After riots, Mohamed Morsi declares emergency in three Egyptian cities

"President Mohamed Morsi has announced a state of emergency in three cities near Egypt’s Suez Canal, following four days of civil unrest that have left at least 40 dead and over 500 injured. Since Thursday, hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in 12 of the country’s 21 provinces, to protest against the Islamist president, the Muslim Brotherhood, and police brutality – exactly two years after the start of the Egyptian revolution. 'We think the president is totally responsible for the conflict,' said Khaled Daoud, a spokesman for the National Salvation Front, a disparate collection of liberal and leftist parties opposed to Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood." Continue reading

Continue ReadingAfter riots, Mohamed Morsi declares emergency in three Egyptian cities

Peaceful Azerbaijan rally against police violence broken up brutally by police

"Azerbaijan police on Saturday brutally dispersed an unauthorised rally in central Baku, beating up and arresting scores of people, an AFP correspondent witnessed. Several dozen protesters briefly gathered in Baku’s central Sahil square to protest against the police using excessive force against peaceful protests. But police halted the rally within 10 minutes, beating up and arresting dozens of people." Continue reading

Continue ReadingPeaceful Azerbaijan rally against police violence broken up brutally by police

Pepe Escobar: Burn, burn – Africa’s Afghanistan

"Business is good; French president Francois Hollande spent this past Tuesday in Abu Dhabi clinching the sale of up to 60 Rafales to that Gulf paragon of democracy, the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The formerly wimpy Hollande - now enjoying his 'resolute', 'determined', tough guy image reconversion - has cleverly sold all this as incinerating Islamists in the savannah before they take a one-way Bamako-Paris flight to bomb the Eiffel Tower. According to the UN Office of Drugs Control, 60% of Europe's cocaine transits Mali." Continue reading

Continue ReadingPepe Escobar: Burn, burn – Africa’s Afghanistan

Pakistan Unhappy Over Reports US Drone Strikes Will Continue

"Leaders in Pakistan are outraged at reported U.S. plans to continue controversial drone strikes against suspected al-Qaida-linked sanctuaries on Pakistani soil. They are calling it 'close to a perpetual war,' and say it is exactly opposite to what President Barack Obama stated in his inaugural speech on Monday. U.S. drone strikes on targets in Pakistani regions along the border with Afghanistan remain highly controversial and are deeply unpopular in Pakistan. Pakistan publicly condemns the drone campaign and wants the U.S. to end it, saying that it not only violates the country's sovereignty, but that collateral damage caused by the strikes is fueling militancy in the region." Continue reading

Continue ReadingPakistan Unhappy Over Reports US Drone Strikes Will Continue

Obama ‘guidebook’ for targeted killings to include exemption for CIA drone strikes in Pakistan

"The administration of President Barack Obama is completing a counterterrorism manual that will establish clear rules for targeted-killing operations, The Washington Post reported. But citing unnamed US officials, the newspaper said the guidebook would contain a major exemption for the CIA’s campaign of drone strikes in Pakistan. This exemption will allow the Central Intelligence Agency to continue striking Al-Qaeda and Taliban targets in Pakistan for a year or more before the agency is forced to comply with more stringent rules spelled out in the document. Between 2,627 and 3,457 people have been reportedly killed by US drones in Pakistan since 2004." Continue reading

Continue ReadingObama ‘guidebook’ for targeted killings to include exemption for CIA drone strikes in Pakistan

Muslim Brotherhood: Another Meme Unraveled

"In 2007, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled, 'To Check Syria, U.S. Explores Bond With Muslim Brothers.' And even then, it was noted that the Brotherhood held close links with groups the US recognizes and lists as terrorist organizations, including Hamas and Al Qaeda. The report gives a disturbing foreshadowing of US support that would eventually see the Muslim Brotherhood rise as both a political and terroristic power across the Arab World, after decades of hard-fought attempts to crush the sectarian extremist organization. In fact, the 2007 article specifically noted that the US partnership could 'destabilize governments in Jordan and Egypt'." Continue reading

Continue ReadingMuslim Brotherhood: Another Meme Unraveled

Michael Scheuer: In Mali, the interventionist establishment already is lying about “unintended consequences”

"When the relentless, war-causing interventionists in those places decided to remove Gadhafi in favor of a 'democratic revolution' that did not exist in Libya, or in Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, Pakistan, Syria or anywhere else in the Arab world, they ushered in everything that has happened since, and if they knew anything about history, the region, and the Islamist movement they would have known it. How could these genius Western interventionists know that they were deliberately opening Pandora’s Islamist Box? A few facts that should have been obvious to anyone with a bit of commonsense make a claim of 'unintended consequences' preposterous in the extreme." Continue reading

Continue ReadingMichael Scheuer: In Mali, the interventionist establishment already is lying about “unintended consequences”

Egyptian protesters set fire to Muslim Brotherhood headquarters

"Egyptian protesters on Friday set fire to the Muslim Brotherhood party headquarters in the canal city of Ismailiya. Black smoke could be seen coming out of the windows of the apartment housing the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) offices, as Egyptians staged nationwide rallies against President Mohamed Morsi on the second anniversary of the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak and brought Islamists to power. The Muslim Brotherhood said protesters also attempted to storm one of its offices in the Cairo district of Tawfikiya." Continue reading

Continue ReadingEgyptian protesters set fire to Muslim Brotherhood headquarters