"In war, truth is the first casualty." —Aeschylus (525-456 BC)

ALL ON THIS PAGE (Please allow a few moments to load. Refresh often.):
A DAILY RUNNING RECORD SINCE 2010 OF UNPROSECUTED WAR CRIMES, TREASON, WARMONGERING, CORRUPTION, THE COMPLICIT MAINSTREAM MEDIA, AND OUR GOVERNMENT AGAINST THE PEOPLE.

NEW SECTION

'NEW!' For easier reference, new and recent articles will be placed in this section temporarily, then archived under their corresponding headings below. Click on the red-bulleted section headings to jump to past articles, or scroll down to ARCHIVE SECTION.

• ACTIONS & EVENTS...

• Ongoing - SCHEDULED APPEARANCES - WAR CRIMINALS WATCH EVENTS
• June 21 - July 3, 2013 Actions - JOBS NOT WARS
• August 7-11, 2013 - VETERANS FOR PEACE NATIONAL CONVENTION, Madison, WI
• SIGN PETITION - Issue Murder Indictment of George W. Bush

• PENTAGON SPENDING...

STOP THE BLEEDING!

Source: TIME Magazine

A DEADLY MONSTER - Part 1: An overview of the military-national security, industrial, political triumvirate, by Gary Brumback, PhD, Dissident Voice (Dec. 11, 2012). "Imagine what America could be today if much of that eight trillion dollars [of military/national security expenditures since 9/11] had been spent instead to help ensure that every American has an adequate standard of living that is the right of every human being in a civilized society; to help develop her youth, the future of America; to provide affordable and quality health care to everyone; and to help preserve the balance between human activities and nature."

(Contracts valued under $6.5 million are not counted here by DoD)
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards for May 22, 2013. Total $  1,257,688,146
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards for May 21, 2013. Total $     226,853,322
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards for May 20, 2013. Total $     717,663,064

5/15/13 NEW! Each Injured US Soldier Will End Up Costing $2 Million On Average, by David Francis, Business Insider. "For every one of the 866,181 soldiers officially counted injured casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, the government is expected to spend some $2 million in long-term medical cost. The total of $1.7 trillion is based on a widely cited March 2013 paper by Linda Bilmes at Harvard's Kennedy School. It includes $800 billion already spent on injured veterans along with the cost of long-term care for an additional 50,000 current casualties counted by the Pentagon."
5/15/13 NEW! Baffling Rise in Suicides Plagues the U.S. Military, by James Dao and Andrew W. Lehren, The New York Times. "Of the crises facing American troops today, suicide ranks among the most emotionally wrenching — and baffling. Over the course of nearly 12 years and two wars, suicide among active-duty troops has risen steadily, hitting a record of 350 in 2012. That total was twice as many as a decade before and surpassed not only the number of American troops killed in Afghanistan but also the number who died in transportation accidents last year. ... Yet though the Pentagon has commissioned numerous reports and invested tens of millions of dollars in research and prevention programs, experts concede they are little closer to understanding the root causes of why military suicide is rising so fast."
See also 5/16/13 NEW! In Calculation of Military Rates, the Numbers Are Not All Straightforward, by James Dao and Andrew W. Lehren, The New York Times. [A]n analysis of Pentagon data shows that the Department of Defense uses numbers that may underestimate its suicide rate.
5/14/13 NEW! Contractors Raked in $385 Billion on Overseas Bases in 12 Years, by David Vine, Mother Jones. "With US troops gone from Iraq and the withdrawal from Afghanistan underway, it's easy to forget that we probably still have about 1,000 military bases in other peoples' lands. This giant collection of bases receives remarkably little media attention, costs a fortune, and even when cost cutting is the subject du jour, it still seems to get a free ride. With so much money pouring into the Pentagon's base world, the question is: Who's benefiting? ... Beyond the sheer volume of dollars heading overseas, an analysis of Pentagon spending reveals a troubling pattern: the majority of benefits have gone to a relatively small group of private contractors. In total, almost a third of the $385 billion has flowed into the coffers of just 10 top contractors, including scandal-prone companies like KBR, the former subsidiary of Halliburton, and oil giant BP."

**• OUR GOVERNMENT?...**

5/19/13 NEW! The Afghanistan War May End by 2024 ... Maybe, by Jack A. Smith, Global Research. "As was known in recent years, the Obama Administration actually plans to keep troops in Afghanistan after the 'withdrawal' at least to 2024. They won't be 'combat troops,' so Obama didn't actually mislead the American people. Instead they are to be Special Forces troops, who certainly engage in combat but are identified by a different military designation, as well as U.S. Army trainers for the Afghan military, CIA contingents, drone operators, and various other personnel. ... Obama's many wars are but extensions of Bush's wars plus killer drones, but the great majority of Americans either seem to have forgotten or simply don't care about the wars, even though their tax money will amount to $80 billion for Afghanistan in fiscal 2014."
5/19/13 NEW! America Honors Its Worst, by Stephen Lendman, The Progressive Radio News Hour. "Intrepid Freedom Awards are made annually. They're 'presented to a national or international leader who has distinguished himself in promoting and defending the values of freedom and democracy, the core beliefs of our nation.' Dishonorees include a virtual rogue's gallery of recipients...GW and GHW Bush, Dick Cheney, Leon Panetta, Colin Powell, David Petraeus, Margaret Thatcher, Boris Yeltsin, Newt Gingrich, Bill and Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Silvio Berlusconi, Michael Bloomberg, and Yitzhak Rabin among others. On May 23, Henry Kissinger will be the latest recipient. ... He's a notorious war criminal. His legacy includes three to four million Southeast Asian war deaths. ... overthrowing Chile's democratic government... Suharto's brutal dictatorship... the Khmer Rouge's rise to power and reign of terror... a Kurdish revolt against Saddam Hussein... a 1974 Cypriot fascist coup... Operation Condor. ... overthrowing Bangladesh's democratically elected government... drastic global depopulation... involuntary mass sterilizations... supported the worst of Israeli crimes... His legacy includes involvement in decades of crimes of war, against humanity and genocide. ... He deserves prison instead."
5/17/13 NEW! The Biggest Obama Scandals Are Proven and Ignored, by Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic. "There is clear evidence that he has broken the law on multiple occasions. And not even Republicans seem to care."
4/24/13 RECOMMENDED [VIDEO 4:20] The War On Terror Is Over. America Lost.

• OBAMA'S WARS... (SYRIA)
ALTERNATIVE REPORTING/RESEARCH ON SYRIA: SYRIA NEWS / A CLOSER LOOK ON SYRIA

5/18/13 NEW! [VIDEO, 9:41] Interview: Bashar al-Assad on Syria and the international community, by Marcelo Cantelmi, editor-in-chief Foreign Desk, Clarin, Leah Green, The Guardian (UK). [In Spanish, with English subtitles] "Bashar al-Assad speaks to Argentinian newspaper Clarin about the ongoing civil war in Syria. The president says the country's crisis has become so deadly because of international interference: [at 1:44] 'What does a Chechen terrorist have to do with reforms in Syria? What is the relationship between a terrorist from Iraq or Lebanon or Afghanistan and our reforms? The most recent figures show around 29 different nationalities fighting in Syria. What's the relationship between those 29 and the internal reforms? That concept makes no sense....'"
5/17/13 NEW! Qatar bankrolls Syrian revolt with cash and arms, by Roula Khalaf and Abigail Fielding Smith, Financial Times [subscription]. "The gas-rich state of Qatar has spent as much as $3bn over the past two years supporting the rebellion in Syria, far exceeding any other government, but is now being nudged aside by Saudi Arabia as the prime source of arms to rebels. ... For Qatar, owner of the world's third-largest gas reserves, its intervention in Syria is part of an aggressive quest for global recognition and is merely the latest chapter in its attempt to establish itself as a major player in the region, following its backing of Libya's rebels who overthrew Muammer Gaddafi in 2011. ... According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which tracks arms transfers, Qatar has sent the most weapons deliveries to Syria, with more than 70 military cargo flights into neighbouring Turkey between April 2012 and March this year."
See also FT: Qatar Spends Billions in Syria, Pays $50,000 per Dissident, Al-Manar TV (Lebanon).
5/11/13 NEW! Anti-Syria hysteria? US pushes chemical weapons claim, Russia Today. "US Secretary of State John Kerry said there is 'strong evidence' proving the Syrian government used chemical weapons in its war against the militant opposition, a position at odds with recent UN findings. ... Previously, the United States said it lacked evidence that the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad was responsible for a gas attack against members of the rebel opposition. Kerry's claims were also unsubstantiated. ... Amid the contradictory reports emerging from Syria, Russia warned earlier in the week that global public opinion is being prepared for a possible military intervention in the Syrian crisis."

• JUSTICE...

5/11/13 NEW! Berkeley protesters challenge attorney general, by John Coté, San Francisco Chronicle. "With protesters outside demanding closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Saturday gave an unambiguous endorsement of the civilian court system to try suspected terrorists, telling UC Berkeley Law School graduates that failing to do so 'would weaken our ability ... to punish those who target our people.' ... The target of [protester Mary Ann] Thomas' ire was not Holder specifically, but John Yoo, a UC Berkeley law school professor who authored memos for President George W. Bush's administration laying out the legal justification for 'enhanced interrogation' techniques, widely derided as a euphemism for torture. Berkeley law students 'are being taught by a war criminal," Thomas said. "We want (Yoo) to be disbarred and prosecuted for war crimes.'"

• WAR PROPAGANDA/PROVOCATION...

5/8/13 NEW! Media Theatrics and the Syria Chemical Weapons Saga, by David Edwards, Global Research. "As Craig Murray, formerly Britain's Ambassador to Uzbekistan, noted, corporate media are supplying 'an extraordinary barrage of distorted propaganda to fool western populations over the course and meaning of events'."

• 9/11 - NATIONAL EMERGENCY...

5/8/13 NEW! Fraud Exposed in NIST WTC 7 Reports - Part 1, by Chris Sarns, AE911Truth. "Editor's note: To this day most people, including many architects and engineers, are not aware that a third skyscraper, World Trade Center Building 7, mysteriously collapsed along with the World Trade Center Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. The official report on this building's collapse by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been challenged by many reputable and credentialed technical professionals. The studies below represent years of work by Chris in unraveling some of the most glaring inconsistencies and outright frauds in the NIST report on World Trade Center 7. He demonstrates that the NIST's theory of the fire-induced collapse of Building 7 is faulty and misleading. The destruction of this skyscraper on September 11 was truly unprecedented in the history of high-rise buildings. More than 1,900 architects and engineers at AE911Truth are demanding a new investigation."
7/19/12 RECOMMENDED. Psychology Experts Speak Out: "Why is the 9/11 Evidence Difficult for Some to Accept?", by Dennis P. McMahon, J.D., L.L.M. AE911Truth. "Fran Shure, M.A., a 20-year licensed professional counselor and psychotherapist....realized that 'what is common to every one of them is the emotion of fear. People are afraid of being ostracized, they're afraid of being alienated, they're afraid of being shunned. They're afraid of feeling helpless and vulnerable, and they're afraid that they won't be able to handle the feelings that are coming up. They're afraid of their lives being inconvenienced...of being confused...[and] of psychological deterioration. They're afraid of feeling helpless and vulnerable.' ... Most people do not welcome such dramatic challenges to their worldview."

• WAR CASUALTIES...

5/16/13 NEW! Six Americans, Afghan children among dead in Kabul suicide attack, by Atia Abawi and Fazal Ahad, NBC News. "Six Americans were among at least 15 people killed when a suicide bomber targeted a convoy carrying foreign troops in Kabul on Thursday, NATO sources and local officials said. The American victims included two soldiers and four civilian contractors, the NATO source added. Two children were among the Afghan victims, Afghan officials said."

ARCHIVE SECTION

1. ACTIONS & EVENTS

• RECALL U.S. SENATORS AND CONGRESSMEN WHO VOTED FOR NDAA
2/28/12 Virginia Senate votes 39-1 to nullify NDAA. "[N]o agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia – including defense forces and national guard troops, will comply with or assist the federal government in any way under its newly claimed powers to arrest and detain without due process."
• GLOBAL REVOLUTION (continuing coverage). Live stream video coverage from independent journalists on the ground at nonviolent protests around the world.
• WASHINGTON DC: OCTOBER2011.ORG
• OTHER ACTIONS ACROSS AMERICA: OCCUPY TOGETHER
• JOIN ROOTSACTION.ORG. • BE LOUDER THAN WORDS (VIDEO 1:21).
• BELOW: A BRIEF AND CRUCIAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES (VIDEO 22:52)

4/13/12 YES, THE '99% SPRING' IS A FRAUD, by Charles M. Young, This Can't Be Happening. "The first clue that my evening might go otherwise was the sign-up table, where there were a bunch of Obama buttons for sale...which didn't appear to be selling."
5/22/12 An Ex-Marine Turned Pacifist Now One of 'Hancock 33', by Sherwood Ross, UK Progressive. "It's been a long journey for Russell Brown, 65, from the days when he fought with the Fourth Marines in Viet Nam, to becoming one of the 'Hancock 33' protesters against drone warfare. ... [He's] a man who has seen the criminal operation that is militarism up close and from the inside and who is willing to be arrested to defy it, a man who refuses to allow himself to be intimidated. Now, when will the rest of us speak out?"

2. AMERICA IN DISTRESS: NATIONAL 911 EMERGENCY

"YOU CANNOT FOOL ALL OF THE PEOPLE ALL OF THE TIME."

—Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

Abe Lincoln Upside down flag

**WHY WE MUST QUESTION 9/11 (America CAN Handle the Truth!)**

Our best hope for ending U.S. wars is to expose the mass deception of 9/11 — starting with our own self-deception.

"A meaningful anti-war movement must question the legitimacy of the 'Global War on Terrorism' which is based on the official 9/11 narrative. ... When the Big Lie regarding the 9/11 attacks is exposed and fully understood, the legitimacy of America's military agenda falls like a deck of cards. The warmongers no longer have a leg to stand on."
— Prof. Michel Chossudovsky, Centre for Research on Globalization, September 14, 2010

MORE THAN 3,000 PROMINENT PATRIOTIC AMERICANS HAVE QUESTIONED AND REJECTED THE OFFICIAL 9/11 ACCOUNT. High-level professionals — with extensive backgrounds in government, the military, aviation, engineering, academia, the arts, medicine, science and technology — have dared to speak out, risking their professional reputations and careers (and some even their lives) for the sake of truth.

RETHINKING 9/11: 'STATE CRIME' OF THE MILLENNIUM

"Your government failed fooled you."

HOW TO BEGIN QUESTIONING...
"Understanding the full truth of 9/11 seems to require two separate awakenings. The first, awakening to the fraudulence of the 'official 9/11 story,' is a pretty simple brain function and only requires a little study, logic or curiosity..... The second step, however, consciously confronting the implications of that knowledge—and what it says about our media, politics and economic system today—is by far the harder awakening and requires an enormous exercise of nerve and heart." —911truth.org

New York City, Sept. 13, 2009: Dr. Graeme MacQueen
9/11 TRUTH: THE CHALLENGE TO THE PEACE MOVEMENT
"You must understand 9/11 as a fraudulent trigger incident." (See video below)

[at 31:15] "... I watched the official narrative dissolve before my eyes in two or three days. I want to offer that same challenge to the rest of the peace movement."

VIDEO LECTURE (1:28:16, uploaded 2/21/12), THE FICTIONAL BASIS OF THE WAR ON TERROR [An Evidentiary Analysis of the Anthrax Attacks and 9/11], presented at Harvard University, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies, May 22, 2010, by Dr. Graeme MacQueen
[at 1:26:50] "Most of you have looked the other way. Some of you have even poured comtempt on citizens trying to find their way out of a maze of government lies and propaganda. But surely your duty is to look at the evidence these citizens have accumulated.... If you can find the courage to do this, you'll discover that you've been given an opportunity to perform a great service for humanity."

VIDEO TRAILER (3:14, uploaded 2/29/12) The Toronto Hearings on 9/11: Uncovering 10 Years of Deception - Preview [Toronto Hearings website]

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
— Voltaire (1694 - 1778)

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. ... It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."
— Joseph Goebbels, 1933

"Naturally, the common people don't want war... But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along.... All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
— Hermann Göring, 1946, interviewed in his jail cell during the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials

"We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors...and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."
— Karl Rove, 2004

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time."
— Abraham Lincoln, 1858

"Few are guilty, but all are responsible."
— Rabbi Abraham Heschel (1907 - 1972)

"Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand... He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters."
— Jesus of Nazareth, Matthew 12:25-30

CONTINUED BELOW 9/11: STOP THE LYING. STOP DENYING. START DEFYING.

3. OUR GOVERNMENT?

Eisenhower
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.... The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some 50 miles of concrete highway. We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people."
—Dwight D. Eisenhower, "The Chance for Peace" speech, April 16, 1953

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes.... Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
—Dwight D. Eisenhower, Farewell Address, January 17, 1961

**PENTAGON: 7 WARS OF AGGRESSION – ALL PLANNED BEFORE 9/11:**

FALL, 2001: "Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and finishing off Iran."
—Gen. Wesley Clark (Ret.), interviewed on March 2, 2007 [below left]

TAX DOLLARS AT WAR (Animated video, 3:46) [above right] "People have to realize that 53 cents of every dollar that they're paying in taxes is going to the military. It's an astonishing figure. There's an enormous, ENORMOUS amount of money being blown on war and killing and destruction..."

GRAPHIC: MAPPING A SUPERPOWER-SIZED MILITARY

In 2011 the U.S. spent $711 billion on "defense." The next 14 highest spenders on military—China, Russia, U.K., France, Japan, Saudi Arabia, India, Germany, Italy, Brazil, South Korea, Australia, Canada and Turkey—combined spent $698.7 billion.

LOOK WHO'S GETTING OUR TAX DOLLARS – AND FOR WHAT:
(Contracts valued under $6.5 million are not counted here by DoD)

• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards for May 17, 2013. Total $     214,014,062
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards for May 16, 2013. Total $     123,977,195
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards for May 15, 2013. Total $  1,317,884,414
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards for May 14, 2013. Total $  1,959,938,534
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards for May 13, 2013. Total $     884,033,484
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards for May 10, 2013. Total $     949,041,195
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards for May 09, 2013. Total $     123,358,548
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards for May 08, 2013. Total $  1,057,607,077
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards for May 07, 2013. Total $  8,304,990,203
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards for May 06, 2013. Total $     239,569,656
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards for May 03, 2013. Total $     302,284,594
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards for May 02, 2013. Total $     333,401,776
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards for May 01, 2013. Total $     174,773,354

• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, APRIL 2013: $ 19,059,913,988
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, MARCH 2013: $ 42,974,778,295
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, FEBRUARY 2013: $ 19,659,592,303
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, JANUARY 2013: $ 12,522,775,216
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, DECEMBER 2012: $ 42,718,919,993
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, NOVEMBER 2012: $ 19,890,744,511
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, OCTOBER 2012: $ 38,800,775,132
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, SEPTEMBER 2012: $ 44,132,794,047
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, AUGUST 2012: $ 24,972,023,643
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, JULY 2012: $ 42,949,885,616
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, JUNE 2012: $ 17,789,201,991

ONE-YEAR TOTAL CONTRACT AWARDS (JUNE 2011 - MAY 2012): $337,364,411,007
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, MAY 2012: $ 19,904,320,462
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, APR 2012: $ 26,976,679,871
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, MAR 2012: $ 25,326,441,247
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, FEB 2012: $ 20,086,856,609
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, JAN 2012: $ 37,057,447,392
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, DEC 2011: $ 33,814,406,787
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, NOV 2011: $ 51,220,457,307
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, OCT 2011: $ 25,300,004,573
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, SEP 2011: $ 28,353,878,454
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, AUG 2011: $ 25,214,310,677
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, JUL 2011: $ 13,649,406,508
• U.S. Department of Defense Contract Awards TOTAL, JUN 2011: $ 30,460,201,120
• ARCHIVES HERE (Trillions spent since October 1994)

PENTAGON OVERSPENDING, CONGRESS COVERING UP:

REPORT: DOD AWARDED BILLIONS TO FIRMS DESPITE FRAUD, by Sarah Chacko, Federal Times (2/3/11).
According to the report by the Pentagon's Office of the Undersecretary for Acquisition, between 2007 and 2009:
   • $682.1 million in contracts were awarded to 30 Defense contractors who had been convicted of criminal fraud, resulting in judgments including fines, restitution, suspensions or debarments.
   • $280 billion in contracts were awarded to 91 contractors who had incurred civil judgments, and 120 contractors who had settled charges of fraud.
   • $992.5 million in contracts were awarded to 43 contractors who had been suspended from contracting with the Pentagon. They were awarded more than $3.8 million while they were suspended.
   • $4 billion in contracts were awarded to 164 contractors who had been debarred. They received $15 million in contracts after they were debarred.

PROJECT ON GOVERMENT OVERSIGHT: TOP 100 FEDERAL CONTRACTORS ACCUSED OF FRAUD AND OTHER VIOLATIONS

5/2/13 Iraq reconstruction has lessons on tackling corruption — US inspector, by Stella Dawson, Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Ten years after the invasion, electricity in Iraq is available only a few hours a day, many hospitals are in poor condition and medical supplies remain severely depleted, telephone service is patchy and some new U.S.-funded buildings sit half finished. About 15-20 percent of the U.S. money spent on reconstruction has disappeared in corruption, waste or mismanagement, and money laundering today is a major problem, Stuart Bowen Jr., the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, said in an interview. ... Of the billions of dollars unaccounted for and 637 investigations launched, $1.61 billion has been saved through audits, $191 million recovered and 82 people convicted, his final report 'Learning from Iraq' shows."
4/30/13 Why is the Pentagon exempted from scrutiny?, by Thomas F. Schaller, The Baltimore Sun. "Did you know that private contractors doing business with one government agency are allowed, by law, to charge taxpayers up to $763,000 annually per contract employee — almost twice the president's annual salary? Or that there is an agency whose budget has grown more than 80 percent during the past dozen years? One government department spends fully one-fifth of all its payroll costs paying former federal employees who don't even serve the government any longer. There's a government agency that somehow managed to lose more than $6 billion — in cash, no less — and still cannot account for what happened to the dough. Some top federal employees of one federal program were caught with sums of $360,000, $440,000 and $800,000 in cash they collected from either bribery schemes or contractor kickbacks. ... Some readers may have guessed where I'm going with all this — to the Pentagon, because every one of the above examples relate to the Defense Department."
4/27/13 David McIntyre, Ex-Soldier, Says He Will Kill Himself If Extradited To The US , by Felicity A Morse, The Huffington Post (UK). "Mr McIntyre is accused overcharging a US peace group for a security contract when he was running his own firm in 2009, amounting to fraud worth £65,000 ($100,000). He denies all charges and insists his name was only brought up because a US official accused of similar charges was willing point the finger at anyone to lessen his own sentence. ... A report from the British Army's consultant psychiatrist seen by the Huffington Post UK makes for disturbing reading. It confirms he suffers from psychological disorder and warns that if he is extradited he could react 'impulsively, dangerously and potentially tragically'. ... 'One that really gets to me is seeing some kids killed in Iraq one time and I couldn't do anything about it. They were in a field and they were little girls just running away. They had their little black burqas on and you just see the machine gun bullets stitching the ground as the kids were running straight into them and that was that. It's stuff like that.' ... Medical reports showed McKinnon was very likely to try to kill himself if extradited, despite being accused by US prosecutors of 'the biggest military computer hack of all time.'"
4/25/13 South Dallas military contractor settles federal fraud lawsuit over vehicle maintenance, by Kevin Krause, Dallas Morning News. "A South Dallas military contractor has agreed to pay the government $750,000 to settle allegations that it billed for vehicle maintenance work on vehicles that was never done. Crash Rescue Equipment Service Inc. did not admit liability in agreeing to settle the lawsuit. ... The government alleged the company did not do the work, which included replacing vehicle transmissions and steering gear boxes. The government sued under the False Claims Act."
4/24/13 Owner charged in Navy jet parts case, by Howard Altman, The Tampa Tribune. "The owner of Aviation Engineering Consultants Inc., a Clearwater company that supplies and manufactures aerospace products, was arrested after indictment on charges of providing 'substandard aircraft parts' that were used on a Navy jet. Owner Kamran Rouhani was arrested April 11 after a federal grand jury indictment last month on fraud charges relating to 'substandard parts' for a Navy E-B6 Mercury jet in 2008."
4/19/13 JUDGE WON'T REDUCE SENTENCES IN NAVY BRIBERY CASE, by Greg Moran, San Diego Union-Tribune. "U.S. District Judge Larry A. Burns ruled Thursday that the five defendants either didn't deserve sentencing reductions they sought, or that they had already received enough of a break on their sentences for helping government investigators unravel the bribery ring and would not get more."

