Updates & Weekly Round Up for February 14
Saturday, 13. February 2010
And, I am back! After two flight cancellations and missing two major snow storms I arrived home late Thursday. As I had mentioned in my previous weekly round up, I had no direct access to high-speed internet connections, and as I promised I did my best and posted Part VI of my Police State Series, our interview with Coleen Rowley, and Mike Mejia’s great piece on the drowning and doomed Democratic Party. Other than that, I was totally and blissfully cut off from all news and never-ending scandals. What does this mean for this round up? I don’t have much to report, and I’ve got lots to catch up with.
Before I list the very few noteworthy links for this round up, I’ll give you a glimpse of my report card from the last 11 days:
So, you see ‘someone’ could not care less about not having high-speed internet connections or two last minute flight cancellations 
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Noteworthy Links
Israel is accused of waging covert war across the Middle East
Sheera Frenkel, Times Online
Israel is waging a covert assassination campaign across the Middle East in an effort to stop its key enemies co-ordinating their activities.
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They are also suspected of recent killings in Dubai, Damascus and Beirut. While Israel’s Mossad spy agency has been suspected of staging assassinations across the world since the 1970s, it does not officially acknowledge or admit its activities.
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AIPAC Officials Duplicated Classified Policy Documents Before Returning to US Government
Business Wire
Top officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee duplicated a stolen classifiedUS government policy document before returning it under order of the US Trade Representative.
The newly released FBI form FD-302 is available for download at http://IRmep.org/ila/economy/FD302.pdf .
Testimony about AIPAC’s executive director and top lobbyist reveals AIPAC duplicated the classified report “Probable Economic Effect of Providing Duty Free Treatment for U.S. Imports from Israel” after covertly receiving it from Israeli Minister of Economics Dan Halpern: “REDACTED immediately called REDACTED at the USTR to make arrangements to return the document. The report was subsequently returned to the USTR by a member of the AIPAC office staff. Prior to returning this document, REDACTED asked to have a duplicate copy made so that the staff of the AIPAC could further examine the report…
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Angry U.S. warns there will be a price for Britain to pay after judges reveal MI5 DID collude in abuse of terror suspects
James Slack & Jason Groves, Daily Mail
The U.S. has warned its relationship with Britain has been harmed by the court ruling that revealed Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed was tortured at the behest of American authorities.
The White House expressed dismay after the Government lost its bid to suppress the documents which showed MI5 knew about the treatment of Mohamed.
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By ‘the White House’ they mean Obama’s White House; just so that you know. You know, the man who sold tons of blah blah on how terrible the Bush Administration practices were, especially on torture and secrecy. Remember?
Okay, let’s read further:
On a day of high drama yesterday, it emerged the Government had tried to suppress a senior judge’s verdict that Britain colluded in torture.The Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, effectively accused MI5 of complicity in torture and having a culture of disregarding human rights.
The explosive disclosure was a serious blow to Foreign Secretary David Miliband on a day of high drama.
The country’s three most senior judges rejected an attempt by Mr Miliband to stop publication of seven paragraphs of intelligence supplied to the British authorities by the CIA.
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How come we can’t have a panel of judges like that?! Not fair. Don’t they make this model judgeship here anymore?!
Read the entire piece here. It has a picture of the report our government and the culprits over there tried to keep classified, and more.
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Let’s move on to… well, thanks to Metem I’ve got the following link for you:
Prof. Francis Boyle: Israel Is Committing Genocide in Gaza
By Michele Steinberg, Scoop-NZ
Here are a few interesting quotes on Alan Dershowitz:
“Dershowitz couldn’t care less. Whatever kind of outright character assassination he has to apply to anyone, even Holocaust survivors like Judge Buergenthal, Professor Shahak, Norman Finkelstein’s mother, it doesn’t bother Dershowitz. Indeed, my understanding is, he’s trying to run to become President of Israel, to take Peres’s place. Well, fine, it would be great to get him out of Harvard Law School–my dis-alma mater!–and ship him over to Israel with all the other war criminals over there. “In fact, I say that, because Dershowitz admitted, publicly, that he is part of a Mossad committee that authorized the assassination of Palestinians.
