War & Peace

US photojournalist recounts horror of captivity after escaping al-Qaeda in Syria

"A US photojournalist who escaped from Syrian rebels after seven months in captivity revealed details of his ordeal Friday and spoke of his anguish at leaving a fellow hostage behind. Matthew Schrier, 35, fled the clutches of a rebel group aligned to Al-Qaeda in July after being kidnapped while leaving the Syrian city of Aleppo on December 31 last year. Schrier is one of 15 Westerners who have been kidnapped or who have disappeared this year. The experience of Schrier illustrates the increasing dangers for foreigners and moderate Syrians in the country, which has been ravaged by a vicious civil war for more than two years, with mounting numbers of heavily armed extremist groups on the ground." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS photojournalist recounts horror of captivity after escaping al-Qaeda in Syria

WikiLeaks Party statement on intervention in Syria

"Syria is in the grip of a terrible proxy war with many powerful interests involved: The Syrian government; the Muslim Brotherhood; other Sunni Islamic militant organisations; the United States; the United Kingdom; France; Lebanon; Hezbollah; Israel; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; Iran, and Russia–which has one of its few remaining naval bases in Syria. All of these interests are drawing on various assets to bolster their positions and this includes the United States drawing on Australia. Some seek to topple the Syrian government and replace it with one more amenable to their interests, while others seek to maintain the status quo." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWikiLeaks Party statement on intervention in Syria

“Are You Willing to Die So That the CIA . . .

". . . can impose a puppet government in Syria maybe, fifty or sixty years from now, while absurdly calling it 'democracy'? This is the question that should be asked to every new U.S. military recruit now that the neocons have their new war in Syria. As the neocons’ Dr. Strangelove, Charles Krauthammer, pointed out in his latest column, the CIA DID impose puppet-dictators in South Korea, Taiwan, Phillipines, Chile, Brazil, Spain, and Portugal (I would add Iran), and then fifty years or so later the CIA declared 'victory' by calling the latest edition of those puppet regimes 'democracy.'" Continue reading →

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Eric Margolis: Who Killed Benazir Bhutto?

"Though I’d been a frequent critic in the past of Benazir and her corruption-embroiled relatives, in recent years I’d drawn close to the embattled leader at a time when she was down and out in exile. Some readers accused me of being 'bewitched' by Benazir. Not bewitched, just deeply impressed by this brilliant, intense, regal woman. I’d just finished drawing up a proposed new political platform for the People’s Party that emphasized independent policy, an end to feudalism, and reconciliation with tribal and Islamic militants on the Northwest Frontier. Two days before her killing, we had been exchanging emails in which I warned her not to appear in public except behind bullet-proof plexiglass." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEric Margolis: Who Killed Benazir Bhutto?

Flashback: Yahoo Uncovered Syria Chemical Weapon False Flag in January

“The Obama administration gave green signal to a chemical weapons attack plan in Syria that could be blamed on President Bashar al Assad’s regime and in turn, spur international military action in the devastated country, leaked documents have shown. As per the scheme ‘Qatar would fund rebel forces in Syria to use chemical weapons,’ the Daily Mail reports.” Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFlashback: Yahoo Uncovered Syria Chemical Weapon False Flag in January

The Case for Restraint in Yemen

"Historical trends exhibit the danger that newly poised al Qaeda affiliates are posing to American safety, rivaling or even eclipsing the original sects in place before U.S interventions. These militant groups have primarily local interests, and are best left alone if the United States wants to avoid making new enemies or to attenuate existing plotting against U.S. targets. Yet instead, the U.S continues to form 'partnerships' with often questionable factions to fight terrorism, many times resulting in the exchange of one extremist government for another. This policy can incite blowback." Continue reading →

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Hubris Isn’t the Half of It

"When Diane Sawyer asked Bush why he had claimed with such certainty that there were so many weapons in Iraq, he replied: 'What’s the difference? The possibility that [Saddam] could acquire weapons, If he were to acquire weapons, he would be the danger.' What's the difference? In a society based on the rule of law, the difference would be a criminal prosecution. MSNBC and Hubris steer us away from any ideas of accountability. And no connection is drawn to current war lies about Iran or other nations. But the production of programs like this one that prolong Americans' awareness of the lies that destroyed Iraq are the best hope Iran has right now." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHubris Isn’t the Half of It

Syrian Christians fear rise of jihadist rebels

"Around 50,000 Christians now live in Wadi al-Nassara, where they have formed 'popular defence committees' with the blessing of the authorities. Christians account for only five percent of the population in Syria, and many back the Assad regime because they fear the growing strength of jihadists whose aim is to set up an Islamic state in Syria. The majority of rebel fighters — like the population — are Sunni Muslims, while Assad belongs to the Alawite community which is an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Though it started in mid-March 2011 with peaceful protests calling for the fall of Assad’s regime, Syria’s war has grown increasingly sectarian and jihadists have flooded the battlefields." Continue reading →

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Tony Blair supports intervention against Assad regime in Syria

"Tony Blair has called on the west to stop 'wringing our hands' as he endorsed intervention against the regime of Bashar al-Assad and warned governments against ostracising the military dictatorship in Egypt. In his first intervention since the chemical weapons attack last week, the former prime minister said the west should not be neutral in protecting Syrians from the Assad regime and 'affiliates of al-Qaida' seeking to exploit the instability. Blair, who was humiliated by Assad during a trip to Damascus after the 9/11 attacks, when the Syrian president likened Palestinian suicide bombers to the Free French, said it was time to intervene against the regime." Continue reading →

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George Galloway to turn to Kickstarter to fund anti-Tony Blair film

"Galloway is teaming up with documentary-maker Greg Ward to make The Killing of Tony Blair, which, according to Ward, 'will bring together many of the things George has been fighting for during his long political career'. In Ward's words, The Killing of Tony Blair 'details how Blair killed the Labour Party, killed hundreds of thousands of people in Iraq and how he made 'a killing' out of doing both'. Galloway, currently the Respect MP for Bradford West, was expelled from the Labour party in 2003 after clashing with the leadership over the Iraq war. In a 2012 interview with GQ magazine he argued that Blair's assassination would be 'logical and explicable'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGeorge Galloway to turn to Kickstarter to fund anti-Tony Blair film