Move Over



Should be interesting

We can Judge Obama when he completes his second Term. There is nothing better on the cards unless the American people stay away in their millions from the voting booths in November

How many war crimes does a western leader have to commit before he is deemed persona non grata by the corporate media and the establishment? Apparently there is no limit, if we are to judge by the prevailing reaction to Tony Blair’s return to the political stage.






http://uk.mg40.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.gx=1&.rand=94jfahq2cp46t

Cant Wait for His Mate To Resurface

Thank you Alleoops and TJN for your views.

America is in good hands

The Libor Scandal is HUGE


The LIBOR scandal that has engulfed London's financial and political elites is entering its third week and picking up steam on this side of the Atlantic.
Among the latest developments:
The NY Times reports the Justice Department's criminal division is "building cases against several financial institutions and their employees."
State Attorneys General in New York and Connecticut are investigating whether states incurred losses because of LIBOR manipulation which "could lead to a wider multi-state enforcement action," The WSJ reports.
Top officials of the British version of the SEC, the Financial Services Authority, will testify before Parliament on why regulators failed to respond to concerns about LIBOR rigging going back to 2008. Congress is set to hold similarly themed hearings later this week and Fed chairman Ben Bernanke is almost certain to be asked about the matter when he testifies on Capitol Hill Tuesday and Wednesday.
In the accompanying video, taped Friday, I discuss the scandal with former New York Governor and Wall Street prosecutor Eliot Spitzer.
"LIBOR is huge," Spitzer says. "This is about as big as it gets in the financial world. [LIBOR] goes to the heart of every piece of debt that's issued to consumers -- your auto loan, your credit card debt."

Got no reason for coming to me and the rain running down.
There's no reason.
And the same voice coming to me like it's all slowin' down.
And believe me --
I was the one who let you know
I was sorry-ever-after. '74-'75.
Giving me more and I'll defy
'Cause you're really only after '74-'75.
It's not easy, nothing to say 'cause it's already said.
It's never easy.
When I look on your eyes then I find that I'll do fine.
When I look on your eyes then I'll do better.
I was the one who let you know
I was your sorry-ever-after. '74-'75.
Giving me more and I'll defy
'Cause you're really only after '74-'75.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6ydB3LohHg&feature=related

SKEPTICAL GOVERNMENTS
The other factor that ought to give any thoughtful citizen cause to reflect is the significant
number of dissenting opinions registered in the months after 9/11. We have assembled
some of these here for inspection. Naturally, few if any of these critical strictures on 9/11
were ever presented in the US news media. That was unconscionable, since many of
those who manifested serious doubts on the main issues of 9/11 were eminently
respectable, experienced persons with decades of background in government, politics,
academia, and military affairs. There were prime ministers and ministers, generals,
professors, and well-established experts. Even in the midst of the shock and trauma
experienced by world public opinion in the wake of 9/11, they were able to formulate
coherent objections to the official version, objections which in many cases have been
ignored and not answered down to the present day.

What Part of America are you from again?

This Article is from 2009 but I post it because I am genuinely interested in the Views of American Citizens



At a town hall in Strasbourg, France, Obama stood before an audience of mostly French and German youth and admitted that the U.S. should have a greater respect for Europe. "In America, there's a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world," he said before offering other European critical views of his country. "There have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive."
The contrast is striking. Only four years ago, George W. Bush, in his second Inaugural Address, described what he called America's "considerable" influence, saying, "We will use it confidently in freedom's cause." Bush's vision of American power was combative and aggressive. He said the U.S. would "seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture." He continued, "We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom."
Obama, by contrast, is looking for collaboration. He is looking to build a collective vision, not to impose an American one. And the response has been notable, from the endless flashbulbs that fired off at his town hall to the cheers of spectators who lined his motorcade routes and gathered outside his events in London. At the end of Obama's Friday press conference, French President Nicolas Sarkozy addressed the issue directly, speaking through an interpreter. "It feels really good to be able to work with a U.S. President who wants to change the world and who understands that the world does not boil down to simply American frontiers and borders," he said. "And that is a hell of a good piece of news for 2009."


Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1889512,00.html#ixzz227C0TRSo

I should have included the word "alone" in my post regarding the Islamic Terrorist 911 attack.

I totally agree with all you say in the above post.

The terrrorists were assisted by the non action of your Government.

Your Government was complicit by inaction.

Your Government allowed 3000 Ameican Citizens to die needlesly

If you want to be pedantic about these things you should have seen that the post was past tense and I was answering in the present.

Just Saying......Your normal meticulous attention to detail is slacking

Do you believe the official 911 story?

A simple Yes or No Question

You didn't bother to Check out the sources of those articles did you.

Have a butchers and get back to me.

http://www.picadilo.com/


It isn't anything to do with politics, just loolalikes

And a Receiver of Oval Office Blowjobs

Decisions Decisions

Checks and Balances

US Proxy Al Qaeda Death Squads in Syria

By Stephen Lendman

July 28, 2012 "Information Clearing House" -- Washington's agenda involves death squad diplomacy. Evidence mounts proving it. It's standard practice in all US direct and proxy wars. It's how America treats its enemies.

Massacres and unspeakable atrocities are committed. Women are raped. Civilians are treated like combatants. They're indiscriminately killed.

Others are targeted for opposing US aggression. Children are harmed like adults. Prisoners are tortured. No crime's too gruesome to commit.

Lies, duplicity, and coverup follow. Media scoundrels bear direct responsibility. Their hands are bloodstained like US officials, forces and proxy killers.

Vietnam's Operation Phoenix became a prototype for today's wars. It included intimidation, kidnappings torture, and mass murder. At issue was eliminating opposition elements. Terrorizing people into submission was policy.

Southeast Asia tactics are replicated in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria. Barbarism defines US policy.

On July 11, German writer Jurgen Todenhofer confirmed the presence of Al Qaeda insurgents in Syria. He met with them, he said. He holds them and others like them responsible for mass terror attacks.

He described a "massacre marketing strategy." He called it "among the most disgusting things that I have ever experienced in an armed conflict."

He added that Western media distort what's happening on the ground. Viewers and readers know it's their stock and trade. They're paid to lie. Journalists dedicated to truth and full disclosure need not apply.

On July 24, Asia Times writer John Rosenthal headlined "German intelligence: al-Qaeda all over Syria," saying:

"German intelligence estimates that 'around 90' terror attacks that 'can be attributed to organizations that are close to al-Qaeda or jihadist groups' were carried out in Syria between the end of December and the beginning of July, as reported by the German daily Die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ)."

Die Welt and Bild published similar reports. All three name Al Qaeda behind the May 25 Houla massacre. Russian journalist Marat Musin was there. He said hundreds of "bandits and mercenaries" were responsible.

Washington's imperial tactics involve cutthroat killer atrocities. Human lives have no value. Only wealth, privilege and dominance matter. US officials don't keep body counts. Objectives are pursued lawlessly.

Rosenthal cited Die Welt contributor Alfred Hackensberger. Taldo is part of Syria's Houla region. Insurgents controlled it for months, said Hackensberger. They bear responsibility for Houla killings.

He visited the area. He interviewed an eyewitness. He left him unidentified for his safety. He was at Qara's Saint James Monastery. Victims were pro-Assad Sunnis, he said. Many people know what happened but won't say "out of fear for their lives."

"Whoever says something can only repeat the rebels' version. Anything else is certain death."

Hackensberger related similar stories. A former Qusayr resident said Christians and others refusing to "enroll their children in the Free Syrian Army" were shot. He held "foreign Islamists" responsible.

"I have seen them with my own eyes," he said. Pakistanis, Libyans, Tunisians and also Lebanese. They call Osama bin Laden their sheikh."