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“And there he is, teaching at the Harvard Law School, and advocating torture, crimes against humanity, war crimes against the Palestinians. As you know, he said, `Well, we should just be obliterating their villages. You know, if they do this, there’s a terror bombing here, we [should] destroy one of their villages.’
“And, of course, Dershowitz also advocates torture here, in America. The guy’s shameless.
“I remember, [when] I started [at Harvard], Dershowitz started as an assistant professor, and his first big case was defending a pornographic film star in `Deep Throat.’ Dershowitz likes to present himself as some great defender of the First Amendment…. Well, as Catherine McKinnon has, I think, taught us all, pornography is a form of violence against women: It’s a human rights matter. So, it doesn’t surprise me that Dershowitz started his career defending pornographers and pornography, and was and still is greatly proud of it–and now he moves on to defending war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and in addition, over the years, became a war criminal himself.
“But the sum of it is, he’s still teaching there at Harvard Law School. So, I hope he goes back to Israel and becomes President, sure! Be great to see him go: Bon voyage.”
I find the piece bold and forward. You can read the entire piece here.
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Here is a good one on Blackwater published by Guardian on February 11:
Private security firm accused of charging US government for payments to prostitute
Ewen MacAskill, Guardian
The troubled American private security company Blackwater faced fresh controversy today when two former employees accused it of defrauding the US government for years, including billing for a Filipina prostitute on its payroll in Afghanistan.
According to Melan Davis, a former employee, Blackwater listed the woman for payment under the “morale welfare recreation” category.
The company, which allegedly employed her in Kabul, billed the government for her plane tickets and monthly salary, Davis said.
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Oh, I guess it is just one more scandal; a needle in a scandal stack. And where are the outraged taxpayers? Not a peep, ey?!
Turkey gives Kurdish editor 21-year jail term
Reuters
Turkish court has sentenced the editor of a Kurdish newspaper to 21 years in prison for printing what it called Kurdish rebel propaganda, a ruling likely to raise concern about press freedom in the EU candidate country.
Turkey’s record on media freedom and on rights for its Kurdish minority have long been obstacles in Ankara’s bid to become a member of the European Union.
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Radikal newspaper said Azadiya Welat has had to replace six editors in three years since it started publishing in 2006 because the editors had to either flee the country to avoid imprisonment or were jailed.
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As Mizgin would tell you ‘nothing new; in Turkey business as usual…’
As we know Turkey has been chosen as a ‘friend’ and a pawn/ally on our hypocrisy-ridden foreign policy chess board. Our government and the press as its extension will keep giving it a pass and look the other way. If Iran does it: ‘let’s go, shock & awe, bomb the hell out of them, and takeover their…oil.’ If it is China, ‘bad boy, bad boy, commies; shame on you…’ but when it is Turkey, ‘no worries, mate; just keep doing it. We’ll keep giving you taxpayer-subsidized billions in aid and weapons… we’ll hush our media on all your dirty laundry…we’ll make it easy for you to pocket our ex-congressmen/ex-congresswomen turned lobbyists…we’ll let you steal our secrets and even sell them secondhand to make a profit…’
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Asia Times has another great piece on the Central Asia Game:
The winner takes all in Afghanistan
M K Bhadrakumar, Asia Times
The main plot in Afghanistan is about the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization into Central Asia, and reconciliation with the Taliban is arguably the only option available to keep open-ended NATO’s military presence in Central Asia without having to fight a futile war. The ascendancy of malleable Islamist forces also has its uses for the US’s containment strategy towards China.
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There is an ominous overtone to Western reports. Al-Qaeda was used after all as justification for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2003.
This is where the US’s idea of reconciliation with the Taliban merits scrutiny. The idea is indeed eminently sensible at a time when Muslim anger is rising, there is growing disillusionment about Obama, and when the US is dangerously close to confronting Iran and a need arises to “split” Muslim opinion.
At the same time, the Taliban’s reconciliation also makes realpolitik. The Afghan war costs a lot of money, it costs Western lives and it cannot be won. The Taliban’s reconciliation is arguably the only option available to keep open-ended NATO’s military presence in Central Asia without having to fight a futile war.
The ascendancy of malleable Islamist forces also has its uses for the US’s containment strategy towards China (and Russia). Islamists lend themselves as a foreign policy instrument. The rise of Islamism in Afghanistan cannot but radicalize hot spots such as the North Caucasus, Kashmir and the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in China.
