Middle East

Eric Margolis: Just Back From The Mideast – And I’m Really Worried

"The Mideast is stumbling into one of its most dangerous crisis in decades. This region is always tense, but right now a series of separate conflicts are rapidly beginning to intersect. We see the Mideast, North Africa and the Sahara buffeted by revolutions and counter-revolutions. Old colonial powers France and Britain, and the US, are trying to reassert their domination in the region. The jihadist are back. In a brazen act of war, Israel launched airstrikes on Syria last Wednesday in a clear attempt to worsen the crisis in that war-torn nation and challenge Syria’s ally, Iran." Continue reading →

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The USS Liberty, Israel & President Johnson’s Order to Destroy the USS Liberty

"The USS Liberty encompasses far more than a murderous psychopathic American president resorting to hideously evil deeds to get re-elected. In addition to ordering the total destruction of the USS Liberty and sending 294 Americans to a watery grave in the Mediterranean Sea, LBJ also ordered the nuclear bombing of Cairo, an event specifically designed to create a nuclear war by blaming the entire USS Liberty affair on Russia or Egypt. US planes were on emergency standby orders as pilots waited on the runways in their planes armed with nuclear weapons. The nuclear bombing of Cairo was called off only 3 minutes before the nuclear bomb drops." Continue reading →

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India Warns Kashmiris to Prepare for Nuclear War

"Indian officials are advising residents of strife-tornKashmir to prepare for a possible nuclear war by building bombproof basements and stockpiling food and water, adding to tensions between India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers, after deadly cross-border skirmishes in recent weeks. India, heavily Hindu, controls the bulk of the predominantly Muslim region of Kashmir, which has been at the heart of disputes between the two nations since they won independence from Britain in 1947. The land along the cease-fire Line of Control is one of the most heavily militarized areas in the world." Continue reading →

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Panetta: US needs to keep up drone war

"The assassination of Al-Qaeda figures in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia with unmanned, robotic aircraft has provoked widespread criticism from human rights groups and some US allies, but Panetta said the US campaign has been effective. Asked if the CIA 'targeted killings' should be curtailed in coming years, Panetta told AFP in an interview that there was still a need to continue the drone strikes more than a decade since the attacks of September 11, 2001. 'I think it depends on the nature of the threat that we’re confronting. We are in a war. We’re in a war on terrorism and we’ve been in that war since 9/11.'" Continue reading →

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LBMA, IGE urged to end Iran-Turkey Gold trade

"Turkey is facing more pressure from global communities to end it's gold-for-gas dealings with Iran. The latest to join the fray is United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which launched its Turkey gold campaign, and called on both the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and Istanbul Gold Exchange (IGE) to enact new measures to combat illicit barter agreements, where Iranian crude oil is being exchanged for Turkish gold. Specifically, UANI is calling for the LBMA to require all of its members, particularly the IGE, to certify that the recipient of their gold products is not Iran. The LBMA should revoke the membership of any member that is unable to do so." Continue reading →

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How The Central Bank Of Turkey Uses Gold

"Amid the brouhaha over Germany's gold reserves at the Bundesbank, there's another central bank using gold actively to bolster its currency and financial stability. The strategy looks the same – sitting on big stockpiles of the stuff. But the aim differs, because gold is much closer to the everyday financial system. Starting in October 2011, the central bank began allowing commercial banks to hold a portion of their 'required reserves' – needed to reassure depositors and other creditors they had plenty of money to hand – in physical gold bullion. Starting at 10%, that proportion was then raised to 30%." Continue reading →

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Egypt protests galvanized by video of police beating naked man

"Hamada Saber, a middle-aged man, remained in a police hospital on Saturday, the morning after he was shown on television, dragged over naked tarmac and beaten by half a dozen policemen who had pulled him to an armoured vehicle near the presidential palace. Another protester was shot dead on Friday and more than 100 were injured, many seriously, after running battles between police and demonstrators who attacked the palace with petrol bombs." Continue reading →

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Germany Plans to Deploy Armed Drones

"Bowing to pressure from the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, the federal government in Berlin is preparing to deploy armed, unmanned drones in foreign conflicts. In an answer to an official query made by the far-left Left Party, the German government wrote that its experience in foreign combat operations has made it clear that reconnaissance vehicles must be armed 'in order to provide protection against sudden and serious changes in the situation.' It went on to say that the weapons boost safety and security through 'credible deterrence,' pointing to the 'Predator' drones used by the United States as a possible model." Continue reading →

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Former Obama Intel Chief: Pentagon, Not CIA Should Control Drone Strikes

"Admiral Dennis Blair, the Director of National Intelligence from January 2009 to May 2010, told a Council on Foreign Relations conference call that current U.S. policy has created 'all kinds of legal knots' regarding how and when America uses the controversial counterterrorism tactic. Last week The Washington Post reported that the Obama administration is almost done with its 'playbook' designed to establish clear rules for targeted-killing operations, but the CIA will continue to be exempt from the rules for the next year or more." Continue reading →

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Israel Airstrike on Syria: Strange Bedfellows?

"Today Israel, without provocation or legal justification, bombed Syrian territory. As usual, the US government covers for Israeli military aggression in the region, however press reports that the US was scrambling for intelligence regarding the Israeli attack on Syria suggests that there was no forewarning by our 'ally' of a potentially enormously destabilizing escalation. What is most interesting is that Israel is targeting for military attack the same Syrian Army that the Islamist Free Syrian Army and the al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra Front are fighting to overthrow. Why would Israel prefer foaming at the mouth Islamic decapitation experts to rule Syria?" Continue reading →

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