A Homs Sunni resident told Hackensberger he witnessed armed insurgents stopping a bus. "The passengers were divided into two groups: on one side, Sunnis; on the other, Alawis."

Nine Alawis were decapitated.

Rosenthal said:

"That the German government would cite national interest in refusing to disclose its information (publicly) concerning the circumstances of the Houla massacre is particularly notable in light of Germany's support for the rebellion and its political arm, the Syrian National Council (SNC)."

It plays a quiet behind the scenes role, he added. Its foreign office is involved in developing "political transition" plans.

So is former US Saudi Arabia ambassador Prince Bandar, reports Haaretz. His close ties to the Bush family earned him the nickname "Bandar Bush."

For years he's been involved with Washington's Syria regime change plans. He now serves as Saudi intelligence chief. He's also National Security Council secretary-general.

His intelligence appointment involves "preparing for the next stage in Syria," said Haaretz. His wife has Al Qaeda "connections." He's considered "CIA's man in Riyadh." He's "known as a can-do" guy.

He spares nothing to achieve objectives. He participated directly in America's Contra wars. He helped fund Central American death squads and Afghan mujahideen fighters against Soviet forces.

He's active in current Washington plans to depose Assad. Like other US allies, his hands are bloodstained.

In her daily press briefing, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland condoned the murder of Syrian officials. She justified her position, saying they "organize(d) Assad's military campaign...."

She tried having it both ways, adding "we don't condone violence of any kind." She ignored Washington's direct role in orchestrating it.

US rhetoric about supporting human rights and other democratic values rings hollow.

America is the world's worst human rights abuser. It spurns democracy. It's intolerant at home and abroad. It's hardline, belligerent and repressive.

Saying one thing and doing another is policy. At the same time, it audaciously points fingers at China.

On July 25, Bloomberg headlined "US Finds China's Human Rights Situation Is Deteriorating," saying:

According to Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Michael Posner, conditions in China are worsening. We have human rights issues in America, he added. He left unsaid how US policy spurns them at home and abroad.

Do as I say not as I do is policy. So is practicing wrong over right. Interfering in the internal affairs of other countries blatantly violates international and constitutional law.

Doing it by direct or proxy belligerence adds crimes of war, against humanity and genocide. Justice Robert Jackson called aggressive war "the supreme international crime against peace."

Convicted Nazis were hanged. America repeatedly gets away with murder unaccountably.

A July 25 Washington Post article provided more evidence, saying:

Free Syrian Army fighters have safe havens in Turkey. In Antakya, they "stride through its narrow streets sunburned and sweaty from the battlefield, hoping to meet benefactors to provide them with money and arms."

"Salafi Muslims, who have come to offer help from the countries of the Persian Gulf region, huddle over kebabs, their long beards and robes conspicuous in secularist Turkey."

Ankara officials are largely tight-lipped. Little is said about "rebel fighters" passing freely cross border to Syria and back. Military trucks ferry weapons into Syrian territory.

Turkish authorities deny what independent observers confirm. Officials claim only humanitarian aid is provided. At the same time, Hurriyet daily headlined "PM declares Syria intervention a 'natural right,' " saying:

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Syrian-based Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) elements give Turkey the right to intervene. "We will not tolerate PKK cooperation with other organizations in the area," he said.

This, earlier hostile comments, and Turkey's provocative violation of Syria's airspace suggest Ankara's looking for a pretext to intervene.

Washington calls the shots. Erdogan's a useful tool. He's complicit in US regime change plans. Whether he'll initiate preemptive cross-border attacks remains to be seen.

It's unclear if Israel plans getting involved. Recent tax increases were announced. Mossad-connected DEBKAfile says they're "steps towards a $25-30bn war budget."

Israel already spends an enormous amount on militarism. Like America, it does it at a time it has no enemies except ones it invents.