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Iceland Aims to Become an Offshore heaven for Journalists & Leakers
Jonathan Stray, Neiman Journalism Lab
On Tuesday, the Icelandic parliament is expected to introduce a measure aimed at making the country an international center for investigative journalism publishing, by passing the strongest combination of source protection, freedom of speech, and libel-tourism prevention laws in the world.
Supporters of the proposal say the move would make Iceland an “offshore publishing center” for free speech, analogous to the offshore financial havens that allow corporations to hide capital from authorities. Could global news organizations with a home office in Reykjavík soon be as common as Delaware corporations or Cayman Islands assets?
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Bill Bergman Says:
That Iceland story at the end is pretty interesting.
max Says:
Lucky lady ! How nice it must be to “get away”, if even just for a while……….
21 Years huh? wow, talk about extreme. As far as the EU goes, well Turkey is doing fine without it right ? I’M not sure they even want Turkey in it, especially with the AKP camp taking the stances it has as of recently. Clearly we see a drift towards a more Islamism mind set -Turkey’s growing closeness to Iran and Russia, its openness towards Hamas in Palestine and Hezbollah in Lebanon, its rapport with Syria- all these give cause for concern to the E.U., Israel and its neo-conservative supporters in the US, but as I said, they are doing fine without the EU. I for one am very glad to see this drift. I should leave it at that before this turns into an opinion based piece.
Glad your back
camusrebel Says:
Max, I think different opinions make for a vigorous comment section.
Maybe Binyam Mohamed’s sad tale will be that one loose thread that will begin unraveling this quilt of disgust.
Welcome back Sibel. That is one cute little valentine you got. I think that particular model of judgeship has been re-called….sticky accelerator or something.
camusrebel Says:
I just know our media wolves will tear this torture story out of Britain to pieces, right? I’m sure any minute now it will be plastered all over cable.
of course, in a nutshell, why we must Become the Media. Great round-up and links, helping us do that.
T Says:
Lately I’ve been hearing more people here in the States talk about govt. subsidies for media. I’ve lived in the U.K. and Japan (both of which have license fees for state networks). If the quality is good enough, I don’t have a problem with it. However, both systems are still prone to abuse. Why? Because management is trying to be everything to everyone to compete with the commercial networks.
Example: In the U.K., the BBC is under fire because a lot of their top people make huge salaries. In Japan, an NHK (the Japanese BBC) executive was sacked for embezzling license fees for hookers, booze, etc.
Some ask, how come Democracy Now doesn’t go out and prove that 9/11 was an inside job? The reason is because while Amy Goodman does great work, keep in mind it’s a business. And, like all savvy business executives, the last thing they want is to be labelled “The 9/11 Network”. It’s hard enough to get by as it is vs. the giant media corporations. So who needs the extra stress?
Also, has anyone noticed that slowly more progressive names are showing doubts about 9/11? Peter Lance. Noam Chomsky. Amy Goodman. Robert Fisk (of the Independent). Why? Is it frustration in not finding out the truth? Or, is it partly to maintain their reputations?
In this global depression (call it what it is), who’s going to fund the media? The neocons will block everything that Obama does. One senator has blocked what, roughly 70 nominations?
Pick a name: Chris Hedges, John Pilger, Robert Fisk, Allan Nairn. All say the same things. First, there’s no such thing as good guys in politics. It’s all about power and how you use it. Second, Obama is a corporate brand. One minute he’s screaming about obscene bank bonuses. Then, in a Bloomberg interview he says the same people are “savvy businessmen”.
Where’s the consistency? Where’s the long sought after “transparency” or change? It’s not there and it’s not going to be there. Even the Congressional Black Caucus is sucking up to corporate “donations”. Why? Because they know in the current Inside the Beltway environment, if you don’t take the money you get nowhere. It’s not the right thing to do. But, to keep your seat you do what you have to?
How long have the problems in Haiti been getting worse? And now, Pelosi and others will make “an official trip” to Haiti. What about Aristede? What about the hypocracy of sending Clinton there as an envoy (after his part in the coup)? Despite all of the nice soundbites, I really think that Obama could care less about the long term effects of this on Haiti and it’s people. If he can admit we engineered a coup in Iran, why not the same for Haiti?
