Middle East

Turns Out British Spies Were Giving Bags of Cash to Karzai, Too

"A week after we learned that the CIA delivered bags full of cash to Afghan President Hamid Karzai in exchange for his cooperation, the United Kingdom's MI6 admitted to doing the same thing this weekend. While the British spies say they forked over just a fraction of what their American counterparts did, the new information proves that this quasi-bribery scheme was hardly an isolated incident. In fact, it sounds like it was a big part of the allies' operation in Afghanistan. The leader called the CIA and MI6 contributions an 'easy source of petty cash' for dealing with the Taliban." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTurns Out British Spies Were Giving Bags of Cash to Karzai, Too

Dutch chemical trader ordered to pay victims of Saddam Hussein’s gas attacks

"A Dutch businessman who sold Iraq’s former regime chemicals that were used in deadly gas attacks against Kurds in Iraq and in Iran was ordered on Wednesday to pay 400,000 euros ($520,000) in compensation to some of the victims. The court ruled that Frans van Anraat must pay 25,000 euros plus interest to each of the 16 plaintiffs in the case. Van Anraat is currently serving a 17-year prison sentence on charges of complicity to war crimes in relation to the chemicals he sold to Saddam Hussein’s regime between 1985 and 1989. The substances enabled the production of mustard gas used notably to massacre 5,000 Kurds in 1988 at Halabja, northwest Iraq." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDutch chemical trader ordered to pay victims of Saddam Hussein’s gas attacks

UN Commission Investigator: It Was The Syrian Rebels Who Used Sarin

"It made all the sense in the world for the insurgents to release some sarin here and there, make some videos of the victims, and email the links to some very willing Israeli generals and McCainian rabid warhawks in the US and their absurd poodles in the UK and France. The question is, whence came the chemical weapons? Perhaps the Syrian government was not lying when it asserted at the end of last month that the chemical weapons used by the Syrian rebels originated in Turkey. The Syrian official's claim was reported in the Western press as an example of mendacity, laughed at by the US administration. But it seems he may well have been telling the truth." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUN Commission Investigator: It Was The Syrian Rebels Who Used Sarin

Israeli Bombs Over Syria, Part Two

"The passive-aggressive US State Department, which is curiously -- or not -- silent every time its beloved insurgents commit an atrocity of a Boston-on-steroids scale against Christians and others who do not support al-Qaeda in Syria, has nevertheless suddenly found its voice to condemn Syrian government for a 'massacre' in Baida, where seven bodies have been found killed in possible retaliation for the killing of seven members of the Syrian Army. The US is suddenly 'appalled by horrific reports' with no evidence, while silent on the truly horrific atrocities committed by its allies, the insurgents." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIsraeli Bombs Over Syria, Part Two

How humanitarians trumped neo-cons in Libya

"With Muammar Gaddafi dead, the hunt is on for a new hate figure on whom to spew venom; far more satisfying than actually evaluating our own role in the creation of human misery. For the governments that lead us into war, of course, it makes perfect sense that we do not stop to look back at the last invasion before impatiently demanding the next one - if we realized, for example, that the 1999 bombing of Serbia - the textbook 'humanitarian intervention'- actually facilitated the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo it was supposedly designed to prevent, we might not be so ready to demand the same treatment for every other state that falls short of our illusory ideals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow humanitarians trumped neo-cons in Libya

Pepe Escobar: The Syria-Iran red line show

"US defense contractors had the Moet flowing as Hagel merrily congregated with that prodigy of democracy - United Arab Emirates (UAE) Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed - to celebrate the sale of 25 F-16 fighter jets. There's more on the way; 48 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD missile interceptors, at a cool US$1 billion. The Pentagon is sending one of its only two of such systems to Guam this month to counter that other threat - missiles from North Korea. Obama in Syria is fast becoming a remix of Reagan in 1980s Afghanistan. We all know what came out of those 'freedom fighters' afterwards." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPepe Escobar: The Syria-Iran red line show

Israeli airstrikes hit Damascus military site, city’s airport – reports

"Strong blasts hit the outskirts of Syria’s capital early on Sunday, with reports saying that they were results of Israeli airstrikes on a military research center and Damascus Airport. Israel is thought to have carried out a similar attack days ago. Syrian TV accused Israel of the attack and of being in alignment with rebel forces. The notion was backed by Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, who said the attack proved that there is an alliance between Israel and Islamists trying to topple the Syrian government." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIsraeli airstrikes hit Damascus military site, city’s airport – reports

New York Times Tells Truth About Syria; Neo-Cons Unfazed

"'Nowhere in rebel-controlled Syria is there a secular fighting force to speak of.' The conclusion to this revelation is not, unfortunately, 'stop arming the non-existent secularists.' Steven Heydemann at the Orwellian war-promoting United States Institute of Peace sums up the view, as quoted in the Times story: 'The challenge, he said, is to end the conflict before the opportunity to create a system of governance not based on militant Islamic law is lost.' In other words, the United States Institute of Peace, in its appropriately post-apocalyptic mega-church looking $183 million dollar new building, urges the US to change the regime in Syria as quickly as possible!" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew York Times Tells Truth About Syria; Neo-Cons Unfazed

Israel Attacks Syria — US Next?

"Today it is reported that Israel has bombed Syrian territory, this time apparently attacking Syrian government facilities. Israel violated Lebanese airspace at least 16 times to deliver its bombs on Syrian government targets, according to the report. This was no retaliation for Syrian army attacks on Israeli territory, as the only aggression against Israel from Syria came earlier in March when the insurgents fired into Israel from the Golan Heights hoping to provoke an Israeli response against Syria, which it did." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIsrael Attacks Syria — US Next?

Former Bush official: Syria chemical weapons could be ‘Israeli false flag operation’

"Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, the former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell under President George W. Bush, on Thursday warned that the chemical weapons that were reportedly used in Syria could be a 'Israeli false flag operation' because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was running an 'inept regime.' Wilkerson explained that he had been told by his sources in the intelligence community that evidence that Syria had used chemical weapons was 'really flaky' and that President Barack Obama should think twice before intervening. 'This could have been an Israeli false flag operation,' he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer Bush official: Syria chemical weapons could be ‘Israeli false flag operation’