Between militarism, settlement construction, and corporate favoritism, little remains for domestic needs mattering most to ordinary Israelis.

Whether Israel plans more war won't be known unless or attacks confirm it. Threats alone don't signify policy. Netanyahu and other Israeli officials make them often. On July 25, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said:

Israel faces "tough and crucial (security) decisions. I am well aware of the difficulties involved in thwarting Iran's attempts to acquire a nuclear weapon."

"However, it is clear to me that without a doubt, dealing with the threat itself will be far more complicated, far more dangerous and far more costly in resources and human life than thwarting it."

Israel may or may not be planning to confront Syria. On July 24, IDF Chief of Staff General Benny Gantz was ambiguous about an alleged Damascus chemical and biological weapons threat.

On the one hand, he urged caution. On the other, he said Israel might "find itself in a wider conflict that it planned" if military operations against Syria are initiated.

He left unexplained what he meant except to suggest attacking WMDs may have unintended consequences. He added that IDF policy sometimes means engaging in action. At other times, it's about holding back.

The Syrian pot is boiling. Both countries share a common border. Full-scale war could spill over. Syria run by extremist elements means anything going forward is possible.

Israel, Western states and regional allies plan regime change. Achieving it might bring more than what they bargain for.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"
http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour

Secret Turkish Nerve Center Provides Aid to Syria "Rebels"

By Regan Doherty and Amena Bakr

July 27, 2012 "DOHA/DUBAI" -- (Reuters) - Turkey has set up a secret base with allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar to direct vital military and communications aid to Syria's rebels from a city near the border, Gulf sources have told Reuters.

News of the clandestine Middle East-run "nerve centre" working to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad underlines the extent to which Western powers - who played a key role in unseating Muammar Gaddafi in Libya - have avoided military involvement so far in Syria.

"It's the Turks who are militarily controlling it. Turkey is the main co-ordinator/facilitator. Think of a triangle, with Turkey at the top and Saudi Arabia and Qatar at the bottom," said a Doha-based source.

"The Americans are very hands-off on this. U.S. intel(ligence) are working through middlemen. Middlemen are controlling access to weapons and routes."

The centre in Adana, a city in southern Turkey about 100 km (60 miles) from the Syrian border, was set up after Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Saud visited Turkey and requested it, a source in the Gulf said. The Turks liked the idea of having the base in Adana so that they could supervise its operations, he added.

A Saudi foreign ministry official was not immediately available to comment on the operation.

Adana is home to Incirlik, a large Turkish/U.S. air force base which Washington has used in the past for reconnaissance and military logistics operations. It was not clear from the sources whether the anti-Syrian "nerve centre" was located inside Incirlik base or in the city of Adana.

Qatar, the tiny gas-rich Gulf state which played a leading part in supplying weapons to Libyan rebels, has a key role in directing operations at the Adana base, the sources said. Qatari military intelligence and state security officials are involved.

"Three governments are supplying weapons: Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia," said a Doha-based source.

Ankara has officially denied supplying weapons.

"All weaponry is Russian. The obvious reason is that these guys (the Syrian rebels) are trained to use Russian weapons, also because the Americans don't want their hands on it. All weapons are from the black market. The other way they get weapons is to steal them from the Syrian army. They raid weapons stores."

The source added: "The Turks have been desperate to improve their weak surveillance, and have been begging Washington for drones and surveillance." The pleas appear to have failed. "So they have hired some private guys come do the job."

President Barack Obama has so far preferred to use diplomatic means to try to oust Assad, although Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signaled this week that Washington plans to step up help to the rebels.

Reuters has established that Obama's aides have drafted a resolution which would authorize greater covert assistance to the rebels but still stop short of arming them.

The White House's wariness is shared by other Western powers. It reflects concerns about what might follow Assad in Syria and about the substantial presence of anti-Western Islamists and jihadi fighters among the rebels.