Because if he does, his career is over. The corporate megadonors will never put up with that. And then he’ll be a one-term President.
How many Obama supporters that can see what’s going on will blissfully ignore reality and vote for him again in 2012?
Kingfisher Says:
“Despite all of the nice soundbites, I really think that Obama could care less about the long term effects of this on Haiti and it’s people. If he can admit we engineered a coup in Iran, why not the same for Haiti?
Because if he does, his career is over. The corporate megadonors will never put up with that.”
Because Iran is more important than Haiti that’s why. Not many really give a care about Haiti; least of all mega-corporations. Obama may or may not have re-election problems come 2012, I just don’t know; but if he does I am near certain it will have nothing to do with Haiti or Haiti policy.
“How many Obama supporters that can see what’s going on will blissfully ignore reality and vote for him again in 2012?”
It will depend on who the republicans put up. If they put up The Thrilla’ From Wasilla it will scare the crap out of even “Obama supporters that can see what’s going on” and they will vote for him.
True Oil Says:
Sibel I’m glad you’re safely back!
Your ‘always first customer for breakfast’ pic made me Laugh Out Loud
Here is a related link to this;
Testimony about AIPAC’s executive director and top lobbyist reveals AIPAC duplicated the classified report “Probable Economic Effect of Providing Duty Free Treatment for U.S. Imports from Israel”
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/us_ints/po-dairy.html
camusrebel Says:
Hey T. I used to be a fan a Gnome Chumpsky. Amy also. Could you please quote or link to their so called “doubts”. To me they are both bought off fake opposition left gatekeeper hangouts.
Alistair David Edwards Says:
Sibel, welcome back
Two sites I beleive you should be well connected with
been posting lots of these articles for the last couple of weeks
John Pilger has been a hero of mine since early teenage years
http://www.johnpilger.com
but only discovered this one yesterday, surely one to feature on the homepage
http://blairfoundation.wordpress.com/
the petition to prosecute Tony Blair for war crimes
sign now
Greg Bacon Says:
Good stories, but I don’t think they’ll be seeing much air time on the ‘Cartoon News Network,’ CNN or FUX, since they’re too busy inserting the word Iran with WMD’s, nukes and terrorism.. And now we have that doddering old war criminal John McCain, bloviating about how he loves the Iranians so much that he wouldn’t mind killing some to free them from tyranny.
Following in his Daddy’s steps, who helped cover up the Israeli attack against the USS Liberty.
Did you ever get the feeling at times that you’ve done died and went to Hell and have yet to realize that fact?
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ’0 which is not a hashcash value.
Sibel Edmonds Says:
@Alisteir: ‘Jim Pliger’- Great suggestion. I’ll certainly invite him to the show, but since he’s in UK it may be difficult to conduct the interview. we record interviews at 8:30 p.m. EST, and not many people are up to staying up for an hour long interview at 1:30 a.m.:-) Except generous ones like Nafeez, Andy Worthington & Julien Mercille; I owe them big time!
ZicaTanka Says:
FYI US, Turkish officials get physical in Qatar
markov Says:
I have to wonder if Iceland becoming the “offshore journalism haven” is a direct response to the way they were recently abused by the capitalist system, and how the British government even seized all of their assets under anti-terror laws. I can’t imagine it’s entirely disconnected. They’ve got to be really eager to spread the truth of deregulation, privatization and corporatism.
kmwakak8 Says:
Sibel, I loved the links…and the pictures.
Not sure which one more…
After a canceled flight, snow in Dallas, and the biggest snow storm…
I got in Thursday night as well after a month on the Big Island.
This comment: “So, you see ‘someone’ could not care less about not having high-speed internet connections or two last minute flight cancellations”
is priceless. I loved the geckos, they were everywhere…as were 1/2 geckos..there is good reason not to pick them up!
I’ve often wondered who the US thinks they are every time I read “US warns”… yet its the country I was born and raised in. Not necessarily my country of choice.
I’m discouraged by the lack of responsibility taken by the new administration to address many of the issues from the last.
Granted, being one who often likes to review stats and records, I am happy most are current. Big change.
There have been changes not visible to all. Yet Afghanistan… what was he thinking? What are we doing?
Its times like this, when reading all this heavier stuff- its nice to have a reprieve…
I’ll bet they would make those trunks in your size if you asked.
~k