4/16/13 Pa. brothers plead to major defense contract fraud, by Joe Mandak, Associated Press, New Jersey Herald. "William Kuchera, 58, and Ronald Kuchera, 51, each face 30 to 37 months in federal prison when they're sentenced Oct. 7. Each will also wind up paying more than $1.5 million in fines, restitution and forfeitures stemming from the scheme involving Kuchera Defense Systems, Inc. of Windber. Their company was paid $650,000 to produce high-tech defense components for an unmanned Humvee project meant to help ground troops coordinate air cover and eliminate friendly-fire casualties. Instead, the Kuchera brothers kept the money but produced nothing, while kicking back more than $200,000 to prime contractor, Coherent Systems International Inc."
4/11/13 Despite Track Record, U.S. Hires Contractor to Provide Troops to U.N. Haiti Mission, Press Release, Center for Economic and Policy Research. "In a press release yesterday, DynCorp International announced that the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) had awarded the company with a $48.6 million contract. The purpose of the contract is to 'recruit and support up to 100 UNPOL and 10 U.N. Corrections Advisors....' ... In 2010, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction issued a report which found that the State Department and DynCorp could not account for $1 billion dollars spent training the Iraq police."
4/11/13 Nova Datacom LLC and Its Former President Plead Guilty in Bribery Scheme Involving Government Contracts, Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice. "Nova Datacom admitted to paying more than $15 million in bribes to three public officials in return for contracts awarded through the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of the Army. In addition, Nova Datacom admitted paying more than $790,000 in kickbacks to executives of two companies that channeled government sub-contracts to the firm. ... As part of the plea agreements, Nova Datacom and Min Jung Cho have agreed to the entry of a forfeiture money judgment against them in the amount of $6.8 million."
4/8/13 Hagel: A Secretary of Defense Reforms? , by Ben Freeman, Huffington Post. "Hagel was curiously short on reform ideas for the $360 billion gorilla in the Pentagon budget—contractors. ... Hagel must address our over-reliance on contractors, which results in a distorted policy-driver of contractor profits over sound national security strategy. In addition, taxpayer dollars are misspent or wasted because contractors often cost more to do the same jobs as federal workers. There are plenty of specific ideas for reforming Pentagon contracting, like reducing the taxpayer-financed compensation of contractor executives or even just providing the public with access to contractor workforce size and cost data, both of which POGO has advocated for. Additionally, sequestration appears to have had little impact thus far on the amount of money flowing to contractors."
4/3/13 DoD still swamped by excess parts, by Sean Reilly, Federal Times. "For almost a quarter-century, the Government Accountability Office has said the military's management of equipment and parts stockpiles is one of the government programs most vulnerable to waste, fraud and mismanagement. The Defense Department had stockpiled $9.2 billion worth of excess parts and other supplies, with another half-billion dollars of unneeded inventory on order, as of September 2011, the most recent available figures from GAO. ... In a 2011 audit, for example, [DoD acting inspector general Lynne] Halbrooks' office found that Boeing was billing the Army almost $1,700 for a dime-sized Chinook helicopter part on sale from DLA for about $8."
4/1/13 How a contracting official scammed more than $30M, by Jim McElhatton, Federal Times. "Until recently, Army Corps of Engineers program manager Kerry Khan had millions of dollars, mistresses in three states and a taste for high-end cars and liquor, according to court records. ... In all, Khan and his associates had illegally pocketed more than $30 million in kickbacks and bribes over almost five years. When authorities finally arrested Khan in October 2011, he had been planning an even bigger scheme to steer a nearly $1 billion federal contract. ... Here is how it generally worked: Contractors involved in the scheme submitted bogus invoices, which the Army Corps — with Khan's help — paid out. In exchange, the money from those invoices went to payoffs and kickbacks through various businesses, records show."
3/27/13 Lawyer: Pa. brothers linked to Murtha to plead guilty in military overbilling, kickback scheme, by Associated Press, The Washington Post. "Two brothers who owned defense contracting businesses that benefited from earmarks obtained by the late U.S. Rep. John Murtha will plead guilty to charging the military $650,000 for parts that were never delivered and paying a kickback to another contractor, a defense attorney said. ... [Richard] Ianieri [CEO of Coherent Systems International, Inc.] pleaded guilty to accepting a $200,000 kickback from Kuchera Defense Systems in return for steering $650,000 worth of work to Kuchera from an $8.2 million congressional earmark."
3/20/13 WAR BROUGHT BILLIONS TO SAN DIEGO, by Mark Walker, The San Diego Union-Tribune. "The Iraq War, which was launched a decade ago today with a 'shock and awe' aerial bombardment, quickly led to an explosion in San Diego County's military contracts as billions of dollars were spent to support U.S. and coalition efforts. Large companies such as Science Applications International Corporation saw their work mushroom as the war dragged on, while dozens of smaller businesses in the region also landed Pentagon contracts."
3/20/13 Iraq War Contractors Fight On Against Lawsuits, Investigations, Fines, by Christina Wilkie, The Huffington Post. "Until recently, many of the war's most controversial, and well-paid, U.S. contractors faced relatively few repercussions for their conduct in Iraq. During the war, they operated outside Iraqi jurisdiction, thanks to a rule implemented by the Coalition Provisional Authority, known as Order 17. Some companies relied further on secret indemnity agreements with the federal government, which protected them from future liability in the U.S. But a handful of court rulings in the past two years have put big-name Iraq War contractors on the defensive against allegations of torture, fraud, negligence and extrajudicial killings. Faced with a shrinking U.S. war budget and unpredictable trial courts, some companies have chosen to settle these claims for millions of dollars. Others have left the country or dissolved their businesses. Some have done both."
3/15/13 Analysis: Pentagon Needs New Ways to Attack Bloated Spending, by Sandra I. Erwin, Natinal Defense Magazine. "Even after sequester, there is still plenty of money in the Pentagon's budget — approximately $100 billion in 2013 — for procurement of new systems. ... Countless efforts to reform weapons-buying rules, including major legislation that Congress passed in 2009, have been mostly powerless against cost overruns. The reason is that none of the procurement reforms attack the 'true drivers' of cost, says Joseph Martin, vice president of aerospace and defense at the consulting firm Booz & Company Inc. ... The key is to reduce crushing overhead expenses — across the entire supply chain — that add no value to programs, he says. These include administration, depreciation, facility expenses, indirect labor, business development and other discretionary expenses that are not directly related to production. The defense sector is loaded with unneeded overhead, says Martin."
3/12/13 How Americans were swindled by the hidden cost of the Iraq war, by Michael Boyle, The Guardian, The Raw Story. "When the US invaded Iraq in March 2003, the Bush administration estimated that it would cost $50-60bn to overthrow Saddam Hussein and establish a functioning government. This estimate was catastrophically wrong: the war in Iraq has cost $823.2bn between 2003 and 2011. Some estimates suggesting that it may eventually cost as much as $3.7tn when factoring in the long-term costs of caring for the wounded and the families of those killed. The most striking fact about the cost of the war in Iraq has been the extent to which it has been kept 'off the books' of the government's ledgers and hidden from the American people."
3/7/13 Watchdog blasts U.S. billions 'wasted' in Iraq reconstruction costs, by Shaun Waterman, The Washington Times. "The original reconstruction fund allocated by the George W. Bush administration after the invasion in 2003 was $2.4 billion. But more than $60 billion ended up being spent by successive administrations, much of it with little oversight or accountability, Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, found. The report to Congress, Mr. Bowen's latest and final publication, [Download PDF, "Learning From Iraq," 6.8MB, 187pp] makes the 'conservative estimate' that $8 billion of the $60 billion was wasted outright, and another $1 billion lost to fraud. But the report also concludes that almost none of the money was spent in ways that got good value for the investment. ... The report looks only at spending on Iraq's reconstruction — not the costs of the 8½-year U.S. military effort there that ended in December 2011. Those costs are estimated by federal auditors at about $800 billion."
3/6/13 Fort Bragg Soldier Tonya Long Smuggled $1 Million From Afghanistan, Got Plastic Surgery And 18-Wheeler, by Paul Szoldra, AOL Business Insider. "Along with an unnamed co-conspirator serving in Afghanistan from January 2008 to April 2009, Sgt. Tonya Long, a customs inspector, took the money in a double-billing kickback scheme. In the course of inspecting personal property being loaded for shipment back to the United States, her co-conspirator would collect the money, and Long would place it in VCRs stripped of their components. ... According to the Daily Mail, Long -- also known as Tonya Long Keebaugh -- spent nearly $500,000 on gifts for her family, which included an 18-wheeled tractor-trailer, a car, a vacation and plastic surgery. Court records suggest that someone else is facing charges, but those records are sealed."
3/2/13 Defense Contractors Found Guilty of Fraud & Corruption, by Mike Wille, San Diego 6 News. "As part of the conspiracy, according to prosecutors, defense contractors provided Navy officials with a wide range of personal benefits -- including cash, checks, retail gift cards, flat-screen television sets, luxury massage chairs, bicycles costing thousands of dollars, model airplanes and other items -- in return for millions of dollars worth of government orders. ... During the course of the conspiracy, the Department of Defense paid Ehnow's company, L&N, more than $3 million. Centerline obtained in excess of $1.5 million in payments from Defense Department during the conspiracy. A third defense contractor, Carlsbad-based X&D Supply Inc., was paid over $2 million during the conspiracy."
2/19/13 Defense-Cut Hypocrisy Makes GOP Converge With Democrats, by Laura Litvan and Julie Bykowicz, Bloomberg News. "[An anti-tax Republican representative from Ohio...an anti-war Democratic senator from Washington state] Together, they embody why reducing the defense budget is difficult, even with wide agreement that the government spends too much. The Pentagon's largess is so sprawling that, through military bases and contracts, it touches all 535 members of Congress -- money that translates into jobs and revenue for companies that are major campaign donors."
2/18/13 Army plows ahead with troubled war-zone program, by Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY. "A $250 million Army program designed to aid U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan has been riddled by serious problems that include payroll padding, sexual harassment and racism, a USA TODAY probe has found. ... And many commanders deemed worthless — or worse — the reports the teams produced. ... 'It's another example of a military program that makes money for a contractor while greatly exaggerating its military utility,' [George Mason University professor Hugh] Gusterson said in an e-mail. '...[t]reating taxpayer money as if it were water'.... The investigation documents numerous cases in which team members earned salaries that outstripped that of even the secretary of Defense. (Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta's salary is $199,700.)"
2/12/13 Man gets prison sentence in cash-smuggling case, by Steve Fry, The Capital-Journal (KS). "A 51-year-old Kansas man was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison Tuesday after he pleaded guilty in November to 'bulk cash smuggling' of $150,000 in $100 bills from Afghanistan to the United States. ... At the time of the smuggling, Garst had worked as a civilian contractor acting as the link to recommend Afghan heavy equipment contractors applying to receive U.S. government contracts. ... 'In the end, (Garst) told us he solicited kickbacks and got kickbacks,' [Special Agent of the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigation Division, Sara] Hernandez said."
2/7/13 Fired for Reporting Defense Fraud, Man Says, by Ryan Abbott, Courthouse News Service. "[Cornelius] Hosch says he was BAE's head of counter-IED intelligence in eastern Afghanistan. 'BAE was hiring certain personnel to complete logistical and administrative tasks but BAE was using these personnel to bill the government for more lucrative labor,' Hosch says in his complaint. ... Hosch says he reported [his boss, Dan] Weber's behavior and the fraudulent billing practices to BAE's ethics department, and was fired after being placed on a performance improvement plan."
2/6/13 Congresswoman Barbara Lee Introduces Bill to Audit the Pentagon, Press Release, Website of Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA). "Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee introduced the 'Audit the Pentagon Act of 2013' for increased transparency and accountability in the defense budget. This bipartisan bill will cut the budget of any Federal agency by five percent that does not receive an independent audit for the previous year. To protect benefits for the nation's veterans, military personnel accounts and the Defense Health Program would be exempt from cuts. ... 'As the daughter of a veteran, I grew up believing in the power and patriotism of the U.S. military, but being patriotic does not mean blindly accepting bloated Pentagon spending.' "
1/31/13 The true cost of national security, by David Cay Johnston, Columbia Journalism Review. "From the perspective of taxpayers who must bear the burden, total national security costs are as much as 2.5 times the base Defense budget. Reporters might want to take a look at the true costs, and not just at the way the White House prepares the budget and Pentagon spins it. ... Add all these up and the total cost grows 86 percent, to $977.5 billion. Most military intelligence spending is buried in these figures. ... That doesn't leave much for other spending on commonwealth goods and services that provide the foundation for private incomes and wealth."
1/20/13 Audit: Army Spent Millions on Repair Contracts for Already Destroyed Vehicles - US Wasting Millions Annually on Vehicle Service, by Jason Ditz, Antiwar.com. "The US is providing some 30,000 vehicles to the ANP [Afghan National Police], and bought the services contracts for them as well, a contract costing about $350 million. But the Army didn't keep up with the number of ANP vehicles destroyed in the ongoing war, and kept paying service fees for vehicles that had long-since been blown up by the Taliban. The audit also found that inventory systems for the contract were not always accurate, and that many of the spare parts the electronic inventory system claimed were shipped and never used were no longer on site." Download SIGAR Report AFGHAN POLICE VEHICLE MAINTENANCE CONTRACT: ACTIONS NEEDED TO PREVENT MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FROM BEING WASTED (1.7MB)
1/19/13 Funds for SIGIR, agency charged with oversight of Iraq reconstruction, set to expire in March, by Ernesto Londoño, The Washington Post. "SIGIR's criminal investigations, conducted with help from the FBI, the IRS and other federal agencies, have resulted in 81 convictions, including 47 military personnel. A few defendants are awaiting trial. Authorities have recovered more than $189 million. ... The agency said it is working with lawmakers in the House and Senate in hopes Congress will find the money to preserve its 21-person investigative team for the remainder of this year. If that effort fails, several of the open cases are likely to stall because they are unlikely to become priorities for federal law enforcement agencies."
1/19/13 Sen. Claire McCaskill leaps hurdles to overhauling wartime contracting, by Lindsay Wise, McClatchy Newspapers, The State (SC). "Among the worst examples of waste, fraud and abuse that the new law was designed to prevent were an ineffective water plant that Iraqis couldn't operate or maintain, a still-unfinished highway in Afghanistan that's wildly over budget at $176 million and a $300 million power plant near Kabul that Afghans can't afford to operate because the diesel fuel required to run it is too costly. ... In a report published in 2011, the [Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan] revealed that as much as $60 billion had been lost to contract waste and fraud. It concluded that the U.S. government no longer can conduct large or sustained military operations or respond to major disasters without over-relying on contractors."
1/14/13 VA fails to curb fraud, by Tom Beyerlein, Dayton Daily News. "The Department of Veterans Affairs is still failing in its efforts to stamp out fraud in a program that gives special preference in obtaining government contracts to businesses that are owned by disabled veterans, the Government Accountability Office reported Monday. ... Veteran businesses got $3.6 billion in VA contracts in fiscal 2011, up from $616 million in fiscal 2006. That's because of a 2006 law that allows the VA to make no-bid contract awards to vet-owned companies, and set aside some competitive bidding strictly for vet businesses. ... The GAO and other government watchdogs have found that hundreds of millions of dollars in public contracts have gone to ineligible companies."
1/13/13 [RADIO INTERVIEW, 56:02] Topic: Pentagon spending & accounting, Perspectives With Barry Shainbaum. On September 10, 2001, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced $2.3 trillion missing from the Pentagon, calling it a "matter of life and death." The next day, 9/11 happened, and the section of the Pentagon housing offices of budget analysts was destroyed. Canadian radio host Barry Shainbaum interviews ex-Pentagon accountant and whistleblower Jim Minnery, 69, a Vietnam veteran, from Elyria, OH, followed by Dina Rasor, investigative journalist and columnist at truthout.org, from San Francisco, CA, on Pentagon spending, accounting, black budgets, Congressional oversight, cronyism, qui tam laws, and the need for reform.
1/11/13 Chief Auditor Decries Waste, Fraud in Afghanistan Reconstruction Spending, by Dan Parsons, National Defense Magazine. "The United States spends $28 million every day on construction projects in Afghanistan. A total of $90 billion has been spent or approved by Congress already.... The money will likely keep flowing from U.S. coffers to Afghanistan even after the 2014 military drawdown prescribed by the Obama administration. ... In total, it costs about $10 billion per year to run the Afghan government, which is money that President Hamid Karzai, who was in Washington, D.C., during [Special inspector general for Afghanistan Reconstruction John] Sopko's speech [VIDEO 51:29], doesn't have."
1/8/13 War Profiteers Still Finishing First, by Kelley B. Vlahos, Antiwar.com. "...Leonie Industries gets to keep the $60 million contract it extended last June. A potentially crippling suspension put on the company after it was reported that its co-founder and principle owner had covertly set up phony websites to besmirch two USA Today reporters, is suddenly off, and Leonie Industries is free to bid on more Pentagon contracts. It doesn't appear to matter that the firm had to be shamed into paying $4 million in back taxes, and was under investigation for mistreating its Afghan employees just last year. ... But what is worth looking at is why the government continues to outsource millions to operations so opaque that they won't even name their CEOs or key staff on their websites."
1/6/13 Fiscal-cliff fears trigger potential bonanza for Lockheed, region's military contractors , by Richard Burnett, Orlando Sentinel. "In the weeks leading up to the dreaded 'fiscal cliff,' the U.S. military flung open its coffers and awarded a slew of defense contracts before Jan. 1, when automatic spending cuts had been scheduled to take effect. ... In December alone, the military doled out contracts worth nearly $6.6 billion for work to be performed partly or totally in Central Florida, according to the latest Department of Defense figures. And nearly all of it involves Lockheed Martin Corp., the region's biggest defense contractor. ... Three other companies with local operations made the Pentagon's yearend rush list: Boeing Co., $50.5 million for rocket-launch and satellite-support services at Cape Canaveral and in Colorado Springs, Colo.; IAP World Services Inc. of Cape Canaveral, $14 million for naval base operations.; Indiana-based ERAPSO Inc., $18 million to build sonobuoys at a plant in DeLeon Springs."
1/4/13 The 'war on terror' - by design - can never end, by Glenn Greenwald, The Guardian (UK). "If you were a US leader, or an official of the National Security State, or a beneficiary of the private military and surveillance industries, why would you possibly want the war on terror to end? That would be the worst thing that could happen. It's that war that generates limitless power, impenetrable secrecy, an unquestioning citizenry, and massive profit. ... [T]he notion that the US government is even entertaining putting an end to any of this is a pipe dream, and the belief that they even want to is fantasy. They're preparing for more endless war; their actions are fueling that war; and they continue to reap untold benefits from its continuation. Only outside compulsion, from citizens, can make an end to all of this possible." [emphasis added]
1/4/13 Obama signs legislation to deliver more government contracts to small businesses, by J.D. Harrison, The Washington Post. "President Obama on Tuesday signed as part of the military spending budget a series of provisions to help small firms compete for more federal contracts and ensure that agencies take their annual small business contracting goals more seriously. ... The change comes after the federal government missed its stated small business contracting goal (23 percent of total procurement across all agencies) for the eleventh straight year in 2012."
12/23/12 (VIDEO 25:10) US-led corrupt practices hinders Afghanistan rebuilding process, Interview with Dilip Hiro, author, 'Apocalyptic Realm: Jihadists in South Asia'; Waliullah Rahmani, director of the Kabul Center for Strategic Studies, from Kabul; and Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, professor at the Quaid-I-Azam University, from Islamabad (with transcript), Press TV. "Do you know how much America is spending each month? Each month they're spending 1 billion dollars; so American expense on their troops and all their contracts, 12 billion dollars a year, is the same as the total GDP of all of Afghanistan of 30 million people. So that gives you the proportion. ... You know, that it has been shown that 90 percent - nine-zero percent - of United States A.I.D., what you call the development fund, disappears. It does not reach the people to whom it's supposed to reach. ... All these things we're talking about, these kickbacks and so on and so forth, these people are getting that, they're not investing in Afghanistan. All their money is going to Dubai and they're buying their real estate in Dubai. They've are buying real estate in Dubai, and putting their money in Dubai."
12/21/12 Defense bill with McCaskill contracting provisions wins final approval, by Robert Koenig, St. Louis Beacon. "The Senate gave final congressional approval Friday to a $633 billion defense bill that includes wartime contracting reforms, a big order of St. Louis-produced fighter aircraft, and new cybersecurity funding and rules. Despite his earlier veto threat, President Barack Obama is expected to sign the National Defense Authorization bill, which the Senate approved 81-14. The House had passed the conference report overwhelmingly on Thursday. U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said after the vote that she got '95 percent of what we wanted' in the legislation, although staffers said a joint House-Senate conference committee had watered down a section on toughening suspension and debarment penalties for Pentagon contractors who had committed fraud. (emphasis added)"
12/19/12 Former Army Contractor Employee and Two Former U.S. Army Staff Sergeants Plead Guilty to Roles in Afghanistan Contract Fraud Scheme, Yuma News Now. "Taylor and Close awarded Borcuta a $200,000 contract to provide the U.S. military with two armored vehicles to be used by the governor of Farah Province, who had received death threats from Taliban insurgents. According to court documents, Taylor and Close authorized a $200,000 payment to Borcuta before he delivered the vehicles. Borcuta collected the payment, paid Taylor and Close $10,000 each, and failed to deliver the vehicles."
12/18/12 RECOMMENDED. Civilian analysts gained Petraeus's ear while he was commander in Afghanistan, by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, The Washington Post. "Frederick and Kimberly Kagan, a husband-and-wife team of hawkish military analysts, put their jobs at influential Washington think tanks on hold for almost a year to work for Gen. David H. Petraeus when he was the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Provided desks, e-mail accounts and top-level security clearances in Kabul, they pored through classified intelligence reports, participated in senior-level strategy sessions and probed the assessments of field officers in order to advise Petraeus about how to fight the war differently. Their compensation from the U.S. government for their efforts, which often involved 18-hour workdays, seven days a week and dangerous battlefield visits? Zero dollars. ... [T]he extraordinary arrangement raises new questions about the access and influence Petraeus accorded to civilian friends while he was running the Afghan war. ... At the August 2011 dinner honoring Petraeus, Kagan thanked executives from two defense contractors who sit on her institute's corporate council, DynCorp International and CACI International. The event was sponsored by General Dynamics. All three firms have business interests in the Afghan war."
12/18/12 Civilian analysts gained Petraeus's ear while he was commander in Afghanistan, by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, The Washington Post. "Frederick and Kimberly Kagan, a husband-and-wife team of hawkish military analysts, put their jobs at influential Washington think tanks on hold for almost a year to work for Gen. David H. Petraeus when he was the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Provided desks, e-mail accounts and top-level security clearances in Kabul, they pored through classified intelligence reports, participated in senior-level strategy sessions and probed the assessments of field officers in order to advise Petraeus about how to fight the war differently. Their compensation from the U.S. government for their efforts, which often involved 18-hour workdays, seven days a week and dangerous battlefield visits? Zero dollars. ... [T]he extraordinary arrangement raises new questions about the access and influence Petraeus accorded to civilian friends while he was running the Afghan war."
12/16/12 Cases of selling bad parts to military are growing, by Kathy Lynn Gray, The Columbus Dispatch. "'The problem is persistent and ongoing,' said Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Michael Marous, who's prosecuting Geyer. 'We have had a continuous flow of these cases for 15 years.' ... Shane M.S. Sarnac of Morenci, Mich., pleaded guilty in January to selling $3.9 million in bad parts to the military in 2007 and 2008...[which] included defective seat assemblies used on military vehicles and tanks that represented a safety risk, according to Defense Department engineers. In court documents, Sarnac's attorney wrote that his client was inexperienced, overwhelmed and received bad advice from a government-contracting consultant. Sarnac, 49, has signed a plea agreement that would send him to prison for two years and require him to pay restitution of $825,000."
12/11/12 7 Shocking Ways the Military Wastes Our Money, by Laura Gottesdiener, AlterNet. "The David Petraeus scandal has shined a light on the luxurious, subsidized lifestyle of the U.S. military's top generals. But so far, what the media has uncovered only scratches the surface of the abuses. Here are eight absurd ways the military wastes our money--and none of them have anything to do with national defense."
12/11/12 Picking Up a $170 Billion Tab - How U.S. Taxpayers Are Paying the Pentagon to Occupy the Planet, by David Vine, TomDispatch. "Read this piece and you'll know what it costs all of us to build and support that Baseworld and more generally the American global military presence. Think about it: at the cost of possibly $2 trillion since 9/11, it should be one of the stories of the century. If it were, maybe by now we would be starting to pull back from the 'military cliff.'"
12/7/12 Lejeune Marine admits to taking wartime bribes, by Lindell Kay, Jacksonville (NC) Daily News. "A Camp Lejeune staff sergeant pleaded guilty this week in federal court to taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for awarding millions of dollars in government contracts to foreign-owned companies during the Iraq War. Gilbert Mendez, 36, who served as a contracting officer at Camp Fallujah in 2006, admitted in federal court in San Diego on Thursday that he took $150,000 in bribes and awarded more than $2.6 million in contracts to three companies providing goods and services in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom."
12/7/12 Feds: Great Neck man gets 4 years in defense contract fraud, by Gary Dymski, Newsday. "Jerome Rabinowitz, 69, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Columbus, Ohio, for selling the parts to the U.S. Navy for its nuclear reactors program, military aircraft and submarine weapons systems. Rabinowitz, who owned J&W Technologies Llc and did business under the name of Jerry Roth, also was fined $25,000 and ordered to forfeit $354,877.80, which represents some of the loss by the Department of Defense...."
12/5/12 Target of fraud probe wins federal contract, San Francisco Chronicle. "An Oregon defense contractor that has been the focus of a bribery investigation has won a new government contract. The Ashland Daily Tidings reports that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $370,000 contract in September to Sky Research Inc. of Ashland. ... Affidavits in U.S. District Court outline findings and witness statements that allege a program manager for the corps in Omaha, Neb., rigged bids on eight contracts worth nearly $160 million for Sky Research."
12/5/12 Claire McCaskill's Sweeping Overhaul Of Wartime Contracting Passes Senate, by Amanda Terkel, Huffington Post. "McCaskill's amendment is a small part of the defense bill, which provides $526 billion for the base defense budget and about $88 billion for the war in Afghanistan. The Senate approved it in a 98-0 vote on Tuesday, despite a veto threat from the White House over a provision that would make it harder for the administration to transfer detainees to Guantanamo Bay."
12/4/12 Justice Department Recovers Nearly $5 Billion in False Claims Act Cases in Fiscal Year 2012 - Largest Annual Recovery in Department History, Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice. "This figure constitutes a record recovery for a single year, eclipsing the previous record by more than $1.7 billion, and brings total recoveries under the False Claims Act since January 2009 to $13.3 billion — which is the largest four-year total in the Justice Department's history and more than a third of total recoveries since the act was amended 26 years ago in 1986."
12/3/12 Army Seeks to Bar New Jersey Assemblyman From Contracts, by Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg Businessweek. "The Army Procurement Fraud Branch is seeking debarment of Assemblyman Robert Schroeder, a deputy Republican whip of the New Jersey General Assembly, and his closely held company, All Points International Distributors Inc. of Hillside, New Jersey. Schroeder already is facing state criminal charges of writing bad checks to company investors. ... Schroeder was charged by the New Jersey attorney general in August with writing almost $400,000 in bad checks to investors in All Points International, which manufacturers portable shelters, canopies, aircraft hangars and multipurpose tents. ... The company had received U.S. payments of $617,357.50 under this contract, according to the document."
11/30/12 Senate Adds Anti-Fraud Amendment to Defense Bill, Press release, Bernie Sanders Newsroom. "The Senate today agreed to make the Pentagon compile annual reports on contracting fraud. The provision by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was added to a Department of Defense authorization bill. ... Another Sanders amendment added to the bill today would make public a list of senior military officials who leave the government and land on the payrolls of defense contractors. ... Major contractors among the many examples of fraud cited in the report included:
    •Lockheed Martin. The nation's largest defense contractor landed $200 billion in taxpayer-funded contracts even after paying $60.95 million in fraud judgments and settlements over the previous 10 years. ...
    •The Boeing Company. It paid at least $644 million in fraud judgments and settlements while it received more than $21 billion in contracts in the last decade. ...
    •Northrop Grumman Corp. Despite paying at least $410 million in fraud judgments and settlements, the nation's No. 3 defense contractor was awarded more than $9 billion in taxpayer-funded contracts in the last decade. ..."
11/27/12 KBR November Litigation Round-Up, by Neil Gordon, Project On Government Oversight. "In early November, an Oregon federal jury returned an $85.2 million verdict against KBR for exposing military personnel to toxic chemicals at an Iraqi water treatment facility in 2003. The jury found that KBR had 'acted with reckless and outrageous indifference to a highly unreasonable risk of harm and conscious indifference to the health, safety, and welfare' of the plaintiffs. A case raising similar claims is pending in KBR's hometown of Houston, Texas, and will soon go to trial. ... Despite a seemingly endless parade of legal troubles for KBR—civil lawsuits, criminal investigations, administrative enforcement actions, investigative audits, and congressional hearings—the company remains a favored supplier of services to the federal government. Every once in a while, we at POGO stop and shake our heads in amazement at how this can be."
11/26/12 Pentagon readies options for troops in Afghanistan after 2014, by Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg Businessweek. "With 66,000 U.S. troops now in Afghanistan, down from a high of 100,000 in May 2011, debate is centering on how many will be withdrawn over the next two years. ... The U.S. Congress has provided more than $51 billion since 2002 to build an Afghan security force, which has about 337,000 personnel today. ... Efforts to withdraw U.S. forces must be reconciled against challenges, including difficulties in training Afghan forces, insider attacks on U.S. and allied troops, government-wide corruption and insurgent safe havens in Pakistan. ... Max Boot, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, told the House Armed Services Committee in June that he would advise against withdrawing any of the remaining troops next year."
11/21/12 McCaskill, Collins question why Army Corps paid for an 'unusable' Afghan facility, by Ramsey Cox, The Hill. " 'It looks like we paid $70 million for a contract that delivered next to nothing — any reasonable person is going to ask why,' said McCaskill, who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight, in a statement Tuesday. 'Every taxpayer dollar spent in Afghanistan is a dollar that wasn't spent to build a school or repair a road right here at home, and I think it's critical that we really scrutinize what we're getting for the money we're spending on projects halfway around the world.' ... In the letter, McCaskill and Collins also question if the USACE settlement decision violated federal regulations, which require settlements of more than $100,000 to be submitted to an audit agency for review."
11/19/12 United States Sues Houston-based KBR and Kuwaiti Subcontractor for False Claims on Contracts to House American Troops in Iraq , Office of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of Justice. "According to the complaint, KBR awarded a subcontract to First Kuwaiti on Oct. 16, 2003, to supply, transport and install 2,252 living containers at Camp Anaconda in Iraq for about $80 million. ... The complaint further alleges that KBR charged these costs to the United States knowing they were improper. ... The United States has paid KBR tens of billions of dollars for logistical support services since awarding the contract."
11/5/12 Pentagon arms buyer sees deal by Congress to delay spending cuts, by Andrea Shalal-Esa, Reuters, Yahoo News. "The Pentagon's top arms buyer on Monday said he expected U.S. lawmakers to agree in coming weeks to delay implementation of an additional $500 billion in automatic defense spending cuts that are due to start taking effect in January. ... U.S. defense companies like Lockheed Martin Corp have been warning for over a year that uncertainty about future budget levels is depressing investment in facilities, hiring and mergers and acquisitions across the sector."
10/26/12 Army Corps Can't Show $1 Billion in Iraq Fuel Delivered, by Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg Business Week. "In a review of 12 major payments through the Development Fund for Iraq, one of three documents needed to properly verify delivery -- a 'receiving report' -- was missing from more than 95 percent of the files, according to the audit issued yesterday by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction."
10/24/12 Army Contractor KBR Employee Pleads Guilty to Bribery for Facilitating Theft by Trucking Contractor in Afghanistan, Yuma News Now (AZ). "According to her plea agreement, from approximately May 2008 through December 2008, in return for her knowingly handling the fraudulent TMRs and invoices, Montes received from ATT approximately $50,000, consisting of $35,000 wired to her personal bank account in the United States and another $15,000 in cash paid to her on several occasions in Afghanistan."
10/19/12 Sleepy Hollow ex-FBI agent indicted in defense contract fraud, by Associated Press, Newsday (NY). "A federal grand jury indicted a former FBI special agent and a defense contractor Thursday in a federal fraud case involving U.S. Army contracts, marking the latest turn in what prosecutors have called a multimillion-dollar scheme to win military contracts in Afghanistan." See New York Times report, 10/1/12
10/16/12 Pentagon not properly monitoring sole-source contracts, audit finds, by Charles S. Clark, Government Executive. "In a review of 107 contracts valued at nearly $1.4 billion, along with another half-billion dollars' worth of contract modifications, the IG determined that the military's competition advocates failed to follow single-bid guidance in 31 cases. ... Commenting on the report, Scott Amey, general counsel for the nonprofit Project on Government Oversight, wrote in a blog: 'Imagine going to only one car dealer to buy a car and doing so without seeing a window sticker or entering into an aggressive price negotiation. That is how DoD is buying, despite guidance from DoD procurement officials and the White House. There is no competition helping to drive down costs, and there is no cost or pricing data that ensures the government is paying fair and reasonable prices. That's a recipe for waste, fraud and abuse, if I ever heard one.'" [Download report (3.0 MB)]
10/11/12 Report: Contract fraud puts U.S. troops at risk of IEDs, by Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today. "It's unclear if any U.S. troops have been killed or wounded because of the potential fraud, and a criminal investigation is underway. ... The contractors were paid $361,680 to place 125 metal grates over culverts to prevent insurgents from packing them with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the top cause of American casualties in Afghanistan."
10/10/12 Video: Congress Tries to Force U.S. Army to Accept New Tanks on Behalf of Defense Contractors, by Michael Allen, Opposing Views. "More than 2,000 M-1 Abrams tanks are sitting in a parking lot in Herlong, California because of a disagreement between the U.S. Army, Congress and the military industrial complex. The U.S. Army's chief of staff General Raymond T. Odierno told Congress, earlier this year, that the U.S. has more than enough combat tanks.... However, 173 House Democrats and Republicans are urging Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, to support their decision to produce more unwanted tanks. ... Defense contractor General Dynamics, which builds tanks, gives contributions to Congress when votes come up on weaponry."
10/1/12 Lured by Promises of Wealth, F.B.I. Agent Was Drawn Into Fraud Scheme, Prosecutors Say, by Russ Buettner, The New York Times. "'I've made us all stinking rich!!!' [FBI agent Robert Lustyik] wrote, telling the friend to start planning how to spend a $1 million gift that would be arriving soon. ... The prosecutors say that the contractor, Michael Taylor, a former member of an Army Special Forces team, in 2007 won a contract eventually worth $54 million to train Afghan commandos. ... According to prosecutors, Mr. Taylor gave or promised Mr. Lustyik $200,000 in cash, and promised shares in several foreign enterprises, including a contract for security and surveillance equipment to the United Arab Emirates expected to be worth more than $100 million. ... Mr. Lustyik promised Mr. Taylor he would get the Utah investigation shut down, saying in e-mails that he would 'blow the doors off this thing' and 'crush the Utah case agent.'"
9/27/12 Vienna Man Pleads Guilty to Bribery in Army Contract Scheme, by Staff, Fairfax News (VA). "Oh Sung Kwon, 47, a Northern Virginia businessman, pled guilty yesterday to federal charges stemming from a bribery scheme in which he paid thousands of dollars to an Army official in return for government contracts, as well as a separate scheme involving fraudulent real estate sales and refinances. ... He is among 12 people who have pled guilty to federal charges for their roles in the largest domestic bribery and bid-rigging scheme in the history of federal contracting. The investigation is continuing."
9/23/12 Tierney wants hard line on arms dealer, by Richard Gaines, Gloucester Times (MA). "The $7.5 million fine that an international arms dealer and security contractor – Blackwater Worldwide, as it was known during the Iraq War – agreed to pay to settle a years' long and complex investigation by the U.S. Justice Department into arms export violations...leaves the company, now named Academi LLC, eligible for future government contracts. ... According to Tierney, 'the facts uncovered during the criminal investigation raise serious concerns about Academi/Blackwater's fitness as a contractor.'"
9/22/12 Alcatel-Lucent unit settles fraud claim for $4.2 million, by David Ingram, Reuters, Chicago Tribune. "[The unit, Lucent Technologies World Services Inc] has agreed to pay $4.2 million to settle allegations by the U.S. government that it submitted misleading information while working on a military contract, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday. ... A whistleblower who had been a contract manager for the project, Geoffrey Willson, started the case in December 2008 under the False Claims Act. The law allows a whistleblower to collect a share of the recovery in cases of improper government payments, and Willson will receive $758,000, the Justice Department said."
9/14/12 Woodbridge Man Sentenced in Army Bribery Scheme, Fairfax News (VA). "Alexander, formerly of Woodbridge, is among 11 people who have pled guilty to federal charges for their roles in the largest domestic bribery and bid-rigging scheme in the history of federal contracting. ... Alexander worked for the United States Army and the Army Corps of Engineers from 1979 until the time of his arrest, in October 2011. ... Alexander produced and actively managed a $54 million budget."
9/7/12 Former Army employee admits taking kickbacks, by Associated Press, Ventura County Star (NJ). "Federal prosecutors said John Alfy Salama Markus took bribes from men whose companies were awarded more than $50 million in Iraqi reconstruction contracts. ... Prosecutors said Salama Markus built a $1.1 million house in Nazareth, Pa., with the money. He must forfeit the house, along with $3.7 million, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a Cadillac, Corvette and other cars as part of the plea agreement."
8/31/12 Strategic Contractors, by Col. Christopher Holshek (ret.), Huffington Post. "The bad or negligent behavior of too many contractors can be explained (or is covered), in good part, by a culture of impunity that has emerged, driven by an overwhelming and overzealous focus on 'mission accomplishment' at just about every cost. ... As SIGAR [Special Investigator for Afghanistan Reconstruction] last reported: 'There is still time to boost efficiency, prevent waste, identify wrongdoers, suspend or debar bad contractors, prosecute crimes, recover losses, and take other steps to improve program and mission outcomes. But the window of opportunity is closing.' ... That begins with leadership and vision from the top."
8/27/12 U.S. Army awards $200 million dollar contract to corporation linked to scandal, by Robert Tilford, Examiner.com. "SAIC is the same corporation who was forced to pay a record '$500 million to avoid federal prosecution for its role in the scandal-tarred CityTime project', an effort at modernizing New York's payroll system. The New York Times reported that the project was plagued by 'widespread fraud' and weak oversight and became a lingering embarrassment for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's administration."
8/23/12 Defense Contractors Accused of Bribing Navy Officials Plead Not Guilty, by Jennifer Vigil, ed., Coronado Patch Newsletter (CA). "The indictment alleges that the defense contractors provided Navy officials with more than $1 million in personal benefits, including cash, checks, flat-screen television sets, luxury massage chairs and home remodeling services. In return, the Navy officials placed millions of dollars in government orders with the defense contractors."
8/22/12 $54M military contract results in fraud, bribery indictment with Utah ties, by Pat Reavy, Deseret News (Utah). "SALT LAKE CITY — A federal indictment was announced Wednesday against a Boston corporation and three men accused of bribing a military official to gain a $54 million contract in Afghanistan. ... Included in the indictment is a notice of intent by the government to seize property acquired due to the alleged illegal deal — including about 20 homes and other property in Utah, Florida, Arizona, New Hampshire and British Columbia; 225 American Eagle gold coins; 175 South African Krugerrand gold coins; a boat; a plane; a Hummer; and a Jaguar. Prosecutors also intend to seize more than $5.2 million from AISC bank accounts and more than $1 million from other accounts."
8/20/12 Jury Convicts New York Man Of Defense Contract Fraud, by United States Southern District Court, NBC4. "A United States District Court jury convicted a New York Man of mail and wire fraud, false claims and money laundering for selling nonconforming parts...[to be] used in the Navy Nuclear Reactors Program, on military aircraft, and on weapons systems for submarines. ... Court testimony also alleged that Rabinowitz provided forged documents to the Department of Defense to make it appear as though he bought the parts from the correct manufacturers. ... The jury also found that Rabinowitz should forfeit $354,877.80, which represents some of the loss to the Department of Defense from the wire fraud and the mail fraud, and a 5.29 carat diamond ring Rabinowitz Defendant bought with some of the proceeds (comingled with other monies) of the money laundering."
8/8/12 Canadian troops trained by Blackwater without U.S. permission: court records , by Murray Brewster, Toronto Globe and Mail. "The idea that technical data was transferred to Canada also grabbed [the] attention [of Dave Perry of Carleton University's Centre for Security and Defence Studies]. He wonders what it was the U.S. thought was so sensitive that it could be shared with a private contractor, but not with its closest neighbour and military ally. Mr. Perry said the court case raises more questions about the government's association and believes the revelations may only be the tip of the iceberg, given that Blackwater had over 30 different subsidiaries."
8/8/12 Tierney, Allen Introduce Bill to Form Commission on Wartime Contracting, Tierney.House.gov Press Release. "WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Representatives John F. Tierney (D-MA) and Thomas H. Allen (D-ME) introduced legislation that would establish an independent Commission on Wartime Contracting to investigate Iraq and Afghanistan wartime contracts and the contracting processes. Senators Jim Webb (D-VA) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) introduced the companion measure, which is expected to be approved this evening, as an amendment to the Senate's Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008."
8/7/12 Company previously known as Blackwater agrees to $7.5 million fine in arms smuggling case, by Associated Press, The Washington Post. "Documents unsealed Tuesday in a U.S. District Court in North Carolina said the company, now called Academi LLC, agreed to pay the fine as part of a deferred prosecution agreement to settle 17 violations. The list includes possessing automatic weapons in the United States without registration, lying to federal firearms regulators about weapons provided to the king of Jordan, passing secret plans for armored personnel carriers to Sweden and Denmark and illegally shipping body armor overseas. Federal prosecutors said it settles a long and complex case against the company, which has held billions in U.S. security contracts in Iraq and Afganistan."
8/7/12 Agencies say 'No mas' to wartime contracting reforms, by Matthew Weigelt, Washington Technology. "Three agencies dealing with contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan have yet to implement the majority of management recommendations that came from Congress' wartime contracting commission and now some leading senators are pushing for tougher action, according to a new report. But the agencies are telling auditors that they do not see a need to go any further."
8/7/12 Court Rules that Lockheed Martin Can Be Sued For Submitting False Underbids to Obtain Air Force Contracts, says The Cullen Law Firm, PLLC, MarketWatch Press Release, The Wall Street Journal. "Submitting a low bid to secure a federal contract knowing that the contract will cost the government more when fulfilled is a violation of federal law confirmed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in an August 2, 2012, decision. The court's ruling permits The Cullen Law Firm, PLLC, to proceed to trial in a case brought under the False Claims Act (FCA) alleging that the Lockheed Martin Corporation submitted false underbids to secure contracts related to the Range Standardization and Automation IIA ("RSA") program administered by the Air Force."
8/2/12 Defense Companies Use Congress to Save Their Profits, No Matter What (Part One), by Dina Rasor, Truthout. "All the members of Congress will talk a good game when it comes to going after waste and fraud in the Pentagon in their campaign literature to look tough when the next overpriced weapon or spare part hits the press, but they are counting on the Pentagon contractors to keep them fat in campaign contributions and to make sure that the contractors have got the Congress' back. ... According to The Washington Post: 'Defense contractors Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Raytheon spent a combined $33.4 million on lobbying in Washington last year, a 10 percent increase from 2010, as Congress and the Obama administration weighed cuts in the Pentagon budget.'"
7/27/12 Guilty plea awaited in Iraq war fraud case, by Guillermo Contreras, San Antonio (TX) Express-News. "Charpia is one of the latest to be charged as a result of massive investigations that identified corrupt practices during America's involvement in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. ... But now she has admitted to investigators that she fabricated the invoices and forged the signatures on the documents, according to court records. She also admitted she did not buy the armored vehicles and only paid for half of the cost of the villas. Agents learned she wired $1.27 million to her account at USAA and withdrew $800,000 on Oct. 29, 2008."
7/25/12 Feds, contractor working to settle Ky. fraud suit, by Brett Barrouquere, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle. "U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II issued a temporary restraining order last week barring Gary Meredith and his company, Meredith & Associates, from withdrawing any of the money he received from the $2 million contract he created before ending his tenure with the government. Heyburn gave the two sides until Sept. 11 to reach a settlement. Prosecutors said Meredith made $653,428 for his work as the subcontractor on the deal."
7/25/12 Ore. defense contractor target of investigation, by Jeff Barnard, Associated Press Salon. "GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) – Federal authorities are investigating whether a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers program manager made sure an Oregon defense contractor won nearly $160 million worth of contracts as part of a cozy relationship that included snowboarding and fishing vacations, trips to Singapore and Bali, and sex with female employees hired to work with him."
7/19/12 Virginia grand jury indicts military contractor, by Larry O'dell, Bloomberg Business Week. "According to the indictment, in 2006 Armet signed two contracts worth nearly $6.4 million to provide 32 armored gun trucks to the Department of Defense. The contracts said the vehicles would provide security to Iraqi VIPs who regularly traveled by motorcade through 'a hostile and dangerous environment.' ... The company delivered only seven vehicles, one of which was rejected by the military. According to the indictment, none the trucks met the contract specifications, despite the company's written certifications to the contrary."
7/17/12 The special inspector general for Iraq tallies the loss of U.S. taxpayer funds at more than 11 percent of the billions spent, by Zach Toombs, iWatch News/Center for Public Integrity. "Fraudulent activities uncovered by the special inspector general resulted in 87 indictments, according to the report. Of those cases, 61 involved contract kickbacks, 11 involved contract fraud, and nine were related to embezzlement. Both military officers and defense contractors were frequently implicated. ... Many of the challenges described in the Iraq report mirror those depicted in similar reports by its cousin, the office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. In a May report to Congress, for example, that office concluded that 'corruption remains a major threat to the reconstruction effort' and said contractors were taking advantage of lax oversight in Afghanistan."
7/15/12 The Lily-Pad Strategy: How the Pentagon Is Quietly Transforming Its Overseas Base Empire and Creating a Dangerous New Way of War, by David Vine, TomDispatch. "Around the world, from Djibouti to the jungles of Honduras, the deserts of Mauritania to Australia's tiny Cocos Islands, the Pentagon has been pursuing as many lily pads as it can, in as many countries as it can, as fast as it can. ... Washington still easily maintains the largest collection of foreign bases in world history: more than 1,000 military installations outside the 50 states and Washington, DC. They include everything from decades-old bases in Germany and Japan to brand-new drone bases in Ethiopia and the Seychelles islands in the Indian Ocean and even resorts for military vacationers in Italy and South Korea."
7/13/12 Final US audit of reconstruction effort in Iraq says billions of dollars likely wasted, by Robert Burns, Associated Press, USA Today. "After years of following the paper trail of $51 billion in U.S. taxpayer dollars provided to rebuild a broken Iraq, the U.S. government can say with certainty that too much was wasted. But it can't say how much. ... [Inspector GeneralStuart] Bowen's office has spent more than $200 million tracking the reconstruction funds, and in addition to producing numerous reports, his office has investigated criminal fraud that has resulted in 87 indictments, 71 convictions and $176 million in fines and other penalties. These include civilians and military members accused of kickbacks, bribery, bid-rigging, fraud, embezzlement and outright theft of government property and funds. Much, however, apparently got overlooked." [Download Report, 782K]
7/5/12 DISA awards contract to company with history of fraud, by Amber Corrin, Federal Computer Week. "The Defense Information Systems Agency is defending its decision to award a $578 million contract to Red River Computer to provide IT equipment and services – services strikingly similar to some of those Red River was last year fined more than $2 million for failing to provide to government agencies."
7/5/12 Defense Contractor Earns $119 million in Small Business Contracts Despite Illegally Providing U.S. Military Technology to China, According to the American Small Business League, Enhanced Online News. "United Technologies Corporation (UTC), a Fortune 500 company which owns numerous large defense contractors including Pratt & Whitney, Hamilton Sundstrand and Sikorsky Aircraft...is just one of many large corporations that received billions of dollars worth of federal small business contracts in recent years. Others include Lockheed Martin, Apple, Rolls-Royce, Chevron, GE, Time Warner, and Russian arms company Rosoboronexport. ... 'The Pentagon has given over $2 billion worth of federal contracts (including $119 million in small business contracts!) to a company that illegally sold U.S. military technology to China,' ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. 'Such rampant abuse of federal programs designed to help small businesses has gone on for the last decade because Congress, the President and the mainstream media refuse to address these blatant issues.'"
7/3/12 Chinese Counterfeit Goods in US Military Supply Chain – Part II, by WC, Top Secret Writers. "Military contractors are expected to self police, as it were, and have been doing a poor job of it. The preponderance of substandard goods proves that contractors and subs have done little to no 'self policing'. ... Chinese made parts are also found in a host of strategic infrastructure systems as well. Such parts could also contain malicious code or dangerous trapdoors. Such code could jeopardize everything from telecommunications systems to nuclear power plants. This is alarming when one considers that Chinese exploitation could bring down the US power grid, telecommunications and even affect the U.S. military command system itself."
7/2/12 Two Former Soldiers Sentenced for Their Participation in Fraud Scheme to Obtain $244,000 in Military Recruiting Referral Bonuses, FBI Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice.
6/27/12 Army Sergeant and Associate Convicted on All Counts for Roles in Bribery and Money Laundering Scheme Related to Defense Contracts to Support Iraq War, Reported by FBI, 7th Space Interactive.
6/27/12 Contractor to pay US $628K for overcharging, by Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle.
6/24/12 WSJ: U.S. Awards Afghan Food Contracts Amid Dispute , by Nathan Hodge, The Wall Street Journal. "The U.S. military has awarded contracts valued at nearly $10 billion to provide food for troops in Afghanistan, amid a billing dispute with its longstanding supplier Supreme Foodservice GmbH. ... The Pentagon says it has spent about $6.8 billion since 2005 on its current food-supply contract with Supreme, a unit of Netherlands-based Supreme Group that delivers food, water and other supplies to about 250 delivery locations around Afghanistan. Earlier this year, the Defense Logistics Agency, the Pentagon's logistics arm, began reducing payments to Supreme by $21.7 million a month in order to start recouping what the agency says were $750 million in overpayments. . ... Rep. John Tierney (D., Mass.), ranking member of the national security subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said his committee would look into the 'blatant mismanagement of this contract' by the Defense Department."
6/20/12 Top General Accused of Blocking Corruption Probe to Help Obama, by Spencer Ackerman and Noah Shachtman, WIRED Magazine. "Many of the allegations against [Lt. Gen. William] Caldwell come from Air Force Col. Schuyler Geller, who served as Caldwell's command surgeon when Caldwell ran the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan (NTM-A). A memo from Geller recounting Afghan corruption and Caldwell's reaction, dated 2011, was acquired by Danger Room under the condition we not publish it. He outlines 'a significant level of corruption' by the Afghan military medical organization, which he helped mentor. That corruption, he charges, was 'known to be present by NTM-A's Senior Army leadership.'
'Scores of millions' of dollars in U.S. taxpayer aid to the Afghan Army medical corps disappeared from the official balance sheets, Geller charges, and into what looked to Geller like a criminal enterprise for selling pharmaceuticals meant for Afghan troops. Despite nearly $180 million in U.S. taxpayer money since 2008 for the Afghan medics, Afghan troops far from Kabul have reported a lack of medical support and supplies. 'It was clear that financial management at the [Afghan National Army] surgeon general's office was known by NTM-A Programs leadership in March of 2010,' Geller writes."
6/15/12 U.S. Sets Another Record on Defence Sales, Already, by Carey L. Biron, Inter Press Service. "The United States is set to far surpass previous records for defence sales this year, according to U.S. officials. ... [Andrew J. Shapiro, an assistant secretary in the U.S. State Department] confirmed that the U.S., long the world's largest weapons exporter, has already seen more than 50 billion dollars in government-to-government military sales this fiscal year. ... To put this in context, fiscal year 2011 was a record-setting year at just over 30 billion. This fiscal year will be at least 70 percent greater.'"
6/14/12 Landmark bill cracking down on waste, fraud in wartime contracting gains bipartisan support, by David Swanson, Waynesville Daily Guide. "The five-year effort by U.S. Senators Claire McCaskill and Jim Webb to increase accountability and crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars in contracting during overseas contingency operations has gained new bipartisan support. ... The legislation, first introduced on February 29, 2012, builds on the recommendations of the U.S. Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan—an independent, bipartisan panel that McCaskill and Webb created through legislation they introduced in 2007."
6/14/12 War Profiteers Threaten Layoffs to Extort More Money From Congress, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "Never mind that military spending produces fewer jobs than any other spending or even tax cuts for working people. War profiteering companies know how to force Congress critters to do their bidding." Quoting POLITICO: Layoff threats put Congress on notice, "Lockheed Martin, the world's largest defense contractor and a bellwether of the industry, already has started preparing for the possibility of staff reductions. The company, which is dependent on government contracts for the bulk of its revenue, recently has seen its stock price slide. ... 'If it really did happen, if hundreds of thousands of layoff notices went out right before the election, it could hurt incumbents – mainly, the president,' said Todd Harrison, a defense expert at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments."
   NOTE: Next day, DoD awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. three contracts totalling $2.4 billion.
5/15/12 $642 billion for the Military? This year? You must be kidding!, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "The FY 2013 military budget (NDAA) is up for a vote in the House this Friday. It contains more than $642 billion of taxpayer money to pay for a war the majority of Americans oppose; nuclear upgrades that threaten non-proliferation agreements; programs and weapons that even the Pentagon doesn't want. The bill also promotes reckless threats on Iran, enables reckless actions by Israel and prohibits the transfer of prisoners from Guantanamo to the United States. It's not just the Republicans, who are at fault. The majority of Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee have voted in favor, producing a lopsided 56-5 margin for an outrageous bill. Partisan rhetoric should not obscure the reality that if this over-sized military budget passes the Congress, it will be paid for by programs that affect the most vulnerable –food stamps, school lunches, health insurance for low income children, 'Meals-on Wheels' for the elderly."
5/11/12 Public overwhelmingly supports large defense spending cuts, by R. Jeffrey Smith, iWatch News — The Center for Pubic Integrity. "According to the survey, in which respondents were told about the size of the budget as well as shown expert arguments for and against spending cuts, two-thirds of Republicans and nine in 10 Democrats supported making immediate cuts — a position at odds with the leaderships of both political parties. The average total cut was around $103 billion, a substantial portion of the current $562 billion base defense budget, while the majority supported cutting it at least $83 billion. These amounts both exceed a threatened cut of $55 billion at the end of this year under so-called 'sequestration' legislation passed in 2011, which Pentagon officials and lawmakers alike have claimed would be devastating."
5/7/12 Debunking the Missile-Defense Myth, by Yousaf Butt, The National Interest. "The simplest countermeasures to the planned missile defense are cheap inflatable balloons. Because the missile-defense interceptors try to strike ICBM warheads in the vacuum of space, any such balloons and the warhead would travel together, making it impossible to tell the decoys from the real thing."
3/26/12 GAO goes undercover to expose military electronic parts fraud against DOD , by Ellen Messmer, Network World. "The federal watchdog agency, the General Accountability Office, went undercover on the Internet to expose manufacturers actively willing to sell bogus military-grade electronics parts used in major weapons and aircraft systems of the U.S. Department of Defense. ... The GAO ended up purchasing 16 parts, four of which technically do not even exist. China was the main source of responses, and the GAO purchased parts from vendors in Shenzen, Shantou and Beijing. Some of these were electronics parts that in theory would be used in military systems, including Army and Air Force Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar Systems, the F-15 Eagle fighter plane, the Maverick AGM-65A missile, the Air Force Special Operations Forces' AC-130H Gunship aircraft, the B-2B aircraft and the Navy's Hawkeye aircraft. The GAO noted that in some cases, the failure of a critical part could pose a risk to the system overall."
2/29/12 A dubious, costly effort to win hearts, minds, by Tom Vanden Brook and Ray Locker, USA Today. "As the Pentagon has sought to sell wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to often-hostile populations there, it has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on poorly tracked marketing and propaganda campaigns that military leaders like to call 'information operations,' the modern equivalent of psychological warfare. ... In Iraq alone, more than $173 million was paid to what were identified only as 'miscellaneous foreign contractors.'"
2/28/12 Ten Companies Profiting Most from War, 24/7 Wall St. "While many industries continued to suffer in 2010 as a result of the financial crisis, leaders in the arms and military services were largely unaffected." [PROFITS: (1) United Technologies $4.71B (2) Boeing $3.31B; (3) Lockheed Martin $2.93B; (4) General Dynamics, $2.62B; (5) Northrup Grumman $2.05B; (6) Raytheon $1.88B; (7) BAE Systems $1.67B; (8) L-3 Communications $960M; (9) Finnmeccanica $740M; (10) EADS $730M.]
2/27/12 Business as usual for top arms producers despite slowdown in arms sales, says SIPRI [Stockholm International Peace Research Institute]
2/11/12 Army Officer's Leaked Report Rips Afghan War Success Story, by Gareth Porter Inter Press Service. " 'If the public had access to the classified reports,' [Lt. Col. Daniel] Davis writes, 'they would see the dramatic gulf between what is often said in public by our senior leaders and what is true behind the scenes.' ... Both Senate and House Armed Services Committees have exhibited little or no interest in probing behind the official claims of success in Afghanistan. That passive role reflects what many political observers, including some members of Congress, see as cozy relationships among most committee members, military leaders, Pentagon officials and major military contractors."
2/7/12 Aerospace, defense deals reach record totals in 2011, United Press International. "The aggregate deal value during the year reached $43.7 billion supported by 341 deals, compared to total deal value of $21.9 billion and 332 deals in 2010. The 2011 record surpassed the level of transactions reached in 2007 of $42 billion. It was a year marked by mega deals in excess of $1 billion each, one of those for a total value of $16 billion."
1/17/12 Privatizing the War on Terror: America's Military Contractors, by John W. Whitehead, Huffington Post. "In fact, at the same time that Obama is reducing the number of troops in Iraq, he's replacing them with military contractors at far greater expense to the taxpayer and redeploying American troops to other parts of the globe, including Africa, Australia and Israel. In this way, the war on terror is privatized, the American economy is bled dry, and the military-security industrial complex makes a killing — literally and figuratively speaking. ... Incredibly, while base pay for an American soldier hovers somewhere around $19,000 per year, contractors are reportedly pulling in between $150,000 - $250,000 per year."
12/2/11 Senate approves $662 billion defense bill, by Donna Cassata, Boston Globe. "The vote was 93-7 for the bill authorizing money for military personnel, weapons systems, national security programs in the Energy Department, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1."
11/2/11 Report: Military Blew $1 Trillion on Weapons Since 9/11, by Adam Weinstein, Mother Jones. "Between 1981 and 1990, the Air Force bought 2,063 fighters. In contrast, between 2001 and 2010, it bought only 220. Yet between 2001 and 2010 the Air Force spent $38B of procurement funding just on fighter aircraft in inflation-adjusted dollars, compared with the $68B it spent between 1981 and 1990. In other words, the Air Force spent 55 percent as much money to get 10 percent as many fighters."
10/25/11 WARTIME CONTRACTING PANEL SEALS RECORDS FOR NEXT 20 YEARS, by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov.com. "After three years of work, the commission officially shut down last week, having concluded that the U.S. misspent between $31 billion and $60 billion in contracting for services in Iraq and Afghanistan. But it won't allow its records to be opened for public review at the National Archives until 2031, because some of the documents contain 'sensitive information,' according to one official."
10/22/11 DEFENSE DEPT. GAVE $431 BILLION TO CONTRACTORS AFTER THEY WERE CONVICTED OF FRAUD, by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov.com. "Examples include Lockheed Martin, which in 2008 paid $10.5 million to settle charges that it defrauded the government by submitting false invoices related to the Titan IV space launch vehicle program. The following year Lockheed pulled in $30.2 billion from the Defense Department. Northrop Grumman paid $62 million in 2005 to settle fraud charges, but by the next year, received nearly $13 billion in contracts, which amounted to a 16% increase over the previous year. In 2009, they were hit with a $325 million bill for malfeasance. Boeing has paid more than $600 million in civil settlements, and TRW $436 million."
9/15/11 DoD's audit avalanche, by Philip Ewing, DoD Buzz. "The Defense Department's books are in bad shape. The Pentagon and the military services can't reliably and accurately account for what they spend in the same way other government agencies can, despite a 1994 law that requires everyone in the federal circus to produce consistent, standard findings about their financial affairs."
7/26/11 Eliminating Waste, Fraud and Abuse in Defense Contracts, by Rep. John F. Tierney (D - Mass.), The Huffington Post. "In response to my numerous demands for action, we continue to hear from Pentagon officials that they are aggressively increasing oversight over these contracts and taxpayer money. But so far it has been all talk and no action."
7/23/11 U.S. wastes $34 billion in Afghan and Iraq contracting, by Phil Stewart, Reuters. "The analysis by the Commission on Wartime Contracting, details of which were first reported by the Wall Street Journal, offers the most complete look so far at the misuse of U.S. contracting funds in Afghanistan and Iraq, where more than $200 billion has been doled out in the contracts and grants over nearly a decade. ... The source, who declined to be named, said more than 200,000 contractors have been on the U.S. payroll at times in Iraq and Afghanistan -- outstripping the number of U.S. troops currently on the ground in those countries."
7/19/11 DoD personnel chief slammed in IG complaint, by Karen Jowers, Federal Times. "Other accusations in the IG complaint include wasteful spending on a $360,000 'sumptuous new conference room,' which 'exacerbated marginal working conditions,' and is used only for Stanley's three weekly half-hour internal staff meetings."

**VOTE FOR THE AMERICA YOU WANT:**

   • CREATE THE FEDERAL BUDGET from RootsAction.org
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   • SUPPORT Bring Our Billion$ Home (Seattle, WA), Bring Our War $$ Home (ME), the Campaign for Smart Security (PA), the New Priorities Network, Our Funds (MD),the Peace Economy Project (St. Louis, MO), Reduce Military Spending 25% (Boston, MA).

Obama WAR IS A CRIME: WE WILL OPPOSE OBAMA AS LONG AS HE SUPPORTS WAR
"We the undersigned share with nearly two-thirds of our fellow Americans the conviction that our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq should be ended.... We vow not to support President Barack Obama for renomination for another term in office, and to actively seek to impede his war policies unless and until he reverses them."
SIGN HERE FOR THE PETITION. War Is A Crime.

SIGN HERE TO REPEAL OBAMA'S NOBEL PEACE PRIZE.
See also:
2/1/12 Nobel peace prize jury under investigation (AP)
2/5/12 The Betrayal of the Nobel Peace Prize, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime.
2/29/12 PETITION: INVESTIGATE BETRAYAL OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE, War Is A Crime.

