says. They had participated in drafting resolutions against us before. They told us that they guaranteed that no serious problem would arise. But recently some remarks made by the Russian president are encouraging the US and giving it the green light to pressure Iran. These remarks are in fact sacrificing the interests of the Russian nation in favor of the US. And it is more to the detriment of Russia than to the detriment of us. "