Middle East

Paul Craig Roberts: Another Western War Crime In The Making

"The UK Independent reports that over this past week-end Obama, Cameron, and Hollande agreed to launch cruise missile attacks against the Syrian government within two weeks despite the lack of any authorization from the UN and despite the absence of any evidence in behalf of Washington’s claim that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against the Washington-backed “rebels”, largely US supported external forces, seeking to overthrow the Syrian government. Indeed, one reason for the rush to war is to prevent the UN inspection that Washington knows would disprove its claim and possibly implicate Washington in the false flag attack by the 'rebels.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Craig Roberts: Another Western War Crime In The Making

Michael Scheuer: Observing King Obama’s Syrian madness

"Our heroic, if addled Knesset-member-wannabees McCain and Graham warn that if we do not do 'something' about the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons, Asaad may well turn them over to terrorist groups. Interesting point, but only if you say it fast and do not ponder it. If we destroy Asaad’s regime in favor of the al-Qaeda-led Syrian opposition, won’t those unkempt Islamist laddies inherit Syria’s chemical-weapons arsenal? As night follows day, if the U.S.-led West destroys the Syrian regime, our highly intelligent King Obama will have succeeded in arming al-Qaeda and its allies with Asaad’s chemical weapons." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMichael Scheuer: Observing King Obama’s Syrian madness

Targeted Killings in the Drone War—Illegal and Unconstitutional

"We were all laboring under the illusion that U.S. Pakistani 'friends' had reluctantly agreed to allow drone attacks on their soil in exchange for bucket loads of cash in foreign aid. Now we find out that U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan were permitted only if the U.S. also killed an Islamist militant leader whose forces were focusing their attacks on the Pakistani government. In June 2004, in the first targeted assassination in Pakistan using a Predator drone, the Bush administration killed Nek Muhammad. A damning report by the CIA inspector general on abuses in CIA secret prisons had spurred the CIA to change from capturing terrorism suspects to gain valuable information to simply assassinating them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTargeted Killings in the Drone War—Illegal and Unconstitutional

3,000 Saudis urge Shura council to debate women’s driving

"Saudi Arabia imposes several restrictions on women, including a ban on driving, unique of its kind worldwide. Women in Saudi Arabia also have to cover from head to toe when in public. A number of women have been arrested in the past for defying the ban, including one sentenced to 10 lashes in 2011 but was pardoned by King Abdullah. A group of defiant Saudi women got behind the wheels of their cars on June 17, in 2011, in response to calls for nationwide action to break the ban on driving. The call which spread through Facebook and Twitter was the largest mass action since November 1990, when 47 Saudi women were arrested and severely punished after demonstrating in cars." Continue reading →

Continue Reading3,000 Saudis urge Shura council to debate women’s driving

Men Deemed ‘Too Handsome’ Deported from Saudi Arabia

"At least three men attending an annual culture festival in Saudi Arabia were kicked out of the country after religious police officers deemed them "too handsome" to stay. The men, delegates from the United Arab Emirates, were minding their own business at the Jenadrivah Heritage & Cultural Festival in Riyadh when members of the mutaween suddenly 'stormed' the pavilion and removed the men by force. 'A festival official said the three Emiratis were taken out on the grounds they are too handsome and that the Commission [for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vices] members feared female visitors could fall for them,' the Arabic-language newspaper Elaph reported this week." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMen Deemed ‘Too Handsome’ Deported from Saudi Arabia

Pastor Saeed Abedini Loses Appeal Case, 8-Year Sentence In Iranian Jail Stands

"A Tehran appeals court upheld an eight-year prison sentence against an American-Iranian pastor jailed for his role in establishing underground churches in Iran, his lawyer told ISNA news agency Monday. Saeed Abedini, a US citizen who converted from Islam to Christianity, was handed the sentence in January. In March, UN Secretary of State John Kerry demanded Abedini’s release after he was sentenced to eight years in prison for 'creating a private church in his house' and 'harming national security.' The confirmation of the verdict coincided with a visit to Tehran by Oman’s Sultan Qaboos, who has acted as an intermediary between Iran and the Washington." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPastor Saeed Abedini Loses Appeal Case, 8-Year Sentence In Iranian Jail Stands

Saudi Arabia opens luxury ‘religious extremist’ rehab center for Al-Qaeda militants

"Saudi Arabia is hoping to wean jailed Al-Qaeda militants off religious extremism with counselling, spa treatments and plenty of exercise at a luxury rehabilitation centre in Riyadh. In between sessions with counsellors and talks on religion, prisoners will be able to relax in the centre’s facilities which include an Olympic-size indoor swimming pool, a sauna, a gym and a television hall. Another centre has already opened in the western port city of Jeddah, and three more are planned for the north, east and south of the desert kingdom. The new facility in Riyadh, however, is the first to offer inmates a taste of luxury as an incentive to moderate their beliefs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSaudi Arabia opens luxury ‘religious extremist’ rehab center for Al-Qaeda militants

In Swat Valley, U.S. drone strikes radicalizing a new generation

"The boys here, aged 8 to 18, were all militants at some point. Some are killers, some helped build and plant improvised explosive devices, and others were destined to be suicide bombers until they were captured or turned over to the Pakistani army. All of them are at the school to be de-radicalized. Ninety-nine percent of the boys, I am told, have never heard of Osama bin Laden, despite the fact he was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs in the next valley over from here. What has radicalized these boys instead, the school's director says, is what turns teenagers the world over to crime: poverty, poor education, limited prospects and often lack of parental control." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIn Swat Valley, U.S. drone strikes radicalizing a new generation

Is Pakistan preparing to get out of US war on terrorism?

"After having sacrificed over $85 billion and more than 50,000 lives in the US war on terror, Pakistan is now finally preparing to get out of Washington’s war. Political differences apart, both the PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and his hot contender for the post-May 11 government, PTI’s Imran Khan, have made it clear that Pakistan would be driven out of the 12-year-old 'war on terror'. Both the political leaders, in their separate statements, have unambiguously rejected the policy of use of force and military operations against the local Taliban to check extremism and curb terrorism. Instead, they have openly supported initiating dialogue with the local Taliban." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIs Pakistan preparing to get out of US war on terrorism?

Afghanistan’s opium cultivation to surge in 2013: UN

"Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is expected to increase for a third straight year, expanding even to poppy-free areas this year, a United Nations report warned. 'The assessment suggests that poppy cultivation is not only expected to expand in areas where it already existed in 2012… but also in new areas or in areas where poppy cultivation was stopped,' the survey said. Cultivation is mostly increasing in southern provinces where the Taliban are more active and thousands of international troops are set to withdraw this year. Poppy farmers are taxed by Taliban militants who use the cash to help fund their insurgency against the government and NATO forces." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAfghanistan’s opium cultivation to surge in 2013: UN