BOOKS: WAR IS A LIE; WHEN THE WORLD OUTLAWED WAR
VIDEOS: Interview with Author David Swanson, Part 1 (11:08); Part 2 (8:21), Project for the New American Century; "When The World Outlawed War" (10:05)
FY2012 PIE CHART (below center): "Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes" (Feb. 2012)
VIDEO: US spending problem (below right, 4/15/11)

**RELATED ARTICLES - OUR GOVERNMENT?**

5/9/13 [VIDEO 15:42, with transcript] The Rehabilitation of Bush/Cheney, Interview with Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Real News Network. "We don't punish our leaders; we just let them go off into the sunset, oftentimes with billions of dollars. ... Richard Bruce Cheney knew what he was doing every step of the way, pursued that step ruthlessly, brutally, even. Richard Bruce Cheney was the orchestrator of 90 percent of what happened in the national security, foreign policy arena of the United States of America from 2001 to 2005. ... He's said things like waterboarding, I'd do it again. [Yet] Waterboarding is torture. Torture is against the International Convention against Torture, it's against domestic law, and it is a war crime. ... As Henry Kissinger once jokingly said, power corrupts, and absolute power is kind of nice."
5/7/13 Special Report on the Boston Marathon: The Curious Case of the Man Who Could Only Sit Down, by Dave McGowan, Center for an Informed America. "[T]his post will be filled with very graphic images. But there's no need to worry — you've seen plenty of this stuff before on your television and on theater screens. . ... The notion that the government would use amputee actors to portray trauma victims, complete with Hollywood blood and gore, seems a rather bizarre notion. But it is...an acknowledged fact [Google: "MOULAGE" --Ed.]... There is not really much more that I can add here. People see only what they want to see, which generally means that they have an amazing capacity to ignore and/or disregard that which directly challenges their world view. But while you can lie to yourself and pretend like I'm just some loudmouthed crackpot, if you have actually read through this post and studied the images, then there is a part of you that knows with a certainty that you have been lied to by your government and its media lackeys."
5/3/13 [VIDEO 11:24] Boston False Flag Goes Mainstream: Boston Bombing — What You Aren't Being Told, by Russia Today, Before It's News. "Only the most ignorant and/or naive Americans still believe the 'official' story given to us by the FBI, the Boston police and the mainstream media about what happened on April 15th, 2013 in Boston, Massachussetts. The Boston Marathon Bombing false flag has now gone mainstream as MILLIONS of Americans have awoken to False Flag (or government sponsored) terrorism due to the obvious lies and deceit spread by the MSM, FBI and Boston police department. Russia Today covers the FBI cover-up and Boston lies in depth."
4/30/13 The American People Want To Stay Out Of Syria, by Doug Mataconis, Outside The Beltway. "A new CBS News/New York Times poll finds that a majority of Americans oppose the idea of the United States becoming more deeply involved in the Syrian civil war. ... Even as news of the possible use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government was announced by the Obama Administration, fewer Americans are paying attention to news about Syria than were doing so last month. "
4/29/13 Let Us Now Praise Heinous Men, by Andrew Levine, Counterpunch. "In Dallas last week, a drone President paid homage to a torture President, and the best friends plutocrats have had since the Gilded Age celebrated one another. In so doing, they proved beyond a reasonable doubt that in American politics, for at least the past three decades and a half, there has been more continuity than change — and hope for the one percent alone."
4/28/13 With Bags of Cash, C.I.A. Seeks Influence in Afghanistan, by Matthew Rosenberg, The New York Times. "For more than a decade, wads of American dollars packed into suitcases, backpacks and, on occasion, plastic shopping bags have been dropped off every month or so at the offices of Afghanistan's president — courtesy of the Central Intelligence Agency. ... The C.I.A., which declined to comment for this article, has long been known to support some relatives and close aides of Mr. Karzai. But the new accounts of off-the-books cash delivered directly to his office show payments on a vaster scale, and with a far greater impact on everyday governing. Moreover, there is little evidence that the payments bought the influence the C.I.A. sought. Instead, some American officials said, the cash has fueled corruption and empowered warlords, undermining Washington's exit strategy from Afghanistan. 'The biggest source of corruption in Afghanistan,' one American official said, 'was the United States.'"
4/28/13 Syria and sarin gas: US claims have a very familiar ring, by Robert Fisk, The Independent (UK). "But now for a few problems. Phosphorus shells can inflict deep burns, and perhaps cause birth defects. But the Americans do not suggest that the Syrian military might have used phosphorus (which is indeed a chemical); after all, American troops used the very same weapon in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, where there is indeed now an explosion of birth defects. I suppose our hatred of the Assad regime might better be reflected by horror at reports of the torture by Syrian secret policemen of the regime's detainees. But there's a problem here, too: only 10 years ago, the US was 'renditioning' innocent men, including a Canadian citizen, to Damascus to be interrogated and tortured by the very same secret policemen. And if we mention Saddam's chemical weapons, there's another glitch: because the components of these vile weapons were manufactured by a factory in New Jersey and sent to Baghdad by the US."
4/27/13 Destroying Ourselves - Heading towards a police state, by Dan DeWalt, This Can't Be Happening. "George Bush's 'war on terror,' supinely backed by a cowed Congress of Democrats and Republicans, re-introduced torture to the American playbook, finished what Bill Clinton started in taking away our right to habeus corpus, made illegal wiretapping routine and built a culture of fear in our national psyche in order to keep us from rising up against these assaults on our Constitution. Barack Obama has continued these practices and gone further with his obsession with drone attacks worldwide, including strikes that murder American citizens without even bothering with indictments, let alone trials, and with his further expansion of wiretaps, secret government and police spying and repression of Constitutionally protected protest. Now, in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing and subsequent manhunt, we're being told that there are a couple of new aspects to this 'new normal' that we'll just have to get used to. Functional martial law — the shutting down of an entire metropolitan region — has now happened without even an official declaration from the governor or the president. Our 4th Amendment right protecting us from unwarranted search and seizure no longer has any meaning if the powers that be deem it inconvenient. And the right to be told that we can remain silent rather than incriminate ourselves under interrogation is now optional, again at the discretion of the police authorities."
4/24/13 [VIDEO 4:20] The War On Terror Is Over. America Lost.

4/24/13 The Bush Legacy, by Stephen Lendman, The Progressive Radio News Hour. "Bush's true legacy reflects underachievement, sadism and lawlessness. His dark side emerged early on. As a young boy, he enjoyed blowing up frogs for sport. He progressed to replicating it on nations. He had problems with alcohol and drugs. As Texas governor, he presided over more executions than any other state executive since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976. His close aids said he enjoyed killing. He abused others for his own amusement. ... 'I don't view the post-presidency as burnishing any legacy,' he said. 'I view it as living life to the fullest. The challenge when you're a former president is how do you use your God-given talents?' He's a multimillionaire. He earns up to $200,000 per speech. ... His annual pension is $200,000. He receives 'suitable office space, appropriately furnished and equipped,' as well as a small staff. It's in Dallas. It's 8,000 square feet. Rental cost last year was $401,000. Travel, postage and other expenses are paid for. In FY 2012, he received $1.3 million. He gets lifetime Secret Service protection. He's rich enough to pay all costs himself. His war criminal record doesn't matter. America honors its worst."
4/24/13 Stella Tremblay, New Hampshire Lawmaker, Won't Apologize For Bombing Conspiracy Theory, by Will Wrigley, The Huffington Post. "Members of Tremblay's own party have said she should apologize to her constituents for describing the Boston Marathon bombings as a government 'Black Ops' attack in a Facebook post. 'What am I going to apologize for, asking questions?' Tremblay responded, speaking Wednesday with reporters in New Hampshire."
4/19/13 Bush and Obama: Dangerous Narcissists, by Stephen Lendman, The Progressive Radio News Hour. "[Dr. Sam] Vaknin calls Obama more dangerous than Bush. Expect more crises ahead. He 'endanger(s) the foundations of the republic.' People don't understand what's going on. ... Narcissistic personality disorder is 'untreatable.' At best it can be modified. It can be made less abrasive. 'Their false self devours them. They become walking zombies. They're shells.' There's a 'mechanism inside, a robotic, cold, calculated evil that drives them inexorably.' They can't stop it. As US president, Obama's disorder threatens humanity."
4/10/13 [VIDEO 3:11] New Film Explores Obama's War on Whistleblowers and the Free Press - Four cases reveal the administration's extraordinary crackdown on national-security whistleblowers, by Dana Liebelson, Mother Jones. "The film [titled War on Whistleblowers: Free Press and the National Security State], a project of the Brave New Foundation, focuses on four whistleblowers: Michael DeKort, a former project manager for Lockheed Martin; Thomas Drake, a former senior executive at the National Security Agency; Franz Gayl, an adviser for the Marine Corps; and Thomas Tamm, a former attorney to the Department of Justice. Each exposed grave misconduct, and each faced severe reprisals from their employers and the government.
4/6/13 What We Didn't Know About the Start of America's Drone War Killed Thousands, by Connor Simpson, The Atlantic Wire. "It was all the way back in June 2004...the Central Intelligence Agency struck a deal with Pakistani officials to kill Nek Muhammad in exchange for the opportunities to carry out drone strikes on Pakistani soil. [Less than 24 hours later, a missile tore through the compound, severing Mr. Muhammad's left leg and killing him and several others, including two boys, ages 10 and 16.*] ... Part of the deal was that Pakistan would take credit for any and all American drone strikes on its territory. The country didn't want to give critics the appearance of looking like it was under Washington's thumb. ... Meanwhile, the U.S. moved on elsewhere, including to Saudi Arabia, in another drone-airspace deal we didn't find out about until recently, until white papers leaked and Senators started asking more drone questions than ever around the confirmation of John Brennan, the architect of the drone program, to head up the C.I.A." *A Secret Deal on Drones, Sealed in Blood, by Mark Mazzetti, The New York Times.
4/4/13 Obama's War at Home: Driving the Government Underground, by Jane Powers, Antiwar.com. "Obama has not only continued repressive policies inherited from his predecessors, however. His administration has launched the most formidable assault on civil liberties in US history. This assault has been Obama's most significant contribution to developing a police state."
4/3/13 America's Six Trillion Dollar Wars, by Bill Van Auken, Global Research. "Soldiers told they were being sent to avenge 9/11 and fight Al Qaeda found themselves engaged in an entirely different enterprise, which involved terrible crimes against civilians and the turning of entire populations into the 'enemy.' Of course, the $6 trillion figure included in the Harvard report does not begin to make a full accounting for these wars. It assesses only the impact on the US economy. What of the cost of rebuilding countries shattered by wars in which more than 1 million Iraqis and Afghans lost their lives? What about the cost of helping millions more who have been maimed or turned into refugees in their own countries? ... The vast resources wasted and the incalculable human suffering inflicted by the bloated US military and intelligence apparatus pose the urgency of building a genuine mass movement against militarism and war. This can develop only as an independent social and political movement of the working class directed against the capitalist system."
4/1/13 Support Our Troops, Our War, and Our War Criminals, by Edward S. Herman, Dissident Voice. "Of course, along with 'support our troops' there is an implicit 'support our torturers and higher level war criminals.' This flows from the overwhelming and increasingly centralized power in the hands of the dominant elite, including the military-industrial complex (MIC) and leading politicians, and an associated remarkable level of self-righteousness. ... The really high level war criminals like Bush, Blair, and Obama can get away with anything, not only because they are at the pinnacle of power and can set their own rules, but also because they dominate the external institutions that supposedly make the rule of law international, but fail to do so. ... [Obama] has gone somewhat beyond Bush in institutionalizing government rights to invade privacy, closing down information access, and criminalizing whistle-blowing. His drone war policy and claimed right to assassinate even U.S. citizens based on executive decision alone breaks new ground in criminality and in enlarging the scope of acceptable war crimes. He has also refused to prosecute U.S. torturers and high level war criminals, violating earlier promises but, more importantly, violating international law and effectively ending the rule of law."
3/29/13 The Neocons Won - The Victory of the Noble Lie, by Gary Leupp, Counterpunch. "Reading an assortment of commentaries ('retrospectives') on the tenth anniversary of the U.S. war on Iraq, and onset of the horrific occupation, I find most center their discussion on the now almost universally conceded fact that the war was based on false pretexts. That is no longer debated. The division is between those who buy the official line (that 'intelligence flaws' caused honest leaders to accuse Saddam of having WMDs when he didn't, and ties with al-Qaeda that didn't exist), and those who recognize that the leaders themselves engaged in a campaign of mis- and disinformation to frighten people into supporting war. ... The moral? So long as profit conditions what the masses hear and believe, there will be more wars based on lies. In the end, the problem is less a cabal hell-bent on regime change throughout the Muslim Middle East than the nature of the corporate press that markets their lies in the service of the system we live under: bloodthirsty capitalist imperialism."
3/26/13 Obama's Crackdown on Whistleblowers , by Tim Shorrock, The Nation. "In the annals of national security, the Obama administration will long be remembered for its unprecedented crackdown on whistleblowers. Since 2009, it has employed the World War I-era Espionage Act a record six times to prosecute government officials suspected of leaking classified information. The latest example is John Kiriakou, a former CIA officer serving a thirty-month term in federal prison for publicly identifying an intelligence operative involved in torture. It's a pattern: the whistleblowers are punished, sometimes severely, while the perpetrators of the crimes they expose remain free."
3/25/13 Bush's pension benefits top $1 MILLION in 2012, by Aliyah Frumin, MSNBC Hardball. "The Congressional Research Service has released a study on salaries and benefits that former commander-in-chiefs collected during the 2012 fiscal year. ... Former president George W. Bush received the most — about $1.3 million. He's followed by Bill Clinton's $978,000, George H.W. Bush's $842,000 and Jimmy Carter's $518,000. ... The benefits are a result of the Former Presidents Act, a 1958 federal law that provides a number of lifetime benefits to ex-presidents. On top of an annual pension equal to the pay that the head of an executive department official would be paid (about $200,000 per year), former presidents are entitled to a number of other perks.That includes a 'suitable office space, appropriately furnished and quipped,' travel funds, personnel compensation, mail privileges, office supplies, and Secret Service protection. The office space rental payments—at a location of the former president's choice for the rest of his lifetime—were among the costliest items. Clinton had the highest rental payment cost for his 8,300 square office in New York City ($444,000). George W. Bush's 8,000 square-foot office in Dallas was close to that amount ($401,000)."
3/18/13 Iraq After Ten Years, by Paul Craig Roberts, Institute For Political Economy. "It is difficult to discern which is the most despicable, the corrupt Bush regime, the presstitutes that enabled it, or the corrupt Obama regime that refuses to prosecute the Bush regime for its unambiguous war crimes, crimes against the US Constitution, crimes against US statutory law, and crimes against humanity. ... The latest study concludes that the war could end up costing US taxpayers twice as much [as $3,000 billion]. In order to pay for the profits that have flowed into the pockets of the US military-security complex and from there into political contributions, Americans are in danger of losing Social Security, Medicare, and the social cohesiveness that the social welfare system provides. ...It is a sick joke that the United States government brought freedom and democracy to Iraq. What the Washington war criminals brought was death and the destruction of a country. The US population, for the most part, seems quite at ease with the gratuitous destruction of Iraq and all that it entails: children without parents, wives without husbands, birth defects from 'depleted' uranium, unsafe water, a country without hope mired in sectarian violence."
3/16/13 Ten Years After the Invasion: America Destroyed Iraq, War Crimes Remain Unacknowledged and Unpunished, by Nicolas J.S. Davies, Centre for Research on Globalization. "Since the end of the Second World War, American political leaders and opinion-makers have led the public to believe that the aggressive use of overt and covert military force are essential tools of US foreign policy. As we reel from one military disaster to the next, sending our loved ones off to war, killing millions of innocent people and destabilizing one region after another, each new administration assures us that it has learned the lessons of the past and deserves our support and sacrifice for its latest military strategy. But the web of myths, euphemisms and ever-growing secrecy behind which our leaders feel compelled to hide their war policies belies their claims to have learned the lessons of Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere else. The brave efforts of Julian Assange, Wikileaks and Bradley Manning to let us honestly examine the record for ourselves and draw our own conclusions are met with vindictive terror in the halls of power."
3/11/13 Obama: The Worst US President Ever, by Ron Ridenour, Dissident Voice. "And there he is, murdering even more people in Afghanistan than Bush, backing coups in Latin America, continuing to undermine Iraq, sending drones, mercenaries, saboteurs to Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, Uganda, Libya and now Syria. He bores deeper into several African countries, rich with oil and minerals, than his white predecessors, Democrats and Republicans. The US is eliminating all the few secular governments that there were in the Middle East and North Africa. Obama is busier fulfilling total Usamerican world domination than even Bush, Reagan and Nixon. ... Obama is worse than them, because he betrays all his black 'brothers and sisters' in the US, all except a few rich and opportunistic ones."
3/7/13 Drones, Permanent War, Rand Paul's Filibuster & John Brennan as New CIA Director, by Kevin Gosztola, FiredogLake. "As Paul said, 'Outside the United States, the rules for killing are you can kill someone through a signature strike. We don't have to know what your name is, who you are, who you're with. If you're in a line of traffic and we think you're going from talking to bad people to talking to other bad people, we'll kill you.' ... There needs to be a push back. If Bush had recommitted the country to perpetual war, there would have been massive outrage among Democrats or so-called liberals. They would be demanding the Bush administration release legal memos that supposedly give the government authority to engage in warfare wherever they want whenever they want. So, there should be opposition now or individuals and groups should be called out and made to answer for their hypocrisy."
3/6/13 Revealed: Pentagon's link to Iraqi torture centres, by Mona Mahmood, Maggie O'Kane, Chavala Madlena and Teresa Smith, The Guardian (UK). "The Pentagon sent [Col. James Steele] a US veteran of the 'dirty wars' in Central America to oversee sectarian police commando units in Iraq that set up secret detention and torture centres to get information from insurgents. These units conducted some of the worst acts of torture during the US occupation and accelerated the country's descent into full-scale civil war. ... A second special adviser, retired Colonel James H Coffman, worked alongside Steele in detention centres that were set up with millions of dollars of US funding. ... 'They worked hand in hand,' said General Muntadher al-Samari, who worked with Steele and Coffman for a year while the commandos were being set up. 'I never saw them apart in the 40 or 50 times I saw them inside the detention centres. They knew everything that was going on there ... the torture, the most horrible kinds of torture.'"
3/6/13 More to Fear Than Fear Itself: The War on Terror's War on Human Rights, by Stephen Rohde, truthout. "America's nameless, unreasoning, unjustified fear of terror has caused us to launch immoral wars, slaughter innocent civilians with bombs and drones, impose an undeclared military draft on the poor and people of color, violate civil liberties and human rights, demonize Muslims and Islam, divert precious resources from desperate human needs into weapons of mass destruction, delay for generations the prospects of peace, and, most recently, shamefully refuse to investigate and prosecute any of these crimes against humanity. ... 'There is now credible evidence to show that CIA black sites were located on the territory of Lithuania, Morocco, Poland, Romania and Thailand, and that the officials of at least 49 other states allowed their airspace or airports to be used for rendition flights'...."
3/2/13 9/11 Reconsidered in the Light of Drone Warfare, by Mike Rivage-Seul, OpEdNews Op Eds. "Under drone warfare policy, we've now become the exact evil we claim to be fighting -- right down to the detail of flying airborne vehicles into buildings where the innocent will be killed along with the guilty. We've manifested unmistakably for the entire world to see the very evil of which bin Laden accused us. That was his intention in the first place. As another Great Man once said, 'Mission accomplished.'"
2/22/13 Black Churches Condemn Obama Administration's Drone Policy as Murder and Evil, Black Talk Radio Network. "The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI), a faith-based coalition of 34,000 churches comprised of 15 denominations and 15.7 million African Americans calls Obama's policy on the right to kill Americans who are associated with terrorist organizations either at home or abroad murder, which constitutes evil in the Christian tradition. ... The Revered Anthony Evans says, 'I do not know what to say after the pronouncement of this evil policy. This policy has led me to a life of prayer for the soul of this administration and for this President. Anyone who has had anything to do with formulating a policy like this either in the Bush or Obama administration will have to answer before God one day. May God have mercy on their souls.'"
2/21/13 Democrats' Complicity in Political Murder, by Norman Pollack, Antiwar.com. "Progressives of today have become the apologists for fascism. Period. The litmus test of any humane, democratic standard, is the absolute rejection of Obama and his administration. Lesser-evil arguments are a means to accommodate ourselves to EVIL itself."
2/21/13 What the 1% Heard During Obama's State of the Union Speech, by Shamus Cooke, Indybay.org. "And here is the real problem: as President Obama follows in the footsteps of President Bush, labor and progressive groups have found their independent voice stifled. The close ties between these groups and the Democratic Party have become heavy chains for working people, who find themselves under assault with no leadership willing to educate them about the truth, let alone organize a national fightback to win a massive jobs-creation program, prevent cuts to social programs, and fully fund public education. Obama's second term will teach millions these lessons via experience."
2/14/13 Meet 6 Politicians Getting Rich from America's Endless Wars, by John Knefel , AlterNet. "1. Howard 'Buck' McKeon (R-CA): $566,100 in 2012 cycle defense sector donations. ... 2. CW 'Bill' Young (R-FL): $229,760 in 2012 cycle defense sector donations. ... 3. Charles Albert 'Dutch' Ruppersberger III (D-MD): $229,550 in 2012 cycle defense sector donations. ... 4. Morris 'Mo' Brooks (R-AL): $202,020 in 2012 cycle defense sector donations. ...5. Adam Smith (D-WA): $201,000 in 2012 cycle defense sector donations. ... 6. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX): $199,500 in 2012 cycle defense sector donations (lost in primary)."
2/14/13 Professor Cornel West: Obama Is A 'War Criminal' Like Nixon And Bush, by Noah Rothman, Mediaite. "Princeton University Professor Cornel West severely criticized President Barack Obama on Thursday while he co-hosted the Tavis Smiley radio show. West said that Obama's recently uncovered legal justification for attacks on American citizens in league with Al Qaeda amounted to war crimes. Obama is, like his Republican predecessors Richard Nixon and George W. Bush, a war criminal, West said. ... 'I think we have to be very honest, let us not be deceived – Nixon, Bush, Obama, they're war criminals,' West continued. 'They have killed innocent people in the name of the struggle for freedom, but they're suspending the law, very much like Wall Street criminals. The law is suspended for them, but the law applies for the rest of us.'"
2/12/13 U.S. and Israel push the boundaries of international law, by William Pfaff, Chicago Tribune. "While the drones are creating current controversy, there has yet to be an effective challenge in U.S. Congress, the American judiciary or the press and public to these major assumptions of American international policy, legal invulnerability or to the politically paranoid conviction that the United States remains under some kind of global threat justifying these extraordinary measures."
2/11/13 Impeach Obama: A National Imperative, by Stephen Lendman, The Progressive Radio News Hour. "Obama exceeds the worst of all previous presidents. He's guilty of multiple high crimes and misdemeanors. Holding him accountable is essential. Do it now before it's too late. Humanity may not get a second chance."
2/11/13 The growing case for impeachment of Obama, by Chelsea Schilling, World Net Daily. "Some of those who have broached the subject include Reps. Trent Franks, R-Ariz.; Walter Jones, R-N.C.; Trey Radel, R-Fla.; Steve Stockman; former Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas; former Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio; Fox News' Mike Huckabee; former assistant U.S. attorney Andrew McCarthy; left-leaning investigative reporter Dave Lindorff; talk-radio host Mark Levin; former House Speaker and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich; author and columnist Pat Buchanan and others. ... WND assembled a bipartisan panel of top constitutional experts to evaluate 12 popular arguments for impeaching Obama. [Bruce Fein; Herbert Titus; Louis Fisher...]"
2/9/13 RECOMMENDED [VIDEO 13:18] CIA was lying about torture even to its own staff – CIA veteran Kiriakou, Interview, RT. "Most people don't realize this but President Obama has surrounded himself with the same Intelligence advisors who advised President Bush. ... I didn't know if [torture] would work. They were telling us it would. But I just believed it was wrong. ... I think that Zero Dark Thirty, for example, did a great disservice to counter-terrorism. Zero Dark Thirty perpetuates this grand lie that torture led to the killing of Osama Bin Laden. It's just simply not true. ... We find ourselves murdering people and in many cases children with no evidence whatsoever that they are involved in any criminal or terrorist activity. And what this does is that it encourages other people to take up arms against us. ...

I didn't envision prison in my future five years ago. I expected there to be a national debate on whether or not we wanted to use torture as an official US policy. Now I'm very happy, proud actually, that I played a role in that debate and now the law of the land is that torture is illegal – I'm very proud of that. I didn't expect that the government would go after me so relentlessly. I stood in the snow for two hours to vote for President Obama. I really believed that this was positive change. I believed that he deserved that Nobel Peace prize only because I expected things to change so dramatically at the beginning of his first term. So no, I never believed I would be going to prison under a President Obama. Never. That's been I think my biggest disappointment."