The presence of the secret Middle East-run "nerve centre" may explain how the Syrian rebels, a rag-tag assortment of ill-armed and poorly organized groups, have pulled off major strikes such as the devastating bomb attack on July 18 which killed at least four key Assad aides including the defense minister.

A Turkish diplomat in the region insisted however that his country played no part in the Damascus bombing.

"That's out of the question," he said. "The Syrian minister of information blamed Turkey and other countries for the killing. Turkey doesn't do such things. We are not a terrorist country. Turkey condemns such attacks."

However, two former senior U.S. security officials said that Turkey has been playing an increasing role in sheltering and training Syrian rebels who have crossed into its territory.

One of the former officials, who is also an adviser to a government in the region, told Reuters that 20 former Syrian generals are now based in Turkey, from where they are helping shape the rebel forces. Israel believes up to 20,000 Syrian troops may now have defected to the opposition.

Former officials said there is reason to believe the Turks stepped up their support for anti-Assad forces after Syria shot down a Turkish plane which had made several passes over border areas.

Sources in Qatar said the Gulf state is providing training and supplies to the Syrian rebels.

"The Qataris mobilized their special forces team two weeks ago. Their remit is to train and help logistically, not to fight," said a Doha-based source with ties to the FSA.

Qatar's military intelligence directorate, Foreign Ministry and State Security Bureau are involved, said the source.

WESTERN CAUTION

The United States, Israel, France and Britain - traditionally key players in the Middle East - have avoided getting involved so far, largely because they see little chance of a "good outcome" in Syria.

"Israel is not really in the business of trying to 'shape' the outcome of the revolt,", a diplomat in the region said. "The consensus is that you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. The risk of identifying with any side is too great".

A former U.S. official who advises a government in the region and other current and former U.S. and European security officials say that there has been little to zero direct assistance or training from the U.S. or its European allies.

The former official also said that few sophisticated weapons such as shoulder-fired bazookas for destroying tanks or surface-to-air missiles have reached the anti-Assad forces.

While some Gulf officials and conservative American politicians have privately suggested that a supply of surface-to-air missiles would help anti-Assad forces bring the conflict to a close, officials familiar with U.S. policy say they are anxious to keep such weapons out of the hands of Syrian rebels. They fear such weapons could make their way to pro-jihad militants who could use them against Western aircraft.

AFTER ASSAD

The CIA and the Israelis' main concern so far has been that elements of al-Qaeda may attempt to infiltrate the rebels and acquire some of Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons.

Sima Shine, a former chief Mossad analyst who now serves as an adviser to the Israeli government, told Reuters: "It's a nightmare for the international community, and chiefly the Americans - weapons of mass-destruction falling into the hands of terrorists. In parallel to its foreign contacts, Israel is taking this especially seriously. After all, we are here, and the Americans are over there."

She envisaged two circumstances under which Hezbollah, the Lebanese Islamist group, could obtain some of the chemical weapons stockpile.

"Assad goes and anarchy ensues, during which Hezbollah gets its hands on the weapons. There is a significant Hezbollah presence in Syria and they are well-ensconced in the military and other national agencies. So they are close enough to make a grab for it.

"Another possibility is that Assad, knowing that he is on his way out, will authorized a handover to Hezbollah, as a message to the world about the price of encouraging his ouster."

However, British and U.S. officials believe there is little or no sign of Assad being toppled imminently.

The situation, one senior European official said, is still likely to veer back and forth, like a tug-of-war between pro- and anti-Assad forces.

There is no indication, the official added, that Assad himself has any intention of doing anything but fighting on until the bitter end.

(additional reporting by Mark Hosenball in London and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; writing by Richard Woods; editing by Michael Stott and Ralph Boulton)

US Authorizes Financial Support to Free Syrian Army

By Laura Rozen

July 28, 2012 "Al-Monitor" -- A US group that supports the Free Syrian Army has received a waiver from the US Treasury Department authorizing it to provide logistical and financial support to the armed Syrian resistance.

