State Terrorism

Study: Wind blew deadly gas to U.S. troops in Gulf War

"U.S. bombings of Iraqi munitions factories in January 1991 released a plume of sarin gas that traveled more than 300 miles to affect American troops in Saudi Arabia, although military officials claimed at the time that chemical alarms triggered by the gas were false. The Jan. 18, 1991, bombings of the munitions plants in Nasiriyah and Khamisiya blew a plume of sarin gas high above a layer of cold, still air and into a swift wind stream that carried the gas to Saudi Arabia. The gas plumes, the researchers said, can be blamed for symptoms of Gulf War illness, the mysterious ailment that has affected more than 250,000 veterans of the war." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStudy: Wind blew deadly gas to U.S. troops in Gulf War

Double Tap Drones: What Has Happened to the United States?

"NYU student Josh Begley is tweeting every reported U.S. drone strike since 2002, and the feed highlights a disturbing tactic employed by the U.S. that is widely considered a war crime. Known as the 'double tap,' the tactic involves bombing a target multiple times in relatively quick succession, meaning that the second strike often hits first responders. A 2007 report by the Homeland Security Institute called double taps a 'favorite tactic of Hamas' and the FBI considers it a tactic employed by terrorists. The reports featured on @dronestream clearly document that U.S. hellfire missiles have intentionally targeted funerals and civilian rescuers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDouble Tap Drones: What Has Happened to the United States?

The Unfathomable Depravity of the CIA

"Fifty-nine years ago, a CIA bioweapons expert named Frank Olson attended a secret meeting where he was unwittingly given a drink laced with an experimental hallucinogenic compound now known as LSD. In the early hours of November 28, Olson fell to his death from the window of a 13th-floor hotel room. The Agency described the incident as a suicide, concealing the LSD test until 1975. His sons now filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit claiming that the scientist was murdered to conceal illegal interrogations that had been conducted by the agency using biological agents he had developed, resulting in the deaths of detainees in Norway and Germany." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Unfathomable Depravity of the CIA

CIA beat and sodomized wrongly detained German citizen

"CIA agents tortured a German citizen, sodomising, shackling, and beating him, as Macedonian state police looked on, the European court of human rights said in a historic judgment released on Thursday. In a unanimous ruling, it also found Macedonia guilty of torturing, abusing, and secretly imprisoning Khaled el-Masri, a German of Lebanese origin allegedly linked to terrorist organisations. Masri was seized in Macedonia in December 2003 and handed over to a CIA 'rendition team' at Skopje airport and secretly flown to Afghanistan. It is the first time the court has described CIA treatment meted out to terror suspects as torture." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCIA beat and sodomized wrongly detained German citizen

UK government pays Libyan dissident’s family £2.2 million over MI6-aided rendition

"Ministers have agree to pay more than £2m to the family of a prominent Libyan dissident abducted with the help of MI6 and secretly flown to Tripoli where he was tortured by the security police of the former dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Having sought for years to avoid the agents of the Libyan dictator, Sami al-Saadi was forced on board a plane in Hong Kong with his wife and four young children in a joint UK-US-Libyan operation. They were then flown to Libya, where all of them were initially imprisoned. Saadi was held and tortured for years." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUK government pays Libyan dissident’s family £2.2 million over MI6-aided rendition

U.S.-Approved Arms for Libya Rebels Fell Into Jihadis’ Hands

"The Obama administration secretly gave its blessing to arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar last year, but American officials later grew alarmed as evidence grew that Qatar was turning some of the weapons over to Islamic militants, according to United States officials and foreign diplomats. The weapons and money from Qatar strengthened militant groups in Libya, allowing them to become a destabilizing force since the fall of the Qaddafi government. The experience in Libya has taken on new urgency as the administration considers whether to play a direct role in arming rebels in Syria." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S.-Approved Arms for Libya Rebels Fell Into Jihadis’ Hands

Obama recognizes Syrian rebels as ‘legitimate representative’ of the people

"President Barack Obama said Tuesday that the Syrian opposition was now 'the legitimate representative' of the Syrian people, in the most significant US intervention yet in the brutal civil war. Though a minority, the Al-Qaeda-linked rebel group Al-Nusra has been one of the most effective rebel groups fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, raising concerns that hardline extremists are hijacking the 21-month-old revolt. Senior officials however said that despite the move on recognizing the opposition, Washington sticks by its policy of not directly arming the rebels." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama recognizes Syrian rebels as ‘legitimate representative’ of the people

Thousands of US Troops Arrive Near Syrian Shore on USS Eisenhower

"The USS Eisenhower, an American aircraft carrier that holds eight fighter bomber squadrons and 8,000 men, arrived at the Syrian coast yesterday in the midst of a heavy storm, indicating US preparation for a potential ground intervention. While the Obama administration has not announced any sort of American-led military intervention in the war-torn country, the US is now ready to launch such action 'within days' if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad decides to use chemical weapons against the opposition, the Times reports." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThousands of US Troops Arrive Near Syrian Shore on USS Eisenhower

Thousands of US Troops Arrive Near Syrian Shore on USS Eisenhower

"The USS Eisenhower, an American aircraft carrier that holds eight fighter bomber squadrons and 8,000 men, arrived at the Syrian coast yesterday in the midst of a heavy storm, indicating US preparation for a potential ground intervention. While the Obama administration has not announced any sort of American-led military intervention in the war-torn country, the US is now ready to launch such action 'within days' if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad decides to use chemical weapons against the opposition, the Times reports." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThousands of US Troops Arrive Near Syrian Shore on USS Eisenhower

Sanctions: More Deadly Than The Atomic Bomb?

"Comparing the effects of sanctions vs nuclear bombs. Contrasting the fatalities of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima to those of the sanctions imposed on Iraq in the 1990s. 'Genocide masquerading as policy' as one congressman put it. Should the US do the same to Iran? Are sanctions a legitimate 'diplomatic tool' to avert war?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSanctions: More Deadly Than The Atomic Bomb?