2/9/13 Whitewashing Extrajudicial Killing , by Stephen Lendman, The Progressive Radio News Hour. "Nothing whatever justifies extrajudicial killing. Claiming it admits advocacy for what's impermissible. The [Washington] Post and other media scoundrels march in lockstep with America's imperium. Doing so exposes their complicity. Senate Intelligence Committee members share guilt. Brennan got off easy. No criticism was voiced. Tough questions were avoided. ... On February 12, Senate Intelligence Committee members scheduled a follow-up closed door hearing. Brennan will provide secret testimony. Expect Committee confirmation to follow. It may be unanimous. Full Senate confirmation is assured."
2/7/13 Obama: Nobel Peace Prize winning war criminal, by David Hoffman, Pravda (Russia). "I'll admit, I bought Obama's snake oil when he first ran for president. But, early on, I also voiced some skepticisms and suspicions about him.... It didn't take long for these skepticisms and suspicions to be confirmed, as the man who many welcomed as the fulfillment of Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream demonstrated he was not only oblivious to King's philosophy that passive acceptance of evil 'is really cooperating with it,' he actively sought to ensure that such evil would go unpunished. ... [W]hen al-Awlaki's father petitioned the federal courts to remove his son's name from this 'kill list,' he was advised that he lacked the 'standing' to do so, meaning that Anwar al-Awlaki himself had to file such a petition. This, of course, creates a ludicrous and perverse Catch-22 for persons on this list, because seeking legal redress in America to prevent their extrajudicial executions would also heighten their chances of being extrajudicially executed before they ever reached the courthouse."
2/7/13 It Has Happened Here, by Paul Craig Roberts, Institute for Political Economy. "Whether a person believes the official story of 9/11 which rests on unproven government assertions or believes the documented evidence provided by a large number of scientists, first responders, and structural engineers and architects, the result is the same. 9/11 was used to create an open-ended 'war on terror' and a police state. It is extraordinary that so many Americans believe that 'it can't happen here' when it already has."
2/6/13 Chilling legal memo from Obama DOJ justifies assassination of US citizens, by Glenn Greenwald, The Guardian (UK). "During the early Bush years, the very idea that the US government asserted the power to imprison US citizens without charges and due process (or to eavesdrop on them) was so radical that, at the time, I could hardly believe they were being asserted out in the open. Yet here we are almost a full decade later. And we have the current president asserting the power not merely to imprison or eavesdrop on US citizens without charges or trial, but to order them executed – and to do so in total secrecy, with no checks or oversight."
1/31/13 NDAA: February Hearing Over the Act Will Help Determine the Fate Of the Constitution, by Daniel Xie, PolicyMic. "As Barack Obama entered his second term in office, after a inauguration thoroughly reported by the media, there was one thing that the media failed to report on — namely Obama's gross violation of the Constitution and the rule of law under the National Defense Authorization Act for both fiscal years 2012 and 2013. ... All in all, the NDAA hearings on February 6th will be an important chapter in the history of the rule of law in America. Its draconian provisions are dangerous to the use of due process and habeas corpus in America, and it utterly violates the Constitution on many levels."
1/31/13 Former military prosecutor criticizes U.S. use of torture, by Drew Brooks, Fayetteville (NC) Observer. "A former chief prosecutor at the war crimes court at Guantanamo Bay is making a tour across the state to argue that torture is not only immoral, but also puts U.S. troops at risk. Morris "Moe" Davis, a one-time Air Force colonel with 25 years of military service, said the belief that torture is acceptable contributes to the environments that created the Abu Ghraib scandal and the Joint Base Lewis-McChord-based 'kill team.' ... Morris was critical of both the Bush and Obama presidencies, speaking against the use of drones to kill suspected terrorists and the failure to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba."
1/31/13 Congress grapples with gap on scofflaw contractors, by Eric Tucker, Associated Press, Fox29 WFLX-TV (FL). "With thousands of civilian contractors remaining in Iraq and Afghanistan, Justice Department officials want Congress to resolve a legal issue they say obstructs efforts to prosecute any such workers who rape, kill or commit other serious crimes abroad. ... The issue has come up in several prominent investigations, including after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq, when some prison officials avoided prosecution because they were Interior Department contractors. It also resurfaced after diplomatic security contractors working for Blackwater Worldwide were charged with opening fire in Baghdad's Nisoor Square and killing 17 Iraqis. The Justice Department brought charges under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, but defense lawyers accused them of stretching the statute because the contractors worked under a State Department contract, reported to State officials and provided diplomatic – not military – services."
1/28/13 John Kiriakou Will Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Transparency Under Obama, by Michael Arria, Motherboard. "The individuals directly responsible for the descent into what Dick Cheney called, 'The Dark Side,' continue to ink book deals and obtain cushy positions throughout the country. ... Yet Bradley Manning, who didn't participate in a war crime but allegedly leaked information about one, now faces life in prison. John Kiriakou, who didn't participate in torture but leaked information about the practice, is going to jail for over two years. And Barack Obama, who campaigned on another round of hope, change, and openness, is continuing a relentless war on whistleblowers--and likely signing off on another classified drone strike."
1/24/13 Confirmation hearing for killer drones master, by Nat Hentoff, The Dickinson Press. After 25 influential years in the CIA, chief counterterrorism adviser John Brennan is currently in charge of Barack Obama's increasing drone-plane assassinations of terrorism suspects, all of which is happening outside our courts. On Feb. 7, he will appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee for a promotion to CIA director.
"Penetrating news analyst Glenn Greenwald explains that, for four years under 'Obama's lead, the country has decided to ignore the fact that it committed grievous crimes as part of the 'War on Terror.' Obama's Orwellian decree that we must 'look forward, not backward' has convinced huge numbers of citizens to sweep all this under the rug and pretend it never happened. 'That,' says Greenwald, 'is what explains how Brennan went from radioactive and unconfirmable in 2008 to uncontroversial in 2013.'"
1/20/13 Bomber in Chief: 20,000 Airstrikes in the President's First Term Cause Death and Destruction From Iraq to Somalia - Day after day, U.S. air strikes have conclusively answered the familiar question of 9/11: "Why do they hate us?", by Nicolas J.S. Davies, AlterNet. "The Obama administration is responsible for at least 18,274 air strikes in Afghanistan since 2009, including at least 1,160 by pilotless drones. The U.S. conducted at least 116 air strikes in Iraq in 2009 and about 1,460 of NATO's 7,700 strikes in Libya in 2011. While the U.S. military does not publish figures on 'secret' air and drone strikes in other countries, press reports detail a five-fold increase over Bush's second term, with at least 303 strikes in Pakistan, 125 in Yemen and 16 in Somalia. ... Ending the daily routine of deadly U.S. air strikes, including but by no means limited to drone strikes, should be President Obama's most urgent national security priority as he begins his second term in office."
1/18/13 How the War-making Triumvirate Might Be "Pacified" - A deadly monster: Part 3, by Gary Brumback, PhD, Dissident Voice. "America's government is part of and serves the other part of the corpocracy, corporate America, not the American people. America's 'corpocracy power' is the greatest human-made, ruinous power on earth. The most deadly and monstrous part of that power is the war-national security, industrial, political triumvirate. Its war on terror is an excuse for continuing to terrorize and kill thousands of people in foreign lands solely for profit and power, and is spawning more terrorists. Its tyrannical rule has turned America into a police and terrorist state. It is draining America's budget, and depriving it of revenue for meeting critical domestic needs. If not stopped, it may eventually destroy America, possibly yet this century from nuclear, chemical or biological blowback by agents in America's terrorized foreign countries."
1/13/13 UNAC STATEMENT ON THE RAPIDLY INCREASING U.S. MILITARY INTERVENTION IN AFRICA, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "The arguments supporting the deployments are always the same: the presence of 'Islamists' or other extremists in countries suffering from a lack of financial resources, unstable governments and internal strife — all of which, where they exist, can be traced to the legacy of Western colonialism and neocolonialism. ... The U.S. anti-war movement, which has fought so hard to oppose U.S. intervention in the Middle East and other regions of the world, must take up the long-overdue struggle to oppose U.S. intervention in Africa. We must demand the dismantling of AFRICOM. We must oppose any U.S. or European-led intervention in Mali. We must call for the withdrawal of all Western troops from the Continent. We must demand Western reparations for the unimaginable damage wrought on Africa and Africans by centuries of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, colonialism and neocolonialism. To do any less would be to abandon our international responsibilities and our commitment to help win a just and peaceful world for all."
1/12/13 Drones are the Weapon of Choice in Obama's Destruction of Due Process, by Joe Wolverton, II, J.D., The New American. "In what should come as no surprise to anyone following the unconscionable chronicle of the never-ending drone war, there is no word as to the identity of either the targets or the victims. ... Unclear, and to the president, unimportant. The president's on-the-record statements regarding the serial drone killings reveal that he considers himself the judge, jury, and executioner — and does not believe he is obliged to provide evidence to the American people. ... When the judicial and executive powers of government are consolidated and restraints on the exercise of power are cast aside, it can be expected — based both on our knowledge of history and on the nature of man — that power will be abused and no one's rights or life will be safe from elimination by despots."
1/7/13 Obama's Targeted Killing: Murdered without Being Charged. Administration Blocks Information Request on Assassination of US Citizens, by Tom Carter, World Socialist Web Site, Centre for Research on Globalization. "The placement of the constitutional prohibition against extrajudicial killing next to the actions and statements of Obama makes a clear case for the impeachment, arrest and criminal indictment of the president and all of the top civilian, intelligence and military officials in his administration. ... Citing 'national security' exceptions to the Freedom of Information Act, government secrecy statutes, and expansive executive privileges, the Obama administration not only failed to disclose the requested documents, but refused even to number or list the documents that were being withheld, on the grounds that to acknowledge that any of the requested documents exist would compromise national security."
1/5/13 Obama signs Pentagon bill maintaining Guantanamo and military detention, by Bill Van Auken, World Socialist Web Site. "The legislation's provisions underscore the link between the eruption of American militarism abroad and the lurch toward police-state measures at home. It provides $633 billion for Washington's worldwide military operations, including $88.5 billion for overseas 'contingency operations,' the bulk of it going to fund the continuing war and occupation in Afghanistan. It increases funding for the military's Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to $10.5 billion in preparation for new interventions across the planet. ... Also included in this year's act is an amendment that effectively overturns the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 [which] barred the US government from disseminating propaganda aimed at the American people."
1/4/13 Terrorism with a "Human Face": The History of America's Death Squads, by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky, Centre for Research on Globalization. "The recruitment and training of terror brigades in both Iraq and Syria was modeled on the 'Salvador Option', a 'terrorist model' of mass killings by US sponsored death squads in Central America. It was first applied in El Salvador, in the heyday of resistance against the military dictatorship, resulting in an estimated 75,000 deaths. The formation of death squads in Syria builds upon the history and experience of US sponsored terror brigades in Iraq, under the Pentagon's 'counterinsurgency' program."
1/3/13 America's Political Dysfunction at Root is an Unwillingness to Cut War Spending, by Dave Lindorff, This Can't Be Happening. "I thought for a moment, trying to come up with a simple way to explain the peculiar politics of a fake democracy where two equally pro-capitalist, pro-imperialist parties vie with genuine bitterness for patronage spoils and legal bribes, all the while ignoring the real wishes and needs of the public, and then it hit me: it is really all about US militarism and the unwillingness of the either of the two political parties to admit honestly to to American people how much they are being gouged to allow the US government and its corporate owners to continue in their attempt to control the world. It really is that simple. ... The reality is that there really is only one way to attack the nation's massive and growing budget deficit without destroying both people's lives and the nation's economy, and that is to slash military spending and to put an end to the country's militarism and imperialism."
1/2/13 Leading Blindly across a Minefield, by Dimitri K. Simes, Paul J. Saunders, The National Interest. "OBAMA LED Americans and others to believe that he would launch a major reevaluation and readjustment of U.S. foreign policy—even managing to win a Nobel Peace Prize based on these inflated promises—but eventually adopted a go-with-the-flow foreign policy on almost every major issue. In practice, Obama's politically expedient embrace of conventional wisdom produced 'Bush lite' policies on issues like China, Russia, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan but without the Bush team's sharp elbows. Thus far, it has not been much more effective in serving U.S. interests or in avoiding damage to relationships with other key powers. Looking ahead, four issues require particular attention: China, Iran, Israel, and the tension between American interests and principles. ... America's virtually unqualified support for Israel also merits discussion. ... The United States should think quite carefully before continuing to lead blindly."
12/31/12 The Real Murders Of Children, by Elias Akleh, Media With Conscience. "In their response to the Newtown massacre the whole American media outlets, and President Obama himself, had expressed their shock and heart-broken feelings for those 'beautiful little kids. They had their entire lives ahead of them...' as expressed by Obama, while pretending to wipe a shadow tear in the corner of his eye. The media is so hypocrite because they had never sympathized with the beautiful little kids of other countries murdered by American soldiers. Obama does not care about any child except, maybe, his own. He, like previous American presidents, had authorized the military to bomb the children of other countries while studying in their own schools, playing in their own backyards, or while asleep in the arms of their mothers."
12/29/12 Congress Extends Warrantless Spying, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "On December 28, Obama signed the Countering Iran in Western Hemisphere Act. ... New Year's eve enactment would repeat last year's December 31 disgrace. Indefinite detention harshness became law. US citizens and permanent residents are as vulnerable as others. Unpopular measures slip under the radar when few notice. Weekends and holiday breaks conceal blows to freedom. Warrantless spying is extended another five years. Overseas phone calls, emails, and other communications of US citizens and permanent residents may be monitored without court authorization."
12/24/12 Four More Years of War, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "New wars are planned. Current ones won't end. Proxy ones continue. So does increasing America's global military footprint. Fiscal cliff hype is about greater force-fed austerity to free up more funds for America's war machine. Waging them isn't cheap. Profiteers depend on wasteful spending to boost bottom line performance. ... Over the next decade, trillions of dollars will shift from people needs to war making, generous corporate handouts, tax breaks for the rich, and hardened homeland repression against nonbelievers."
12/23/12 The Final Battle, by Chris Hedges, truthdig. "The shredding of our liberties is being done in the name of national security and the fight against terrorism. But the NDAA is not about protecting us. It is about protecting the state from us. That is why no one in the executive or legislative branch is going to restore our rights. The new version of the NDAA, like the old ones, provides our masters with the legal shackles to make our resistance impossible. And that is their intention."
12/20/12 U.S. needs fast exit to stop mindless killing in Middle East, by Mark Weisbrot, Stars and Stripes. "Besides the fact that the war was launched on the basis of lies, it is hard to see how anyone could excuse this crime even in retrospect. As the revolution in Egypt showed, people can get rid of their own dictators; foreign intervention is much more likely to create or vastly expand a bloody civil war. Meanwhile, U.S. drone strikes carried out 'secretly' by the CIA are becoming institutionalized, widening the so-called 'war on terror' to more countries, in addition to the hundreds of strikes already carried out in Pakistan. These attacks, which have killed hundreds of civilians and have even targeted rescue workers, are each day making more people want to kill Americans. ... Our military-industrial complex is as corrupt and rotten as any institution of America's broken democracy, and more deadly than most in its consequences. We need to end this war in Afghanistan and other operations in the Middle East and elsewhere that are making Americans less secure and recruiting new enemies daily. Then we can focus on fixing our broken economy at home."
12/20/12 Americans fed up with Israeli meddling in US domestic affairs, by Gordon Duff, Press TV. "When we talk 'AIPAC' or 'neocon,' we are really talking drug dealers, money launderers, gunrunners and organized crime. We are also looking at a long history of failure to investigate acts of espionage, treason and terrorism against the United States, acts one might describe as 'Insider Threats.' President Obama, himself, warned of these threats in his memo of November 21, 2012."
12/20/12 While Report on CIA Abuse Stays Secret, Senators Blast Tinseltown Torture, by Spencer Ackerman, WIRED. "Three senators are furious at how the new movie on the manhunt for Osama bin Laden portrays torture. Unlike other critics of the film, they have the power to actually correct the record, by declassifying a major Senate inquiry into the CIA's torture program. Only they're not doing it. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) want Zero Dark Thirty distributor Sony Pictures to know they think the film buys into the false narrative that torturing detainees helped the U.S. nab Osama bin Laden. "
12/19/12 A Deadly Monster: An Outmatched Opposition - Part 2 of 3, by Gary Brumback, Dissident Voice. "This second article in the trilogy is short simply because the triumvirate's opposition, such as it is, does not require a long overview. ... There are upwards of 100 if not more of these groups. They have at least five characteristics in common. They all say they are against war and violence and for peace. There is little teamwork or collaboration among them as they are mostly pursuing independently of one another their own agendas. Their agendas are usually of narrow, issue-specific issues. With a few exceptions they have limited resources. And it is plainly evident that even with some small tactical victories here and there, these groups are making little progress, if any, in ending war and violence."
12/12/12 Wilkerson: Secret report confirms torture didn't work, by Steve Frank, MSNBC-TV. "[A]ccording to Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff at the State Department during Gen. Colin Powell's term...'[Torture techniques] did not, as Cheney has alleged, lead to the killing of bin Laden. ... It was counterproductive. It was damaging to our reputation and he's still lying about it.' ... 'We should have some reckoning,' Wilkerson told Schultz. 'If we're not going to hold people accountable, we should at least let the American people know what was done in their name that basically constituted war crimes.'"
12/12/12 America and Israel Wage War on Humanity, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "Another day, another outrage. Headlines announced the latest. The New York Times said 'US Will Grant Recognition to Syrian Rebels.'... No provision in international, US statute, or constitutional law permits this. ... Washington recognized an illegitimate opposition terrorist coalition as 'the legitimate representative' of the Syrian people. It can't be 'legitimate' if it's illegitimate. Its members are death squad killers. They're imported from other countries. They commit daily atrocities. They're war criminals. Supporting them reveals America's moral bankruptcy. Doing so adds more war crimes to Obama's resume."
12/12/12 HSBC, too big to jail, is the new poster child for US two-tiered justice system, by Glenn Greenwald, The Guardian (UK). "[W]hen the nation's most powerful actors are caught breaking the law...they are gifted not merely with leniency, but full-scale immunity from criminal punishment. Thus have the most egregious crimes of the last decade been fully shielded from prosecution when committed by those with the greatest political and economic power: the construction of a worldwide torture regime, spying on Americans' communications without the warrants required by criminal law by government agencies and the telecom industry, an aggressive war launched on false pretenses, and massive, systemic financial fraud in the banking and credit industry that triggered the 2008 financial crisis."
12/11/12 A Deadly Monster - Part 1: An overview of the military-national security, industrial, political triumvirate, by Gary Brumback, Dissident Voice. "The price tag for all this strength and surveillance is huge. We are talking trillions of dollars, eight of them since '9/11;' one of those eight just for FY 2013. Overall, the U.S. military-national security expenses amount to one-half of all worldwide expenditures and one-half of the federal government's discretionary budget. Note the adjective, 'discretionary.' ... Imagine what America could be today if much of that eight trillion dollars had been spent instead to help ensure that every American has an adequate standard of living that is the right of every human being in a civilized society; to help develop her youth, the future of America; to provide affordable and quality health care to everyone; and to help preserve the balance between human activities and nature."
12/11/12 Why Were Defense Cuts Off The Table On Sunday Morning Shows?, by John Amato, Crooks and Liars. "But what I found most offensive was that not one Villager or politician discussed cuts to defense spending as a solution for the Mayan Apocalypse of the federal deficit. ... Since 'defense' makes up over almost 20% of the federal budget expenditures, why is it off limits in this discussion?"
12/10/12 Senate panel expected to move torture report, by Jordy Yager, The Hill. "The Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday is expected to approve its long-awaited report on the use of 'enhanced interrogation techniques' under former President George W. Bush. But the secretive panel is not planning to make the findings of the roughly 6,000-page report, which has been more than three years in the making, immediately public, The Hill has learned. ... The Bush administration argued that the methods, which were used on self-professed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, among others, were within the law and helped U.S. intelligence officials disrupt terrorist plots against the United States."
12/10/12 The Normalization of Treason, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "How did right-wing politics in the United States survive the 1960s and 1970s and thrive beyond? Not only did the wealthy invest in the corruption of politics, but the politicians invested in the normalization of treason. ... An accurate understanding of exactly how evil some of our Republicans have been need not turn us into cheerleaders for the party of the current president, his record classifications, his groundbreaking secrecy claims, his record whistleblower prosecutions, his record levels of warrantless spying, his imprisonments without trial, his wars without Congress, his war-making CIA, or his "kill list" murder program. Instead, [it] should move us to become, like Robert Parry, dogged pursuers of the facts that those in power seek to bury or beautify."
12/10/12 "Unlimited Imperialism", US Expansionism and the Crimes of War - The Condition of Human Rights at the International Setting, by Prof. Francis A. Boyle, Centre for Research on Globalization. "Since September 11, 2001, it is the Unlimited Imperialists à la Alexander, Napoleon, and Hitler who have been in charge of conducting American foreign policy decision-making. After September 11, 2001 the people of the world have witnessed successive governments in the United States that have demonstrated little respect for fundamental considerations of international law, human rights, or the United States Constitution. ... Today the American people must reaffirm their commitment to the Nuremberg Charter, Judgment, and Principles by holding their government officials fully accountable under international law and U.S. domestic law for the commission of such grievous international and domestic crimes. They must not permit any aspect of their foreign affairs and defense policies to be conducted by acknowledged 'war criminals' according to the U.S. government's own official definition of that term as set forth in U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10 (1956), the U.S. War Crimes Act, and the Geneva Conventions. The American people must insist upon the impeachment, dismissal, resignation, indictment, conviction, and long-term incarceration of all U.S. government officials guilty of such heinous international and domestic crimes."
12/7/12 A permanent war on terror - In trying to prevent terrorist attacks, the U.S. risks eroding civil liberties., by Petra Bartosiewicz, Los Angees Times. "When it comes to homeland security, we've been seduced for more than a decade by a 'preemptive' mandate that directs us to catch terrorists before they strike next. ... This mandate, however, has been characterized by a distinct absence of actual terrorist plots. ... The template of the government's major 'homegrown' plots, where informants largely invent the plot, agree to supply the weapons and encourage the inflammatory rhetoric that elevates the crime to the level of terrorism, continue to be cited under the Obama administration as evidence that we are winning the war on terror. ... Bush is the president who launched the war on terror. Will Obama go down in history as the one who made it permanent?"
12/6/12 Pearl Harbor Day Is a Day to Cherish the $1.3 Trillion We Blow on War Preparation Every Year, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "The next day, the President spoke of a day of infamy, the United States Congress declared the last Constitutional war in the history of the republic, and the President of the Federal Council of Churches, Dr. George A. Buttrick, became a member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation committing to resist the war. Why does it matter? Because the legend of Pearl Harbor, re-used on 9-11, is responsible not for the destructive pro-war policies of the 1920s and the 1930s that brought World War II into being, but responsible for the permanent war mentality of the past 71 years, as well as for how World War II was escalated, prolonged, and completed."
12/4/12 The Barack Obama Story (Updated) - How a Community Organizer and Constitutional Law Professor Became a Robot President [An Open Letter to Barack Obama], by Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch.com. "Maybe you don't even realize how you've been boxed into, and boxed yourself into, the codifications from hell, almost all based on our militarizing way of life. Outside that box where the bureaucratized killing takes place, where the 'wars' are fought, and the battle plans are endlessly recalibrated in ways too familiar to matter, outside the airless world of the National Security Complex where one destructive set of ways has become the only way, there surely are other possibilities that could result in other kinds of worlds."
12/3/12 Whistleblower's treatment exposes dark side of Obama, by Glenn Greenwald, National Times (Australia). "The repressive treatment of Manning is one of the disgraces of Obama's first term and highlights many of the dynamics shaping his presidency. He not only defended Manning's treatment, but also, as commander-in-chief of the court martial judges, improperly decreed Manning's guilt when he asserted that he 'broke the law'. ... Compare the aggressive prosecution of Manning to the US administration's vigorous efforts to shield Bush-era war crimes and massive Wall Street fraud from legal accountability. Not a single perpetrator of those crimes has faced court under Obama, a comparison that reflects the priorities and values of US justice."
11/29/12 Al Qaeda battle in Afghanistan to stretch for years: U.S., by Phil Stewart, Reuters. "Al Qaeda fighters are still trying to make inroads into Afghanistan, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Thursday, cautioning that battling the group would be a core U.S. mission there for years to come. ... A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, estimated there were still only about 100 al Qaeda militants in Afghanistan."
11/29/12 Ending the US War in Afghanistan? It Depends on the Meaning of the Word 'War', by David Lindorff, This Can't Be Happening. "It is totally predictable that the unfortunate soldiers who are ordered over as part of that 10,000-member force of 'trainers' after 2014 will be subjected to attacks by Taliban fighters, by suicide bombers, and by IED mines. Their bases will be hit by mortars and rockets. When they travel, their vehicles will be the targets of RPGs. They will also be subject to attack by members of the Afghan military whom they are ostensibly training, since the Taliban have already learned that infiltration of the country's army is a great way to get close to the American forces, the better to hit them when their guard is down or their backs are turned. Inevitably, the US forces will be forced to fight back, and to take the offensive too. There will certainly continue to be US airstrikes, and we can be sure that armed attack drones will be widely employed also, guaranteeing the creation of plenty of new enemy forces sworn to punish and drive out the US. None of this will, of course, be described as 'war' by the US, or by the compliant corporate media in America."
11/28/12 Kucinich, Paul and Holt Introduce Bipartisan Resolution to Compel White House to Release Legal Justification for Drone Strikes, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "Congressmen Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Ron Paul (R-TX) and Rush Holt Jr. (D-NJ) today introduced H. Res. 819, a resolution of inquiry to compel the Administration to release documents which it reportedly uses as the legal justification for the use of drones to assassinate people abroad, including United States citizens, without trial. According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, our drone strikes have killed more than 3,000 people including as many as 1,105 innocent civilians since 2002."
11/20/12 Senate bill rewrite lets feds read your e-mail without warrants, by Declan McCullagh, CNET. "[Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick] Leahy's rewritten bill [H.R. 2471] would allow more than 22 agencies -- including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission -- to access Americans' e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant. It also would give the FBI and Homeland Security more authority, in some circumstances, to gain full access to Internet accounts without notifying either the owner or a judge. ... It's an abrupt departure from Leahy's earlier approach, which required police to obtain a search warrant backed by probable cause before they could read the contents of e-mail or other communications."
11/18/12 'War' word origin is 'confusion': how 1% wage war on 99%, how to end war, by Carl Herman, The Examiner. "US armed attacks on Afghanistan, Iraq, all drone-targeted nations, and support for Israel armed attacks on Palestinians are therefore Orwellian unlawful. They are Wars of Aggression, the most egregious crime a nation can commit, and how Nazi leaders were prosecuted. Importantly, all reasons for war with Afghanistan, Iraq, and possible war with Iran are all now proved as lies known to be false as they were/are told. ... 'The people — the people — are the rightful masters of both Congresses, and courts — not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert it.' — Abraham Lincoln, [September 16-17, 1859] (Notes for Speech in Kansas and Ohio), Page 2.
11/16/12 (VIDEO 1:13:53) Drones Briefing, DJKucinich. "Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) hosts the first Congressional briefing to examine U.S. policy regarding the use of armed drones. U.S. drone strikes are estimated to have killed thousands of people, many of them innocent civilians. The first U.S. drone strike took place in 2002. Experts include: Prof. James Cavallaro, founding director of Stanford Law School's International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic; Bob Naiman, Policy Director of Just Foreign Policy; Medea Benjamin, Cofounder of Global Exchange and Code Pink; Frank Jannuzi, Deputy Executive Director of Amnesty International USA."
11/8/12 The Taliban's Advice to Obama, by Michael Rubin, Commentary. "2. Obama realizes that Americans are now tired of the war and useless military expenditure. Therefore, he should take into account the demands and expectations of his people, and end the meaningless war. He should not let the United States become notorious by committing more war crimes. ... 4. The elements who are currently supporting the United States in our country are indeed the most disgraceful and unwanted faces. Relying on such elements will cost the United States more financial and human losses. 5. Perhaps Obama has now realized well that he has lost the battle in Afghanistan. Therefore, instead of wasting time and telling lies, he should immediately leave our sacred soil and think about his country and people's lives."
11/8/12 The Special Interests Won Again, by Paul Craig Roberts, Institute for Political Economy. "What the two parties fight over is not alternative political visions and different legislative agendas, but which party gets to be the whore for Wall Street, the military-security complex, Israel Lobby, agribusiness, and energy, mining, and timber interests. ... What is curious is that voters...do not see the hypocrisy that is staring them in the face. Proud patriotic macho American men voted for Romney who went to Israel and, swearing allegiance to his liege lord, groveled at the feet of Netanyahu. Obama plays on the heart strings of his supporters by relating a story of a child with leukemia now protected by Obamacare, while he continues to murder thousands of children and their parents with drones and other military actions in seven countries. Obama was able to elicit cheers from supporters as he described the onward and upward path of America toward greater moral accomplishments, while his actual record is that of a tyrant who codified into law the destruction of the US Constitution and the civil liberties of the American people."
10/31/12 Part II – Rigged Elections for Romney?, by Michael Collins, The Money Party. "The fundamental cause of the suspected amazing anomaly and any of the other forms of election fraud is a fundamental disregard of the rights of citizens to vote and know that their vote counted. Ironically, the politicians (supported by regulators and academic consultants) who make decisions about election systems are the very same people who are elected again and again by these flawed approaches, software, and equipment. Our public elected and appointed officials are the ultimate virus in the electoral system. It needs a good cleaning."
10/29/12 The Progressive Retreat from Obama: Who is to Blame?, by Robert E. Prasch, Translation Exercises. "The fact is that the Obama Administration, like the Clinton Administration before it, knowingly engaged in a cynical wager. They bet that they could pursue a host of policies fundamentally odious to their core supporters and yet be reelected. ... Every four years we are asked to vote for the lesser evil. In a couple of weeks we will all learn if this plea will pay off again. The question is, will we learn? Will we learn to bargain with a faithless leadership of the Democratic Party? If not this election, then when?"
10/29/12 Why I'm Voting Green, by Chris Hedges, truthdig. "Voting for the 'lesser evil'—or failing to vote at all—is part of the corporate agenda to crush what is left of our anemic democracy. And those who continue to participate in the vaudeville of a two-party process, who refuse to confront in every way possible the structures of corporate power, assure our mutual destruction. ... The flimsy excuses used by liberals and progressives to support Obama, including the argument that we can't let Romney appoint the next Supreme Court justices, ignore the imperative of building a movement as fast and as radical as possible as a counterweight to corporate power."
10/27/12 The progressive case against Obama, by Matt Stoller, Salon. "The policy continuity with Bush is a stark contrast to what Obama offered as a candidate. Look at the broken promises from the 2008 Democratic platform... This is just not an America that any of us should want to live in. It is a country whose economic basis is oligarchy, whose political system is authoritarianism, and whose political culture is murderous toward the rest of the world and suicidal in our aggressive lack of attention to climate change. ... So, what is to be done? We have an election, and you probably have a vote. What should you do with it? I think it's worth voting for a third party candidate, and I'll explain why below...."
10/20/12 You Still Vote, Don't You?, by Corey Schink, SOTT.net. "Voting for the lesser of two evils is consciously choosing evil. ... And the more time we spend protecting our illusions of change and false hope the less of a chance we have of actually working towards seeing reality and surviving the real, disastrous, collapse of our collective illusion we call democracy."
10/20/12 CIA chiefs face arrest over horrific evidence of bloody 'video-game' sorties by drone pilots, by David Rose, Daily Mail (UK). "A damning dossier assembled from exhaustive research into the strikes' targets sets out in heartbreaking detail the deaths of teachers, students and Pakistani policemen. It also describes how bereaved relatives are forced to gather their loved ones' dismembered body parts in the aftermath of strikes."
10/16/12 Beating or Flogging? American 'Democracy' in Action, by Vic Pittman, Salem-News.com (OR). "The political party charade is just one more way that we are kept divided and distracted. And neither 'side' is any better than the other. ... They run to AIPAC conventions to pledge our support, our standing in the world, and our children's lives (not their children of course) to the state of Israel. They run to the bank to cash their lobby checks from the weapons manufacturers and the privately-run prison industry. ... The industrialists use their money to buy politicians who use that money to stay in power where they can convince the people of the need for war or just declare war for some reason, which results in the industrialists making more money than ever supplying the war machine and having even more money to bribe/lobby the politicians, etc, etc. Meanwhile, the bankers are loaning all the money involved, and who gets to pay for it? We the People."
10/15/12 [VIDEO 17:32] Century Of Manipulation , ScootieRoyale. "A history of false flags, war opportunism, Al-Qaeda and other deceptions."
10/14/12 Intensified Warrantless Spying in America, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "Newly released documents show Washington operates unaccountably...reveal[ing] a dramatic increase of 'pen register' and 'trap and trace' surveillance. They're used to gather information from telephone, email, and other Internet communications. ... They covertly record incoming and outgoing numbers dialed. They're built into phone company call-routing hardware. They're also used to collect email and instant messages, social network communications, and web sites visited. From 2009 - 2011, content obtained increased 60%. Individuals whose phones were surveilled more than tripled. ... Use of these tools increased exponentially. 'The number of authorizations the Justice Department received to use (them) increased 361% from 2009 - 2011.'"
10/11/12 What to Do after 11 Years of War? How About Occupying Your City Council?!, by Coleen Rowley, Huffington Post. "Naturally, more than a few of us have begun to lose hope in any American politician getting the country out of the wars, quagmires and messes created by other politicians. However, by recalling Lord Acton's immutable principle as well as Eisenhower's warning about the corrosive impact of the Military Industrial Complex, we see that the lower levels of city and state governments are inherently more reachable and less subject to corruption than the higher and more powerful levels of federal government."
10/3/12 America's Sham Electoral Process, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "On October 3, 16, and 22, media scoundrels were chosen to run cover for debate theatrics as hosts. PBS News Hour's Jim Lehrer, CNN's Candy Crowley, and CBS chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer lack credibility. So does ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz. She'll host the October 11 vice presidential debate. Expect no surprises. Hosts are prescripted, well-prepared, and rehearsed like candidates. Nothing is left to chance. ... What matters most has no seat at the table. It's always been that way. Money power and television rules made things worse. They further corrupted an illegitimate process too dysfunctional to fix."
10/3/12 Obama's 'Writ' Unleashed War Criminals, by Terry Jeffrey, Townhall. "Thanks to the same United Nations whose 'writ' Obama said he was defending in Libya, we now know that the revolutionary forces in Libya started committing war crimes even before Obama ordered the U.S. military to intervene on their behalf. ... Had Obama followed the U.S. Constitution and sought congressional authorization for his use of force in Libya, the members of Congress who voted for such an authorization would have shared the responsibility for what that intervention helped bring about. As it is, the responsibility for exceeding his constitutional authority and intervening in a civil war he did not understand lies solely and deservedly with Obama himself."
9/30/12 The colossal fraud of the US presidential elections, by Webster G. Tarpley, PhD. Press TV. "But if Obama does win, the American people will be in for a shock of epic proportions. The evidence is now accumulating that Obama fully intends to betray his own loyal supporters...by selling out working people to reach a corrupt deal with the same reactionary Republicans Obama is currently pretending to oppose. It would be a deal to savagely cut Social Security, Medicare, and other vital services in the vain quest for a balanced budget and a reduction in the US public debt. Above and beyond the devastating economic effects of such a pact, it would be likely to bring on a collapse of public confidence in government so severe as to represent a true constitutional crisis."
9/24/12 Iran says Israel is 'threatening' U.S. with allegations of Iranian nuclear weapon, by Anne Gearan, The Washington Post. "'Is it the Zionists who must tell the United States government what to do, such as form a red line on Iran's nuclear issues, and the United States government must make such vital decisions under the influence of the Zionists?' [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad said, using the Iranian regime's term for Israel. He spoke through an interpreter. Americans should be insulted if their government takes marching orders from Israel, Ahmadinejad added. ... The Obama administration is chafing under increasingly direct pressure from Israel to declare 'red lines' in Iran's nuclear development that would trigger a U.S. attack."
9/21/12 "In America Today Peace is For Sissies" - An Interview With Paul Craig Roberts on Torture, by Nilantha Ilangamuwa Counterpunch. "PCR: In the US, government is no longer accountable to law or to the people. Whoever is elected to the presidency or to Congress is accountable to the powerful private interest groups that provide the funds for the political campaign. Having purchased the government, the special interests expect government to serve them. The military/security complex makes billions of dollars in profits from wars, whether hot or cold. Peace is not in the interest of the military/security complex. Peace reduces the profits of the armaments industry and it reduces the power of the CIA, Homeland Security, Pentagon, FBI, and National Security Agency. In America today, peace is for sissies."
9/21/12 VIDEO (62:36) [War Powers/Impeaching Obama] Press Conference with Walter Jones & Retired Military on HCR107, LarouchePAC.com. CONGRESSMAN WALTER B. JONES: "We keep continuing to hear war drums beating in the Middle East, and also in other parts of the world. And all I think should happen is that Congress should follow the Constitution. ... After I knew I'd made a mistake on the Iraq War, I consulted with [Former Assistant Secretary of State Col.] Larry Wilkerson, also other people. He helped me understand that too many times, there are backroom decisions made by administrations that bypass Congress and the American people, and commit this country to war. ... I will continue to do my part in a very small way, to ensure, that a kid, an American boy, girl, does not have to give their life, unless we follow the Constitution."
9/13/12 The New American Reality, by Timothy V. Gatto, The People's Voice. "Sadly, this is OUR fault. We have allowed these two political parties to become completely co-opted by the military industrial complex. These two candidates will not work for the American people; they will work for the goals of the military and business. The candidates were chosen and financed by big business interests, not the American people. That's all there is to it. There is basically no difference between what Barack Obama or what Mitt Romney will do in the future. The military will continue to operate in other nations to continue American business interests."
9/13/12 Obama's NDAA Law Allowing Indefinite Military Detention of Citizens Ruled Unconstitutional, by Nick Pinto, The Village Voice. "Judge Katherine Forrest, a recent Obama appointee to the federal bench, was clearly [not] buying the government's argument. That impression was confirmed yesterday with Forrest's 112-page ruling, which resoundingly dismisses the law as unconstitutional:"
9/8/12 Iraq: Inside the Belly of CIA Beast, by Dr. Ismail Salami, Countercurrents.org. "[A] report recently declassified by CIA reveals that a war that started in the name of democracy in Iraq in 2003 and claimed the lives of more than one million innocent Iraqis and thousands of US-led troops was waged on the basis of an unfortunate series of blatant lies fabricated by CIA. ... No doubt, Bush and Blair will be eventually tried in a fair court of justice for the crimes they have committed in Iraq in the name of democracy under the hallucination of a divine decree; indeed, that is only a matter of when rather than if."
9/1/12 Hell Hath No Fury Like an Empire Embarrassed, by William Blum, Foreign Policy Journal. "On several occasions, President Obama, when pressed to investigate Bush and Cheney for war crimes, has declared: 'I prefer to look forward rather than backwards'. Picture a defendant before a judge asking to be found innocent on such grounds. ... Picture Julian Assange before a military court in Virginia using this argument. Picture the reaction to this by Barack Obama, who has become the leading persecutor of whistleblowers in American history."
8/28/12 Why I won't be voting for Obama, by Ben Silverman, SocialistWorker.org. "Clinton, Bush, Kerry, Obama. Look at their policies. Really look at them. Not what they say and what kind of rhetoric they use, but actually what they do. The differences are so minimal to be almost inconsequential. The line between the Democrats and the Republicans is a distinction without difference. ... You're still getting evil, and if you keep voting for the lesser-evil year after year (as many do) that evil keeps building up and up (as it most certainly has)."
8/26/12 Justice Party Presidential Candidate Rocky Anderson Speaks Candidly on the Crumbling State of the Union, by Ron Boyer, truthout. "Our nation has been transformed in extraordinarily tragic ways in the past dozen years. The rule of law has been utterly eviscerated during the Bush and Obama administrations. We've engaged in wars of aggression, wars for which there has been no coherent explanation. Our debt is completely out of control. We have a military-industrial complex with a stranglehold on our government. And at the core of almost every public policy failure, all we have to do to find an explanation is follow the money, because our Congress and the White House have been purchased lock, stock and barrel by wealthy corporate interests. ... With the Republican and Democratic Parties in control, they're acting in a sense as a cabal against the rest of us. We need – all of us – to understand how dangerous this is, what's at stake not only for us, but for the future of this nation. And we must organize and take action, both within and without the electoral system, if we are to protect and maintain a Republic as we've known it since the very founding of this country."
8/25/12 When 9/11 Truth Becomes a Criminal Offense: Marine Vet Arrested for 9/11 Facebook Posts, by Michael Kelley, Centre for Research on Globalization. "According to Brandon Raub's mother, authorities from the FBI, Secret Service and Chesterfield County PD came to their door, questioned Raub about his Facebook posts – which are critical of the official story regarding 9/11 and refer to "starting a revolution" – then handcuffed him and placed him in a Chesterfield PD squad car before taking him to John Randolph Psychiatric Hospital in Hopewell, Va. Raub's mother said he returned about a year ago after serving in Afghanistan (after serving in Iraq) and did not suffer from PTSD."
• 8/23/12 UPDATE: Detained Marine veteran leaves VA hospital, by Bill McKelway, Richmond Times-Dispatch. "'The petition is so devoid of any factual allegations that it could not be reasonably expected to give rise to a case or controversy,' said the release order signed by the judge and sought by lawyers Anthony F. Troy and Brian D. Fowler. ... The Rutherford Institute, a civil liberties organization based in Charlottesville, challenged Raub's confinement, arguing that he is mentally fit and has become the target of an overzealous, unauthorized police action. In an interview Raub gave to a radio station from the Hopewell hospital, Raub sounded alert and clear-thinking, at one point urging the public to "educate yourself." ... Raub told The Times-Dispatch over the weekend that he served in the Marines from 2005 until 2011 and was a combat engineer sergeant."
8/19/12 AIPAC Wants War on Iran, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "AIPAC is an unregistered foreign agent. It calls itself 'America's Pro-Israeli Lobby.' It's represented Israeli interests since 1953. Virtually no one in Congress confronts it. Doing so is a career-ender. It has enormous influence over US Middle East policies affecting Israel, including war and peace. It disseminates disinformation, lies and hate. It viciously attacks opponents. ... AIPAC is a destructive, malevolent, evil force. It's heading Washington for war. Waging one on Iran assures losers, not winners. Israel may self-destruct in the process."
8/17/12 Meet Barack Obama, by Rob Urie, Counterpunch. "In every dimension as president Barack Obama has proven himself a loyal servant of the global ruling class—bankers, corporate CEOs and oil and gas industry executives, against the rest of humanity. And through his faux-populist rhetoric and crude-materialist presence (black Democrat) he has been able to promote ruling class interests more effectively than conspicuous aristocrats like Mitt Romney could hope to. ... The ruling class declared war on the rest of us forty years ago. Mitt Romney clearly represents the ruling class. Mr. Obama does the same with less evident intent."
8/10/12 The United States and its comrade-in-arms, Al Qaeda. And other tales of an empire gone mad, by William Blum, The Anti-Empire Report. "Afghanistan in the 1980s and 90s ... Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s ... Libya 2011 ... Syria 2012 ... In military conflicts in each of these countries the United States and al Qaeda (or one of its associates) have been on the same side. [...] So, if you want to understand this thing called United States foreign policy ... forget about the War on Terrorism, forget about September 11, forget about democracy, forget about freedom, forget about human rights, forget about religion, forget about the people of Libya and Syria ... keep your eyes on the prize ... Whatever advances American global domination. Whatever suits their goals at the moment. There is no moral factor built into the DNA of US foreign policy."
8/10/12 US officials say al-Qaida is gaining a stronger foothold in Syria as the civil war drags on, by Kimberly Dozier and Bradley Klapper, Associated Press, The Washington Post. "At least a couple of hundred al-Qaida-linked militants are already operating in Syria, and their ranks are growing as foreign fighters stream into the Arab country daily, current and former U.S. intelligence officials say. ... U.S. officials have repeatedly rejected providing any lethal assistance to the conflict that has killed at least 19,000 people over the past 17 months. ... Officials described the intelligence on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss confidential internal talks among intelligence and administration officials."
8/9/12 Gazillions -- that's the number of times our government has spied on Americans since 9/11, by Judge Andrew P. Napolitano, Fox News. "The point here is terrifying. If the government derives its powers from the consent of the governed, how can it do things to us to which we have not consented? And when it does these things -- like send a drone over your back yard to learn who is coming to your Saturday barbeque or to see what fertilizer you are using in your vegetable garden or to take a peek into your living room or bedroom -- and when the laws the government has written prevent our elected representatives from telling us what it is doing, we are at the doorsteps of tyranny."
8/8/12 VIDEO (4:43 )Reality Check: The U.S. Government Created Al Qaeda? , by Ben Swann, Fox19 News (OH). "Ben Swann Reality Check takes a look at how the United States government created Al Qaeda and yet in some countries is still fighting them while in others is supporting them."
7/31/12 Where's the Outrage: Nobody Seems to Care as America's Becomes a Police State, by Dave Lindorff, This Can't Be Happening. "But how can there have been such public and media outrage back in 1976 simply over a news report that the phone company was providing unlisted number information to police on request, and then today, there is almost no concern even at the prospect of police spy drones hovering over our neighborhoods 24/7 taking photos of our every move, and at reports from agency whistleblowers that the National Security Agency is already monitoring the electronic communications of all Americans? What has happened to the 'Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave'?"
7/19/12 America's One-party State , by Shahid Buttar, The Huffington Post. "Despite campaigning to restore liberty in the face of Bush & Cheney's blind pursuit of a brutish (and ultimately foolish) vision of security, President Obama has not only continued their constitutional abuses but even pioneered new ones. ... Whatever choice America makes this November, our ensuing policies will reflect the continuing influence of the Bush & Cheney neoconservative revolution. For figures who will be so reviled by history, they wield a remarkably enduring legacy. It is a shame that neither of the major political parties offers We the People an alternative."
7/19/12 72% of Americans and 25% of Congress Members Say: Get Out of Afghanistan!, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "CNN/ORC Poll, March 24-25, 2012. N=1,014 adults nationwide. Margin of error ±3. Favor: 25% Oppose: 72% Unsure: 3%.
On Agreeing to 2nd Lee (CA) Amendment to H.R. 5856 (to reduce appropriations made in Title IX of the bill by $20,843,869,000). Failed by recorded vote: 107 - 312. Failed by a margin of 103 votes."
7/16/12 VIDEO (33:24) "Fuel on the Fire": Author Greg Muttitt on Oil and Politics in Occupied Iraq, Arab Spring, Interviewed by Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!. [Transcript] "Well, it was fairly obvious to me, as it was to many people at the time, in 2003, that oil was fairly centrally involved here, in spite of the government's insistences that it wasn't thinking about oil at all. I mean, you only had to look at the fact that Iraq had about a tenth of the world's remaining oil reserves, and put together with its neighbors, the Persian Gulf region as a whole had nearly two-thirds. Now, to suggest that the Bush administration didn't think about that, didn't notice, simply isn't credible. So I was involved in the protests against the war. I was furious about my government's decision to go to war. And I thought, 'Let's see what happens next to the oil. Let's see how this plays out.'"
7/16/12 Are Drones Moral Killing Machines? NY Times National Security Journalist Says Yes, by Dave Lindorff, CounterPunch. "President Obama...has okayed the use of drones in Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, Iran, Somalia, and almost surely, since they are operated by both the Pentagon and the CIA, in places that we haven't even heard about yet—none of which, with the exception of Afghanistan, the US is officially at war with. ... Instead of reporting on whether drones are a more moral way of killing, [Scott] Shane should be discussing whether it is moral for the US to be spending as much on its military as the rest of the world combined."
7/11/12 Hentoff: Obama-Holder at war with the Constitution, by Nat Hentoff, Times Herald (PA). "Since 9/11, we have become a nation in which the president frequently acts as a king, without acknowledging the legislature and the courts. ... Entering this grim conversation is Tom Engelhardt, an author and a Fellow at the Nation Institute: 'Be assured of one thing: whichever candidate you choose at the polls in November, you aren't just electing a president of the United States; you are also electing an assassin-in-chief. The last two presidents may not have been emperors or kings, but they — and the vast national-security structure that continues to be built-up and institutionalized around the presidential self — are certainly one of the nightmares the founding fathers of this country warned us against.'"
7/7/12 Why No Economic Sanctions against the US? A Long and Bloody Record of "Crimes against Peace", by Richard Becker, Centre for Research on Globalization. "Taken together, the Twenty Years War the U.S. waged on Iraq killed, wounded or forced into exile more than one-third of Iraq's population. All of this death and destruction in a war justified on fabricated pretenses, also known as lies. Then, there is the on-going U.S. war and occupation in Afghanistan, and the drone missile strikes killing people every day in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. In the 1990s, there was the bombing and blockade of the former Yugoslavia as well as Iraq, and in the 1980s the invasions and interventions in Central America and the Caribbean. And before that came Vietnam, Chile, Korea, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Congo, Iran, Guatemala, etc., etc.–a long and bloody history. Where the U.S. succeeded in overthrowing revolutionary or progressive governments, they were replaced with right-wing, police-state dictatorships. None of the above countries threatened or could threaten the United States, meaning that all of those wars and interventions were the most serious violations of international law–crimes against peace. ... So why are there no sanctions against the U.S.? Why are no U.S. leaders–past or present–currently occupying prison cells or awaiting trial?"
7/4/12 Can Americans Escape the Deception?, by Paul Craig Roberts, Institute for Political Economy. "The crimes against humanity, the dismantling of the US Constitution and the lawlessness both domestic and international that define 21st century amerika are the results of September 11, 2001. Washington's account of 9/11 is the wildest conspiracy theory known to mankind. The absurdity of Washington's account is as follows: A few Saudi Arabians without any government's backing or that of any intelligence service outwitted not only the CIA and the FBI but all 16 US intelligence agencies, even the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, together with the intelligence agencies of all of Washington's NATO allies and Israel's Mossad, which has infiltrated every radical Muslim group. ... Washington's 'wars of liberation' are wars of world hegemony and wars of massive profits for the military/security complex. The combination of power and money that are the motives for Washington's concocted wars are hidden motives, wrapped in the flag, patriotic sentiments, and fear of dark-skinned demonized Muslims."
6/29/12 Peace Activists Turn Against Obama And His Drone Wars, by Bill Sorem, The Uptake (St. Paul, MN). "In 2008, candidate Barack Obama had the enthusiastic backing of activists looking to bring an end to US led wars. In 2012, those same activists are harshly criticizing President Obama for using drones to attack civilians in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere ... Actually Obama in many ways is Bush on steroids."
6/29/12 'A journey into moral depravity' – US Congressman Dennis Kucinich on covert wars, by Chris Woods, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. "DK: [W]hen you have assassination programmes that lack any attempt to establish legal justification, then you have journeyed into moral depravity. International law means nothing, laws of war mean nothing. I am not assigning that condition to any one individual, but I am saying that the programme itself bespeaks an approach which depraves moral law, the constitution, and international law. That sets us into an endless cycle of violence."
6/28/12 War crimes: From carpet bombings to drone attacks, by Gordon Duff, Press TV. "Every war since [Vietnam] has been the same, carefully staged, false flag provocations orchestrated to justify long planned geopolitical struggles based on the conniving of secret societies whose financial interests trumped any imaginable human value, any imaginable law of man or moral code. ... We have institutionalized, not just war, but inoculated those who ordain themselves as the victims, as the righteous, those who own newspapers, who own television networks, those who can bring the world to heel, willing to kill on command, anywhere, anytime, for any stated reason. ... By 2012 there are no Americans left that feel any of our recent wars have been righteous, many now question all of them. Few are unaware of the crimes, kidnapping, torture, the drone killings of thousands of innocents, yet no one takes responsibility, no one feels, no one seems to care that we may be the evil that other nations fear, that if a child is to die in his sleep, struck down by a mindless weapon, one of our own children may be guiding it."
6/24/12 A Cruel and Unusual Record [of U.S. Human Rights Violations], by Jimmy Carter, The New York Times. "At a time when popular revolutions are sweeping the globe, the United States should be strengthening, not weakening, basic rules of law and principles of justice enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But instead of making the world safer, America's violation of international human rights abets our enemies and alienates our friends. As concerned citizens, we must persuade Washington to reverse course and regain moral leadership according to international human rights norms that we had officially adopted as our own and cherished throughout the years."
6/23/12 U.S. blog Business Insider: U.S., Israel continue preparations for strike on Iran nuclear facilities, by Haaretz. "Israel and the U.S. are pushing forward with preparations to jointly strike Iran's nuclear facilities, the U.S. blog Business Insider reported on Saturday. ... According to the blog, the U.S [N]avy has recently signed a $338 million contract with defense contractor Raytheon to 'provide the Navy with 361 Tomahawk cruise missiles in their most recent configuration.' 'On May 9,' the report added, 'the U.S. House of Representatives passed the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012, which seeks to 'reaffirm the commitment to Israel's security as a Jewish state; provide Israel with the military capabilities to defend itself by itself against any threats... [and] expand military and civilian cooperation.' According to the website, the U.S. is either renewing its stock of missiles or planning ahead. A senior Israeli official recently told Reuters that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to attack Iran before the U.S. elections in November."
6/22/12 Philadelphia City Council Says Stop Funding the War Machine, by Jane Dugdale, The International News Magazine. "[The] resolution 'call[ed] on the U.S. Congress to bring all U.S. troops home from Afghanistan, to take the funds saved by that action and by significantly cutting the Pentagon budget, and to use that money to fund education, public and private sector family-sustaining job creation, special protections for military sector workers, environmental and infrastructure restoration, care for veterans and their fammilies, and human services that our cities and states so desperately need.' ... The resolution contrasts the $2 billion shortfall of the City of Philadelphia over the next five years with the $5 billion spent on wars by Philadelphians since 2001. The resolution notes the doubling of military spending in the last decade and that the U.S. military budget could be cut by 80% and still be the largest in the world."
6/16/12 Obama's policy strategy: Ignore laws, by Steve Friess, POLITICO. "Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law scholar at George Washington University Law School [said], 'In many ways, President Obama has fulfilled the dream of an imperial presidency that Richard Nixon strived for. On everything from (the Defense of Marriage Act) to the gaming laws, this is a president who is now functioning as a super legislator. He is effectively negating parts of the criminal code because he disagrees with them. That does go beyond the pale.' ... Yet other scholars cited a more recent example: President George W. Bush's signing statements."
6/13/12 Revealed: 64 Drone Bases on American Soil, by Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, WIRED. "The possibility of military drones (as well as those controlled by police departments and universities) flying over American skies have raised concerns among privacy activists. As the American Civil Liberties Union explained in its December 2011 report, the machines potentially could be used to spy on American citizens. The drones' presence in our skies 'threatens to eradicate existing practical limits on aerial monitoring and allow for pervasive surveillance, police fishing expeditions, and abusive use of these tools in a way that could eventually eliminate the privacy Americans have traditionally enjoyed in their movements and activities.'"
6/13/12 AUDIO (29:00) Talk Nation Radio: Sandy Davies on War, Weapons, and Obama, Interview by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "Nicolas 'Sandy' Davies discusses Iraq, Afghanistan, war profiteering, and the militarism of President Barack Obama. Davies is the author of 'Blood on Our Hands: The American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq.'"
6/9/12 Democrats, Republicans criticize leaks, not drone murders, by Patrick Martin, World Socialist Web Site. "At an extraordinary press conference Thursday, the top Democrats and Republicans on the House and Senate intelligence committees denounced leaks to the press about US drone missile attacks and other covert actions. They objected, not to the violations of international law being carried out by the Obama administration, but to media reports making these violations known to the American people."
6/7/12 Obama Supporters Know His Drone War Is Indefensible, by Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic. "I'd say it's evidence of humanity's unfortunate ability to be seduced by leaders exercising violence, even when we think that violence is immoral, illegal, and imprudent. [Andrew] Sullivan is, after all, celebrating Obama's drone kills and suggesting that they're part of why he deserves reelection. And yet, in more considered moments, he asserts that the drone campaign (a) violates the constitutional imperative to get Congressional permission for war; (b) constitutes the use of a technology that inclines us to blowback and permanent war; (c) effectively ends the Founders' vision; (d) empowers an unaccountable and untrustworthy agency; and (e) kills lots of innocent children."
6/3/12 Jeremy Scahill Says Obama Strikes In Yemen Constitute 'Murder', by Benjamin Hart, The Huffington Post.

