WikiLeaks Party statement on intervention in Syria

"Syria is in the grip of a terrible proxy war with many powerful interests involved: The Syrian government; the Muslim Brotherhood; other Sunni Islamic militant organisations; the United States; the United Kingdom; France; Lebanon; Hezbollah; Israel; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; Iran, and Russia–which has one of its few remaining naval bases in Syria. All of these interests are drawing on various assets to bolster their positions and this includes the United States drawing on Australia. Some seek to topple the Syrian government and replace it with one more amenable to their interests, while others seek to maintain the status quo." Continue reading

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Latest War is a Defense Bureaucrat’s Wet Dream

"The Pentagon is in a pickle. It has expensive tastes: war, tomorrow’s gadgets, employing nearly half a million people and a first-rate military with all the bells, whistles and toys. It even likes its cost-cutting initiatives to be expensive. But those things cost money, and there’s no more moolah. So it’s forced to prioritize. Ugh. If only there were some newfangled type of warfare. Something cheaper, cleaner, less taboo… but that posed more of a threat than traditional types of warfare. Then the Pentagon could keep its funding… maybe even increase it. Hrmm… huh?… What’s this? 'DCAF Horizon 2015 Working Paper on Cyberwarfare.'" Continue reading

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“Are You Willing to Die So That the CIA . . .

". . . can impose a puppet government in Syria maybe, fifty or sixty years from now, while absurdly calling it 'democracy'? This is the question that should be asked to every new U.S. military recruit now that the neocons have their new war in Syria. As the neocons’ Dr. Strangelove, Charles Krauthammer, pointed out in his latest column, the CIA DID impose puppet-dictators in South Korea, Taiwan, Phillipines, Chile, Brazil, Spain, and Portugal (I would add Iran), and then fifty years or so later the CIA declared 'victory' by calling the latest edition of those puppet regimes 'democracy.'" Continue reading

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White House Lies Undermine Its Credibility

"There is an outright lie, like this one: 'It is certainly not the policy of the coalition, of this administration, to decapitate, or to effect regime change in Libya by force.' There is the half-truth or half-lie, like this: 'Beyond Afghanistan, we must define our effort not as a boundless ‘global war on terror’ — but rather as a series of persistent, targeted efforts to dismantle specific networks of violent extremists that threaten America.' Then there is this type: 'There is no spying on Americans, we don’t have a domestic spying program. What we do have are some mechanisms where we can track a phone number or an email address that we know is connected to some sort of terrorist threat.'" Continue reading

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Leaping to Conclusions

"When I read this news item, I was shocked at the flimsiness of it as a justification for the US to attack Syria. What the nation’s political leaders are saying is so irrational, so superficial, so hasty and so ill-considered. I feel as if the country is being run by people lacking in stability of temperament, emotional control, judgment, patience, experience, understanding and maturity. I don’t think they understand how to do good via neutrality. They are men of power, action, and intervention, who do not understand the consequences of their actions. They seem to have made up their minds and now do not want to be bothered by anything that might possibly paint a different picture." Continue reading

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Eric Margolis: Who Killed Benazir Bhutto?

"Though I’d been a frequent critic in the past of Benazir and her corruption-embroiled relatives, in recent years I’d drawn close to the embattled leader at a time when she was down and out in exile. Some readers accused me of being 'bewitched' by Benazir. Not bewitched, just deeply impressed by this brilliant, intense, regal woman. I’d just finished drawing up a proposed new political platform for the People’s Party that emphasized independent policy, an end to feudalism, and reconciliation with tribal and Islamic militants on the Northwest Frontier. Two days before her killing, we had been exchanging emails in which I warned her not to appear in public except behind bullet-proof plexiglass." Continue reading

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Flashback: Yahoo Uncovered Syria Chemical Weapon False Flag in January

“The Obama administration gave green signal to a chemical weapons attack plan in Syria that could be blamed on President Bashar al Assad’s regime and in turn, spur international military action in the devastated country, leaked documents have shown. As per the scheme ‘Qatar would fund rebel forces in Syria to use chemical weapons,’ the Daily Mail reports.” Continue reading

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The Case for Restraint in Yemen

"Historical trends exhibit the danger that newly poised al Qaeda affiliates are posing to American safety, rivaling or even eclipsing the original sects in place before U.S interventions. These militant groups have primarily local interests, and are best left alone if the United States wants to avoid making new enemies or to attenuate existing plotting against U.S. targets. Yet instead, the U.S continues to form 'partnerships' with often questionable factions to fight terrorism, many times resulting in the exchange of one extremist government for another. This policy can incite blowback." Continue reading

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TSA-Type Drama at U.S. Open

"The USTA has implemented new safety procedures for this year’s tournament. All fans will have to go through metal detectors for the first time. As WCBS 880′s Peter Haskell reported, the additional security checks had some fans lined up waiting to enter the grounds for up to two hours earlier Monday. The Associated Press reported that the lines snaked for a quarter mile or more — from the exit point of the No. 7 train to the east entrance of the Billie Jean King Tennis Center. 'This is terrible, this is horrible. I’ve been going to the US Open for the last 10 years, I’ve never seen it like this,' one fan told Haskell." Continue reading

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Ohio Announces Drivers License Database Facial Recognition

"Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced Monday that the state has for several months been using facial recognition technology in a database that allows law enforcement agents to match a face with a name, address and record at will. The system was activated on June 6 and has already been used 2667 times so far. DeWine back then thought the program was a natural extension of existing law enforcement capabilities and was not worth announcing. That changed when former intelligence community contractor Edward Snowden kicked off a firestorm of controversy by revealing the extent of NSA collection of domestic emails and telephone records." Continue reading

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