To the residents of Baluchistan it must be puzzling that this remote, sparsely populated region in Pakistan’s southwest is increasingly gaining the attention of far-flung corners of the globe, from Beijing to Moscow to Tel Aviv to Washington. A rugged, arid region dominated by the ethnic minority Baluch tribes, Baluchistan straddles parts of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Its rugged, mountainous landscape has historically sheltered it from the various imperial, regional and national powers that have claimed authority over it, from the Persians and Indo-Parthians thousands of years ago to Iran and Pakistan in more recent times. Now, however, the region is suddenly gaining attention on the geopolitical stage as a strategic area in one of the most hotly-contested regions of the globe. Along with this newfound attention has come the sudden attention of human rights groups and even Congressmen who now claim to be deeply concerned with the struggle for independence of the Baluch peoples.
This is our EyeOpener Report by James Corbett, presenting Baluchistan, Minerals, Pipelines and terrorists in the Imperial Great Game of think tanks, policy “experts,” human rights groups and Washington insiders calling for support of terror groups in the region.
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CIA Whistleblower Kiriakou Indicted for Exposing Waterboarding Practices
No one can accuse Barack Obama of not tackling our government’s still-continuing torture practices. No sir. The man has made it clear – he is going to hunt, prosecute and cage those involved … in exposing them. In fact he has just tucked one under his belt. Former CIA officer John Kiriakou was indicted Thursday for allegedly disclosing classified information to journalists. The following is what triggered the administration’s resolve in pursuing, hunting and finally indicting him yesterday:
In 2007, Kiriakou gave an on-camera interview to ABC News in which he disclosed that accused al-Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah was “waterboarded” and that waterboarding was torture. Kiriakou was one of the first CIA officers to label waterboarding as torture.
He is also accused of leaking classified information to reporters. This is part of his 2007 interview with ABC’s Brian Ross.
John Kiriakou: “At the time, I felt that waterboarding was something that we needed to do. And as time has passed, and as September 11th has moved farther and farther back into history, I think I’ve changed my mind. And I think that waterboarding is probably something that we shouldn’t be in the business of doing.”
Brian Ross: “Why do you say that now?”
John Kiriakou: “Because we’re Americans, and we’re better than that.”
You see, those involved in planning, sanctioning, executing, and later covering up our government’s illegal (nationally and internationally) yet rampant torture practices have all been given medals, immunity, and a guaranteed lavish good life to live. However, our President wants to make sure that what happened to his predecessor – being caught and exposed in the middle of torture mayhem – will never happen to him. After all, he is not one for stopping wars-murders-torture. So how does he go about ensuring a black-out of his illegal practices today and tomorrow? Easy – he will send a strong message to deter any soul from even thinking about exposing murder, torture and other illegalities committed by this government. Read more
Anonymous Paul Campaign Insider Exposes the Anonymous Rumor Source
For the past few weeks an intense buzz has been filling internet sites and news forums on a supposed Ron Paul-Mitt Romney deal behind closed doors. Yesterday morning the Business Insider went as far as declaring the rumor as ‘Real’ based on their high-level Ron Paul campaign-office insider. Of course, this ‘insider’ source has been kept ‘anonymous.’ And this, despite vehement denials issued by other high-level insiders, those who happen to be ‘not anonymous’, thus far more reliable and trust-worthy. Here are a few on the record and pretty much absolute denials by named advisors:Read more
James Bamford returns to our show to discuss the gigantic $2 billion data center that’s being built in Utah for the National Security Agency and other agencies geared to target everyone and every single communication, and how for the first time since Watergate and the other scandals of the Nixon administration, the NSA has turned its surveillance apparatus on the US and its citizens. Mr. Bamford also talks about the privatization of intelligence and its implications, the prosecution of NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake, the Obama presidency and his escalating assaults on our liberties and privacy, and of course, the ever-absent mainstream media when it comes to investigative journalism and reporting.
James Bamford is one of the country’s leading writers on intelligence and national security issues. His books include “The Puzzle Palace,” “Body of Secrets,” “A Pretext for War: 9/11, Iraq and the Abuse of America’s Intelligence Agencies,” and most recently “ The Shadow Factory”. Mr. Bamford coproduced NOVA’s “The Spy Factory”, which was based on his latest book. He has written for many magazines, including investigative cover stories for The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine and The Los Angeles Times Magazine, and is a contributing writer for Rolling Stone. His 2005 Rolling Stonearticle “The Man Who Sold the War” won a National Magazine Award for reporting. He also spent a decade as the Washington investigative producer for the ABC News program, World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, and taught at the University of California, Berkeley, as a distinguished visiting professor.
Here is our guest James Bamford unplugged! (Subscribers only)
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According to news reports the Turkish government seized 4.6 Tons of Afghan heroin and 46 Tons of Hashish in the year 2011 alone:
Turkish police seized 46.9 tons of hashish and 6.4 tons of heroin in 2011, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported on Wednesday. According to the Turkish Police Department, the number of people who were detained in connection with drug trafficking rose in 2011 compared with the previous year.
Police detained 39,103 people in operations staged against drug smugglers in 2011, while the figure of previous year was 36,010.Turkey has long been a key transit point on the drug smuggling route from Asia and Middle East to Europe.