"Scahill continued: 'If you go to the village of Al-Majalah in Yemen, where I was, and you see the unexploded clusterbombs and you have the list and photographic evidence, as I do--the women and children that represented the vast majority of the deaths in this first strike that Obama authorized on Yemen--those people were murdered by President Obama, on his orders, because there was believed to be someone from Al Qaeda in that area. There's only one person that's been identified that had any connection to Al Qaeda there. And 21 women and 14 children were killed in that strike and the U.S. tried to cover it up, and say it was a Yemeni strike, and we know from the Wikileaks cables that David Petraeus conspired with the president of Yemen to lie to the world about who did that bombing. It's murder--it's mass murder--when you say, 'We are going to bomb this area' because we believe a terrorist is there, and you know that women and children are in the area. The United States has an obligation to not bomb that area if they believe that women and children are there. I'm sorry, that's murder.'"
6/1/12 A Killer In the White House, by John Grant, This Can't Be Happening. "The news that Barack Obama — a Constitutional scholar and recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize — has taken personal charge of lethal US drone hits in Yemen and Pakistan is one of those stories that takes time to sink in. ... Exactly how many non-combatants and innocent people are being killed is the big question. There's no way to know. One, there's a pathological level of secrecy in our militarized government and, two, we can't believe a word the government says anyway."
5/31/12 Obama's God Complex, by Yvonne Ridley, Foreign Policy Journal. "Many of us who cheered when the first non-white president moved into the White House were hoping for a new era of peace and justice, but we have been conned. The true Barack Obama is an out of control psychopathic killer with a loaded God complex, and he's running America. This makes him the most dangerous man in the world as well as the most powerful."
5/30/12 The American Agenda in Afghanistan: a Civilian's Review, by Ian Pounds. Counter Punch. "Our Peace Prize recipient at one time or another in his tenure as President has dropped bombs (that we know of) on Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, and Pakistan, six Moslem countries. He increased troops in Afghanistan to over a hundred thousand. He has refined and mainstreamed the unilateral use of drone warfare all over the world, paving the way, experts in law enforcement predict, for these drones to be used on Americans in American cities for their own security. At home the militarization of law enforcement has continued while the White House remains silent about pepper spraying, club waving police. Whatever his plans are, his record thus far is clear. Mr. Obama is the most war mongering Commander in Chief we have seen in decades. ... This will be the first presidential election as an adult I will not vote in. It is, I am saddened to believe, virtually meaningless who wins. The good people of America have been lied to, duped, seduced, drugged and misled for so long they simply are too exasperated to get at the truth. Thus they remain at the mercy of the powerful and mega rich...."
5/30/12 Barack Obama's war on terror is nastier and less ethical than George W Bush's, by Tim Stanley. The Telegraph (UK). "But while Bush tortured foreign soldiers, Obama has killed American citizens. He has expanded the scope of the war by launching strikes into sovereign territories to massacre communities that pose a largely existential threat to the US. ... One whistleblower at the NSA recently asserted that Obama is, 'Worse than Bush. I have to say that. I actually voted for Obama. It's all rhetoric for me now. As Americans we were hoodwinked.'"
5/29/12 America's murderous drone campaign is fuelling terror, by Seumas Milne. The Guardian (UK). Reprinted 6/4/12 The drones of Washington plough the soil for terror reprisals - Obama has replaced boots on the ground with robots in the air in Sydney Morning Herald (Australia). "These killings are, in reality, summary executions and widely regarded as potential war crimes by international lawyers — including the UN's special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, Philip Alston. The CIA's now retired counsel, John Rizzo, who authorised drone attacks, himself talked about having been involved in 'murder'. A decade ago, the US criticised Israel for such 'extrajudicial killings' but now claims self-defence in the war against al-Qaida. These are attacks, however, routinely carried out on the basis of false intelligence, in countries such as Pakistan where no war has been declared and without the consent of the elected government. ... The drone war is a predatory war on the Muslim world, which is feeding hatred of the US — and fuelling terror, not fighting it."
5/29/12 Secret 'Kill List' Proves a Test of Obama's Principles and Will, by Jo Becker and Scott Shane. The New York Times. "This was the enemy, served up in the latest chart from the intelligence agencies: 15 Qaeda suspects in Yemen with Western ties. The mug shots and brief biographies resembled a high school yearbook layout. Several were Americans. Two were teenagers, including a girl who looked even younger than her 17 years. ... Mr. Obama is the liberal law professor who campaigned against the Iraq war and torture, and then insisted on approving every new name on an expanding 'kill list'..."
5/25/12 US/NATO To Stop Killing Taliban In 2014, US Stopped Killing Vietcong In 1975, by Jay Janson. Countercurrents. "This week in Chicago, militarized politicians of wealthy nations pretended to sit in discussion of how much more death they will deal to the poorest nation on earth. In reality, they are powerless to do otherwise. Our real rulers, the elite of the community of private investment banking are whom the public should be focused on. In the meantime those who sign orders for killing in illegal wars will soon be facing prosecution. ... If Barack Obama had been tried under Nuremberg-Principles on that same day in Chicago, the maximum leader could have spread his arms wide with lifted shoulders indicating in his defense that as everyone can plainly see, the genocide is, a multinational war crime atrocity in which he merely participates in as coordinator. ... All these hundreds of bombings, invasions, occupation wars, covert overthrows, engendering of violence, false flag stimulating of civil wars and other acts of war like dis-stabilizing sanctions have all taken place under three names of high appointed officials forced upon presidents from Truman through Obama. All three are close confidants of David Rockefeller. Either the Dulles brothers, Henry Kissinger or Zbigniew Bzrezinski have overseen each the heinous taking of lives in illegal wars from Korea through the latest covert genocide in Syria."
5/25/12 Lies and Consequences in Our Past 15 Wars, by David Swanson. War Is A Crime. "And so it goes, back through the claim that the Civil War was launched to end slavery and was needed to end slavery, even though so many other nations ended slavery without wars. Back through the endless lies about, and to, Native Americans. Back through the War of 1812 that we like to imagine as a defensive struggle and a continuation of a war for independence, although it was actually launched by the U.S. government three decades after the revolution ended, and launched with the intention of conquering Canada. Back indeed beyond the American Revolution that we justify by averting our eyes from the nonviolent liberation of many other nations.
From war we have acquired taxes and debt. Expenses on war and war preparation in the United States are now over half of federal discretionary spending, more than all other nations of the world combined, and more than at any time during the Cold War. Military spending increases, not with the need for military defense, but with the level of corruption in U.S. elections.
Decreasing in proportion to the rise in military spending are our civil liberties; our representative government; the balance of powers within the government; resistance to policies of warrantless spying, imprisonment without charge, torture, and assassination; and the health of our news media. The war machine has become the greatest destroyer of the natural environment we have. And the shifting of funding from all other areas to the military has had disastrous results in as many fields as we might choose to name."
5/11/12 Above the Law: U.S. Crimes during The War on Terror, by Henry "Chip" Carey, World Policy Institute. "The U.S. and Israel have routinely conducted acts of torture, from water-boarding, stress positions, sleep deprivations, shackling, sexual humiliation and beatings—all in violation of the Anti-Torture statute, which applies for actions outside U.S. territory. ... Not one U.S. or Israeli official, other than low-ranking soldiers or police, have ever been prosecuted or held liable for complicity with torture. ... Our failure to prosecute is not only criminal; it will only continue this endless war by creating more terrorism and encourage other countries to follow our bad examples."
5/8/12 NSA Whistleblower: Justice Department Covers Up Crimes of Obama, Bush Administrations, by Kevin Gosztola, The Dissenter/Firedoglake. "In a recent segment from Current TV's show 'Viewpoint,' host Eliot Spitzer interviewed three National Security Agency whistleblowers: William Binney, a former technical director; Kirk Wiebe, former senior analyst; and Thomas Drake, a former senior official. Each man talked about what he saw the NSA do when they were employees. Each of these whistleblowers directly explained the threats to civil liberties posed by the lawlessness of the NSA in the past decade. ... Not only is the Justice Department engaged in the act of shielding officials and corporate executives from prosecution for crimes, but Congress is not fulfilling its role as the Legislative Branch that is supposed to check the power of the Executive Branch by engaging in oversight. It is complicit and impotent. And as these whistleblowers have been targeted, Congress has not raised much of an objection at all to this conduct by the Obama Justice Department."
5/2/12 Real Politics Must be in the Streets: The Constitutional Crimes of Barack Obama, by Dave Lindorff, This Can't Be Happening. "[I]t is time to make it clear that the current president...is, in truth, a war criminal easily the equal of his predecessor, George W. Bush, and perhaps even of Bush's regent, former Vice President Dick Cheney. ... The election of 2008 proved yet again that voting in the US is simply for show, at least as long as the public continues to be suckered into accepting the fake limitation of choice to the two parties, which actually compete only for the right to the patronage and financial spoils that come with winning. The real politics must be in our communities and in the street."
4/9/12 Obama targets journalists, by Jesselyn Raddack, Salon. "While the Bush administration treated whistleblowers unmercifully, the Obama administration has been far worse. It is actually prosecuting them, and doing so under the Espionage Act — one of the most serious charges that can be leveled against an American. ... That's not just a broken promise, it's a complete reversal. ... The law-breaking telecoms who received retroactive immunity from Congress, the interrogators who tortured prisoners, the officials who gave the orders, the attorneys who authored the torture memos, and the CIA agents who destroyed the interrogation tapes have not been held professionally accountable, much less been charged with crimes. National security and intelligence whistleblowers have become the glaring exception to the Obama administration's mantra of 'looking forward, not backward.'"
4/8/12 Obama Justice Department indicts ex-CIA agent for exposing torture, by Bill Van Auken, Centre for Research on Globalization. "Thursday's indictment of John Kiriakou for exposing CIA torture of detainees confirms yet again that the Obama administration is continuing and deepening the crimes carried out by the Bush White House. Kiriakou, a CIA agent for 14 years, is being prosecuted for speaking to two journalists about the waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah. ... Zubaydah's torture was overseen in detail by the top officials of the US government, from President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney on down. Bush publicly described Zubaydah as Al Qaeda's chief of operations, in charge of 'plotting and planning death and destruction on the United States.' He was charged not only with planning 9/11, but with involvement in virtually every other crime attributed to Al Qaeda. ... Yet, after a decade of imprisonment and torture, the government refuses to either try or release him. He is one of those designated by the Obama administration to be detained indefinitely without charges. The reasons are clear. There appears to be no evidence against him, and his case raises a whole range of crimes by government officials, including torture and the CIA's destruction of videotapes recording his interrogation sessions, carried out in defiance of court demands that they be produced. Nor have any of those responsible for the torture of Zubaydah and countless others been brought to justice. This includes not just the CIA torturers, but Bush, Cheney, former CIA Director George Tenet, former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, and ex-Justice Department officials like Jay Bybee, and John Yoo, who drafted the memos arguing that torture was legal. The Obama administration has protected all of these individuals, repeatedly intervening in court and invoking 'state secrets' to quash cases brought by torture victims."
4/5/12 VIDEO (2:19) Peace Activist [and Retired Navy Commander] Leah Bolger Protests the Congressional Super Committee, Veterans For Peace. CONGRESS: 13% APPROVAL RATING, WORST IN GALLUP HISTORY. "...yes I did this and I wish Congress would listen to us without people having to break the law, but they don't."
4/3/12 Boredom, terror, deadly mistakes: Secrets of the new drone war, by Jefferson Morley, Salon. "The problems with the current operator system is that it was designed for engineers, not pilots, say drone specialists. The original drone was just an aerial surveillance vehicle; missiles were not added until 2001. ... And then boredom is punctuated by terror – and deadly mistakes. The exact death toll is much disputed. The New Jersey-based Long War Journal says 138 civilians have been killed in drone strikes in the last eight years. The London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism counters that the strikes have killed anywhere from 479 to 811 noncombatants in that period, including 174 children. ... Some legal authorities argue drone pilots could be charged with war crimes in the future. All the while, the drone war continues to escalate."
4/2/12 The Massacre of the Afghan 17 and the Obama Cover-Up, by James Petras, The Peoples Voice. "Obama's deliberate lies about the events surrounding the massacre and the fundamental responsibility of the high military command for the crimes committed by its troops underscores the breakdown of the occupation of Afghanistan, the very centerpiece of Obama's war policy. The President of the United States has personally played a major role in the cover-up. From a political vantage point, the executive conspiracy charge has wider and deeper implications than the massacre itself, as horrible as it is. ... It could ruin the Obama presidency, by putting him on trial for conspiracy to obstruct justice and arguably send him to jail for war crimes."
3/25/12 U.S. pays Afghans $50K per shooting death, by Associated Press, CBS News. "The United States has paid $50,000 in compensation for each Afghan killed in the shooting spree attributed to a U.S. soldier in southern Afghanistan, an Afghan official and a community elder said Sunday. ... Each wounded person received $11,000, Lalai said. They were told that the money came from U.S. President Barack Obama.... The families had previously received smaller compensation payments from Afghan officials – $2,000 for each death and $1,000 for each person wounded. Families of the dead declined to comment on any payments by U.S. officials on Sunday...."
3/24/12 The 'Exceptional Character' Of The U.S Armed Forces, by Jack A. Smith, Countercurrents. "The Bush and Obama governments have invested nearly $500 billion in the war, but two-thirds of Afghanistan's 30 million people are living below the poverty line, and unemployment is over 50%. Afghan children, according to a World Bank report this month, suffer one of the highest levels of chronic malnutrition in the world. Over 50% under the age of five are chronically malnourished. Hundreds of small kids die daily from hunger. The U.S. government has never apologized or assumed any responsibility for the wretched conditions it has imposed upon the people – and be assured that the reported instances of war crimes, atrocities, and abuses attributed to the Pentagon's foreign legion are but a small portion of the horrors that take place repeatedly but are never observed, or photographed or written about."
3/22/12 The Ascendence of Sociopaths in US Governance, by Doug Casey, Information Clearning House. "The fact that they're chronic, extremely convincing and even enthusiastic liars, who often believe their own lies, means they aren't easy to spot, because normal people naturally assume another person is telling the truth. ... With sociopaths in charge, we could very well see the Milgram experiment reenacted on a national scale. In the experiment, you may recall, researchers asked members of the public to torture subjects (who, unbeknownst to the people being recruited, were paid actors) with electric shocks, all the way up to what they believed were lethal doses. Most of them did as asked, after being assured that it was 'all right' and 'necessary' by men in authority. The men in authority today are mostly sociopaths."
3/18/12 Stopping the US Drone War: A Chilling Feature of the US War of Terror, Expanded by Obama Administration to Include Targeted Assassinations, War Criminals Watch. "The Obama administration is coordinating drone strikes in at least six countries: Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan. In fact, these drones are being used eight times more by the Obama administration than by the Bush regime, in programs run by the military and the C.I.A. ... [T]he pilot does his killing and then goes home for dinner with his family, remaining removed and aloof from the death and destruction caused by his work. When a home or other location is targeted, the drone cannot tell if there are civilians or insurgents in the vicinity — yet everyone who's killed is called an insurgent."
3/12/12 Americans to Obama: Get Out of Afghanistan, by George Zornick, The Nation. "[I]t's crystal clear that Americans disapprove of Obama's handling of Afghanistan because they want US forces out of the country. Only 35 percent say the war is worth fighting, and 60 percent say it's not. ... Remember, this poll and the pressure from the Hill came before this weekend's awful shootings–which prompted even Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum to question the American mission. The president's position is increasingly becoming a lonely one."
2/21/12 Lawmakers unite at anti-war town hall, by Rob Christensen, Raleigh News Observer. "Jones' activism has grown out of what he has said was his mistake in voting to approve the war in Iraq after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. At the time, Jones was among the most gung ho, proposing the french fries served in the Congressional cafeteria be renamed freedom fries, because the French were not supportive of U.S. efforts in Iraq. But Jones said he has since learned that he was lied to about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."
2/20/12 Consequences To Expect If The U.S. Invades Iran , by Brandon Smith, Alternative Market Project. "Ultimately, most Americans who support continued destruction in the Middle East, or anywhere else for that matter, do so out a selfish need for private absolution and elevation, not out of a sincere sense of patriotism, and not because nations like Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, or Iran present a legitimate danger to their safety. ... This is not our fight. This is a fight we are being conned into undertaking for the profit of others, and thus, it is a fight we cannot win."
2/8/12 Where is Conyers with Impeachment Threats Against President for Iran Attack Now?, by Ralph Lopez, War Is A Crime. "Chairman of the Judiciary Committee John Conyers spent years fending off nationwide calls to impeach George W. Bush over the invasion of Iraq, the shredding of the Constitution after 9/11, and other high crimes and misdemeanors.... Conyers refused to impeach, but did in fact draw one hard line in the sand, saying that if Bush attacked Iran, it would guarantee impeachment proceedings."
2/6/12 US Iran Policy in 'Lockstep' with Israel?: President Obama Risks Becoming a Major-League War Criminal, by David Lindorff. This Can't Be Happening. "But surely the most appalling thing of all was hearing the US president say on national TV that he is operating US policy towards Iran in 'lockstep' with the pipsqueak nation of Israel—an apartheid country currently being run by a bunch of corrupt, neofascist, genocidal war-mongers and religious fanatics. To tie the fortunes of the US rigidly and unthinkingly to such lunacy and to allow such lunatics to drag the US into yet another disastrous and wholly unnecessary war should be seen as an act of lunacy itself, and certainly should in itself disqualify Obama for the office of president of the United States."
2/2/12 27 of 35 Bush Articles of Impeachment Apply to Obama, by David Swanson. War Is A Crime. "President Obama has accumulated his own massive list of high crimes and misdemeanors that were unavailable for Bush's list (things like openly murdering U.S. citizens, launching massive drone wars, selectively and abusively prosecuting numerous whistleblowers as spies, holding Bradley Manning naked in isolation, attacking Libya without so much as bothering to lie to Congress, etc.). Nonetheless, it is instructive to review the 35 Bush articles in the Obama age. It quickly becomes apparent that Obama has either exactly duplicated or closely paralleled most of the 35."
1/31/12 Consensus 9/11: Seeking Truth, Dispelling Lies, by Stephen Lendman. The Progressive Radio News Hour. "9/11 was the defining event of our time. Multiple wars followed. More are planned. America's business is war – permanent, destructive, lawless ones. Global terror wars rage, another on truth, democratic values, rule of law principles, social justice, and freedom. Debunking the official 9/11 lie is a vital first step to ending the global nightmare threatening humanity if it continues."
1/30/12 What Happened to the War Powers Act?, by Renee Parsons, Common Dreams. "What neither Pelley nor Panetta, who received a law degree from Santa Clara University Law School, mentioned was that for the US to be 'engaged in a shooting war,' not to mention more shooting wars than he could recount, without congressional approval is not only unconstitutional but is a clear violation of the War Powers Act of 1973."
1/26/12 Fallout from Failure to Impeach, by Herbert Hoffman, OpEd News. "So therefore it is up to us, the people, if we are to move this Nation on a course that reinstates our Constitution, that replaces aggression with diplomacy as a means for conducting foreign policy, that respects our treaties defining what are war crimes. Without our voices and our actions sounding out loud and clear we are destined to continue on the current path."
1/26/12 Obama's Failed State of the Union, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "It was typical Obama, taking credit for what should be condemned. He's a fraud, a crime boss, a war criminal multiple times over, a moral coward, and serial liar. His State of the Union address was beginning-to-end doublespeak, duplicity, coverup, and denial of failed policies complicit with Wall Street crooks, war profiteers, and other corporate favorites while popular needs go begging."
1/19/12 Army Foresees Expanded Use of Drones in U.S. Airspace, by Steven Aftergood, Federation of American Scientists. "The Army issued a new directive last week to govern the growing use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or 'drones' within the United States for training missions and for 'domestic operations'...in civilian airspace, according to a 2007 Memorandum of Agreement between the Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates domestic air traffic."
1/13/12 Waging Covert War on Iran, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "Washington and Israel plan regime change in Iran and Syria. ... Washington, Israel, and rogue allies use many destabilization tactics. They include fake accusations, political and economic sanctions, isolation, covert and direct confrontation, cyberwar, targeted assassinations, and other provocations short of war perhaps planned. Accusing Iran of developing nuclear weapons is a red herring."
1/7/12 VIDEO (4:53) WHAT IF..., by Judge Andrew Napolitano, Fox Business News. "What if Democrats and Republicans were two wings of the same bird of prey?...What if elections don't matter?"
1/6/12 Obama Plans More War, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "Obama's a serial liar. He's also a global threat. Millions worldwide know it. Angry Americans are catching on. Hopefully, today's numbers will surge to millions in time to save humanity before he destroys it. There's not a moment to lose."
1/5/12 Pentagon Plan: More Drones, Increased Presence in Asia, Common Dreams. "US stoking fears for public to support 'the next wild burgeoning arms race in the Pacific.'"
1/5/12 VIDEO (13:50) Murder of The Constitution in Full Public View by Congress & Obama: Paul Craig Roberts 1/2, The Alex Jones Channel. Part 2/2, VIDEO (5:36)
1/2/12 Obama's America: Tyranny and Permanent War, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "December 31, 2011 will be remembered as a day of infamy. ... [Obama] signed the FY 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). It gives presidents unchecked power to order military force arrests and indefinite detentions of US citizens, based solely on uncorroborated accusations of terrorist group associations. Constitutional, statute and international law protections don't apply. America's military may snatch and grab anyone, throw them in torture prisons, and hold them indefinitely without charge or trial, based solely on suspicions, spurious allegations or none at all."
1/2/12 How Congress Has Signed Its Own Arrest Warrants in the NDAA Citizen Arrest Act, by Naomi Wolf, Information Clearing House. "US Congresspeople and Senators may think that their power protects them from the treacherous wording of Amendments 1031 and 1032: but their arrogance is leading them to a blindness that is suicidal. ... They will immediately become, not the masters of the great might of the United States military, but its subjects and even, if history is any guide — and every single outcome of ramping up police state powers, unfortunately, that I have warned for years that history points to, has come to pass — sadly but inevitably, its very first targets."
12/31/11 Obama Crowned Himself on New Year's Eve, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "On that day, Obama issued an unconstitutional signing statement rewriting a law as he signed it into law, a practice that candidate Obama had rightly condemned. ... [He] has claimed the power to imprison people without a trial since his earliest months in office. He spoke in front of the Constitution in the National Archives while gutting our founding document in 2009.... [He] has claimed the power to torture "if needed," issued an executive order claiming the power of imprisonment without trial, exercised that power on a massive scale at Bagram, and claimed and exercised the power to assassinate U.S. citizens. Obama routinely kills people with unmanned drones."
12/29/11 VIDEO (10:32) Military Spending: Bang for the Buck?, The Real News. Robert Pollin, Co-Director of PERI [Political Economic Research Institute] shows that military spending creates significantly fewer jobs than spending for clean energy, health care, or education.
12/27/11 NDAA 2012 torture of Americans, or arrest the 1%'s criminals: your choice , by Carl Herman, The Examiner. "Because US government's 1% 'leadership' has tortured, refused to stop or prosecute torture under 'new' 'leadership' of Obama, now assassinates American citizens upon the dictation of the president, and repeats legislative language in NDAA 2012 again to 'disappear' American citizens, Americans' choice in 2012 seems clear: either arrest the criminal 1% 'leadership' for obvious War Crimes, or suffer the torture of your neighbors, friends, family, and yourself in 2012."
12/23/11 Republican Security Advisers Tied to $40 Billion in Contracts, by Roxana Tiron, Bloomberg News. "National security advisers to the Republican presidential candidates have ties to defense, homeland security and energy companies that have received at least $40 billion in federal contracts since 2008."
12/16/11 The Criminal in Chief, by Anthony DiMaggio, Counterpunch. "American majority sentiment is very clearly opposed to the Obama administration's continuation of the illegal attacks on the Constitution and basic due process rights. We have an opportunity today to send a message to our members of Congress that denial of due process is unacceptable regardless of the party of the president."
12/15/11 One Million + Dead & Displaced in Iraq for This?, by Debra Sweet, Open Salon. "Barack Obama's announcement yesterday that the 'war is over' is wrong on so many levels. ... The wealthiest country and military in the world leaves behind billions of dollars worth of trashed equipment, and civil and physical society in shambles."
12/14/11 How the House Voted on More War, More Military, and Imprisonments Without Trials, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "H.R. 1540 - TITLE: To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2012 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes. AYES: 283; NAYS: 136; NOT VOTING: 14."
12/1/11 Senate votes to allow indefinite detention of Americans, by Josh Gerstein, Politico. "By a 45-55 vote, senators rejected an amendment from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) that would have excluded U.S. citizens from the detention authority created by the Authorization for the Use of Military Force passed just after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001."
11/30/11 How the Drone Warfare Industry Took Over Our Congress, by Tom Barry, AlterNet. "The drone fair, which took place in the lobby of the Rayburn House Office Building, also displayed the easy mix of government and business...the kind of bipartisan unity often seen when Democrats and Republicans rally around security and federal pork. ... The drone business is projected to double over the next decade despite stagnant military budgets. The annual global market is expected to rise from $5.9 billion to nearly $11.3 billion by 2020 – with the United States accounting for about three-quarters of the total research, development and procurement markets."
11/14/11 War Is a Force That Pays the 1 Percent: Occupying American Foreign Policy, by J. A. Myerson, truthout. "It's clear that the interests of the majority of people in this country do not align with the military-industrial complex who put corporate profiteering based on destruction ahead of the needs of people."
11/9/11 The US is a Police State: Review of Andrew Kolin, State Power and Democracy, by Prof. John McMurtry, Center for Research on Globalization. "Beneath continuous corporate-state and media proclamation of America's freedoms and simultaneous academic fear to expose the lines of despotism, this work largely succeeds in providing the procedural workings of the U.S. police state building both before, and dramatically after, the turning point of 9-11."
11/8/11 Fahrenheit 11/11/11, by David Swanson, Center for Research on Globalization. "Millions of Americans who had supported World War I came, during the years following its completion on November 11, 1918, to reject the idea that anything could ever be gained through warfare. ... A ten-year campaign was launched in 1918 that in 1928 created the Kellogg-Briand Pact, legally banning all wars. That treaty is still on the books, which is why war making is a criminal act and how Nazis came to be prosecuted for it."
11/2/11 Report: Military Blew $1 Trillion on Weapons Since 9/11, by Adam Weinstein, Mother Jones.
10/26/11 VIDEO (2:28) Meet the 0.01 Percent: War Profiteers , Brave New Foundation. "War industry CEOs make tens of millions of dollars a year, putting them in the top 0.01 percent of income earners in the U.S. ... These guys use their corporations' massive lobbying dollars to keep their job-killing gravy train rolling. Last year, their companies spent a whopping $46 million on lobbying, corrupting our politics and ensuring that their bank accounts continue to fatten at our expense. These executives are some of the main reasons why we're wasting so much on war instead of rebuilding our own nation here at home."
10/13/11 Obama raised $70 million for re-election in third quarter, by Michael A. Memoli, Chicago Tribune. "In an e-mail to supporters, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said that Obama for America and the DNC raised that $70 million from more than 606,000 donors -- more than the previous quarter -- and that 98% of the 766,000 total gifts were in amounts of $250 or less. ... The campaign has not yet released full details of its third-quarter filing...."
10/12/11 We Shut Down the Hart Senate Office Building, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "How 99% Prevented Senators from Working Yesterday."
9/26/11 When the World Outlawed War: Remarks at Lynchburg College, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "The Kellogg-Briand Pact [signed in 1928 and ratified by the U.S. Senate], which has never been repealed, makes a stronger case against wars like Afghanistan and Iraq than does the U.N. Charter. To comply with Kellogg-Briand, wars need not be defensive or U.N.-authorized. Rather, wars need to simply not exist."
9/23/11 Majority Rates Obama 'Same' as or 'Worse' Than George W. Bush, by Devin Dwyer, ABC News. "Predictably, Democrats were most supportive of Obama, while Republicans favored Bush in the poll. The response from independent voters might be most telling for Obama: a troublesome 67 percent said they considered him about the same or worse than Bush."
9/20/11 The substantial cost of keeping a sizable U.S. force in Iraq, by Robert Naiman, The Washington Post, Letters. "According to the Congressional Research Service [PDF], it currently costs an average of $802,000 to keep one U.S. soldier in Iraq for one year. At that rate, to keep 10,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq from 2012 to 2021 would cost $80 billion; to keep 25,000 soldiers there would cost $200 billion."
9/19/11 Whistleblowing, and How to Get More of It, by Karen Kwiatkowski, War Is A Crime. "What I have learned from my own experience in telling the truth from within the military industrial complex when it is politically unpopular, is that our whistleblowers are indeed uncommon men and women. For every truth-teller who feels they must speak honestly and openly to preserve their dignity, their pride, and their liberty, there are one thousand, maybe ten thousand, even one hundred thousand men and women who want nothing more than to be able to pay their mortgage, get along with their employer, and keep their head down, and serve their time in the well-managed penitentiary."
9/19/11 Rage Against the System, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "In plain sight in Washington, bipartisan crooks wage war on personal freedoms, democratic values, and general welfare to grab all they can for themselves and corporate partners. The public be damned. It's there to be exploited, not helped. Corruption is the order of the day. So is war-making - permanent state terrorism against humanity one country at a time or in multiple theaters. ... Mark your calendar. October 6, 2011."
9/18/11 Imperial Arrogance and Hypocrisy, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "Washington supports a UN seat for the illegitimate Transitional National Council (TNC) Libyan government. Obama vows to veto a Palestinian bid for statehood and full de jure UN membership. ... It's no different at home where political leaders favor wealth and power interests over working households, struggling to cope during America's greatest Depression."
9/13/11 Vets For Peace Calls for Impeachment of Obama for War Crimes, by John Walsh, Antiwar.com. "A call for impeachment, whatever the prospects for success, makes crystal clear that the antiwar community regards the President as a criminal — whether that President is Bush or Obama. And it puts a stop to the nasty tactic of shutting up impeachment advocates by calling them racists."
9/13/11 VIDEO (11:26) Bruce Fein: "We Are at the Verge of Despotism!", video by William Hughes. Roundtable discussion on the U.S. Government's reaction to 9/11, at Busboys & Poets in Washington, DC, with Ralph Nader, Lawrence Wilkerson, Mike German.
9/13/11 VIDEO (14:43) Col. Wilkerson: "The American Republic Is Expiring!", video by William Hughes. Roundtable discussion on the U.S. Government's reaction to 9/11, at Busboys & Poets in Washington, DC, with Ralph Nader, Bruce Fein, Mike German.
9/12/11 VIDEO (2:13) War profiteers escalate their war on jobs, Brave New Foundation. "War contracting doesn't make us safer. But it does make a few corporations and CEOs very rich. ... That's why they've hired 843 lobbyists and recently spent $210 million to influence Congress to protect their profits."
9/12/11 Ron Paul says U.S. has military personnel in 130 nations and 900 overseas bases, St. Petersburg Times. PolitiFact: "On balance, we rate Paul's statement Mostly True."
9/4/11 Senator says troops must head out of Afghanistan, by Peter Wong, Statesman Journal. "Although he praised U.S. diplomats and troops, the Oregon Democrat said Afghanistan cannot sustain the buildup of military and police forces — and is failing to reduce corruption — that would hasten the end of the U.S. effort there. 'This nation-building mission is not working,' he said at a luncheon last week sponsored by the Strategic Economic Development Corp. in Salem. 'We need to do a lot more nation-building at home.' "
8/13/11 Congressional Junkets to Israel, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "Eighty-one House members, one fifth of the chamber, will visit Israel during the traditional summer recess, instead of addressing festering local issues at home during the nation's gravest economic crisis too serious to ignore. ... Spouses are also going at an estimated cost of $8,000, including business-class flights, first-class hotels, meals, transportation, side trips, guides and incidentals. ... One congressional wife, in fact, who's been there before, said she and her husband never before experienced such pressure. Another representative's staff member said those invited had no choice. If they don't go, AIPAC will target them for removal, and most likely succeed."
8/13/11 Special Ops: The New Face of War, by John Grant, This Can't Be Happening. "What the CIA seems to be doing is playing the old cruel wink'n'nod used in Vietnam that all US killed corpses are the enemy — even if it's an 8-year-old boy next to the corpse of his mother in the kitchen of their home. The real problem, here, is that those questioning this kind of blatant dishonesty become "subversives" in the eyes of the War Party."
8/11/11 War Budget Cuts Possible If We Counter Contractors' Multimillion-Dollar Campaign Spending, by Robert Greenwald, Alternet. "What's not reasonable is to continue funding an outdated view of national defense that requires garrisoning the planet, throwing hundreds of thousands of troops at essentially political problems and spending close to a trillion dollars every year to fight enemies who use homemade bombs."
8/10/11 Who bankrolls the Super Congress?, by Sandy Johnson, Center for Public Integrity. "Every member of the Super Congress comes with a history of political patrons and connections with special interests. The Center for Public Integrity's iWatch News has produced an in-depth look at their involvement with the gears that make Washington work, often to the consternation of the public and government watchdogs."
8/9/11 Gravel names his price: $1 million to challenge Obama, The Daily Caller. "He presented himself not as what he is; he presented himself as you would want him to be," Gravel said. "And then, of course, when he gets power he turns out to be what he is: a tool of the military-industrial complex and Wall Street."
8/6/11 WAKE UP, AMERICA! YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE!, by Joan Wile, author, Grandmothers Against the War. "WAKE UP, AMERICA, ORGANIZE / THE TIME HAS COME TO MOBILIZE / WE MUST HAVE MORE THAN MOANS AND GROANS / WE'VE GOT TO LEAVE OUR COMFORT ZONES / AND FINALLY TAKE ACTION, NOW, TODAY / LET'S HIT THE STREETS, WITHOUT DELAY!"
7/28/11 Conyers Has "Had It" With Obama, by Joyce Jones, BET. "We've got to march on him," Conyers said. "We want him to know from this day forward that we've had it. We want him to come out on our side and advocate, not to watch and wait to see what [lawmakers] are doing in the House and Senate. We're suffering."
7/22/11 Impeach President Obama, by Sherwood Ross, Center for Research on Globalization. "Yet worse than anything Obama has done or not done domestically, are the illegal wars he's waging across Asia and Africa.... These wars are being pushed despite a building majority opposition of Americans who are telling Congress and the pollsters they want the return of our troops from distant battlefields and bases."
7/22/11 Obama's Budget Betrayal — Questions and Answers, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "There will never be any change as long as just about everybody in elective office and much of the judiciary remain in office. You can't get there from here as long as they control the political scene for their patrons, The Money Party."
7/21/11 Ask your Congress Member to sign a letter to President Obama and Congressional leaders calling for reevaluation of military spending, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "[W]e will not have the resources we need to create jobs, fund healthcare and education, protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid - and address all the other urgent social needs we have - without ending the wars and redirecting funds from the bloated and wasteful Pentagon budget to meet our domestic priorities."
7/18/11 Five Reasons to Impeach Obama, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "Congress is not without blame. By appropriating astronomical amounts of money to the so-called 'war on terror'—approaching $4 trillion since the September 11, 2001 attacks—Congress has put the cost of imperialism on the American public's credit card without taking the responsibility of declaring war. Congress has been astute in grandstanding, maneuvering and laying blame, but short on officially declaring itself on matters of life and death."
7/7/11 House Votes to Stay in Afghanistan and Libya, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "The vote on the Lee Amendment was 97-322, with Democrats 87-94, and Republicans 10-228. The vote on the Kucinich Amendment was 199-229. That's the kind of vote you get when congress members in both parties are going against their parties' leadership."
7/6/11 The "War On Terror" Is A $6 Trillion Racket, With $1 Trillion In Interest Alone, Exceeding The Total Cost Of World War II, by David DeGraw, AmpedStatus Report. "For anyone who researches this, it is easy to see that the primary goal is not our safety, it is huge profits for military companies and global banking interests."
6/29/11 The Business of America is War, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "In fact, America's business is war, more war, multiple wars, permanent wars, pillaging one nation after another for wealth, power, and dominance, while homeland needs go begging."
6/27/11 How Every Congressmember Voted on "Authorizing" and Funding an Illegal War, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "Here's the roll call as the House voted not to 'authorize' Libya war. And here's the roll call as the House voted against restricting the funding of the Libya War. Thus do 'war opponents' fund wars."
6/21/11 Sagging Economy Draws Attention to War Spending, by Helene Cooper, The New York Times. "...what $1.3 trillion in spending on two wars in the past decade has meant at home: a ballooning budget deficit and a soaring national debt at a time when the economy is still struggling to get back on its feet."
6/20/11 Lies, Damn Lies, and Liberating Wars, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "Obama is just the latest hired hand, furthering Washington's rogue agenda - pressuring, intimidating and/or terror bombing countries to comply, slaughtering civilians to protect them, destroying their countries for their own good, while lying about America's good intentions that, in fact, seek only to make the world safe for capital, not people."
6/20/11 U.S. Mayors Pass Resolution To Bring 'War Dollars' Home, by Matt Sledge, Huffington Post. "The mayors are asking that money spent on wars abroad be used in the United States to develop cities and towns."
6/18/11 Waging Another Unconstitutional War, by Ralph Nader, Common Dreams. "You see, the widespread daily bombing of Libya, the strict naval blockade of Muammar Gadhafi-controlled Libya, the destruction of Gadhafi's family compound and tent encampment in the desert--killing his son and three grandchildren--and the deployment of special forces inside Libya is not a 'War.'"
6/18/11 Duplicitous Congressional Posturing on Libya , by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "In fact, rhetorical posturing, toothless congressional measures and ineffective lawsuits aside, most members of Congress support wars by passing defense authorization bills and supplemental appropriations with comfortable margins."
6/15/11 Congress Members Sue Obama to End Libya War, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "On Wednesday in federal court, 10 members of the U.S. Congress sued President Obama in an attempt to end U.S. involvement in a war in Libya."
6/13/11 Revealed: How $6.6billion of taxpayers' money sent to Iraq by Bush may have been STOLEN, by Paul Bentley, Daily Mail (UK). "In 2004, the U.S. sent $2.4billion in packaged bricks of $100 bills to Iraq in a giant C-130 Hercules cargo plane, followed by 20 other flights full of cash."
6/13/11 Washington Post Wants Endless War, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "So a decade-long war should continue because each week costs 'only' $2 billion, even though those weeks pile up, the interest on the debt piles up, the cost of caring for the veterans mounts into the future, the impact on fuel costs is heavy, the lost opportunity costs are huge, the hatred built around the world by the war makes us less safe, the leading cause of death for US participants is suicide, and we are routinely slaughtering men, women, and children."
6/12/11 Obama's Slipping Popularity, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "39% say he deserves reelection; 52% want change; -- congressional approval also dropped to 17%, a testimony to mass public disdain; and -- given America's direction, waging multiple imperial wars at the expense of vital homeland needs, expect an angrier public reaction ahead as pain levels rise."
6/8/11 Billions In Afghan Aid May Not Do Long-Term Good, Senate Report Warns, by Mark Memmott, National Public Radio. "The nearly $19 billion that the U.S. has already spent on foreign aid to Afghanistan and the billions more to come in the next few years could end up doing little if any long-term good unless more focused planning is done, according to a report today from the Democratic majority in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee."
6/5/11 Cynthia McKinney's truth dispatches from Libya: Days 1-3, by Wayne Madsen, San Francisco Bay View. "Not only is war good for the weapons industry, but refugee crises brought about by Western-implemented wars fatten the wallets of NGOs anxious to cash in on the human misery created by Pentagon and NATO overt and covert military operations."
6/5/11 Secret Wars of CIA Have Cost Taxpayers Billions, by Sherwood Ross, OpEd News. "Like the Ku Klux Klan of old, the CIA is the new illegal, 'invisible empire,' one that works harmoniously with its one-time employee, President Obama, to serve the needs of the Empire."
6/3/11 House rebukes Obama on Libya mission, but does not demand withdrawal, by David A. Fahrenthold, The Washington Post.
6/2/11 GOP seizes on Kucinich idea as a way to condemn Obama on Libya, by Howard LaFranchi, The Christian Science Monitor.
6/2/11 The war in Libya 'is not a war'. Really?, by Dennis Kucinich, The Guardian (UK). "The recent strikes are believed to be most intense attack on the Libyan capital since action against Muammar Gaddafi began in March; the US has contributed 93% of cruise missiles and 50% of planes involved in Nato combat operations, at an estimated cost of $700m."
5/27/11 Patriot Act provisions extended just in time, by Lisa Mascaro, Los Angeles Times. "Acting with minutes to spare, President Obama approved a four-year extension of expiring provisions of the Patriot Act, after Congress overcame mounting opposition from both parties to narrowly avoid a lapse in the terrorist surveillance law."
5/27/11 Congressman questions Patriot Act "autopen" signature, by Stephanie Condon, CBS News.
5/25/11 OPINION: Netanyahu's speech to Congress shows America will buy anything, by Gideon Levy, Haaretz (Israel). "...or at least their applauding legislators will." Netanyahu's "speech of his life" was the speech of the death of peace.
5/24/11 The Worst Bill Ever in Congress, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. The "Defense Authorization" bill now before Congress, HR 1750....
5/22/11 Obama emulates lying Bush, by Gideon Polya, Media With Conscience News. "President Barack Obama's 19 May 2011 speech on the Middle East is extraordinary for its comprehensive dishonesty involving egregious deceit, lying by commission and lying by omission."
5/19/11 Reality Check: The Profound Hypocrisy of President Obama's Speech on the Middle East, by Brian Becker and Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, ANSWER Coalition.
5/17/11 VIDEO (3:43) Making a Killing: Military contracting last defense in bad economy, RT America. "And the defense contractors are raking in the dough." (at 3:15).
5/17/11 VIDEO (4:52) David Swanson: Don't make guns, make solar panels, RT America.
5/16/11 The Need for Impeachment, by Dan DeWalt, War Is A Crime. "Because our loyalties are to the Republic and not to any political party, we once again call upon our fellow Americans to recognize that this President must too be called to account and impeachment proceedings should be initiated against Barrack Obama."
5/15/11 U.S. Policy is Rooted in Lies, Injustice, and War, by Cynthia McKinney, Public Intelligence Blog. "Finally, I am saddened as an American at what my country is doing to the world. I am saddened that our first African-American President presents a false perception of the Black political consensus in the U.S. when he participates in war crimes and global death and destruction."
5/12/11 House panel authorizes nearly $700 billion in Defense spending, by John T. Bennett, The Hill.
5/8/11 Room For Debate: How to Cut the Military. Eight proposals by Gordon Adams, Lawrence J. Korb, Jennifer Mittelstadt, Mackenzie Eaglen, Cindy Williams, Douglas MacGregor, Benjamin H. Friedman, Linda J. Blimes. The New York Times.
4/28/11 Recent reports from the Congressional Research Service on the costs of war since 9/11 and related topics.
4/23/11 White House Website Lying About Your Taxes, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime.
4/22/11 News Flash: Iraq War Was About Oil, by Ray McGovern, Consortium News.
4/21/11 Libya: another neocon war, by David Swanson, The Guardian(UK).
4/21/11 Libya and hindsight: "War Is A Lie" British Version Published in London Just as UK Troops Sent to Libya, BiteBack Publishing (UK).
4/19/11 Secret memos expose link between oil firms and invasion of Iraq, by Paul Bignell, The Independent (UK).
4/19/11 Kucinich to Introduce Legislation to End the War in Libya, War Is A Crime.
4/15/11 Oliver Stone: Don't Betray Us, Barack -- End the Empire, by Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick, AlterNet.
4/5/11 President Obama Gets His Groove Back By Attacking Africans, by Cynthia McKinney, Green Party of the United States. "Silence is the deadliest weapon of mass destruction."
3/29/11 Audit of Pentagon Spending Finds $70 Billion in Waste, by Christopher Drew, The New York Times.
3/24/11 Kucinich Demands Immediate End to U.S. Role in the War in Libya, War Is A Crime.
3/23/11 U.S. spending on military operations in Libya drains Pentagon, by Walter Pincus, The Washington Post.
3/23/11 Revolt Against American Militarism, by Timothy Gatto, OpEd News.
3/4/11 People v. U.S. Govt, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime.
2/25/11 Report: Billions lost on contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, by Charley Keyes, CNN.
2/22/11 Defense spending and national well-being, by Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy.
2/14/11 End the Pentagon's back-door budgets, by Politico Writer, The Charleston Gazette.
2/13/11 Pentagon seeks $553 billion – Record request justified by national security demands, by Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy Newspapers.
2/3/11 Report: DoD awarded billions to firms despite fraud, by Sarah Chacko, Federal Times.
1/27/11 Did Congress approve America's longest war? Congress did empower the president in 2001 to pursue al-Qaida in Afghanistan. But a decade later, where's the oversight? By Bruce Ackerman and Oona Hathaway, The Guardian (UK).
1/24/11 VIDEO (5:12) Kucinich: What Will We Sacrifice for These Wars?, War Is A Crime
1/22/11 How Congress thwarted Obama's closing of Guantànamo. By Carol Rosenberg, The Miami Herald.
1/22/11 Reneging on Guantànamo: In January 2009, President Obama promised a clean break with Bush era detentions. Two years on, only continuity is visible. By Karen Greenberg, The Guardian (UK).
1/13/10 What Eisenhower Got Wrong, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime
1/7/11 VIDEO (5:03) A Rant: What to Tell Your Misrepresentatives in Congress Now, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime: End the filibuster • Stop signing statements • Tax the rich • Cut military spending
12/31/10 Determination is Part of Stopping Unjust Wars, by Debra Sweet, OpEdNews. "We can't rely on mainstream media to relate our demands.... We've got to use every outrage as a way of educating people to understand that these wars are fundamentally against the interests of the people living in this country, and of those who are occupied, and that your government is lying to you."
12/30/10 63 Percent of Americans Oppose War In Afghanistan, by Amanda Terkel, The Huffington Post
12/27/10 2011: US Primed For Fascist Dictatorship, by Paul Craig Roberts, Sign of the Times. "If not already obvious, 2010 has made clear that the US government does not care a whit for the opinions of citizens.... The situation will be worse by 2012."
12/23/10 Pentagon's Christmas Present: Largest Military Budget Since World War II, by Rick Rozoff, OpEdNews
12/22/10 VIDEO (in 7 Parts) John Pilger – The War You Don't See, Information Clearing House
12/22/10 Why we write: End unlawful US wars; have justice and love, by Carl Herman, Examiner.com
12/21/10 The costs of war, by Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Washington Post
12/17/10 House approves billions for wars without debate, Associated Press
12/11/10 It is time that we abandon the language of war, by Dan Gardner, The Vancouver Sun. "It should be challenged and denounced as the futile and self-defeating nonsense it is."
12/2/10 NYT Stokes Fear of Iran, by Ray McGovern, Consortium News. (See video interview (13:56) New York Times Beats Drums for War, Real News Network)
12/1/10 Why New Evidence Demands End to Wars (open letter) by David Swanson, et al., War Is A Crime
11/29/10 Stop These Wars or We'll Fill Your Jails, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime
11/28/10 Breaking Our Addiction to War by Brian Willson, Global Research. (Originally published 1/25/10 here.)
11/21/10 The New War Congress: An Obama-Republican War Alliance? by David Swanson, War Is A Crime
11/19/10 U.S. deploying heavily armored battle tanks for first time in Afghan war by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, The Washington Post
11/11/10 Thank You Alan Grayson (Former Congressman, Florida's 8th District), Brave New Films
10/12/10 98 Challengers and 115 Incumbents Oppose War $, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime
10/7/10 VIDEO (31:30) Private Security Contractors in Afghanistan: Senate committee reports US money funding both sides of war, C-SPAN
9/24/10 Barney Frank Wants All Troops Home From Iraq: 'What The Hell Are They Doing There?' by Ryan Grim, Huffington Post
9/11/10 Another reason to close Guantanamo: It's expensive by Carol Rosenberg, Miami Herald
7/1/10 Rep. Nadler: We Must End the War in Afghanistan Now
6/29/10 Rep. Delahunt To Oppose War Funding
6/28/10 End Vietghanistan This Week by David Swanson, War Is A Crime
6/11/10 The Courage to Leave, by Bob Herbert, The New York Times
5/28/10 US Senate Passes $60B Funding for Afghan War
5/25/10 Afghans believe US is funding Taliban Intellectuals and respected Afghan professionals are convinced the west is prolonging conflict to maintain influence in the region, by Daniella Peled, The Guardian (UK)
5/4/10 33 Billion Dishonest Excuses for War, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime
4/30/10 Seven Deadly Sins in Afghanistan (Remarks By David Swanson at 4/29 Teach-In on War)
4/27/10 Kucinich Invites Colleagues to Teach In on War This Thursday
4/19/10 Ending Wars: The Flexible Waiverable Timetable Approach, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime
4/12/10 Rep. Delahunt's Forum on Not Funding Afghan War Escalation [videos included], by David Swanson, War Is A Crime
4/10/10 Podcast PDA interview: Rep. Kucinich discusses the recent floor debate on Afghanistan, the pending supplemental vote and the importance of an engaged anti-war movement (21:50)
4/9/10 $33 Billion to Escalate a Quagmire, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime
4/8/10 "Congressman, Vote No on Afghan War Escalation", by David Swanson, War Is A Crime
4/5/10 VIDEO (8:42) Example of democracy in action at local level:
Portland, Maine City Council Passes Resolution to Stop War Funding, 7-1

OBAMA'S "NON-WAR" ON LIBYA, AND NOW SYRIA

FOLLOW THE LATEST NEWS ON LIBYA: LIBYAN FREE PRESS

ALTERNATIVE REPORTING/RESEARCH ON SYRIA: SYRIA NEWS; A CLOSER LOOK ON SYRIA

5/8/13 [VIDEO 13:43, with transcript] Obama Under Pressure to Seek Regime Change in Syria and Iran , Interview with Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Real News Network. "The military-industrial-congressional complex is alive and thriving well, even in this age of sequestration. ... We've become a state, we have become a state that lives for war. We've been at war now for over a decade, and I don't see an end to it. The authorization for the use of military force, the AUMF, James Madison would've said that is the top rung on the ladder to tyranny. That's what James Madison would have said, the father of our Constitution. We are on the top rung of the ladder to tyranny."
5/5/13 Reuters: U.N. Investigators Say Syrian Rebels, Not Syrian Regime, Used Chemical Weapons, by Brad Friedman, The Brad Blog. "Will there be an investigation, any investigation at all, into Israel's aggressive --- some might say, unprovoked --- military actions over the past three days? Or, as is far more likely, will we all largely ignore the Reuters report on the U.N. investigators' findings entirely and carry on, as is, with our previously scheduled war-mongering and our continuing failure to hold war criminals responsible ... so long as they may potentially include those from either the U.S. or Israel?
UPDATE 5/6/2013 12:42pm PT: Despite the U.N. commission's call for caution in light of last night's report, investigator Carla Del Ponte --- "a former Swiss attorney general who also served as prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia" --- is standing by her initial assertions today, according to this Reuter's update: 'What appears to our investigation is that it was used by the opponents, by the rebels,' she said. 'We have no indication at all that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons.'"
5/3/13 False Flag Chemical Attack on Syria, by Stephen Lendman, The Progressive Radio News Hour. "A previous article discussed hacked emails. They revealed Washington's approved plan to stage a false flag Syrian chemical attack. Doing so crosses Obama's 'red line.' Planned US intervention may follow. On May 1, US-enlisted death squads used chemical materials against Syrian civilians. They did so during a Idlib area attack. Those affected were taken cross border to Turkey. It's a thinly veiled scheme. Expect Assad to be falsely blamed."
4/30/13 Syrian Rebels Terrorize Population , by Michel Stors, The Media Line. "Throughout rebel held areas, residents complain of FSA [Free Syrian Army] abuses ranging from arbitrary arrests and theft to torture. The group's behavior has drawn the ire of a population that has grown tired of war. ... Stories abound in Aleppo of men disappearing only to have strangers knock on doors to deliver ransom notes. 'Anti-government armed groups apprehended persons solely for ransom or exchange,' a recent United Nations report stated."
4/29/13 Pentagon steps up planning for potential military intervention in Syria, by Barbara Starr, CNN Security Clearance. "The Pentagon has in recent days stepped up planning for potential military intervention in the Syrian civil war, specifically because of growing evidence the regime may have used chemical weapons, CNN has learned. ... If President Barack Obama were to order action, it could involve thousands of U.S. troops. But all of the options face serious military challenges. The official said it's not likely to involve troops on the ground in Syria. Two other officials say the most likely options would be using cruise missiles based at sea and fighter jets to try to destroy chemical sites or the headquarters of Syrian military elements linked to them."
4/29/13 US False Flag Pretext for War on Syria, by Stephen Lendman, The Progressive Radio News Hour. "A no longer accessible January 29, 2013 UK Daily Mail headlined 'US 'backed plan to launch chemical weapon attack on Syria and blame it on Assad's regime,' saying: 'Leaked emails have allegedly proved that the White House gave the green light to a chemical weapons attack in Syria that could be blamed on Assad's regime and in turn, spur international military action in the devastated country.' ... Red Hot Russia quoted a 'software systems administrator' using the nickname 'KungFu Spider,' saying: 'After looking at the email headers....I have to admit that the email does indeed look genuine. The email was sent from "81.156.163.12" which is a BT Wholesale ADSL IP address. From there it was then relayed via "smtp.clients.netdns.net (202.157.148.149)." Finally it was delivered to a local mailbox on that server. I hate to admit it, but all these facts check out.'"