The waiver was received from the Treasury Department Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) last week, Brian Sayers, of the Syrian Support Group, told Al- Monitor in an interview Friday.

“The OFAC decision is huge,” Sayers said. “It gets us the leeway to support the Free Syrian Army in broad terms.”

The Syrian Support Group hired Sayers, who previously spent six years working in NATO operations in Brussels and Kosovo, four months ago to be the Washington agent for the group.

With backers from the Syrian exile community in the United States and Canada, the Syrian Support Group's goal “has always been to support the Free Syrian Army in different ways,” Sayers said.

In the constellation of Syrian opposition and exile organizations and personalities, the Syrian Support Group “sees its niche as to provide direct support for the FSA, and to stand up the Free Syrian Army as the future Syrian Army,” he explained. “That requires both short term things — financial operations, logistics support, communications— but also long-term support: security sector reform, a training doctrine.”

In the near-term, the "OFAC letter allows for providing financial, communications and logistics support to the FSA,” Sayers said. That could include paying for FSA salaries and provisions, as well as “communications equipment, satellite imagery, paying for satellite imagery, logistical support for transport, which could mean everything from buying a 4x4 to supporting someone’s travel to Turkey.”

On their more intermediate term wish-list, “our ask is intelligence support, drone support, eyes in the sky, an intelligence platform,” Sayers said. Syria’s rebels “need both intelligence and weapons,” as they seek to carve out and protect safe areas on the ground in Syria, and try to secure the defection of more members of the Syrian military.

Indeed, one Syrian source, speaking anonymously, suggested the Syrian Support Group’s mission is not only about lobbying the US government to provide support to the FSA, but also the reverse: to help turn the FSA into a more organized entity that could receive intelligence and other assistance from Western security agencies.

The FSA has formed a nine-member military council, comprised of the commanders from 10 of Syria’s provinces. Although they have previously operated in a more decentralized manner, the Free Syrian Army commanders have recently increased their coordination, including holding conference calls almost daily, Sayers said.

This past week, all nine members of the Free Syrian Army military council signed a previously unpublished “Proclamation of Principles,” pledging to respect democracy, multi-ethnic and sectarian pluralism, and the authority of Syria’s future, elected, civilian leadership. “We believe in a free and democratic Syria where all Syrian citizens, regardless of their ethnicity, creed, religion or class shall enjoy equal rights and live in liberty, justice and peace,” the document reads. “We will do our utmost to uphold international humanitarian law and norms, including by treating prisoners humanely, even as the Assad regime engages in crimes against humanity.”

However, one figure the FSA is unlikely to support as a Syrian opposition unity leader is the recently defected Gen. Manaf Tlas, who arrived in Turkey on Thursday. Reports this week have suggested the US is eyeing Tlas, formerly a close friend of Bashar al-Assad and the son of Hafez al-Assad’s Defense Minister, for that role.

But Sayers said, in his opinion, the US government has not decided yet.

“In our briefings [with US officials], we get asked what do we think of the guy. I think they are asking us to try to get more information. They have not made up their mind,” he said.

Tlas had considerable means at his disposal to facilitate his defection, Sayers said, including being able to get his family safely out ahead of time. But Tlas and his father are seen as having been too close for too long to the Assad regime, and would have little support among Syria’s rebels, he suggested.

“A Chalabi would be the last thing you want,” Sayers said, referring to the Iraqi exile, Ahmad Chalabi, who wooed American neo-conservatives to overthrow Saddam Hussein only to turn out to have no base of support in Iraq. “Nobody wants that.”

© 2012 AL-MONITOR

As you have said many times..these people do not give a damn about human life. Their bunkers are well insulated and well prepared.

They are after all the special ones...[according to themselves] we are no longer needed..or at least a few billion of us are surplus to requirement...

Just wondering if the opposition on here consider themselves part of the elite?