Now I want you to put this into perspective, and do so logically. If 4.6 tons of Afghan heroin is the amount seized from petty little drug guys in one year, how many tons of Afghan heroin actually ‘make it’ into the global market via the ‘big guys’? Read more
… but this started before 9/11 and with a direct link to 9/11
Just finished reading the latest on CIA-Balochistan, and had to write a quick post and share.
ISLAMABAD: The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), led by David Petraeus the former Commander, US Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A), has a strategic, multidimensional interest in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province. In March 2011, The Peninsula, Qatar’s leading English language daily, revealed that the “CIA is indulging in heavy recruitment of local people as agents (each being paid $500 a month) in Balochistan to locate members of the Quetta Shura, a term used by the Americans for Mullah Omar-led Taliban commanders.”
Over the long term, the CIA has an interest in keeping the strategically important Port of Gwadar out of China’s influence. Over the short to medium term, the CIA also has an interest in supporting Jundallah, also known as People’s Resistance Movement of Iran (PRMI), a violent organization that claims to be “fighting for the rights of Sunni Muslims in Iran.”
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The ‘issue’ of Balochistan is an extremely important one; however, I am not sure of the ‘real’ reasons behind the timing for and the sudden intense reportage and US congressional activities on this region lately. Read more
“A Nazi & a Drug Lord in Charge of Police in Osh?”
Today Turkish Weekly ran an investigative piece on the newly appointed chief of police in Osh-Kyrgyzstan. The new police chief Suyun Omurzakov, who used to be a deputy minister of interior, has been known as a highly influential drug lord, a leader of organized criminal groups, and he was the subject of a criminal investigation in the past:
In October 2009, the Kyrgyznews.com published an article pointing to a direct link between the then Osh city deputy chief of police S. Omurzakov and organized criminal groups engaged into drug trafficking, referring to this person as one of the most influential drug lords in the south of Kyrgyzstan.
Another report that investigates the June 2010 events developed by a coalition of Kyrgyz and Uzbek human right defenders “Oshskaya Initsiativa” (Osh Initiative) speaks of Omurzakov as a leader of an organized Kyrgyz criminal group, along with the mayor of Osh Melis Myrzakmatov, and crime bosses Almanbet Manapiyaev and Kadyr Dusanov (“Jengo”), etc., who were directly involved into plotting, leading, financing and participating in anti-Uzbek pogroms and distributing arms and ammunition among Kyrgyz militia. …
Since 2001 Kyrgyzstan has been hosting the Transit Center at Manas (formerly Manas Air Base) as the transit point for US military personnel coming and going from Afghanistan, and pays 200 million for continued use of the facilities. For years the base has been riddled with scandals and fiascos. Read more
The Government Funded National Endowment for Democracy
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is frequently described as a ‘private, not-for-profit foundation.’ At least, at its website, NED acknowledges funding from the US Congress. In NED’s latest IRS Form 990 filing, over $135 million of their $136 million in revenue is identified as coming from government sources.
NED was founded in 1983. It was founded not by private action, but by an Act of Congress. Yet its authorizing legislation seems a bit ambiguous, stating in part that “Nothing in this title shall be construed to make the Endowment an agency or establishment of the United States government.”
At its website, NED couches its goals in noble terms: “NED is dedicated to fostering the growth of a wide range of democratic institutions abroad, including political parties, trade unions, free markets and business organizations, as well as the many elements of a vibrant civil society that ensure human rights, an independent media, and the rule of law.”Read more
Israel emerged in the post-War period due to a great many complex domestic and international political reasons: to provide a place to direct the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, to allow the British to formally end the Mandate over Palestine which they held as their empire was crumbling, and to serve as a ‘buffer state’ for Western nations in the Middle East, a region of the world which was identified as a necessity to control in order to secure its vast oil resources and strategic position in relation to the East. America in the post-War period, however, was deeply divided in its strategic-imperial circles on whether or not to support the State of Israel, which did not become a stated and strong policy until the later 1950s. The State Department, in particular, full of individuals who were familiar with the politics and changes in the Middle East, were worried that support for Israel would threaten America’s interests in the region by antagonizing the Arab states and ruining America’s good reputation following the War. Others, however, won out in the end, largely by arguing that such a state in the Middle East would be a significant support to American interests, acting as a powerful ‘buffer’ against the spread of Arab nationalism and Pan-Arabism. In its first years, Israel walked a balance of receiving support from both the United States and the Soviet Union. With the rise of Nasser in Egypt, however, America saw its imperial interest in supporting Israel.Read more
To the residents of Baluchistan it must be puzzling that this remote, sparsely populated region in Pakistan’s southwest is increasingly gaining the attention of far-flung corners of the globe, from Beijing to Moscow to Tel Aviv to Washington. A rugged, arid region dominated by the ethnic minority Baluch tribes, Baluchistan straddles parts of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Its rugged, mountainous landscape has historically sheltered it from the various imperial, regional and national powers that have claimed authority over it, from the Persians and Indo-Parthians thousands of years ago to Iran and Pakistan in more recent times. Now, however, the region is suddenly gaining attention on the geopolitical stage as a strategic area in one of the most hotly-contested regions of the globe. Along with this newfound attention has come the sudden attention of human rights groups and even Congressmen who now claim to be deeply concerned with the struggle for independence of the Baluch peoples.
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is frequently described as a ‘private, not-for-profit foundation.’ At least, at its website, NED acknowledges funding from the US Congress. In NED’s latest IRS Form 990 filing, over $135 million of their $136 million in revenue is identified as coming from government sources.