More documents here.
4/28/13 Syria chemical weapons: MPs demand evidence of sarin use by Assad, by James Kirkup and Richard Spencer, The Telegraph (UK). "Wary of comparisons with faulty intelligence reports on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in 2003, senior MPs said more detail was needed on statements that the banned nerve agent sarin had been identified in tests. ... The American tests are understood to have been carried out on samples of hair and blood from those affected, while those at Porton Down were on soil samples. However, while scientists are said to have confidence in the findings, the quantities involved are 'microscopic'. More importantly, experts on the use of chemical weapons say there is insufficient certainty on the 'chain of custody' — how the sarin was delivered and how samples reached Western testing stations — to meet international legal standards." [emphasis added]
4/27/13 Syria nerve gas claims undermined by eyewitness accounts, by Peter Beaumont, The Guardian (UK). "New questions have emerged over the source of the soil and other samples from Syria which, it is claimed, have tested positive for the nerve agent sarin, amid apparent inconsistencies between eyewitness accounts describing one of the attacks and textbook descriptions of the weapon. ... According to the US and UK governments, 'miniscule' samples recovered by opposition sources and passed on to western intelligence agencies have shown traces of sarin. No other agents have been mentioned."
4/27/13 Syria: Chemical weapons used by rebels came from Turkey - Damascus calls claims by US, Britain that regime used weapons a 'barefaced lie,' blames West for wanting repeat of 'Iraqi scenario', by Staff, Times of Israel. "The Syrian government made a request to the UN that the incident be investigated, [Syrian Information Minister] Zoubi pointed out to the Russian news network Russia Today. The minister also accused the West of lying about charges that the Assad regime had attacked villages with chemical weapons. 'First of all, I want to confirm that statements by the US Secretary of State and British government are inconsistent with reality and a barefaced lie,' he told Russia Today on Saturday. 'I want to stress one more time that Syria would never use it — not only because of its adherence to the international law and rules of leading war, but because of humanitarian and moral issues.'"
4/27/13 Russian envoy warns on Syria chemical arms 'pretext', by Al Arabiya with AFP, Al Arabiya. "Claims that chemical weapons have been used in Syria should not become a pretext for a foreign military intervention in the country, Russia's deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov said on Saturday. 'If there is serious evidence of the use of chemical weapons in Syria, it should be presented immediately and not concealed,' said Bogdanov, who is Russian President Vladmir Putin's Middle East envoy, during a visit to Beirut. 'We must check the information immediately and in conformity with international criteria and not use it to achieve other objectives. It must not be a pretext for an intervention in Syria,' added Bogdanov, according to an Arabic translation of his remarks. 'We must know the truth and have proof and not rely on information reported in the media which is not supported by facts....'"
4/26/13 Syria descending into hell aided and abetted by the US and its allies, by Lindsey German, Stop the War Coalition (UK). "The EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels this week cried more crocodile tears about the need for humanitarian intervention in Syria. But their actions yet again confirmed that what they are preparing for is war. ... The alliance of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel, Jordan and the western powers has in its sights the taking out of Syria as a key ally of Iran, and with it Hezbollah in Lebanon. The aim is nothing short of a transformation of the Middle east aimed at permanently weakening Iran and its allies. They tried it before, ten years ago, with the invasion of Iraq. We are all living with the consequences. Remember that when they try to sell the need for intervention based on weapons of mass destruction. Again."
4/25/13 Obama Heads Closer to War on Syria, by Stephen Lendman, The Progressive Radio News Hour. "A previous article discussed spurious allegations of Syrian chemical weapons use. Obama calls using them a 'game changer.' He also said their use crosses a 'red line.' Syrian officials categorically deny using them. According to Information Minister Omran al-Zoabi: 'Even if Syria does have chemical weapons, our leadership and our military will not use them either against Syrians or against Israelis, above all for moral reasons and secondarily on legal and political grounds.'"
4/24/13 Hagel skeptical of Syria chemical weapons claims, by Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY. "Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Wednesday cast doubt on an Israeli general's conclusion that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against its own citizens. Any U.S. response to Syria will be based on American intelligence findings, Hagel said in his first public remarks since an Israeli official alleged Monday that the Syria government had used chemical weapons. ... Hagel flew later from Egypt to the United Arab Emirates where he will discuss the sale of 25 F-16 warplanes. The fighter jets are part of a $10 billion arms sale to Israel and Arab allies of the U.S. that will provide them with advanced weapons to counter Iran."
4/22/13 Obama's Syrian Horror, by Saul Landau, Counter Punch. "The New York Times revealed Obama's lies about the U.S. role in this war, and, about Washington's level of participation. U.S. efforts have far exceeded what the President has admitted. The CIA has funneled and distributed large weapons shipments to the rebels — more than 3,500 tons worth to date — from Jordan and Turkey, while Obama claimed it as 'non-lethal' military aid. ... Why should Washington get so invested in the Syrian war? To weaken Iran, Syria's ally, and strengthen NATO's sordid Middle East partners?"
4/19/13 France, Britain claim Syria used chemical weapons, by Associated Press, The Times of India. "The British and French ambassadors told Ban Ki-moon in a letter on March 25 that soil samples and interviews with witnesses and opposition figures backed their belief that the government used chemical shells that had caused injuries and deaths, the diplomats and officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the letter has not been made public.Syrian soldiers were reportedly killed and injured in the Khan al-Assal incident but the British and French believe this was the result of a misfired Syrian government shell, the diplomats and officials said."
4/18/13 Step toward possible military intervention in Syria, by David S. Cloud, Los Angeles Times. "The Pentagon is sending about 200 troops to Jordan, the vanguard of a potential U.S. military force of 20,000 or more that could be deployed if the Obama administration decides to intervene in Syria to secure chemical weapons arsenals or to prevent the 2-year-old civil war from spilling into neighboring nations."
4/9/13 How the West Fueled the Ever-Growing Carnage in Syria, by Nicolas J.S. Davies, AlterNet. "The CIA has since stepped up its support to the rebels, providing satellite intelligence on Syrian military deployments and managing arms shipments from the Persian Gulf and Croatia via Turkey and Jordan. Predictably, the bloodshed has only increased on both sides. March was probably the deadliest month since the war began. In his speech in Geneva, Kofi Annan called the current UN estimate of 70,000 Syrians killed 'a gross under-estimation.' ... The more one studies the actions of the United States and its allies throughout this crisis, the more they seem to have been designed only to lead to ever-escalating violence. This raises the inescapable question whether, in fact, the slaughter and chaos taking place in Syria are in fact the intended result of U.S. policy rather than the tragic but unintended result of its failure, as Western propaganda would have us believe."
4/9/13 Libya arms fueling conflicts in Syria, Mali and beyond: U.N. experts, by Michelle Nichols, Reuters. "Weapons are spreading from Libya at an 'alarming rate,' fueling conflicts in Mali, Syria and elsewhere and boosting the arsenals of extremists and criminals in the region, according to a U.N. report published on Tuesday. ... The experts said transfers of arms to Syria — where a two-year-old civil war has killed more than 70,000 people — had been organized from various locations in Libya, including Misrata and Benghazi, via Turkey or northern Lebanon. 'The significant size of some shipments and the logistics involved suggest that representatives of the Libyan local authorities might have at least been aware of the transfers, if not actually directly involved,' the experts said."
4/5/13 VIDEO (38:39) Full Interview of Pres. Assad with Turkish Media: Syria's Breakup Will Cause Mideast to Blow Up, uploaded by Eretz Zen, YouTube. "In an interview with the Turkish TV station Ulusal Kanal broadcast Friday, Syrian President Assad accused his neighbors of stoking the revolt against his government, saying 'we are surrounded by countries that help terrorists and allow them to enter Syria.' But he warned that those same countries may eventually pay a price down the road. 'Everybody knows that if the disturbances in Syria reach the point of the country's breakup, or terrorist forces control Syria, or if the two cases happen, then this will immediately spill over into neighboring countries first, and later there will be a domino effect that will reach countries across the Middle East,' he said."
3/24/13 Arms Airlift to Syria Rebels Expands, With Aid From C.I.A., by C. J. Chivers and Eric Schmitt, The New York Times. "With help from the C.I.A., Arab governments and Turkey have sharply increased their military aid to Syria's opposition fighters in recent months, expanding a secret airlift of arms and equipment for the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, according to air traffic data, interviews with officials in several countries and the accounts of rebel commanders. ... From offices at secret locations, American intelligence officers have helped the Arab governments shop for weapons, including a large procurement from Croatia, and have vetted rebel commanders and groups to determine who should receive the weapons as they arrive, according to American officials speaking on the condition of anonymity. The C.I.A. declined to comment on the shipments or its role in them."
3/21/13 FIRST ON CNN: US intel not seeing signs chemical weapons were used in Syria, by Barbara Starr, CNN. "U.S. analysts are 'leaning hard away' from the notion that Syria used chemical weapons against its own people, a military official directly familiar with the preliminary analysis tells CNN. There are 'multiple indicators' for this emerging conclusion, a second official said. That official told CNN, 'there are strong indications now that chemical weapons were not used by the regime in recent days.'"
3/18/13 Kerry says US won't stand in way of France, Britain or anyone else arming Syria's rebels, by Associated Press, Fox News. "Kerry said the U.S. wants to leave the door open for a political solution. But concerning Syria's rebels, he added, 'the United States does not stand in the way of other countries that made a decision to provide arms, whether it's France or Britain or others.'"
3/18/13 Top general urges caution on Syria options, rebels, by Phil Stewart, Reuters. "The United States has a less clear understanding of Syria's opposition than it did last year, the top U.S. military officer said on Monday, in comments likely to disappoint rebels hoping that America might be inching toward a decision to arm them. 'About six months ago, we had a very opaque understanding of the opposition and now I would say it's even more opaque,' said General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff."
3/15/13 Anglo-French plan to arm Syrian rebels meets wall of resistance at EU summit, by Ian Traynor, The Guardian (UK). "The sudden Anglo-French move to overturn a European arms embargo on Syria in order to equip the rebels seeking to overthrow the Assad regime has run into a solid wall of resistance at an EU summit, with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, dismissing the policy U-turn and others warning of a regional conflagration from which Iran would emerge the winner."
3/15/13 Aleppo activist Edward Dark: 'People here don't like the regime, but they hate the rebels even more', by Stephen Starr, The Globe and Mail (Canada). "I, and many other residents of Aleppo saw firsthand how the armed rebels were acting on the ground, and the various crimes and looting they were committing with impunity. Another reason is that there are foreign jihadi fighters with extremist ideologies here. This wasn't what we revolted for, to replace one group of criminals with another."
3/13/13 Russia warns UK against arming Syrian rebels, by Luke Harding, The Guardian (UK). "Speaking after talks with Hague, however, Lavrov said the supply of lethal weapons to the rebels would be illegal. 'International law doesn't allow, doesn't permit, the supplies of arms to non-governmental actors. It's a violation of international law,' he claimed. Lavrov also raised the spectre of western arms falling into the hands of radical Islamist groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra, placed on a terrorist list by the US."
3/12/13 Syria: Britain could go it alone in arming rebels , by Damien McElroy, The Telegraph (UK). "David Cameron, the Prime Minister, has said for the first time that Britain could go it alone to supply arms to Syria's rebel fighters as he said that the government was prepared to veto or defy a European arms embargo."
3/7/13 General: many shoulder-fired anti-aircraft arms from Libya are still at large; some in Syria, by Associated Press, The Washington Post. "The chief of the U.S. Africa Command is telling Congress that thousands of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weapons from the arsenal of deposed Libyan leader Moammar Ghadafi remain unaccounted for in Africa and beyond. Army Gen. Carter Ham tells the Senate Armed Services Committee some of those weapons, as well as explosives and other arms once under Ghadafi's control, have fallen into the hands of extremists in northern Mali. He says others have spread to rebel groups in Syria."
3/7/13 Germany warns against arming Syria rebels, by Agence France-Presse, NOW. "Germany's foreign minister warned on Thursday that delivering weapons to Syria's rebels could result in an arms race in the region and stressed the EU would send only "defensive" equipment."
3/5/13 Gulf arms to Syria rebels reaching "right people," Kerry says, by Agence France-Presse, NOW. "US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed confidence on Tuesday that weapons being supplied by Gulf countries to the Syrian rebels were reaching the 'right people,' as he visited key rebel ally Qatar. ... On Monday, Kerry said in Abu Dhabi that 'there is no guarantee that one weapon or another might not fall into the wrong hands.'"
3/5/13 John Kerry Blasts Russia for Aiding Syrian Government, by Martha Raddatz, ABC News. "John kerry has come out blasting Russia for shipping arms to the Assad government in Syria and warning he would give more help to the rebels fighting Assad as well as others. But The U.S. is not giving lethal aid to those rebels. Kerry is also concerned about Iran, calling it America's most urgent priority, saying time is running out to a peaceful solution to that nation's nuclear ambitions."
2/27/13 US, Europe eye greater involvement in Syrian conflict with new aid to opposition, rebels, by Associated Press, Fox News. "Washington has provided $385 million in humanitarian aid to Syria's war-weary population and $54 million in communications equipment, medical supplies and other nonlethal assistance to Syria's political opposition. ... U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, urged the administration to consider lethal aid. 'We should want the best organized, the best equipped and most dominant groups in the opposition to be groups that are friendlier to our national interests,' Rubio, a Florida Republican, said Wednesday at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy."
2/27/13 Free Syrian Army rejects foreign minister's dialogue offer, Al Arabiya. "The opposition Syrian National Coalition said it is willing to negotiate a peace deal, but Assad must step down and cannot be part of any settlement."
2/26/13 Washington Backs Syrian Anti-Government Terrorism, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "Make no mistake. Syria is Washington's war. It was planned years ago. Regime change is policy. At issue is replacing Assad's government with a pro-Western puppet one. Washington tolerates no independent governments. It demands subservience to US policies. Outliers are targeted for removal. Options include war. ... Western-recruited death squads ravage Syria. They've done so for two years. They're imported from abroad. Rules of engagement include mass murder, torture, and other atrocities."
2/22/13 Washington Backs Syrian Anti-Government Terrorism, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "Make no mistake. Syria is Washington's war. It was planned years ago. Regime change is policy. At issue is replacing Assad's government with a pro-Western puppet one. Washington tolerates no independent governments. It demands subservience to US policies. Outliers are targeted for removal. Options include war. ... Western-recruited death squads ravage Syria. They've done so for two years. They're imported from abroad. Rules of engagement include mass murder, torture, and other atrocities."
2/22/13 Russia accuses U.S. of double standards over Syria, by Alessandra Prentice, Reuters. "[Russian Foreign Minister Sergei] Lavrov told a news conference Washington had disappointed Moscow by blocking a statement condemning 'terrorist attacks' near the Russian embassy in Damascus that killed more than 50 people and that Washington was threatening international unity in the 'war on terror'."
2/21/13 Syria opposition denounces Damascus "terrorist" bombing, by Agence France-Presse, NOW.. "Syria's main opposition group, the National Coalition, denounced as 'terrorists' those behind a deadly car bombing in Damascus on Thursday, regardless of who carried it out. ... The opposition normally blames the regime of President Bashar al-Assad for such attacks, whether explicitly or implicitly. ... The jihadist Al-Nusra Front, a key fighting force in the battle to topple Assad, has claimed the majority of suicide attacks that rocked the country over the past year."
2/20/13 Russia, Arab League push for Syria conflict talks, Associated Press. "Lavrov said Syrian President Bashar Assad's government and the opposition need to 'sit down at the negotiating table,' which he said was the only possible way of ending the conflict without irreparably damaging Syria. ... No conditions for the Syrian negotiations have been set. Lavrov said both sides' readiness to begin talks was 'the most important thing.'"
2/9/13 Information Minister: Syria Believes in National, Serious Dialogue without Preconditions, Syrian Arab News Agency. "Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi affirmed that the basic and final goal of the state body, through the political program to resolve the crisis, is to restore security and stability as well as going towards a more stable pattern which keeps up with the political pluralism as a true and serious concept...[through] 'a national serious dialogue on the land of Syria without preconditions, without exclusion of anyone, with the will and intentions of the Syrians to make a success and reach the aspired-for outcomes.'"
2/9/13 Information Minister: Syria Believes in National, Serious Dialogue without Preconditions, Syrian Arab News Agency. "Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi affirmed that the basic and final goal of the state body, through the political program to resolve the crisis, is to restore security and stability as well as going towards a more stable pattern which keeps up with the political pluralism as a true and serious concept...[through] 'a national serious dialogue on the land of Syria without preconditions, without exclusion of anyone, with the will and intentions of the Syrians to make a success and reach the aspired-for outcomes.'"
2/8/13 Bogdanov: Solution to Crisis in Syria is through Dialogue with Participation of All, Syrian Arab News Agency. "The Russian President's Special Envoy to the Middle East and North Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, reiterated that the only solution to the crisis in Syria is through dialogue that includes all the parties without exception. ... He slammed Russia's partners for having supported and encouraged some opposition sides to reject dialogue and go ahead with violence to topple the regime, saying 'this is very regrettable'. Bogdanov expressed pain over what is happening in Syria particularly regarding the destruction of infrastructure and vandalism of historical and archeological monuments, which he said belong to the entire humanity and not only the Syrian people."
2/8/13 New York Times Misinformation on Syria, by Stephen Lendman, The Progressive Radio News Hour. "On January 31, the Gloria Center Global Research in International Affairs asked if Times editors published 'obviously faked photos.' PJ Media's Middle East editor Barry Rubin's report was featured. ... On February 4, Times contributor Roger Cohen disgraced himself. It wasn't the first time. He gets feature op-ed space. He takes full advantage. He headlined 'Intervene in Syria.' Forget about right or wrong. Ignore rule of law principles. Disregard truth and full disclosure. Toe the imperial line. Time editors pay him to lie. "
1/31/13 Washington's War of Aggression on Syria, by Stephen Lendman, The Progressive Radio News Hour. "Israel partners with Washington's wars. It's been largely covertly involved against Syria. It's now blatantly overt."
1/31/13 Report: Israel notified US of Syria strike, by Yitzhak Benhorin, Ynet News. "The US State Department and Defense Department would not comment on reports of the strike by Israel, whose Military Intelligence Chief Aviv Kochavi is currently in Washington for talks with top US general Martin Dempsey."
1/30/13 U.S. sending $155 million in 'nonlethal' aid to Syria, by Guy Taylor, The Washington Times. "The White House ramped up 'nonlethal' support for Syrian rebels and refugees Tuesday, committing a fresh $155 million in humanitarian aid and bringing the total U.S. monetary response to the Syrian civil war to $365 million. ... So far, however, the bulk of the U.S. commitment to the Syrian crisis has been channeled to opposition groups inside the war zone who are struggling to overthrow Mr. Assad."
1/28/13 Syrian opposition demand heavy weapons, Anadolu Agency. "Riad Seif, the Vice President of the National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces spoke at the opening of the [Paris] meeting and stressed they expect more financial aid and artillery from the international community. ... Furthermore, George Sabra, the President of the Syrian National Council said, 'Syria needs billions of dollars. In order to overthrow the Damascus government, we will need $500 million at first hand.'"
1/27/13 Syria pledges to end opposition prosecutions , Agence France-Presse, NOW. "Syria's high judicial council has announced a suspension of prosecutions of opposition members so they can join a national dialogue, state media reported Sunday, without detailing the nature of crimes affected by the ruling. The report comes after Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar had earlier vowed to ease the return of Syrian opposition members living in exile so that they too can take part in the dialogue proposed by President Bashar al-Assad on January 6. ... In his January 6 speech, Assad proposed a dialogue with opposition figures who were not 'slaves of the West' and on condition that 'terrorist attacks' came to a halt before any political transition."
1/27/13 Empire Project Failing in Syria Says French Foreign Minister, by Michael Collins, War Is A Crime. "In an abrupt change from months of anticipatory triumphalism, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius admitted that Syrian President Bashar Assad will not be leaving power any time soon. This is a radical departure from the NATO script and that of their stenographers in the corporate media."
1/25/13 West's fears over Syria Islamists mount as coalition flounders, by John Irish and Mohammed Abbas, Reuters, Chicago Tribune. "Syrian coalition officials say the best way to make an impact is to provide its poorly equipped fighters with weapons. But Western diplomats are wary of the coalition's disunity, and are mindful of the spread of weapons to Islamists in Syria and across the volatile region. French forces are currently battling Islamists in Mali, the insurgents armed with weapons thought to have come from Libya after the Western-backed 2011 uprising against Muammar Gaddafi."
1/25/13 [VIDEOS, PHOTOS]Evidence Of Multiple Foreign Weapon Systems Smuggled To The Syrian Opposition In Daraa, Brown Moses Blog. "Here we have four weapon systems, all with links to the same region, the former Yugoslavia, but I'm sure there's many people who will instantly discount anything shown on Syrian State TV as being propaganda or faked in some way. What's very interesting about these weapons is they've all appeared in videos filmed by the Syrian opposition in Daraa at the same time, just as they make significant progress in that region. "
1/19/13 Western Sponsored Aleppo Mass Murder, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "Union of Syrian Students President Dr. Ammar Sa'ati expressed condolences for victims and surviving family members. He condemned the cowardly attack. He pointed fingers the right way. He said Syrian students know what Western media won't explain. ... Washington, complicit NATO partners, Israel, and other regional allies bear full responsibility."
1/17/13 Lavrov: Statements on Syrian Forces' Responsibility for Aleppo Terrorist Attack Repulsive , by H. Zain / H. Said, Syrian Arab News Agency. "Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov strongly criticized the statements on the responsibility of the Syrian government forces for the terrorist attack which targeted Aleppo University on Tuesday, describing them as 'repulsive and unscrupulous'. In a press conference in Dushanbe, the Tajik capital, on Thursday, Lavrov said 'I saw on CNN that they say that the Syrian government forces are the ones which committed this terrorist act in Aleppo. I can not imagine a more repulsive and unscrupulous talk than that.'"
1/16/13 Russia condemns attacks on Syrian University of Aleppo, by R. Raslan/ M. Ismael, Press TV. "Russia has condemned the recent attacks on the Syrian University of Aleppo that killed 87 people, blaming the explosions on 'terrorists.' The Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said yesterday's attacks in the northern city of Aleppo were carried out by the enemies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad."
1/16/13 US blames Assad regime for 'despicable' campus blasts, Agence France-Presse. "The United States on Wednesday condemned the 'despicable attack' on university buildings in the Syrian city of Aleppo, blaming the regime for unleashing air strikes that killed at least 82 people. 'The United States is appalled and saddened by the Syrian regime's deadly attack yesterday on the University of Aleppo,' State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, adding most of the victims were students and refugees."
1/16/13 Al-Shihabi: We Have Decisive Evidence on Turkey's Involvement in Robbing Factories in Aleppo, by R. Raslan/ M. Ismael, Syrian Arab News Agency. "Head of the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Industry, Eng. Fares Shihabi, stressed that Aleppo Industry Chamber has decisive evidence on the involvement of the Turkish government in stealing production lines and machines from hundreds of factories in Aleppo city and smuggling them into the Turkish territories in clear breach of the international laws. ... He added that the industrials in Aleppo accuse the Turkish government of practicing terrorism, criminality and robbery in a deliberate and methodical way against the Syrian industry and they call for forming a neutral international committee to investigate the reality of robbing factories in Aleppo."
1/16/13 U.S. says has no reason to believe Syria used chemical weapons, by Arshad Mohammed; editing by Vicki Allen, Reuters. "The United States has no reason to believe Syria has used chemical weapons during its 22-month conflict with rebels seeking to end the Assad family's rule, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday. ... Foreign Policy magazine reported on its website on Tuesday that a previously secret U.S. diplomatic cable from the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, had concluded that Assad's government had likely used chemical weapons. ... 'At the time, we looked into the allegations that were made, and the information that we had received, and we found no credible evidence to corroborate or to confirm that chemical weapons were used,' the State Department spokeswoman said."
1/8/13 Insight: Aleppo misery eats at Syrian rebel support, by Yara Bayoumy, Reuters (Canada). "As government forces fight on in parts of Aleppo, in large areas that have been under rebel control for six months or more complaints are getting louder about indiscipline among the fighters, looting and a general lack of security and necessities like running water, bread and electricity in districts that have been pounded by tanks and hit by Assad's air force. ... As the war grinds on, and despite efforts by some commanders to create a semblance of order, some Aleppines are growing impatient with the Free Syrian Army: 'We don't care about the regime,' said 48-year-old Abu Majid, who worked in one of Aleppo's many textile factories. 'We need peace and security.'"
1/8/13 Western Media War on Syria, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "Assad's speech was comprehensive, thoughtful, and responsible. He addressed what needs to be said. He correctly called foreign death squads 'armed criminals, terrorists, enemies of God, and puppets of the West.' ... He was conciliatory. He urged dialogue with 'those who have not betrayed Syria.' He offered more constitutional reform, new government representing all Syrians, and amnesty to end conflict. He rejects Western puppets. He offered conflict resolution hope. He reached out responsibly to nonbelligerent opposition forces. Washington, key NATO partners, Israel, other regional allies, and illegitimate SNC 2.0 puppets spurn him. Peaceful conflict resolution remains a distant hope."
1/6/13 Foreign Terrorists Wage War on Syria, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "Syria is Washington's war. It was planned years ago. America wants pro-Western puppet leadership replacing Assad. ... Since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011, Washington, key NATO allies, Israel, and other regional allies recruited, armed, trained, and directed death squads. ... Post-9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq were ravaged and destroyed. So was Libya last year. Now it's Syria's turn. Perhaps Iran comes next."
1/6/13 Full text of President Bashar al-Assad's speech in Damascus to the People of Syria, Syrian Arab News Agecy. "At the beginning they wanted it a fake revolution but the Syrian people rebelled against them; then they tried to impose it secretly through money, the media and arms; and when they failed, they moved to the second phase through dropping the masks of a 'peaceful revolution' and unveiled the cover of the weapons they were using secretly to use them openly, starting their attempts to occupy certain cities in order to attack other cities. Their brutality didn't intimidate our people, thanks to their awareness and steadfastness; so our people rejected them and unveiled their lies. Therefore they decided to take revenge on the people through spreading terrorism indiscriminately everywhere. They call it a revolution, but in fact it has nothing to do with revolutions. ... A revolution is in the interest of people not against the interests of people. Is this a revolution? Are those revolutionaries? They are a bunch of criminals."
1/5/13 FSA & Jihadist Training Camps Exist in Lebanon: Lebanese Interior Minister Reveals, LiveLeak. "Lebanese Interior Minister, Marwan Charbel, recently admitted in an interview with Lebanese al-Safir newspaper that training camps for the 'Free Syrian Army' (FSA) and other Jihadist militants exist inside Lebanon, in remote areas. ... Lebanon's internal stability is in jeopardy and could explode at any time with these Takfiri groups (religious extremists who consider others as infidels worthy of killing) being welcomed by the Future Movement, and this could potentially drag Lebanon into a major conflict, given that most Lebanese from diverse ethnic & religious backgrounds do not welcome those Wahhabis/Salafis." [includes video]
12/30/12 Syria rebels 'beheaded a Christian and fed him to the dogs' as fears grow over Islamist atrocities, by Nick Fagge, The Daily Mail (UK). "Syrian rebels beheaded a Christian man and fed his body to dogs, according to a nun who says the West is ignoring atrocities committed by Islamic extremists. The nun said taxi driver Andrei Arbashe, 38, was kidnapped after his brother was heard complaining that fighters against the ruling regime behaved like bandits. She said his headless corpse was found by the side of the road, surrounded by hungry dogs. He had recently married and was soon to be a father."
12/28/12 Syria jihadists eye post-Assad Islamic rule, by Agence France-Presse, NOW Syria. "Jihadist rule must spread over Syria after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, the head of the hardline rebel Al-Nusra Front said on Friday, accusing Washington of seeking to keep the president in power. Al-Nusra, blacklisted by Washington as a terror outfit, has claimed responsibility for the majority of deadly suicide bombings in Syria's 21-month conflict. Its fighters, many of whom are foreigners, have also played a major part in battlefield gains made by the rebels in the northwest in recent months."
12/28/12 US-NATO-Israeli Agenda: Syria to be Subdivided into "Three Weaker States", Interview with Tawfik Okasha, owner of the Egyptian opposition TV channel al-Fara'een, Global Research. "There's a deal being struck between Israel, Turkey and the EU to transform Syria into three states, so that the issue of the Golan [Heights] ends as well as the issue of Syria. So there won't be any state that will have armed forces capable of confronting Israel. The issue is about the destruction of the Syrian Army and the destruction of the Syrian leadership and the Syrian Armed Forces. You liars... You tell [the Egyptian people] that Bashar al Assad is slaughtering people. Bashar al Assad's war is with Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood. It is with those people sent in by Turkey, the US and Israel."
12/28/12 UN Syria "Peace Plan" a Fraud, by Tony Cartalucci, Land Destroyer Report. "Clearly the conspiracy being pieced together and executed in 2007, described by Seymour Hersh citing a myriad of US, Saudi, and Lebanese sources, is unfolding before our eyes. It was a conspiracy hatched of mutual US-Israeli-Saudi interests, not based on humanitarian concerns or "democracy," but rather on toppling sovereign nations seen as a threat to their collective extraterritorial influence throughout the region. The UN's failure to acknowledge a documented conspiracy by foreign interests to violently overthrow the government of Syria (and eventually Iran) once again exposes the international body as a tool for special interests."
12/25/12 Israel Says No Proof Poison Gas Used in Syria , Reuters, Voice of America. "Israel voiced doubt on Tuesday about the accuracy of Syrian activists' reports that chemical weapons had been used against rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad. ... On Sunday, senior Israeli defence official Amos Gilad said Syria's chemical weapons were still secure despite the fact that Assad had lost control of parts of the country."
12/24/12 U.S. Officials Doubt Syrian Rebels' Chemical Attack Claim, by Noah Shachtman and David Axe, WIRED. "Opposition activists in Syria are claiming that the embattled regime of Bashar Assad gassed rebel forces in the battleground city of Homs on Sunday. U.S. officials tell Danger Room that they are skeptical about the rebels' chemical weapon claims, however. ... 'It just doesn't jibe with chemical weapons,' one U.S. official tells Danger Room. In fact, the symptoms shown in these videos might have been caused by other chemicals – possibly chlorine, phosgene, or cyanogen chloride, according to one independent review of the clips (.pdf). Or we might simply be seeing a severe asthma attack."
12/22/12 Qatar Provides Syrian Terrorists with US-Made Stinger Missiles, Source: FNA (Fars News Agency), Ahlul Bayt News Agency (UK). "The cargo included 37 Stinger missiles and was delivered to the terrorists in Syria through the Turkish border. Qatar had earlier supplied two more cargos, including 90 missiles of this type, to the Syrian rebels. ... Also in November, Russia's chief of staff General Nikolai Makarov said Syrian armed rebels had obtained shoulder-launched missile systems, including Stingers, made by the United States, but added it was not clear who had delivered the weapons."
12/14/12 U.S. will send 400 troops to Turkey, by Associated Press, Los Angeles Times. "The U.S. will send two batteries of Patriot missiles and 400 troops to Turkey as part of a NATO force meant to protect Turkish territory from potential Syrian missile attack, the Pentagon said Friday. ... Separately, NATO will deploy its Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft, or AWACS, to Turkey on a training exercise this month, said a NATO official who spoke on condition of anonymity...."
12/8/12 NATO Intervention in Syria Imminent, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "Washington's rage for war threatens humanity. Peace doesn't have a chance. Media scoundrels hype false threats. Repeated ad nauseam, people believe them. No matter how many previous times they were fooled, they buy the Big Lie again. It happens every time. They're being set up again now. Administration, congressional, and Pentagon officials are preparing the public for more war. Falsified headlines hype nonexistent threats. Humanity hangs in the balance. Where this ends, who knows."
12/7/12 Free Syrian Army an uneasy mix of religious extremes, by Marie-Ève Bédard, CBC News (Canada). "Created in Doha, Qatar, a month ago out of elements from the former Syrian National Council and other opposition groups, the FSA struggles to come up with a formal political structure. It remains a loose alliance, struggling to unite local councils, splinter organizations and divergent opposition groups, as well as secure the loyalties of the various armed units. ... 'The FSA and the coalition is only ink on paper,' he says, elaborating that it's more of an image created to present a united front for foreign governments. Abu Mohammad wants to be clear that he takes orders from no one. ...Jabhat al-Nusra is made up of fighters from other Muslim countries, many of them veterans of other conflicts. The group has taken up residence in the very heart of Aleppo, in what used to be a nursing school. The U.S. State Department is reportedly about to add Jabhat al-Nusra to its global list of terrorist organizations. ... Quietly, away from our camera, many people in the rebel-held part of Aleppo confide that some FSA members have become as much of a terror as Assad's regime. These rebels have become the de facto law, but a law that's as problematic as the many militias. As the conflicts drags on, many who had supported the initial uprising almost two years ago are beginning to have regrets."
12/6/12 Arms shipments traveled from Libya to anti-Assad fighters, sources say, by Adam Housely, Fox News. "Arms have been shipped from Libya to support Syrian fighters since almost immediately after the fall of Muammar Qaddafi, according to an international cargo shipper based in the Mediterranean who said the movement of arms is well-known in Benghazi. ... From his location in the Mediterranean, the source told Fox News that ships, including some of his own, left weekly from multiple Libyan ports, including Misrata and Benghazi. The size of the arms cargo varied, but some of his ships carried in excess of 600 tons of weapons. Some of these same shipments also included professional fighters from across the region that assembled in Libya and thus have been dubbed "The Libyan Brigade," headed to the fight in Syria against the Assad regime. ... Meanwhile, Fox News has also learned that the United States had multiple intelligence agents in the area for months and unarmed drones flew nightly over Benghazi nearly every night last summer, while also monitoring other Libyan port cities like Darnah."
12/6/12 Thousands of US troops arrive near Syrian shore on USS Eisenhower, Russia Today. "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. ... If the US decides to intervene militarily in Syria, it now has at its disposal 10,000 fighting men, 17 warships, 70 fighter-bombers, 10 destroyers and frigates and a guided military cruises. Some of the vessels are also equipped with Aegis missile interceptors to shoot down any missiles Syria might have at hand, according to DEBKAfile."
12/5/12 NEW! No evidence Syria mixing chemical agents, Pentagon official says, by Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube, NBC News. "There is no evidence yet that the Syrian military has actually begun the process of mixing precursor chemicals to produce deadly Sarin nerve gas, a senior defense official told NBC News on Tuesday. According to the official, despite the increased activity around several chemical weapons sites, including truck movements in and out, it's not even clear that the precursors have been moved from separate storage sites to one location. ... One senior official warned that bombing chemical weapons sites would pose a high risk of releasing deadly clouds of the Sarin nerve gas. Instead, the official suggests airstrikes could be aimed directly at Syrian regime leadership. 'We would punish the leadership,' said the official."
12/3/12 NEW! Syria Stresses It Won't Use Any Chemical Weapons, DayPress News. "The Ministry source slammed the US for being the first country in history to use nuclear weapons in 1945 against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, calling on it to stop fabricating such things. It highlighted that these fabrications are aimed basically at misleading the U.S. and world public opinion and diverting attention away from the US involvement in the Syrian issue in terms of the financial, logistic and political support it provides the terrorist groups. ... In turn, SANA added 'this matter arouses suspicions about the intentions of the US, especially that the US has a record of fabricating such issues, not the last were its claims regarding the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and its use of those claims as a pretext to invade Iraq.'"
11/28/12 Officials: Syrian rebels' arsenal includes up to 40 antiaircraft missile systems, by Joby Warrick, The Washington Post. "At least some of the missiles were supplied by Qatar, which has provided most of the weapons smuggled to Syria's rebels across the Turkish border, according to two Middle Eastern intelligence officials briefed on the matter. ... Both Qatar and Saudi Arabia have provided extensive help for Syria's rebels in recent months, providing cash and weapons for a guerilla army that has received only non-lethal aid from Washington and Western Europe. ... U.S. officials and independent experts warned about the potential consequences of allowing the highly mobile weapons to be given to fighters who could not guarantee their future disposition."
11/28/12 Syria names 142 slain foreign fighters from 18 countries, Agence France-Presse, Hurriyet Daily News (Turkey). "A Syrian newspaper on Tuesday published the names of 142 foreign fighters from 18 countries the regime says were killed alongside rebels in Syria's conflict. Pro-regime Al-Watan published a list, which it said Damascus sent to the United Nations Security Council last month, that included Arab, North African, Central and South Asian 'terrorists,' giving the date and place of their death. 'Most are jihadists (radical Islamists) who belong to Al-Qaeda's network, or who joined it after arriving in Syria,' the paper said, adding that they entered Syria via Turkey and Lebanon. Among the 142 it named 47 Saudis, 24 Libyans, 10 Tunisians, nine Egyptians, six Qataris and five Lebanese. It also listed 11 Afghans, five Turks, three Chechens, one Chadian and one Azerbaijani. ... Damascus says foreign-backed 'terrorists' are responsible for the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad that broke out in March 2011."
11/27/12 NATO scouts missile sites near Turkey-Syria border, DPA, AFP, Reuters, Deutsche Welle (Germany). "The missiles, Turkey said, would be 'purely defensive,' and would not lead to the creation of a no-fly zone over Syria. Germany considered those two elements to be the most important conditions for participating in the mission. Syrian rebel forces have called for the establishment of an internationally-enforced no-fly zone over Syria as a defense against Syrian military airstrikes. Many foreign governments are opposed to the idea for fear of becoming involved in the ongoing conflict. ... [T]he expected NATO force of approximately 170 troops...would be deployed to man the rockets."
11/26/12 Syrian rebels forced to police their own as crime tarnishes reputation, by Tom A. Peter, Christian Science Monitor. "Attention has long focused on the human rights abuses of the Assad regime and its military, but opposition groups have also come under scrutiny. Most recently, Human Rights Watch released a report that found opposition groups had tortured detainees and committed summary executions and extrajudicial killings."
11/20/12 Britain recognizes Syrian opposition coalition, by Mohammed Abbas, Reuters, Chicago Tribune. "Britain recognized the fledgling Syrian National Coalition on Tuesday, joining France in saying the opposition group was the 'sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people.'"
11/19/12 Syrian Islamists reject Western-backed opposition, by Elizabeth A. Kennedy, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle. "Syria's increasingly powerful Islamist rebel factions rejected the country's new Western-backed opposition coalition and unilaterally declared an Islamic state in the key battleground of Aleppo, a sign of the seemingly intractable splits among those fighting to topple President Bashar Assad."
11/19/12 (VIDEO 1:38) Breaking: Special Address by the Brigades and Batallions in Aleppo and its surroundings rejecting the Syrian National Opposition Coalition, by Syria Update. "The [twelve] various battalions and brigades from Aleppo...and others reject the project of Opposition coalition and that they have come together and agreed to establish the righteous Islamic state and reject any external project be it the coalitions or the committees which are forced upon us from whatever aspect they may be."
11/13/12 The most disturbing fake videos making the rounds in Syria, by Tracey Shelton, Global Post. "On the screen was a video of someone beheading a prisoner with a chainsaw. It had been circulating in Syria for at least a year. The footage itself is very real, but it is five years old, and was shot in Mexico. Drug lords carried out the crime. The video has been used by rebels in conflicts all over the world. ... While that video appears to have been real, many other bogus ones have found their way onto major television networks in the United States and beyond, and are spread widely by social media. It's not uncommon for the two sides to use the same footage to make opposite claims. Here is a look at some of the most widely seen — fake or misrepresented — footage and images being used by both sides of the Syrian conflict."
11/2/12 Syria video said to show executions by rebels, by Associated Press, Fox News. "A new video appears to show Syrian rebels killing a group of captured soldiers, spraying them with bullets as they lay on the ground. Human rights groups on Friday warned that the gunmen may have committed a war crime. ... Previous videos of rebels executing soldiers and pro-Assad militiamen have fueled concerns that opposition fighters are capable of brutality that matches that of the regime they are seeking to topple -- a charge that could badly damage the rebellion's ability to claim the moral high ground in the Syrian civil war."
11/1/12 Syria rebels kill 78 soldiers, attack checkpoints, by Barbara Surk, Associated Press, Newsday (NY). "Syrian rebels killed 78 soldiers on Thursday, about half of them in attacks on military checkpoints in the north just hours after a wave of bombings hit the Damascus area, activists said."
10/30/12 Obama administration works to launch new Syrian opposition council, by Josh Rogin, Foreign Policy. "The State Department has been heavily involved in crafting the new council as part of its effort oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and build a more viable and unified opposition. In September, for instance, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with a group of Syrian activists who were flown in to New York for a high-level meeting that has not been reported until now. ... The Obama administration is well aware of the growing influence of opposition military commanders and the effort by Islamist extremists, including groups linked to al Qaeda, to gain influence over the direction of Syria's burgeoning civil war."
10/29/12 Armed Rebels and Middle-Eastern Power Plays: How the U.S. Is Helping to Kill Peace in Syria, by Nicolas J.S. Davies, AlterNet. "So, the West's Plan B seems to require that Syria must first be torn apart by a bloody civil war that will kill hundreds of thousands of people, until Syrians become so desperate that the loss of their sovereignty will seem a small price to pay for a restoration of peace. On the other side, the Syrian government is equally determined to use as much force as necessary to prevent this from succeeding. Lakhdar Brahimi's effort to revise and revive Annan's peace plan is a final chance for the U.S. and its allies to rein in their proxies and step back from the brink. The Syrian government agreed to his call for a cease-fire during the three-day Eid al-Adha holiday, but once again, the Western-backed rebels rejected it . The stage is set for far greater bloodshed and chaos, and the U.S. government's actions have been critical, maybe even decisive, in plunging the people of Syria into this crisis and preventing a peaceful resolution."
10/21/12 [VIDEO 1:16:51] Syria and Iran: Exposing the Lies and Disinformation , by Joe Friendly. "Activists and independent analysts on the Middle East disentangle the lies of the U.S. government and corporate media to destabilize and colonize Syria and Iran. SPEAKERS: Ramsey Clark, Former Attorney General, Dr. Mazen Adi and Mr. Asaad Ibrahim, Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations, Lizzy Phelan, Independent Journalist and broadcaster who has reported from both Libya and Syria during the wars there, Ardeshir Ommani, American Iranian Friendship Committee (AIFC), Larry Hales, International Action Center, Steve Becker, ANSWER Coalition, Larry Hales, International Action Center, mediated by Eleanor Ommani, cofounder of the AIFC Sponsoring Organizations: American Iranian Friendship Committee (AIFC), ANSWER COALITION, International Action Center and New York Peace Council Endorsed by CPRmetro.org Radio, Solidarity with Iran-SI, Veterans for Peace, Chpt. 21."
10/18/12 Turkey 'Admits' Russian Air Cargo Legal, RIA Novosti. "The Turkish authorities recognize the legitimacy of the cargo seized from a Moscow-Damascus passenger plane but have a problem with its processing, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday. ... 'Our Turkish partners have now effectively retracted the initial allegations that there was ammunition on board,' he added."
10/13/12 Turkey Moves Tanks to Hilltops Overlooking Syria, by Sibel Akba, Bloomberg News. "Turkey yesterday deployed tanks and missile-defense systems on hilltops overlooking Syria, the state-run Anatolia news agency said, hours after Turkish jet fighters were scrambled to confront a Syrian helicopter that came close to the border. ... Turkey's ties with Syria, once an ally, dramatically deteriorated over Turkish backing for Syrian rebels fighting forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad."
10/12/12 [VIDEO 2:29 - WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT] Rebels massacre Syrian policemen, throw them in the river - YouTube, Syria News. "This section shows the video and audio [in which rebel] army gunmen massacred number of policemen and system-keepers of the Syrian government in Hama 24/7/2011 then throw [their bodies] in the Orontes River. Government forces entered the city of Hama after residents demanded to restore safety."
10/12/12 Islamic militants join rebels to seize missile base near Syria's largest city, activists say, by Associated Press, Fox News. "Nevertheless, the assault underscored fears of advanced weaponry falling into the hands of extremists playing an increasingly large role in Syria's civil war."
10/12/12 No weapons on Syrian plane grounded by Turkey — Lavrov, Russia Today. "Russia's foreign minister claimed the Syrian passenger plane Turkey diverted on Wednesday was carrying radar parts, not munitions. The confiscated cargo was being transported legally, Sergey Lavrov said Friday. ... Moscow criticized Turkey for endangering the lives of the flight's 35 passengers by dispatching F-16s to force the plane to land, and demanded to know why Russian diplomats and doctors were not allowed to meet the 17 Russian nationals on board. Witnesses also told RT that Turkish officials had demanded people on board sign papers stating that the jet had made an emergency landing. Guards are reported to have beaten up a crew member and several passengers who refused. Syria labeled the incident 'air piracy,' and insisted that there was not carrying anything illegal."
10/5/12 Turkey Plays Lee Harvey for NATO Plotters, by Michael Collins, The Money Party. "To show how lawless international relations are at this point, recall that President George W. Bush needed to create the belief that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD). With that fiction established as fact, the Bush administration then had the permission it thought necessary to invade Iraq. By the new lower standards, the United States and the NATO nations feel no need to offer proof that the nations they want to bump off are an imminent danger. These new world leaders simply create internal disruption and death in the target nations, call it a civil war, and then either get the UN or a patsy like Erdogan to do the dirty work."
10/5/12 Thousands protest in Turkey over Syria strikes bill, ITV News. "Thousands of protesters have gathered in the streets of Turkey to demonstrate against a parliamentary memorandum allowing military operations against Syria if the government deems it necessary. ... Demonstrators chanted slogans such as 'Don't remain silent! Shout! All people are brothers and sisters!' and held banners emblazoned with 'Hands off Syria!' and 'Get out of the Middle East'".
10/5/12 Turkey prime minister warns war is near as his forces pound Syria for third day, by Roy Gutman, McClatchy Newspapers, Miami Herald.
10/3/12 Suicide bombings kill at least 34 people in northern Syrian city of Aleppo, by Associated Press, The Washington Post. "There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the government blamed its opponents and said the blasts were caused by suicide bombers. The technique is a signature style of al-Qaida-style jihadist groups, some of which are known to have entered Syria's civil war to fight against the regime."
10/2/12 Syria, the story thus far, by William Blum, The Anti-Empire Report. "And once again, the United States is participating in the overthrow of a secular Mideast government. ... The propaganda bias in the Western media has been extreme. Day after day, month after month, we've been told of Syrian government attacks, using horrible means, almost invariably with the victims described as unarmed civilians; without any proof, often without any logic, that it was actually the government behind a particular attack, with the story's source turning out to be an anti-government organization; rarely informing us of similar behavior on the part of the rebel forces."
9/14/12 The [London] Times: Largest Shipload of Libyan Weapons Heading to Armed Groups in Syria, Syrian Arab News Agency. "The article revealed that videos and photos confirmed the arrival of the shipment to the Syrian border and that 'more than 80 per cent of the ship's cargo...has been moved into Syria.' According to the article, huge weapons stockpiles went missing in Libya after the killing of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, referring to photographs of empty boxes of SAM-7S and confirmations by Libyan officials that 'more than 5,000 of the missiles had vanished.' The Times affirmed that this is not the first time that Libyan ships try to deliver weapons to the armed terrorist groups in Syria, referring to 'a large consignment of Libyan weapons, including PRGs and heavy ammunition,' which was seized by the Lebanese authorities in the Lebanese northern territorial waters as it was mend to reach the gunmen in Syria.'"
9/14/12 Revealed: inside story of US envoy's assassination - Exclusive: America 'was warned of embassy attack but did nothing', The Independent (UK). "American officials believe the attack was planned, but Chris Stevens had been back in the country only a short while and the details of his visit to Benghazi, where he and his staff died, were meant to be confidential. ... Senior officials are increasingly convinced, however, that the ferocious nature of the Benghazi attack, in which rocket-propelled grenades were used, indicated it was not the result of spontaneous anger due to the video, called Innocence of Muslims. Patrick Kennedy, Under-Secretary at the State Department, said he was convinced the assault was planned due to its extensive nature and the proliferation of weapons."
9/12/12 Majority of Turks against Country's Intervention into Syria, Journal of Turkish Weekly. "Some 57 percent of Turkish respondents in the Transatlantic Trends survey categorically rejected a Turkish invasion.... The findings mirrored numbers elsewhere in the world, where 55 percent of U.S. respondents opposed an intervention, as did 59 of their EU counterparts."
8/30/12 VIDEO (12:08) 'I saw rebels beheading men for religion' – Syrian cleric, Interview with Mother Agnes Mariam, founder of monastery in Qara in Syria, RT (Russia). (at 4:20) "There were unidentified bands, armed gangs, you know. We said we don't know whom they are, but they are spreading chaos, disorder, killings, abducting, and many kind, you know, of methods to destabilize a country, and also to implement a kind of preparation for a civil war.... I cannot shut up. If nobody is reporting this, I feel that if I know it and I do not report it, I am helping criminals to continue their way."
8/30/12 Over 8,000 regime forces killed in Syria: military hospital, by Agence France-Presse, The Daily Star (Lebanon). "DAMASCUS: More than 8,000 members of the security forces have been killed since Syria's anti-regime uprising broke out in March 2011, the director of the capital's Tishrin military hospital said Thursday. ... Around 60 percent of the victims were killed by gunfire, while 35 percent died in explosions, including anti-tank rockets, and five percent were 'slaughtered or beheaded,' according to the general."
8/22/12 Russia: West is 'openly instigating' Syrian civil war, by Associated Press, The Christian Science Monitor. "Russia has said that its opposition to sanctions against Syria is driven not by support for Assad himself, but by a respect for international law that forbids foreign military intervention in internal conflicts without U.N. Security Council authorization. Russia has called for talks between the Syrian regime and its foes. It staunchly opposes any plans that would demand Assad's ouster, saying that only the Syrian people can decide the country's fate."
8/22/12 U.S. has plans in place to secure Syria chemical arms, by David S. Cloud and Shashank Bengali, Los Angeles Times. "The Pentagon has made contingency plans to send small teams of special operations troops into Syria if the White House decides it needs to secure chemical weapons depots now controlled by security forces loyal to President Bashar Assad, senior U.S. officials said. ... Securing the sites would probably involve stealthy raids by special operations teams trained to handle such weapons, and precision airstrikes to incinerate the chemicals without dispersing them in the air, the officials said. U.S. satellites and drone aircraft already maintain partial surveillance of the sites."
8/21/12 Russia warns on Syrian intervention, Reuters, The Irish Times. "Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned the West today against any unilateral action on Syria after president Barack Obama said US forces could act if the Syrian leader deployed chemical weapons against rebels trying to topple him. Russia and China have opposed military intervention in Syria throughout 17 months of bloodshed and have vetoed three UN Security Council resolutions backed by Western and Arab states that would have raised pressure on Damascus to end violence."
8/21/12 Syrian rebels fight on for Aleppo despite local wariness — Rebels say 70% of city is with regime, but exchanges with the few remaining residents who venture on to streets are civil, by Martin Chulov, The Guardian (UK). "More than a month into the battle for Aleppo, the rebels who seized control of much of the city sense that its residents do not yet fully support them. Opposition fighters — around 3,000 of them — are almost the only people moving around the eastern half that the Free Syrian Army now controls."
8/19/12 In Syria, group suspected of al-Qaeda links gaining prominence in war to topple Assad, by Justin Vela and Liz Sly, The Washington Post. "[Jabhat al-Nusra commander] Abu Ibrahim said his contingent included men from Morocco, Libya, Tunisia and Lebanon, as well as one Syrian who had fought in Iraq against the Americans. ... Jabhat al-Nusra is the only Syrian rebel group that posts on a Web forum that is used by al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri and known affiliates of the terrorist network."
8/13/12 What if the Empire Project Fails in Syria?, by Michael Collins, The Agonist. "What kind of revolution is this? Fighters from the countryside plus foreign fighters including al Qaeda move into the nation's largest city, attack police and government security installations inspiring ... nothing much. The response of citizens both cities show that this is more an attack on cities rather than a broad based revolution. ... There are few voices out there predicting that the Syrian government will survive the rebel assault. But the rebels can't find any open support in an area that should be sympathetic during the critical battle (Aleppo). Therefore, it is reasonable to ask: what happens if the enterprise falls on its face? The United States and NATO would have to question the viability of its Libyan formula for regime change."
8/3/12 Accounts of Syria rebels executing prisoners raise new human rights concerns, by Hannah Allam and Austin Tice, McClatchy Newspapers. "Syrian insurgents fighting to unseat President Bashar Assad face a growing list of accusations that they've carried out executions and torture, muddying the Western narrative of a heroic resistance force struggling against a vicious regime. ... Even the rebels' U.S. supporters appear to be more cautious in their statements after a series of hits to the opposition forces' credibility: purported videos of regime crimes that were revealed as fakes, exaggerations in reports of mass killing by government forces, the spread of militant Islamists in rebel ranks, U.N. claims of cease-fire violations and, now, potential atrocities such as prisoner executions."
8/1/12 Obama authorizes secret support for Syrian rebels, by Mark Hosenball, Reuters. "President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing U.S. support for rebels seeking to depose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government, sources familiar with the matter said. Obama's order, approved earlier this year and known as an intelligence 'finding,' broadly permits the CIA and other U.S. agencies to provide support that could help the rebels oust Assad. ... Last year, when rebels began organizing themselves to challenge the rule of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Obama also signed an initial 'finding' broadly authorizing secret U.S. backing for them."
8/1/12 Washington's Total War on Syria, by Stephen Lendman, The Progressive Radio News Hour. "Blockading a nonbelligerent country clearly breaches international and constitutional law. All UN member states are bound by inviolable legal principles. General Assembly blockade authorization is nonbinding and illegal. On August 2, it may approve it. ... Syria attacked no one. It threatens no one. It's victimized by lawless aggression. Destroying and suffocating it by violence, blockading its coasts and air space, and other lawless acts constitutes high crimes against peace."
7/29/12 Syrian war of lies and hypocrisy, by Robert Fisk, The Independent (UK). "While Qatar and Saudi Arabia arm and fund the rebels of Syria to overthrow Bashar al-Assad's Alawite/Shia-Baathist dictatorship, Washington mutters not a word of criticism against them. President Barack Obama and his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, say they want a democracy in Syria. But Qatar is an autocracy and Saudi Arabia is among the most pernicious of caliphate-kingly-dictatorships in the Arab world. ... No, this is all about Iran and our desire to crush the Islamic Republic and its infernal nuclear plans — if they exist — and has nothing to do with human rights or the right to life or the death of Syrian babies."
7/15/12 Syria denies heavy weapons used in latest violence in Tremseh, by Associated Press, The Washington Post. "Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said the violence Thursday was not a massacre, but a military operation targeting armed fighters who had taken control of the village of Tremseh. ... Some of the emerging details suggested that, rather than the outright shelling of civilians that the opposition has depicted, the violence in Tremseh may have been a lopsided fight between the army pursuing the opposition and activists and locals trying to defend the village."
7/13/12 Four Terrorists from al-Treimseh: Gunmen Were Ordered to Spread Across the Town Before Army Forces Entered It, Syrian Arab News Agency. "[Arrested terrorist Sa'ed] Darwish confirmed that the terrorists had RPG launchers, machineguns, snipers, automatic rifles and explosive devices, adding that the leaders of the armed groups received money from Turkey and that there were Turks and Libyans among the ranks of these groups. In turn, terrorist Rami Abdelsalam al-Darwish said that he was offered money to join an armed group led by Saleh al-Saba'awi a month ago, and that the al-Treimseh was crawling with more than 300 terrorists from out of town, including Libyan gunmen and one Turkish officer. ... Similarly, terrorist Mohammad Sattouf, born in al-Treimseh in 1986, said that he was in charge of fabricating videos of protests and uploading them to Youtube. ... Sattouf corroborate other terrorists' testimonies that the gunmen who were in al-Treimseh numbered somewhere between 250 and 300, and that they were armed with various light and medium weapons including machineguns, rifles, sniper rifles, RPG launchers, hand grenades, and explosive charges which were made in a workshop set up in the town itself. He said that a man referred to as Abu al-Zahra'a came to him with an altered video of al-Qbeir massacre which he filmed after he and his group committed the massacre, and that Abu al-Zahra'a forced Sattouf's cousin Mufid Alloush at gunpoint to upload the altered video to al-Jazeera using the latter's satellite internet connection."
7/12/12 The Syrian opposition: who's doing the talking?, by Charlie Skelton, The Guardian (UK). "This is a story about the storytellers: the spokespeople, the 'experts on Syria', the 'democracy activists'. The statement makers. The people who 'urge' and 'warn' and 'call for action'. It's a tale about some of the most quoted members of the Syrian opposition and their connection to the Anglo-American opposition creation business. ... Many of the 'activists' and spokespeople representing the Syrian opposition are closely (and in many cases financially) interlinked with the US and London — the very people who would be doing the intervening. Which means information and statistics from these sources isn't necessarily pure news — it's a sales pitch, a PR campaign."
7/11/12 VIDEO (2:11) Syria: Rebels using American Weapons [with sniper scopes], by 3TimeToFightBack. "The fact that the United States Government is supplying terrorist groups operating in Syria with advanced weaponry contravenes international law. American weapons are feeding the conflict, destabilising the region, worsening the violence and putting civilians at increased risk. The hypocrisy of US Foreign Policy is highlighted by the fact that while they have been repeatedly and vocally accusing Russia of 'fuelling' the conflict they are the ones arming violent Jihadist groups."
7/8/12 Everything They're Telling Us About Syria....is False, by Russ Baker, WhoWhatWhy. "When a piece of evidence that contradicts the overall impression is absent from the reportage, the reportage itself is almost worthless. As are reports of horrific events without adequate fact-checking and follow-up. Remember the Houla massacre? Who carried that out? ... There's a growing body of evidence that we Americans are being lied to by our government, with nary a peep from the people's representatives in the press. That's one development, sadly, that really is not news."
7/5/12 Al-Assad: Syria protests can't compare to Egypt, Tunisia, by CNN Wire Staff CNN. "'They wanted to bring people out into the streets in large numbers just like in Egypt and Tunisia,' President Bashar al-Assad said in the latest installment of an interview published Thursday in the newspaper Cumhuriyet. 'However they were not successful.' Al-Assad said people were paid the equivalent of $10 to $100 to participate in the protests. He said the protests started peacefully, but opposition forces 'wanted to form liberated areas by arming certain regions, like the Benghazi model' in Libya. The city of Benghazi in eastern Libya was the base for rebels fighting Moammar Gadhafi's regime. 'Our army did not allow this,' al-Assad said. 'Now they are at a new stage: Assassinations, bombing state institutions, massacres targeting civilians and kidnappings have begun.' ... Al-Assad was asked if he thought he would be elected if polls were held tomorrow. 'I cannot answer on behalf of my people. And I have not conducted a public poll. And what I do I'm not doing so that they elect me. What I do I'm doing because I believe in it.'"
7/4/12 Facing diplomatic isolation, Syria's Assad says he's willing to step aside, by Roy Gutman, McClatchy Newspapers The Miami Herald. "After losing his most important supporters outside Syria, President Bashar Assad said his office 'doesn't mean anything to me' and he's willing to give it up, though preferably after national elections. 'If the president's departure is in the interest of Syria, the president should naturally go. This is self-evident,' he told the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet. 'You should never stay in office one day if the people do not want you; and the elections are the means through which the people show whether they want you or not.' ... 'The most important thing is that everything should be decided inside Syria, not outside it," Assad said."
7/3/12 Syria leader Assad says he regrets his forces shooting down Turkey military jet, by Associated Press, CBS News. "Assad said: 'I say 100 percent, I wish we did not shoot it down.'... Assad said Syria had no intention of fueling tensions along its border with NATO-member Turkey. 'We will not allow it to turn into an armed conflict that would harm both countries,' he said. 'We did not build up our forces on the Turkish border and we will not. ... We are in a state of war, so every unidentified plane is an enemy plane,' the paper quoted Assad as saying. 'Let me state it again: we did not have the slightest idea about its identity when we shot it down.'"
7/2/12 Al-Qaeda Militants Claim Attack on Syria TV, State-Run TV Says, by Donna Abu-Nasr, Bloomberg News. "A group linked to al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for last week's attack on the pro-government Ikhbariya television station, state-run Syrian TV said today, citing a statement it says was posted on the Internet. Seven people were killed, including three journalists and four guards, when gunmen stormed the station in Drousha, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Damascus, according to the government."
6/30/12 In Syria, at least 85 killed by car bombing at funeral, by Liz Sly, Los Angeles Times. "The car bomb went off as the procession passed a mosque. Hazy video clouded by dust in the first moments after the explosion showed dozens of mangled bodies lying on the road and the stretcher carrying Halabi's body on the ground nearby. ... The wounded were taken to field hospitals in nearby towns and a plea went out for people to donate blood. One doctor who was on his way to help was shot and killed by snipers, [anti-government activist] Abu Omar said. ... No one claimed immediate responsibility for the attack, but Abu Omar laid the blame on government forces."
6/27/12 Syria Talks Won't Include the Saudis or Iranians, by Nick Cumming-Bruce and Rick Gladstone, The New York Times. "Conspicuously absent from the list of the nations invited were Iran, the strongest regional ally of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, and Saudi Arabia, a prominent supporter of Mr. Assad's enemies. Mr. Annan, who had said he wanted the Iranians to be part of such a meeting, offered no explanation for why they were not invited. Asked about it later, the chief United Nations spokesman, Martin Nesirky...declined to comment on speculation that Hillary Rodham Clinton, the American secretary of state, had threatened to cancel her participation if Iran were invited."
6/25/12 US-Israel War Games against Iran Planned near Elections, by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu, Israel National News. "The United States and Israel are planning war games involving simulated attacks against Iran and Syria. Coincidence or not, the exercises will take place less than a month before elections November 6. Thousands of soldiers will participate in the war games under simultaneous and simulated missile fire from Syria and Iran.... Iran has suffered numerous cyber attacks in the past year, presumably originating from Israel and the United States, in an effort to cripple computer programs operating nuclear facilities.... On the military front, Israel has beefed up its submarine force, which is reportedly equipped with nuclear weapons."
6/22/12 CONFIRMED: US CIA Arming Terrorists in Syria, by Tony Cartalucci, Centre for Research on Globalization. "For the United States to claim Syria has 'failed' to protect it population while simultaneously fueling the very armed conflict it claims it is seeking to end is not only hypocrisy of the highest order, but a crime against world peace - punishable under the Nuremberg precedent."
6/21/12 C.I.A. Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition, by Eric Schmitt, The New York Times. "A small number of C.I.A. officers are operating secretly in southern Turkey, helping allies decide which Syrian opposition fighters across the border will receive arms to fight the Syrian government, according to American officials and Arab intelligence officers. The weapons, including automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition and some antitank weapons, are being funneled mostly across the Turkish border by way of a shadowy network of intermediaries."
6/19/12 Report: Massive War Game Planned by Iran, Russia, China, Syria, by Sharona Schwartz, The Blaze. "Iran, Russia, China, and Syria plan to stage a massive war game over the next few weeks with the participation of 90,000 troops, 400 warplanes and 1,000 tanks making it the 'biggest joint war game in [the] Mid-East,' the semiofficial Iranian Fars News Agency reported Tuesday."
6/16/12 Hidden US-Israeli Military Agenda: "Break Syria into Pieces", by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky, Centre for Research on Globalization. "A top level US State Department meeting was held in May with members of the Syrian Kurdish opposition. In attendance were representatives of the Kurdish National Council (KNC), Robert Stephen Ford, the outgoing US ambassador to Syria (who has played a key role in channelling support to the rebels) as well as Frederic C. Hof, a former business partner of Richard Armitage, who currently serves as the administration's 'special coordinator on Syria'. (Ibid). The delegation also met with Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman. ... the political fracturing of the Syrian Arab Republic along ethnic and religious lines as well as the creation of an 'independent Kurdistan' were discussed."
6/15/12 New FAZ Piece On Houla Massacre: "The Extermination", by Moon of Alabama, War Is A Crime. "A well regarded and qualified author of the prime German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported (in German) how the recent massacre in Houla, Syria, was perpetrated by Sunni rebel forces. ... In a new piece (in German) the reporter, Rainer Hermann, extends on the first one and explains why his reporting is correct and why other reporting was terribly wrong. What follows is my translation of the FAZ piece."
6/15/12 Pentagon finishes contingency plans for Syria invasion, RT. "After months of rumors suggesting that the US has unofficially made efforts to weaponize rebel forces fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, officials with the Defense Department tell CNN that the Pentagon has finished drafting blueprints that lay-out just how the US military could aid in ousting the leader with America's own troops. In their report, CNN cites Defense Department officials speaking on condition of anonymity; in a separate sit-down however, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey confirms to the outlet that intensifying violence overseas in recent months has prompted the Pentagon to expedite establishing a role for US forces."
6/11/12 Report: Obama Prepares Air Strikes On Syria, by Paul Joseph Watson, Infowars. "The same 'humanitarian' bloodbath inflicted on Libya, which went from the most prosperous country in Africa to a sectarian nightmare ruled by brigades of armed thugs, now awaits Syria unless the likes of China and Russia back up their rhetoric with any real action, a scenario that is becoming increasingly unlikely with each passing day."
6/11/12 URGENT - CIRCULATE WIDELY NATO preparing vast disinformation campaign, by Thierry Miessan, Voltairenet. "In a few days, perhaps as early as Friday, June 15, at noon, the Syrians wanting to watch their national TV stations will see them replaced on their screens by TV programs created by the CIA. Studio-shot images will show massacres that are blamed on the Syrian Government, people demonstrating, ministers and generals resigning from their posts, President Al-Assad fleeing, the rebels gathering in the big city centers, and a new government installing itself in the presidential palace. ... The operation had been in the making for several months, but the U.S. National Security Council decided to accelerate the action after the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, notified the White House that he would oppose by all means, even by force, any illegal NATO military intervention in Syria."
6/10/12 Chemical warfare feared raising its head in the Syrian civil war, DEBKAfile. "Tehran pumped out a report Early Sunday June 10 [see below] accusing Syrian rebels of arming themselves with chemical weapons originating in Libya and acquiring training in their use from an unknown source in their use. ... Three days earlier, on June 7, Syrian rebel sources charged that the Syrian air force planes had dropped poisonous substances over Deraa, Hama and Idlib which knocked people unconscious. This later proved unfounded. ... Western military sources watching Syria's flashpoint areas warn that the fact that both sides of the conflict are now talking openly about chemical warfare attests to their seriously getting ready for this deadly escalation – and the ultimate game-changer. If they indeed go through with it, say sources [in] Washington, European capitals, Riyadh and Jerusalem, US President Barack Obama cannot possibly stick to his refusal to take military steps in Syria and will have to step in with limited force to stop the escalating horror."
6/9/12 Report: Terrorist Groups in Syria Armed with Chemical Weapons, Fars News Agency. "Terrorist groups in Syria are now armed with chemical weapons, media reports disclosed on Saturday, adding that these groups receive the needed trainings on how to use such lethal weapons in Turkey. According to a report by Syrian DamPress, these chemical weapons have been transferred to Syria from Libya. The news agency pointed to the growing number of media reports on the use of chemical weapons in Syria, and warned, 'Any report released or to be released on the Syrian Army's alleged use of the chemical weapons is meant to pave the ground for the terrorists to use these weapons against the people and accuse the Syrian army and government of that crime.' ... The US daily, Washington Post, reported that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups battling the President Bashar al-Assad's government have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States."
6/9/12 Report: Rebels Responsible for Houla Massacre, by John Rosenthal, National Review. "Already at the beginning of April, Mother Agnès-Mariam de la Croix of the St. James Monastery warned of rebel atrocities' being repackaged in both Arab and Western media accounts as regime atrocities. She cited the case of a massacre in the Khalidiya neighborhood in Homs. According to an account published in French on the monastery's website, rebels gathered Christian and Alawi hostages in a building in Khalidiya and blew up the building with dynamite. They then attributed the crime to the regular Syrian army."
6/8/12 Syrian rebels tried to get me killed, says Channel 4 correspondent, by Ben Dowell, The Guardian (UK). "The chief correspondent of Channel 4 News has claimed that Syrian rebels deliberately tried to get him and his crew killed by gunfire from government forces in a bid to discredit the regime of Bashar al-Assad."
6/8/12 More Syrian Blood on Obama's Hands, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "Morning headlines again falsely accused Assad of mass killings in Qubeir village in central Hama province. Houla-style slaughter was repeated. Reports said as many as 78 civilians were killed. Half were women and children. Around 35 members of one family were murdered in cold blood. Victims were shot at close range and/or stabbed. Some bodies were burned. Independent reports haven't explained what eventually will come out. Pro-Assad loyalists were targeted for assassination. At issue also is creating pretexts for Libyan-style intervention. ... Imagine what's coming if not stopped. America's rage to kill and destroy is insatiable. War on Syria approaches, then Iran, then new targeted states."
6/7/12 CNN Poll: Majority of Americans oppose US intervention in Syria, by Paul Steinhauser and CNN Political Unit, CNN Politics. "According to a CNN/ORC International poll released Wednesday, six in ten continue to oppose any American intervention to halt the fighting between government and anti-government forces in Syria. 'That pattern matches the public's response to similar situations in the past,' says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. 'In March of 2011, only 27% said the U.S. had any responsibility to intervene in Libya, even though the bad guy – Moammar Gadhafi – was fairly well known to Americans and many prominent politicians were calling for some kind of response, mostly in the form of a no-fly zone.'"
6/3/12 Russian Journalist Exposes Propaganda Lies about Houla Massacre, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "On June 1, Global Research published Russian journalist Marat Musin's firsthand observations of what really happened at Houla. [THE HOULA MASSACRE: Opposition Terrorists "Killed Families Loyal to the Government" Detailed Investigation]... Musin's article is powerful reading. Circulating it widely is important. Only public rage can stop wars. Nothing else works. Knowing the truth and spreading it has impact. Imperial America and war profiteers fear that most."
5/28/12 Anti-Syrian Propaganda Promotes War, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "Washington has longstanding designs on Iran and Syria. Regime change is planned by any means. War threatens both countries. Obama, the peace candidate, can't wait to start another one. He's already guilty of war crimes multiples times over."
5/27/12 Houla, Syria Stunt Proves: Old Tricks are the Best Tricks, by Tony Cartalucci, Land Destroyer Report. "As information trickles out of Houla, Syria, near the city of Homs and the Lebanese-Syrian border, it is becoming clear that the Syrian government was not responsible for shelling to deaths some 32 children and their parents, as periodically claimed and denied by Western media and even the UN itself. It appears that instead, it was death squads at close quarters – accused by anti-government 'activists' as being 'pro-regime thugs' or 'militias,' and by the Syrian government as the work of Al Qaeda terrorists linked to foreign meddlers.
As the killings were allegedly taking place, US, British, and French representatives were already preparing to accuse, condemn, and level punishment against the Syrian government, calling for an immediate UN Security Council session as well as the convening of the 'Friends of Syria' cadre to seek expanded arms shipments and aid to militants. It was politically motivated haste, an opportunity engineered or otherwise, for the West to push forward with its long sought after regime change. NATO during the same period, had just slaughtered a family of 8, including 6 children in Afghanistan, so surely if humanitarian concerns and justice were driving these foreign interests, Afghanistan would have been brought up along with Houla. It unfortunately was not."
3/7/12 Stratfor Emails: Covert Special Ops Inside Syria Since December - A private conversation with Pentagon officials suggested US and allied troops were on the ground in Syria, by John Glaser, Antiwar.com. "According to the Stratfor analyst, after rejecting the prospect of 'an eventual air campaign,' the officials at the Pentagon told him 'the idea "hypothetically" is to commit guerrilla attacks, assassination campaigns, try to break the back of the Alawite forces, elicit collapse from within.' ... The date of the email coincides roughly with the first public reports of secret contingency planning in December."
1/13/12 Why is President Obama sending 12,000 U.S. troops to Libya?, by Cynthia McKinney, Information Clearing House. "A resistance Libyan doctor-become-journalist reported yesterday that all of the petroleum platforms are occupied by NATO and that warships occupy Libya's ports. Photographs show Italian encampments in the desert with an announcement that the French are to follow. Another news outlet reports that Qataris and Emiratees are the engineers now at the oil plants, turning away desperate Libyan workers. While long lines exist for Libyan drivers to get their gas, foreign troops ensure the black gold's export. Libyans lack enough food and the basics, the country has been turned upside down, and contaminated with uranium while the true number of dead and unaccounted for remains high and unknown."

4. JUSTICE
WAR CRIMES: NO STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

Center for Constitutional Rights:
SUPPORT BUSH TORTURE INDICTMENT & HELP ENSURE ACCOUNTABILITY

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? War Criminals Scheduled Appearances

WANTED: WAR CRIMINALS Arrest Warrants Requested for Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Tenet, Rice and Gonzales at the International Criminal Court

Francis A. Boyle, Professor of International Law at the University of Illinois College of Law in Champaign, has filed a Complaint with the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (I.C.C.) in The Hague against U.S. citizens George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, Condoleezza Rice, and Alberto Gonzales (the "Accused") for their criminal policy and practice of "extraordinary rendition" perpetrated upon about 100 human beings...[which] constitute Crimes against Humanity in violation of the Rome Statute establishing the I.C.C. [more]. [Full text of Complaint]
1/25/10 BushToTheHague.org: Complaint received and docketed
Pursuant to the Rome Statute, the Prosecutor can initiate an investigation on the basis of a referral from any State Party or from the United Nations Security Council. In addition, the Prosecutor can initiate investigations proprio motu on the basis of information on crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court received from individuals or organisations ("communications").
Call for action Contact the Hague to insist they proceed with a criminal investigation:
The Honorable Luis Moreno-Ocampo / Office of the Prosecutor / International Criminal Court / Post Office Box 19519 / 2500 CM, The Hague / The Netherlands
Tel 31-70-515-8515 Fax 31-70-515-8555 Email here

RELATED ARTICLES - JUSTICE

5/1/13 Guantanamo Attorney Found Dead in Apparent Suicide, by Jason Leopold, Truthout. "Andy P. Hart, 38, a federal public defender in Toledo, Ohio, apparently died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Hart [reportedly] left behind a suicide note and a thumb drive, believed to contain his case files. It is unknown where Hart died, what the suicide note said or whether an autopsy was performed. ... Hart was one of three-dozen Guantanamo attorneys who signed a letter in March urging Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to take immediate action and bring about an end to the hunger strike. ... An 11-year-old daughter survives Hart."
5/1/13 President Obama's Law Day Proclamation Rings Hollow So Long as Torturers Go Unpunished, by Stephen F. Rohde, Truthout. "Instead of issuing hollow Proclamations extolling the ideals of American law, President Obama should heed the recommendations of the Constitution Project. If he truly believes that all people have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, to Due Process and to upholding our proud legal tradition by using our courts to align our Nation with its first principles, he needs to immediately instruct his Justice Department to use the Report on torture, and the comprehensive evidence on which it is based, to investigate and prosecute any government official who broke the law."
4/29/13 Dave Zirin, Writer, Suggests George W. Bush Should Be Tried For War Crimes (VIDEO), by Meredith Bennett-Smith, The Huffington Post. "Zirin, the sports editor for left-leaning features magazine The Nation, said he doesn't understand why Bush hasn't been tried for war crimes relating to the death of former professional football player and Army Ranger Pat Tillman. ... 'Every time I hear about George W. Bush and staying the course and his principles, I keeping wondering why he's not on trial for war crimes for lying to the family of Pat Tillman, for lying to the families of the people who are crippled at Walter Reed, for the families that have died in the Middle East,' the columnist continued."
4/24/13 Violations of laws of war are war crimes, by Jeff Bachman, professor, School of International Service, American University, The Hill. "On April 11, 2013, ten human rights and civil rights organizations wrote to President Obama about their mutual concerns regarding his drones program and targeting killing operations. In the letter, these organizations repeatedly questioned whether the President was complying with the laws of war. ... Not included in the letter sent to President Obama are the accusations that he has utilized 'double-taps', a horrendous practice...of setting off an initial explosive, which is then soon followed by a second explosion aimed at maiming and killing first responders. ... According to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, there were more than a dozen such attacks between 2009 and 2011, resulting in the deaths of at least fifty civilians. ... Perhaps, it's time we ask, 'How many violations of the laws of war does it take to make someone a war criminal?'"
4/24/13 Malik Zulu Shabazz: Obama is a 'criminal'; prez, Clinton guilty of 'war crimes', by Robert "Rob" Redding Jr., Redding News Review. "New Black Panther Party leader Malik Zulu Shabazz today said President Obama is guilty of 'criminal intent' in his handling of Libya and said Obama and former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton should be charged with 'war crimes.' Shabazz's comments came on Redding News Review's radio program, as GOP leaders today blamed Clinton's State Department for the death of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three others."
4/23/13 Bush's Legacy Ought to Be on Trial but Instead It's Put on Display, by Jodie Evans, The Huffington Post. "George W. Bush presided over an international network of torture chambers and, with the help of a compliant Congress and press, launched a war of aggression that killed hundreds of thousands of men, women and children. However, instead of the bloody details of his time in office being recounted at a war crimes tribunal, the former president has been able to bank on his imperial privilege -- and a network of rich corporate donors that he made richer while in office -- to tell his version of history at a library in Texas being opened in his name.Kill a few, they call you a murderer. Kill tens of thousands, they give you $500 million for a granite vanity project and a glossy 30-page supplement in the local paper. ... Bush's legacy is reflected not in his library, but in the regular bombings that rock Baghdad, killing dozens at a time. The Connecticut blue blood turned straight talkin' Texan is of course welcome to tell his side of the story. That's only fair. But let him do it at the Hague."
4/17/13 Clinton, Bush and Obama: US War Crimes over Three Administrations, by Ed Hightower, Global Research. "On Tuesday, the Constitution Project, a Washington, DC think tank, released a 600-page report by its 'Task Force on Detainee Treatment' documenting decades of war crimes committed by US imperialism and its military and intelligence agencies. ... The report declares that the US government 'indisputably' engaged in torture, which was approved by 'the nation's highest officials.' Specifically, the Task Force rejects the notion that stress positions, sleep deprivation, exposure to continuous loud music, water boarding and other 'enhanced interrogation tactics' do not amount of torture under US and international law."
4/11/13 Howard jeered as he repeats lies on Iraq war, by Pip Hinman, The Green Left (Australia). "About 80 protesters made their voices heard from outside Sydney's Intercontinental hotel as the former Australian Prime Minister John Howard gave his 'no regrets' on Iraq speech, hosted by conservative think-tank the Lowy Institute on April 9. ... In his speech to the Lowy Institute, Howard repeated this lie, arguing that it was legitimate for the West to attack because: 'Americans thought their country would be attacked by terrorists again, and soon.' He made no mention of the United Nations weapons' inspector Hans Blix who had repeatedly said his team had found no weapons of mass destruction, and that Iraq was cooperating with UN Security Council Resolution 1441."
4/10/13 UMass Amherst Protestors Called Karl Rove a 'Terrorist', by Eric Randall, Boston Magazine. "[P]rotestors shouted 'murderer' and 'terrorist' at him throughout his speech to the UMass and Smith College Republicans Monday evening. ... The protests centered around Rove's role in the Bush Administration as it launched the Iraq War. The Springfield Republican reports that Rove lost his cool at one point as he addressed the hecklers: 'If you object to that, I want you to show up the next time Hillary Clinton comes here and tell her you disagree with her vote,' Rove yelled back as he completely lost his temper on stage. 'It's either that or you're saying those people were hoodwinked and that's an insult to those people including Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, and others.' Ugh, it's so like a political operative to take a criticism of alleged war crimes and change the conversation to which party should be held to account. ... The Republican notes that 'Rove dropped his typical $25,000 speaking fee to $15,000 so the students could afford to book him.'"
4/9/13 Try Howard as a war criminal, by Sydney Stop the War Coalition, The Green Left (Australia). "[Former Australian Prime Minister John] Howard and his allies George Bush and Tony Blair are war criminals. They should be called to the World Court in The Hague on charges of war crimes. Howard, like Bush and Blair, is steadfastly unwilling to express any concern, let alone any apology, for the devastation of Iraq. Like them, he continues to assert that the West had the right to invade a sovereign country on the pretext that the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. When it became obvious that this was a lie, Howard, Bush and Blair continued to justify the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocents, the displacement of millions, the destruction of the country's infrastructure and economy by saying the removal of Saddam Hussein was worth the price. These criminals and their supporters in Australia, notably former foreign affairs MP Alexander Downer and current foreign affairs MP Bob Carr, assert that the war was worth it because now Iraqis have democracy. Most Iraqis disagree."
4/8/13 Phil Donahue: Bush used other people's kids to prove he's tough, by Eric W. Dolan, The Raw Story. "Phil Donahue, who was fired from MSNBC for speaking out against the Iraq war, explained Monday night that making a documentary about a young paralyzed veteran was akin to a 'spiritual experience.' His 2007 documentary 'Body of War' told the story of veteran Tomas Young, who joined the Army following the September 11 terrorist attacks. Young ended up being sent to Iraq, were he suffered a gunshot wound that left him paralyzed from the chest down. ... Donahue had some particularly harsh words for former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney, who both pushed for the Iraq war. 'These are the guys who can't wait to prove their tough and use other people's kids to make the case,' he remarked. 'The more you examine this, the more you are just outraged by the hypocrisy, the rah-rah of the media.'"
4/6/13 Italy Pardons US Air Force Officer in CIA Case, by Frances D'Emilio, Military.com. "Italy's president on Friday pardoned a U.S. Air Force colonel convicted in absentia by Italian courts in the CIA-conducted abduction of an Egyptian terror suspect from a Milan street in a move he hoped would keep American-Italian relations strong, especially on security matters. President Giorgio Napolitano's office said the head of state granted the pardon 'in hopes of giving a solution to a situation to an affair considered by the United States to be without precedent because of the aspect of convicting a U.S. military officer of NATO for deeds committed on Italian soil.' ... Twenty-three Americans were convicted, all in absentia, and Italy's highest criminal court last year upheld the convictions. ... Obama and Napolitano have enjoyed a strong personal relationship. ... Although concern for the continuation of the long and traditionally strong Italian-U.S. ties weighed on Napolitano's decision, the timing might boost Rome's position in a current dispute with India."
4/5/13 U.N. rights chief calls for closure of Guantanamo prison, by Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters. "'We must be clear about this: the United States is in clear breach not just of its own commitments but also of international laws and standards that it is obliged to uphold," the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement. U.S. President Barack Obama pledged four years ago to close the controversial facility, opened by the Bush administration in January 2002 to hold men captured in counter-terrorism operations after the deadly September 11 attacks on America. ... About half of the current 166 detainees have been cleared for transfer either to home countries or third countries for resettlement, [Navi] Pillay said. 'As a first step, those who have been cleared for release must be released,' she said."
4/5/13 John Yoo Uses the Pretense of Diversity to Defend the Torture Program, by Adalia Woodbury, Politicus. "John Yoo's pretense of defending diversity is really about defending the torture program that stained our soul while creating more danger. Among other things, the torture program that conservatives applaud was an effective recruiting tool for terrorists. By resorting to the war crime of torture, the Bush Cheney administration increased the probability that any of our troops who became POW's would be subjected to torture."
3/29/13 Arab writer demands Bush, Cheney executions, by Bob Unruh, World Net Daily. "A columnist for a leading pan-Arab newspaper is calling for the executions of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and John Bolton for the U.S. military action against radical Muslims in Iraq. ... 'The administration of George W. Bush committed a war crime, but none of those involved in fabricating evidence to justify the war that they planned and implemented have been held accountable,' [Jihad Al-Khazen, a columnist for Al-Hayat], wrote. 'This is despite the fact that their war has led to the death of one million Arabs and Muslims, along with 5,000 of America's prime in Iraq alone.' He said justice requires 'that these individuals be put on trial, and the only fair punishment is for all of them to be executed, including George W. Bush, former vice president Dick Cheney, former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and officials such as Elliott Abrams, Douglas Feith, and John Bolton. The instigators too deserve [to stand] trial, for having supported Israel at the expense of U.S. interests and all other interests. These include William Kristol, Richard Perle, Michael Ledeen, Frank Gaffney, Reuel Marc Gerecht, Charles Krauthammer, and Alan Dershowitz.'"
3/24/13 The Big Interview: Tony Greenstein, by Bill Gardner, The Argus (UK). "THE ARGUS (TA): You were a prominent critic of the invasion of Iraq, which took place ten years ago this month. Do you think Tony Blair and George Bush should face a criminal trial? TONY GREENSTEIN (TG): I think they should be hanged for war crimes. I have been a lifelong opponent of the death penalty but I would make an exception for those two, who inflicted death on hundreds of thousands of people."
3/23/13 Why Bush, Blair should be charged with war crimes over Iraq invasion, by Michael Mansfield, CNN International. "The whole episode regarding the Iraq War is a tawdry tale that has subverted the rule of law and tarnished the reputation of international law. Without accountability for Western states, how can we expect the rest of world to respect these principles? It is time for Bush and Blair to be thoroughly, independently and judicially investigated for the crimes I suggest have been committed and it is time for the crime of aggression to come into force."
3/21/13 War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in Iraq - Who Pays the Price for Impunity?, by Ajamu Baraka, Counterpunch. "Ten years later, the awesome consequences of that criminal assault are clear. More than a trillion dollars spent, almost five thousand American lives lost, more than 32,000 Americans wounded, estimates of a million dead Iraqis and almost five million displaced, an epidemic of Iraqi birth defects from 'depleted' uranium, daily bombings, devastated public services and the dismemberment of the country. Yet, ten years later, no one, not one government official, has been held accountable. The obvious question is: how is it that, in light of one of the most heinous crimes ever committed by a State, there have been no investigations, prosecutions or convictions of the officials responsible for this assault?"
3/20/13 NEW! Statutes of Limitations Are Expiring on Some Bush Crimes, by Elizabeth Holtzman, The Nation. "Statutes of limitations applicable to possible crimes committed by former President George W. Bush and his top aides, with respect to wiretapping of Americans without court approval and to fraud in launching and continuing the Iraq War, may expire in early 2014, less than a year from now. ... Nothing would encourage future criminality by presidents more than a belief that they are above the law. That is why it is incumbent upon the attorney general to appoint a well-regarded, independent prosecutor promptly, so that appropriate investigations can be completed in the time remaining."
3/20/13 NEW! U.S. Troops Killed Kids, by Ralph Forbes, American Free Press. "[Army Private Bradley] Manning tried to leak these reports first to the most major U.S. media—including The Washington Post, and The New York Times—who decided to cover up the crimes. Only as a last resort did Manning leak copies of the evidence to WikiLeaks. But instead of a medal for bringing these crimes to light, Manning faces execution or possible life in prison. And under the pretext of 'aiding the enemy,' the Bush and Obama administrations have kept Manning in harsh military detention, including many months in solitary confinement."
3/20/13 NEW! Michael Moore: Why aren't Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld in jail?, by Cheryl K. Chumley, The Washington Times. "Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore told CNN's Piers Morgan that former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was a war criminal and that several in the Bush administration ought to be in jail. ... 'The fact that no one has paid for this criminal act — why would an American such as George W. Bush send thousands of Americans off to their deaths? For what reason? And why doesn't he have to answer for that?' Mr. Moore said."
3/11/13 The NYT [New York Times] and Obama officials collaborate to prosecute Awlaki after he's executed, by Glenn Greenwald, The Guardian (UK). "As the NYT notes, when the ACLU sued on behalf of Awlaki's father seeking to enjoin Obama from killing his son, the Obama DOJ invoked the 'state secrets' privilege, insisting that the evidence against Awlaki was so secret that national security would be jeopardized if disclosed to the court: the very same alleged evidence that Obama officials are now spilling to the NYT. They also deliberately refused to indict him, which would have at least required showing some evidence to a court to justify the accusations against him and would have enabled him to turn himself in and defend himself if inclined to do so. All of this highlights why it's so odious to prosecute and convict people in a newspaper after you execute them, rather than in a court of law before you end their life."
3/11/13 John Brennan's Heavy Baggage, by Ray McGovern, Consortium News. "John Brennan brings heavy baggage to his new job as CIA Director — legal as well as moral — arguably making it risky for him to travel to more than 150 countries that are party to the United Nations Convention Against Torture. It must be hard for Brennan to recognize that he cannot land in Europe, for example, without fear of being arrested and arraigned for kidnapping (also known as 'extraordinary rendition') and torture (now antiseptically called 'EIT' for 'enhanced interrogation techniques,' which, by the way, is a direct translation of verschaerfte Vernehmungright out of the Gestapo handbook)."
3/9/13 Iraq War Crimes: Neocons Escape Accountability, by Paul R. Pillar, Centre for Research on Globalization. "One regularly hears much talk in Washington about accountability, but also regularly sees examples of how the concept of accountability gets applied in this town in an inconsistent and warped way. ... The most obvious example of lack of this type of accountability is that neocons — the people who gave us the Iraq War — still get listened to. Not only that, but they still get listened to on matters eerily reminiscent of getting us into the Iraq War. ... Another type of accountability-shedding, which one sees especially on Capitol Hill but also elsewhere, is that someone who supported what turned out to be a failure disclaims responsibility on grounds of having been misinformed."
3/7/13 Reconciliation in Iraq is impossible without US truth about its dirty war - America's claim to have helped Iraq to democracy is hollow until the US makes Bush era officials accountable for torture, by Ben Emmerson, The Guardian (UK). "On Tuesday this week, I presented a report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva calling on the US and other states, including the UK, to secure accountability for the crimes committed by the Bush-era CIA and its allies in pursuit of the counterproductive campaign of rendition, secret detention and torture. To the list of international crimes committed by that administration must now be added the evidence uncovered by the Guardian and the BBC [of direct Pentagon involvement in the systematic torture of Sunni insurgents in Iraq]."
3/6/13 Obama's Partner in War Crimes - The Confirmation of John Brennan, by Norman Pollack, Counterpunch. "Brennan's presence in government actually and symbolically drives a spike through the heart of US claims to being a democratic society. ... CIA operatives can now enjoy the fun of their JSOC partners, proving their manhood over what is left of the bodies of children, now blood spats. And we have Obama to thank for providing cover for atrocities by his staunch defense of SECRECY, so that US global military expansion can proceed unhampered. ... As with so much else, the American people sleep the sleep of innocence, purposefully unaware of war crimes abroad, serious deprivations—affecting many of them—at home. Blissful, a Norman Rockwell world of Dick and Jane. Jump, Fido, jump, citizen, roll over, play nice...as our political-economic-military elite smile down from above."
3/4/13 U.N. rights advocate seeks release of findings on CIA detention, by Colum Lynch, The Washington Post. "In a report to be presented to the Human Rights Council, Ben Emmerson, the U.N. special rapporteur on the promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, will ask the Obama administration to turn over the findings of an investigation by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, chaired by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), into the alleged torture of detainees in the war on terrorism. ... Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has ruled out any criminal prosecutions of American interrogators as long as they were operating within the bounds of legal advice outlined by the Bush administration's Office of Legal Counsel. 'In the view of the special rapporteur,' Emmerson wrote, 'this comes close to an assertion of the "superiors orders" defense, despite its prohibition under customary law and international treaties.'"
2/22/13 CIA Terror War Torture And Rendition Program: An Italian Spy Is Sentenced To Jail - Can Tenet, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Ashcroft Be Next?, by Jacey Fortin, International Business Times. "Nicolo Pollari, former chief of the Italian military intelligence agency SISMI...was sentenced this month for his cooperation in the 2003 abduction and rendition of Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, a Muslim cleric and then-resident of Milan. ... An additional 23 Americans, including former CIA Milan station chief Robert Lady, were convicted by the Italian court in absentia in 2009. ... But in the United States, the administration has rendered federal courts toothless in matters related to the war on terror. ... 'I think the chances are not bad that one or more of the 23 will end up being extradited to Italy,' [Mary Ellen O'Connell, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame] said, explaining that one of the former operatives could make the mistake of traveling to a country that has no problem complying with Italy's extradition request. "
2/20/13 Newly-Released Memo by Donald Rumsfeld Proves Iraq War Started On False Pretenses, WashingtonsBlog. "Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, President Bush and VP Cheney all falsely linked Iraq with 9/11...and the entire torture program was aimed at establishing such a false linkage. A new book by NBC News and Newsweek investigative reporter Michael Isikoff adds details, including a memo written by Rumsfeld in November 2001 – a year and a quarter before the start of the Iraq war – asking how to start a war against Iraq, and suggesting as one potential 'justification' for war...."
2/20/13 Iraq and the Betrayal of a People – Impunity Forever?, by Hans Christof von Sponeck, The Brussels Trbunal. "2013 must become the year during which these perpetrators will see an end to their impunity, especially those who were instrumental in creating decades of Iraqi suffering. Due process must be for everyone, Iraqi and non-Iraqi; facing justice, however, is not just for those who lost! The international public, as the 'power from below', will intensify its efforts during this tenth year after an illegal invasion into Iraq, to reassure the Iraqi people that they are not alone in their search for redress."
2/19/13 How to prosecute a president, by Christiane Amanpour, CNN Blog. "For the past 20 years, the world has been steadily working towards holding even the very highest officials accountable. ... So from Liberia to Libya, the long arm of international justice has reached out to meet people's demands to hold their leaders and their warlord's accountability for the most heinous of crimes." See Comments: "I thought this was going to be about Arresting George Bush for war crimes." etc.
2/18/13 George Bush, Tony Blair and the century's greatest crime, By Linda S. Heard, Gulf News. "Where's the public anger? American newspapers are running stories about the death of Bush's pooch Barney and his penchant for painting while a tanned Blair has been busy accepting a Polish Business Leaders' Award and pontificating on David Cameron's plan to hold a referendum on Britain's continued EU membership. The deadly duo should be sharing a cell in The Hague awaiting trial for war crimes, but as we see time and time again, victors' justice translates to no justice at all."
2/18/13 Beating the ICC [International Criminal Court], By Brett D. Schaefer, National Review. "The consistency of U.S. policy toward the ICC, based on decidedly conservative views, is rather remarkable considering the Democratic majorities in Congress in recent years and the election of President Barack Obama. ... No wonder conservatives are not paying the ICC much mind. U.S. policy is already largely where they want it to be, and the Obama administration, thankfully, appears uninterested in changing it. ... [T]he court has not proven terribly effective. It has completed only two trials since its creation in 2002, one of which resulted in acquittal. ... [T]he ICC has avoided cases that could raise the ire of the U.S. and other major powers.... If the ICC were to launch formal investigations into Israeli actions in the Palestinian territories or into alleged crimes by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, I daresay Washington would again ring with 'fiery broadsides and political threats' — and not just from conservatives."
2/13/13 U.S. Rendition Program: First Steps Toward Accountability, By Jonathan Hafetz, World Politcs Review. "The Open Society Justice Initiative report [Download PDF: GLOBALIZING TORTURE: CIA SECRET DETENTION AND EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION] may thus be best understood as a small but important step in a larger quest for justice for past human rights crimes. By demonstrating the scope of foreign complicity in extraordinary rendition, it highlights the need to continue seeking alternative avenues for accountability in what amounts to a globalized outsourcing of torture, an effort the United States may have led, but in which it did not act alone."
2/12/13 Italian Court Sentences Former Military Officials in Cleric's Abduction, by Gaia Pianigini, The New York Times. "Italy's former military intelligence chief was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Tuesday for complicity in the C.I.A.'s abduction of an Egyptian Muslim cleric under a program begun after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. ... Twenty-three Americans, including Robert Seldon Lady, a former C.I.A. base chief in Milan, were tried in absentia in the Abu Omar case in 2009 and convicted. All but one of them were C.I.A. agents. Three other Americans indicted in the case, including Jeffrey Castelli, the former C.I.A. station chief in Rome, were given diplomatic immunity and acquitted in 2009, but earlier this month, the Milan court vacated the acquittals and convicted them in absentia. Mr. Castelli was sentenced to seven years in prison and the other two to six years. ... Mr. Nasr was kidnapped under the practice of 'extraordinary rendition,' in which people suspected of being Islamic militants were abducted in one country and then transferred to another, often one where torture was common. "
2/5/13 Fifty-four Nations Are Implicated in a CIA Torture Scheme , by David Cole, The Nation. "Some nations, such as Poland and Thailand, allowed the CIA to establish secret prisons, or 'black sites,' on their territory. Some, like Syria, Jordan, Pakistan and Egypt, tortured suspects the CIA rendered to them. Some, like Macedonia, Georgia and Sweden, delivered suspects to the CIA, essentially handing them over to be tortured. Some, like Canada and Britain, provided intelligence that the CIA then used to capture, render or interrogate suspects. Some, like Germany and Britain, participated in the interrogations themselves. Many, including Belgium, Iceland, Greece and Denmark, allowed rendition flights to use their airports and airspace. And nearly all have failed to conduct serious investigations of their complicity in the US turn to the dark side. ... The only fitting response to the globalization of torture is the globalization of accountability."
2/5/13 Colin Powell: Conned or Con Man?, by Ray McGovern, truthout. "But the question remains: Was Powell a full-fledged participant in the fraud or was he duped by CIA officials who were taking direction from Vice President Dick Cheney and other war hawks? It seems to me likely that Tenet and McLaughlin (and in a larger sense Bush and Cheney) exploited Powell's long-held tendency toward careerism (or as his acolytes put it, 'being a good soldier') to easily overcome Powell's misgivings. ... [Col. Lawrence] Wilkerson's account underscores how the Bush administration's reliance on harsh interrogations of al-Qaeda suspects influenced the rush to war with Iraq, while also pointing out how the need to justify the war gave impetus to the use of torture for extracting information. ... I personally know Colin Powell and consider him more a tragic – than a venal – figure."
2/1/13 NEW! Ex-CIA Rome chief gets jail term in "rendition" trial, by Manuela D'Alessandro, Reuters, Yahoo News. "An Italian appeals court on Friday sentenced a former CIA station chief to seven years in jail for the kidnap of an Egyptian Muslim cleric during the U.S. government's 'war on terror' waged by former president George W. Bush. The Milan court also handed down two six-year sentences to two American officials for the same crime, the first of so-called 'extraordinary rendition' operations organized by the United States."
1/31/13 NEW! Sept. 11 Hearings End as Judge Summons Ex-Vice Admiral, by David Glovin, Bloomberg News. "The second round of pretrial hearings in the capital case against five men accused of orchestrating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks ended with a judge ordering testimony from an ex-vice admiral into a claim that U.S. lawmakers 'unlawfully influenced' the proceedings. Lawyers for the five men, including accused mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, have asked the military judge, Army Colonel James Pohl, to dismiss the case because public comments by top officials including Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama have made it impossible for the men to get a fair trial. ... 'There be no greater prejudicial and inflammatory impact in any case than the extraordinary facts presented here -- the president of the United States and other leadership, over a period of years, all across the United States, and in the full view and hearing of the global media, calling these co-accused names such as "terrorists," "killers," "extremists," "radicals," and the "enemy," announcing they are guilty of the crimes charged, announcing they have confessed to the crimes charged, and repeatedly stating they will be brought to trial in the forum most likely to exact swift justice,' the defense lawyers wrote."
1/28/13 Who's silencing Guantanamo court audio feed, judge asks, by Jane Sutton, Reuters, Chicago Tribune. "The sound was abruptly cut in the Guantanamo war crimes court on Monday, prompting the angry judge to question whether someone outside the room was censoring pretrial hearings for five men accused of plotting the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001. ... He seemed to be addressing the prosecution team and told them that Nevin had merely referred to the caption of an unclassified document - one asking the judge to order that the secret CIA prisons where the defendants say they were tortured be preserved as evidence. ... It was unclear whether [Judge] Pohl had authority to order the preservation of the CIA prisons, if they still exist. The government has kept secret their location, arguing that disclosure could threaten U.S. national security and put allies at risk. Polish prosecutors are investigating allegations that one of the sites was in Poland, and there is evidence that the CIA set up others in Romania, Lithuania and Thailand, according to reports by the Council of Europe and the United Nations."
1/26/13 Who Decides the Laws of War?, by Charlie Savage, The New York Times. "A Rhodes Scholar who graduated first in his class at West Point and earned a Harvard law degree alongside a young Barack Obama, General [Brig. Gen. Mark S.] Martins...refused to sign the Justice Department brief in the propagandist case and announced he would seek to drop conspiracy from the list of charges in the Sept. 11 case [against Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other Guantánamo Bay detainees accused of aiding the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001] and focus on 'legally sustainable' ones, like the classic war crime: attacking civilians. But the Pentagon official who oversees tribunals refused to withdraw the conspiracy charge, citing the Justice Department. General Martins responded that his prosecutors would not argue against a defense motion asking a judge to scuttle it."
1/25/13 Washington Showing Support for International Court , by Blake Evans-Pritchard, Ground Report. "US concerns centre on the ICC's criteria for intervening in a country, which are that the state in question is deemed to be 'unwilling or unable' to prosecute crimes itself. While it seems unlikely this would apply to the US, those opposed to ICC membership warn of a scenario where the ICC accused US troops of committing crimes in, say, Afghanistan. If a tribunal in the US investigated such a case, it might well look at different factors to those deemed significant by ICC judges. The different approaches could lead to the US being found 'unwilling to prosecute'."
1/24/13 UN will probe US terror drone attacks, Press TV (Iran). "The UN special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, Ben Emmerson, is responsible for the inquiry, which will look into the extent of civilian casualties caused by the airstrikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. In October 2012, Emmerson called for effective investigations into the drone attacks, describing them as 'war crimes.' 'If the relevant states are not willing to establish effective independent monitoring mechanisms...then it may in the last resort be necessary for the UN to act,' Emmerson said at the time. ... Washington claims that it is targeting terrorists, but the drone attacks have mostly led to massive civilian deaths. The US assassination drone strikes were initiated under former US President George W. Bush, but have escalated under President Barack Obama."
1/24/13 President Obama's record on torture, by Jeff Bachman, professor of human rights, American University, The Hill. "When President Obama entered into the office of the presidency, he became obligated as the head of state to detain Bush and Cheney for their alleged crimes but chose not to. Is it possible that President Obama chose 'to look forward as opposed to looking backwards' out of fear that he might break a few laws (see above and add drones program) during his presidency?"
1/23/13 Are banks too big to jail?, by David Sirota, Salon. "[A]fter watching [PBS Frontline's stunning report last night on why the Obama administration has refused to prosecute any Wall Streeter involved in the financial meltdown], you will understand that the word 'justice' belongs in quotes thanks to an Obama administration that has made a mockery of the name of a once hallowed executive department. ... In the single most damning part of the PBS report, we learn that [Lanny] Breuer, fresh off a lucrative stint defending Moody's and Halliburton, was appointed by President Obama to head the Justice Department's criminal enforcement division and was soon sculpting this unprecedented ideology and embedding it into the department's mission. ... UPDATE: A mere hours after the PBS Frontline piece aired, Lanny Breuer just announced he is resigning his post at the Justice Department. Meanwhile, PBS reporter Martin Smith just reported that in response to his report, the Obama White House has decided to block access to Frontline reporters in their future reporting."
1/20/13 Ex-Army Officer Accuses CIA of Obstructing Pre-9/11 Intelligence-Gathering, by Paul Church and Ray Nowosielski, truthout. "Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer joins a growing list of government officials accusing former CIA director George Tenet of misleading federal bodies and sharing some degree of blame for the attacks. Shaffer also adds to a picture emerging of the CIA's Bin Laden unit as having actively prevented other areas of intelligence, law enforcement and defense from properly carrying out their counterterrorism functions in the run-up to September 2001. ... 'George Tenet went to Congress and lied,' Shaffer boldly stated. ... Tom Kean, chairman of the 9/11 commission, also revealed his doubts about Tenet in a 2008 interview with Nowosielski and journalist Rory O'Connor, asserting the commissioners felt Tenet had been 'obviously not forthcoming' in some of his testimony before their 'lawfully constituted body, created by Congress and the President.' Asked whether they believed he had misspoken during statements that later proved false, Kean responded, 'No, I don't think he misspoke. I think he misled.'"
1/16/13 Bush, Obama administration officials must face trial in Afghanistan, PressTV. "Iraq war veteran Michael Prysner tells Press TV that Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, who will be arraigned in court at Joint Base Lewis-McChord outside Seattle on January 17 on charges of murdering 16 Afghan civilians in March 2012, is not the only person who should be tried, but the officials in the Bush and Obama administrations also should face trial not in the US but in Afghanistan and in front of the Afghan people for the crimes they have committed."
1/14/13 Guantanamo Bay Detainees: Most Are Cleared For Release, But Remain in Gitmo, by Karl Lindemann, PolicyMic. "There are currently 166 individuals imprisoned at Guantanamo, and not a single one of these has been afforded the rights of an impartial court. This implies that all detainees are being held at the whim of the executive.... Out of the aforementioned 166, around half were cleared for release in 2009. Because of the lack of judicial oversight, they remain imprisoned. ... To vest complete power in the executive to decide who to detain, who is guilty, and what their punishment should be is a desecration of our most basic principles. Those responsible, those that enable, and those that silently watch ought to be ashamed."
1/13/13 Obama Will Not Launch A War Against Iran: Dave Lindorff, by Kourosh Ziabari, CounterCurrents. "Q: [I]n several articles, you called President Obama and his predecessor 'war criminals' for waging wars and planning for starting new wars. Is it practically possible to hold these war criminals accountable for their actions? Nearly all the international organizations are either run by the U.S. or spearheaded by the U.S. allies. So, how should one administer justice on them?
A: The only hope would be for some country to be brave enough to allow these men to be arrested when they travel abroad, and to risk the wrath of the U.S. government. Clearly a country like Germany, or Japan, or even maybe Brazil, could do this, and stand up to the U.S., but I really don't see it happening. As I said, generally, only the losers in conflicts have their leaders charged and tried for war crimes. Winners get a free pass. Even when low-level people get charged with war crimes on the winning side, as was the case with Lt. Calley in the My Lai massacre, there is no real punishment...."
1/13/13 Finding Excuses to Torture, by Lawrence Davidson, Consortium News. "Along with false admissions of guilt, those under torture will tell their tormenter just about anything, regardless of truth and accuracy. Modern researchers, and even modern practitioners of interrogation, know this to be so. They have come to the same conclusion as [Cesare Beccaria in On Crimes and Punishments' (1764) in which he observed the obvious: 'The impression of pain, then, may increase to such a degree that, occupying the mind entirely, it will compel the sufferer to use the shortest method of freeing himself from torment. ... He will accuse himself of crimes of which he is innocent so that the very means employed to distinguish the innocent from the guilty will most effectually destroy all difference between them.']. ... Does President Bush Jr. and ex-counsel Alberto Gonzales think it is a vital part of America's defense? Do those Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee have such faith in torture that they can dismiss out of hand 6,000 pages of contrary evidence? ... The torturers we are talking about are all past or present powerful government officials and their henchmen. Most of them will die in bed and maybe, someday, have their face put on a postage stamp. Their horrid deeds, already excused, will soon be forgotten."
1/12/13 US Law Prohibits Transferring Guantanamo Prisoners to America, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "The vast majority of Guantanamo detainees weren't accused of hostile acts. Afghan bounty hunters seized around 95% of them. They sold them to US forces for $5,000 per claimed Taliban and $25,000 for alleged Al Qaeda members. Evidence of criminality wasn't sought. Washington wanted prisoners. It still does. Innocence or guilt didn't matter. It still doesn't. ... On January 20, 2009, Obama became America's 44th president. He promised...'promptly to close detention facilities at Guantánamo, consistent with the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice...' He promised 'immediate review of all' detainees within 30 days and 'humane standards of confinement.' He lied. He's a serial liar. He broke every major promise made. He's a moral coward. He's an unindicted war criminal. He belongs in prison, not government."
1/11/13 VIDEO (4:38) Andy Worthington Rips President Obama for Not Closing Guantanamo, by William Hughes. Investigative journalist, filmmaker and author (The Guantánamo Files, 2007), Andy Worthington [at 2:25]: "The most significant fact to me on this day is that 86 men were cleared for release from Guantanamo three years ago...and yet, these men are still held indefinitely by the United States. They will be held indefinitely until they die, like Adnan Latif, unless we can find some way of putting pressure on the administration to do what President Obama promised to do four years ago."
1/10/13 A Conservative Watchdog Is Fighting To See Pictures Of Osama Bin Laden's Dead Body, by Abby Rogers, Business Insider. "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will consider today Judicial Watch's request for the release of 52 pictures that were taken in May 2011 after U.S. forces killed the mastermind behind the 9/11 attack, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. ... Immediately following the raid, President Barack Obama said the White House wouldn't be releasing the pictures in the interest of national security, the Post reported at the time."
1/9/13 Abu Ghraib ex-detainees paid $5M by U.S. firm over abuse, by Associated Press, CBC News (Canada). "L-3 Services 'permitted scores of its employees to participate in torturing and abusing prisoners over an extended period of time throughout Iraq,' the lawsuit stated. The company 'willfully failed to report L-3 employees' repeated assaults and other criminal conduct by its employees to the United States or Iraq authorities.' One inmate alleged he was subjected to mock executions by having a gun aimed at his head and the trigger pulled. Another inmate said he was slammed into a wall until he became unconscious. A third was allegedly stripped naked and threatened with rape while his hands and legs were chained and a hood placed on his head. Another said he was forced to consume so much water that he began to vomit blood. Several of the inmates said they were raped and many of the inmates said they were beaten and kept naked for extended periods of time. ... Courts are still sorting out whether contractors in a war zone should be accorded legal immunity from being sued, just as the government is immune."
1/7/13 Interview: Osama bin Laden Denied Involvement in 9/11, by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, Salem-News.com. "We bring to the attention of our readers the following text of Osama bin Laden's interview with Ummat, a Pakistani daily, published in Karachi on September 28, 2001. It was translated into English by the BBC World Monitoring Service and made public on September 29, 2001. The authenticity of this interview, which is available in recognized electronic news archives, is confirmed. Osama bin Laden categorically denies his involvement in the 9/11 attacks. Bin Laden's statements in this interview are markedly different from those made in the alleged Osama video tapes. In this interview, Osama bin Laden exhibits an understanding of US foreign policy. He expresses his views regarding the loss of life on 9/11. He also makes statements as to who, in his opinion, might be the likely perpetrator of the September 11 attacks. This is an important text which has not been brought to the attention of Western public opinion."
1/6/13 The Only CIA Officer Scheduled to Go to Jail Over Torture Never Tortured Anybody, by Kevin Gosztola, FiredogLake. "[F]ormer CIA agent John Kiriakou...pled guilty to the charge of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act (IIPA) by revealing the name of an undercover officer on October 23 in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. ... According to [New York Times reporter Scott] Shane, the FBI called him to their Washington office to 'help with a case' about a year ago. He was not told he was under investigation and they questioned him repeatedly about the name. And he realized later that he had made a mistake. He should never have talked to the FBI. ... Scooter Libby gets to move forward and continue to enjoy the fact that he is not in jail for his involvement in leaking Valerie Plame's name because his sentence was commuted by President George W. Bush. Dick Cheney gets to move forward with the publication of a 'memoir' about his heart (the organ and not what makes us capable of discerning right from wrong). Those who authorized and engaged in torture get to continue their upward trajectory on whatever career path in government they have chosen and retire handsomely. And, if you're Jose Rodriguez, the former head of the CIA's counterterrorism center, you can keep promoting your book while ensuring the public ignores how you had a role in the destruction of tapes of torture and harsh interrogations and still support waterboarding detainees—a war crime."
1/5/13 Guantánamo: a place of sometimes-puzzling secrecy, by Carol Rosenberg, The Miami Herald. "The CIA delivered Nashiri to Guantánamo for trial in 2006, according to declassified documents, after agents waterboarded him, threatened his mother, and held a revving drill and cocked gun to his head. But where he was held or anything about the CIA interrogation techniques, which President Obama banned upon taking office -- none of these may be revealed in open court by order of the judge. The same is true about what the CIA did to the five accused conspirators in the 9/11 attacks."
1/4/13 Did Awlaki Really Help the 9/11 Hijackers?, by J.M. Berger, Foreign Policy. "What Judicial Watch and Fox News got wrong about al Qaeda's leading English-language ideologue .... Awlaki's links to Sept. 11 certainly bear further investigation, but when you investigate, you have to be prepared for the possibility that the truth will be a big letdown."
1/2/13 Targeted Killing Program Used Against Anwar Al-Awlaki Will Remain Under Wraps After Judge's Ruling , by Matt Sledge, The Huffington Post. "New York Southern District Court Judge Colleen McMahon issued a ruling acknowledging that the government's actions 'seem on their face incompatible with our Constitution.' Still, she concluded, citing a 'veritable Catch-22' of a 'thicket of laws and precedents,' she could not order disclosure of the Department of Justice memorandum supporting the 2011 drone killing of alleged al Qaeda militant -- and American citizen -- Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen. ... Both the ACLU and The New York Times plan to appeal the decision."
1/1/13 Renditions continue under Obama, despite due-process concerns, by Craig Whitlock, The Washington Post. "The U.S. government has revealed little about the circumstances under which the three alleged al-Shabab supporters were arrested. Most court papers remain under seal. ... Defense attorneys and others familiar with the case, however, said the men were arrested in Djibouti, a close ally of Washington. The tiny African country hosts a major U.S. military base, Camp Lemonnier, that serves as a combat hub for drone flights and counterterrorism operations. Djibouti also has a decade-long history of cooperating with the United States on renditions. ... The sequence described by the lawyers matches a pattern from other rendition cases in which U.S. intelligence agents have secretly interrogated suspects for months without legal oversight before handing over the prisoners to the FBI for prosecution."
12/31/12 What Bush-Cheney-Obama don't want known on torture, by Nat Hentoff, The Star Democrat. "[I]t will take months before the Senate Intelligence Committee will let you know at least some of its 6,000-page report on the tortures (officially masked as 'enhanced interrogation techniques') committed by the U.S., but especially by the CIA, after 9/11. The report must first be reviewed by the president, the executive branch and wow the CIA itself. ... If you don't want to wait until Obama and the CIA tell the Senate Intelligence Committee what you may be permitted to see in the 'Study of the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation,' you are entitled, as a self-governing citizen of this republic, to buy 'The Torture Report: What the Documents Say About America's Post-9/11 Torture Program,' by Larry Siems, lead author of this extensively documented ACLU investigation (OR Books, 2012)."
12/27/12 Families of Iraq war dead dismayed as Chilcot Inquiry hit by further delays, by Gordon Rayner and John-Paul Ford Rojas, The Telegraph (UK). "Families of soldiers killed in Iraq reacted with dismay yesterday after it emerged that Sir John Chilcot's report into the war has been hit by yet more delays after objections over declassifying Tony Blair's private messages. ... They included Tony Blair's private messages to George W Bush in the run-up to the war, which are expected to show that Mr Blair promised Mr Bush Britain would back a US invasion before he had the backing of Parliament. ... The Cabinet Office has still not disclosed a secret document relating to discussions between George Bush and Tony Blair over the Iraq war, nine months after it was ordered to do so by the Information Commissioner. ... The Cabinet Office was given 35 days to disclose it to the applicant, but appealed to the First-tier Tribunal — where months later it has still not been dealt with and is currently listed as 'stayed'."
12/20/12 Torture, Torture Everywhere, by Andy Worthington, Future of Freedom Foundation. "For those of us who have been arguing for years that senior officials and lawyers in the Bush administration must be held accountable for the torture program they introduced and used in their 'war on terror,' last week was a very interesting week indeed. There were developments in Strasbourg, in London, and in Washington, D.C., that all pointed towards the impossibility of the torturers' being able to escape accountability forever. ... Without accountability, the toxic virus of torture in America's body politic will continue to infect the whole country with its poison. It is time for the denial to end."
12/20/12 The Torture Chronicle, by Philip Giraldi, The American Conservative. "The Senate inquiry's conclusions inevitably lead to the assumption that there has been a whole lot of lying and obfuscation going on in connection with the so-called war on terror. To recap major developments, 9/11 unleashed a counter-offensive by the CIA's Counter Terrorism Center (CTC), which was at the time headed by Cofer 'the gloves come off' Black. Secret prisons were established in Europe and Asia, torture was used extensively in the interrogation of suspects, and some detainees were shipped off to friendly intelligence services in places like Egypt for even more aggressive questioning. This was referred to as rendition. ..."
12/19/12 Predator Drone 'Double-Taps' Highlight Possible War Crimes By Obama, by Robert Taylor, PolicyMic. "According to UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Christof Heyns, 'secondary strikes on rescuers who are helping (the injured) after an initial drone attack, those further attacks are a war crime.' ... Not only has the Obama administration adopted the use of 'double-taps' in its already hyper-aggressive drone warfare, the U.S. military now officially says that children are legitimate targets in the war in Afghanistan.... President Obama's drone strikes have killed at least 178 children so far...."
12/18/12 Court rules peace activists can sue the U.S. military for infiltration, by Nathan Tempey, National Lawyers Guild. "In a potentially precedent-setting decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that a Guild lawyer's challenge to military spying on peace activists can proceed. The ruling marks the first time a court has affirmed people's ability to sue the military for violating their First and Fourth Amendment rights."
12/14/12 Issue Murder Indictment of George W. Bush, SalemNews.com (OR). "Like Hermann Goring, Rudolf Hess, Wilheim Keitel, and the other Nazis Leaders, who were tried and found guilty at Nuremberg, issue a murder indictment of George W. Bush on the following charges: genocide; conspiracy to commit crimes against peace; war crimes; crimes against humanity; and crimes of mass murder and the torture of human beings in custody."
12/14/12 The Future of International Law and Human Rights - An Interview With Richard Falk, by Cihan Aksan and Jon Bailes, CounterPunch. "There may come a future time when the ICC provides a sufficiently comprehensive and consistent regime for the enforcement of international criminal law against state crime as to make UJ redundant, but such a circumstance is not likely to emerge in the near future. ... With a reactionary US Congress there is, in any event, no likelihood of securing American participation even if the current parties to the treaty were to go along with Washington's views on terrorism."
12/13/12 CIA 'tortured and sodomised' terror suspect, human rights court rules, by Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian (UK). "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. ... It is the first time the court has described CIA treatment meted out to terror suspects as torture."
12/13/12 Bringing War Criminals To Justice, by Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Beast. "Earlier today the European Court of Human Rights ruled unanimously in favor of Khaled el-Masri, a German man abducted in Macededonia and tortured by the CIA. ... But the major point here is that the European Court of Human Rights - representing countless key allies - has named the US as a country that has practiced torture, in violation of its Treaty obligations, and international and domestic law. War crimes were permitted and committed and a country that allows war crimes to go unpunished has essentially abandoned the rule of law. When will Obama reinstate that rule of law? He has constantly said he wants to look forward, not back. But the US and the West cannot move forward until we have looked back, and repaired the breach in civilization and law that president George W. Bush created. "
12/13/12 Anti-War Industry Naked 'Accessory After The Fact' To US Crimes Against Humanity, by Jay Janson, Countercurrents. "This article will seek to clarify what has become obvious to its author for some time, namely, that the organized peace or antiwar movement, which has never forced a war to be ended, or prevented an announced war from happening, is not intended to to so. Worse, that it has operated overall in such a manner as to be flagrantly open to the charge that the whole peace movement in America has been been, and is, an accessory after the fact to US crimes against humanity, by making it appear that protests to one's own elected and reelected war criminals will stop the killing abroad, so needed to maintain predatory overseas investments."
12/12/12 More Than 30 Top U.S. Officials Guilty of War Crimes, Boyle Says, by Sherwood Ross, International News (Australia). "More than 30 top U.S. officials, including presidents G.W. Bush and Obama, are guilty of war crimes or crimes against peace and humanity 'legally akin to those perpetrated by the former Nazi regime in Germany,' the distinguished American international law authority Francis Boyle charges. ... Besides the presidents, Boyle identified as war criminals Vice Presidents Dick Cheney and Joseph Biden; Secretaries of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Gates and Leon Panetta; Secretaries of State Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, and Hillary Clinton; National Security Advisors Stephen Hadley, James Jones, and Thomas Donilon; Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte and James Clapper and Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) Directors George Tenet, Leon Panetta, and David Petraeus...."
12/10/12 The Normalization of Treason, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "How did right-wing politics in the United States survive the 1960s and 1970s and thrive beyond? Not only did the wealthy invest in the corruption of politics, but the politicians invested in the normalization of treason. ... An accurate understanding of exactly how evil some of our Republicans have been need not turn us into cheerleaders for the party of the current president, his record classifications, his groundbreaking secrecy claims, his record whistleblower prosecutions, his record levels of warrantless spying, his imprisonments without trial, his wars without Congress, his war-making CIA, or his "kill list" murder program. Instead, [it] should move us to become, like Robert Parry, dogged pursuers of the facts that those in power seek to bury or beautify."
12/5/12 (VIDEO 1:25:03) How to Prosecute the 9/11 War Crimes - Panel Discussion at the 9/11 Revisited Conference in Malaysia, corbettreport. "Prof. Gurdial Singh Nijar of the University of Malaya leads a panel discussion on how to prosecute the war crimes of 9/11 at the '9/11 Revisited: Seeking the Truth' conference in Kuala Lumpur on November 19, 2012."
11/29/12 We Shouldn't Be Welcoming Tony Blair in Nigeria, by Is'haq Modibbo Kawu, AllAfrica. "Without legal justification, the attack on Iraq was an act of mass murder. It caused the death of between 100,000 and a million people, and ranks among the greatest crimes the world has ever seen. That Blair and his ministers still saunter among us, gathering money where ever they go, is a withering indictment of a one-sided system of international justice: a system whose hypocrisy [Bishop Desmond] Tutu has exposed."
11/29/12 The Long Pursuit of Accountability for Bush's Torture Program, by Andy Worthington, Future of Freedom Foundation. "Thwarted in the United States, those seeking accountability have had to seek it elsewhere: in Spain; in Poland, where one of the CIA's 'black sites' was located; and in Italy, where 23 Americans — 22 CIA agents and an Air Force colonel — were convicted in November 2009, in a ruling that was upheld on appeal in September this year.... The United States has refused to extradite any of the men and women convicted in Italy, but the ruling is a reminder that not everyone around the world believes in Yoo's and Bybee's 'golden shield.' Moreover, although senior Bush administration officials — Bush and Cheney themselves and Donald Rumsfeld — have so far evaded accountability, their ability to travel the world freely has been hampered by their actions." 12/1/12 Audio Interview (3:09), PressTV (Iran)
11/29/12 (VIDEO 33:00) A Legal Framework for Criminalizing the GWOT [Global War on Terrorism], corbettreport. "Michel Chossudovsky, Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization, presents to the '9/11 Revisted: Seeking the Truth' conference in Kuala Lumpur on November 19, 2012."
11/28/12 (VIDEO 19:54) 9/11 and How to Proceed - Graeme MacQueen on GRTV, GlobalResearchTV. "Professor Graeme MacQueen has been an active scholar and peace activist for three decades, helping to found the McMaster's Centre for Peace Studies in 1989. Now, as an editor of the Journal of 9/11 Studies and member of the Toronto Hearings committee and the 9/11 Consensus panel, MacQueen is looking for ways to go beyond the collection of 9/11 evidence into prosecution for the crimes of 9/11."
11/23/12 Why I'm Still Pursuing Tony Blair, by David Lawley Wakelin, Huffington Post (UK edition). "As a nation, just as with Hillsborough, we are being asked to turn a blind eye to what millions of us believe – that former prime minister Tony Blair, in a conspiracy with George W. Bush, deceived us into a corrupt and illegal Iraq war that took the lives of well over 100,000 people. Since he has left office it's been reported that he has accumulated well over £60 million on the back of his lies. ... Along with Mairead Maguire and Archbishop Tutu, I now ask [Prime Minister] David Cameron to open a criminal investigation and have Anthony Charles Lynton Blair referred to the International court in the Hague for crimes against peace."
11/21/12 Why Louis Freeh Should Be Investigated For 9/11, by Kevin Ryan, Dig Within. "Judicial Watch said that Director Freeh believed he was above the law. The group went on to say that Freeh was 'a man so corrupt he destroyed the office he led, and a man so cowardly he refuses to face the music for the illegalities he has allegedly committed.' ... Under Louis Freeh, the FBI failed miserably at preventing terrorism when preventing terrorism was the FBI's primary goal. Moreover, the actions of FBI management suggest that it was facilitating and covering-up acts of terrorism throughout the time that Freeh was the Bureau's director. Fifteen examples have been cited here from the time of Freeh's tenure and three other examples were given from the time just after he left, when it was unclear why he left or what he was doing. Add to these examples the fact that the FBI took extraordinary measures to hide evidence related to the 9/11 attacks and it becomes abundantly clear that Mr. Freeh should be a prime suspect in any honest investigation."
11/17/12 UN receives complaint over Canada's failure to arrest Bush, by Joshua Blakeney, Press TV (Iran). "Individuals who accuse the US government of torturing them filed a complaint against the Canadian government at the UN this week. They say that Canada should have arrested credibly accused war criminal George W. Bush when the former US Commander-in-chief visited Canada last October. In the year 2000 Canada enshrined the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act which is ostensibly aimed at preventing Canada from becoming a safe haven for war criminals. However the law has never been enforced on credibly accused war criminals such as Benjamin Netanyahu and George W. Bush who are afforded police protection when they visit Canada."
11/13/12 Waging an Illegal US-NATO Led War on Syria with the Endorsement of "International Criminal Law", by Ken Stone, Centre for Research on Globalization. "The ICC fits into a new international legal pattern of special tribunals (often paid for directly by the USA) for certain global trouble spots such as the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone, in which the leaders of countries targeted by the USA and NATO for regime change are prosecuted, following the military aggression that removes them from power. In his nine years in office, Ocampo ignored the war crimes of George W. Bush, Colin Powell, and Tony Blair in fomenting an invasion in Iraq; the misdeeds of David Cameron and Nicholas Sarkozy in promoting an attack on Libya; and the extra-legal assassination drone attacks personally unleashed by Barak Obama against innocent civilians in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia and Sudan. In fact, not one western leader has ever been indicted for the wars or occupations in the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Rwanda, Somalia, Libya, or Palestine. In a few words, the ICC and the regime of special international tribunals represents the imperial victor's justice."
11/12/12 Ministerial memos show Canada was braced for UN torture grilling, by The Canadian Press, CTV News. "The dozens of pages of internal memos reveal the extent to which Canada was prepared to defend its human rights record at the UN. Canadian advisers noted that civil society groups occasionally call for prosecution of foreign public officials -- including Bush and Cheney, leaders of the fight against terrorism -- for actions during their time in office. ... The note advised that 'if pressed' for information on Bush and Cheney, officials should tell the UN committee, 'Generally speaking, Canada does not address specific criminal complaints in a public forum.'"
11/10/12 At Soldier's Hearing, Grisly Descriptions of Chaos and Horror, by Kirk Johnson, The New York Times. "The military says Sergeant Bales, 39, was serving his fourth combat tour overseas when he walked away from his remote outpost in southern Afghanistan and shot and stabbed members of several families in a nighttime ambush on two villages. At least nine of the people he is accused of killing were children, and others were women. After the victims were shot, some of the bodies were dragged into a pile and burned."
11/1/12 Retired general who probed abuses to be on isle, by Lee Imada, The Maui News (HI). "Retired Gen. Antonio M. Taguba...filed a report in 2004 that described incidents of prisoners being stripped, abused and sexually humiliated by Army soldiers. This internal report eventually became public, creating a firestorm of controversy about the treatment of prisoners by their jailers at the now infamous prison.... 'After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts, and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes.'"
11/1/12 Defense attorneys ask Panetta to televise 9/11 trial from Guantánamo, by Carol Rosenberg, The Miami Herald. "Defense lawyers have said that the public might be surprised to realize how much of the proceedings will be held in closed session. They also want wider scrutiny on the hybrid nature of the proceedings that borrow from both military and civilian justice. The eventual jury will be chosen from a pool of U.S. military officers chosen from bases around the world by a senior Pentagon official and sent to Guantánamo. 'If these proceedings are fair, why is the government afraid to let the world watch?' Marine Corps Maj. William Hennessey argued in court last month for alleged al Qaida deputy Walid bin Attash, 34."
10/30/12 US liable for war crimes during military invasion of Afghanistan: Analyst, PressTV (Iran). "A joint military operation by Afghan security forces and US-led soldiers in Afghanistan's eastern Ghazni Province, late Sunday, has killed at least four civilians, including a woman. Press TV has conducted an interview with James Jennings, president of Conscience International, from Atlanta, to further discuss the issue. ... 'I think they should also have called that war crimes many years ago. In fact, thousands of civilians have been killed by US airstrikes and ground operations. And tens of thousands of deaths have resulted from starvation exposure, disease caused by the war. So, the US is fairly implicated in the war crimes in Afghanistan; there's no question about that.'"
10/20/12 Bush, Blair wanted for crimes against humanity: Boyle, PressTV (Iran). "A prominent lawyer says internationally sought after war criminals, former US president George W. Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, will eventually be brought to justice for their heinous crimes against humanity. Press TV has conducted an interview with international lawyer Francis Boyle to further discuss the issue." [includes VIDEO, 25:55]
10/19/12 Questions of Legitimacy Hang Heavy Over 9/11 Trial, by Daphne Eviatar, Huffington Post. "[T]he judge heard arguments on Friday over whether the military commission case against these men in the most notorious murder trial in U.S. history has been tainted by intense political pressure from senior government officials. Defense lawyers list nearly 30 pages worth of public statements from senior officials, including the president, defense secretary, attorney general and senators, between 2001 and 2011, who have made public statements assuming the men's guilt and eventual conviction. ... The military judge, James Pohl, is under tremendous pressure to rule on these issues fairly. So far, he's made very few rulings, and none on the most important issues argued this week."
10/16/12 In Setback for Military Tribunals, Bin Laden Driver's Conviction Is Reversed, by Charlie Savage, The New York Times. "In its ruling, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that the charge against Mr. Hamdan — providing material support for terrorism — was not a recognized international war crime at the time of his actions. ... The decision delivered a setback to the broader military commissions system, reducing the chances that many other detainees at Guantánamo will receive trials. Nearly all of the detainees were captured well before 2006, and most are being held over accusations that they attended a terrorist training camp or otherwise aided Al Qaeda generally, as opposed to plotting a specific terrorist attack. ... All three judges on the appeals court panel were appointed by Republican presidents. "
10/16/12 Bush Gitmo Prosecutor: "I Was Mistaken", by Adam Serwer, Mother Jones. "Col. Morris Davis (Ret.) was the chief prosecutor of the Guantanamo Bay military commissions in 2008...now a professor at the Howard University School of Law...agreed with the decision to vacate Hamdan's conviction [emphasis added]: '... I hope this puts an end to the U.S. making up ex post facto war crimes and instead causes us to rely more on our federal courts and federal criminal code.' ... Davis has become a vocal critic of the military commissions since the early days of the Obama administration. "
10/5/12 NEW! George Bush the Murderer: The Movie, by David Swanson, The International News Magazine. "In the book, and in this new movie, Bugliosi makes a devastating, well documented case that President George W. Bush is guilty of the murder of U.S. soldiers as a result of the lies he told to justify the invasion of Iraq, and can be prosecuted by any state attorney general in the country, or by any county prosecutor from a jurisdiction where a U.S. soldier lived prior to being killed in Iraq. ... Bugliosi notes that there is no statute of limitations for murder. Bush could be prosecuted by any future federal prosecutor who had the nerve to do so and could do so while keeping his or her job. But Bugliosi writes that a state attorney general or any district attorney in any city or county could bring a murder charge against Bush for any soldiers from that state or county who lost their lives in Iraq. And not just Bush, but Cheney, Rice, et alia."
Here's a preview of the movie.
9/25/12 VIDEO (15:38) Ralph Nader Says Obama Is A 'War Criminal' Who Has Been 'More Aggressive' Than George W. Bush (VIDEO), Huffington Post. "Last year, Nader said that many of Obama administration's military and intelligence directives, including the intervention in Libya, had amounted to 'war crimes' that would warrant impeachment, Salon notes. 'Why don't we say what's on the minds of many legal experts? That the Obama administration is committing war crimes and if Bush should have been impeached, Obama should be impeached,' he told Democracy Now."
9/21/12 VIDEO (15:38) As Italy Sentences 23 CIA Agents in Rendition Case, Obama Refuses to Prosecute Anyone for Torture, Democracy Now!. "The ruling marks the final appeal in the first trial anywhere in the world involving the CIA's practice of rendering terror suspects to countries that allow torture. But back in 2008, then presidential candidate Barack Obama unequivocally denounced torture and extraordinary rendition. Well, according to our guest, four years after Obama made those comments, impunity for torture has now become a bipartisan policy of the U.S. government. For more, we speak with Alfred McCoy, a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author of the new book, 'Torture and Impunity: The U.S. Doctrine of Coercive Interrogation.'"
9/19/12 Vancouver Muslim leader joins Tutu in calling for Bush-Blair war crimes trial, by Staff, Vancouver Sun. "The director of the Vancouver Muslim Community Centre [Luay Kawasme] joins South African Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu in calling for George Bush and Tony Blair to go before a war-crimes tribunal in the Netherlands. ... The religious overtones of this dispute are fascinating, since Blair is an Anglican who converted in recent years to Roman Catholicism. And Bush is a United Methodist, while Kawasme is a Sunni Muslim. Mahathir Mohamad, a former premier of Malaysia, in which 60 per cent of the population is Muslim, has already led an informal war-crimes tribunal that has found Bush and Blair guilty."
9/19/12 Italian court affirms convictions of 23 Americans in CIA case , by Associated Press, The Globe and Mail (Toronto). "Italy's highest criminal court on Wednesday upheld the convictions of 23 Americans in the kidnapping of an Egyptian terror suspect as part of the CIA's extraordinary rendition program. The ruling marks the final appeal in the first trial anywhere in the world involving the CIA's practice of abducting terror suspects and transferring them to third countries where torture is permitted."
9/15/12 US embrace of torture despicable, by Jonathan Turley, Pacific Daily News. "We have gone from prosecuting torture as a war crime after World War II to treating allegations of torture as a 'question of propriety' under Obama. Hundreds of officials, including President Bush, were involved. People died in interrogation. High-ranking CIA officials admitted that they destroyed evidence of torture to keep it from being used in any later prosecutions. Yet, after a years-long investigation, not a single CIA official will be charged with a single crime connected to the program. Not even a misdemeanor or a single bar referral for an attorney. ... We have become a nation of dull-eyed pedestrians watching as our leaders strip away the very things that distinguish us from our enemies."
9/8/12 Should Bush and Blair be tried for war crimes?, by Cesar Chelala, Japan Times. "Given the tremendous loss of lives and the perversion of international law that war has caused, Tutu's recommendations should be seriously considered. ... [T]hree Latin American countries, Argentina, Chile and Peru, have tried and sent their former leaders to prison for crimes of much less magnitude than those involved in the Iraq war. Perhaps the U.S. and the United Kingdom could follow in their footsteps."
9/2/12 Desmond Tutu says Bush and Blair should face trial at International Criminal Court over Iraq, by Associated Press, The Washington Post. "LONDON — Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu called Sunday for Tony Blair and George Bush to face prosecution at the International Criminal Court for their role in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. ... 'The then-leaders of the U.S. and U.K. fabricated the grounds to behave like playground bullies and drive us further apart. They have driven us to the edge of a precipice where we now stand — with the specter of Syria and Iran before us,' said Tutu, who last week withdrew from a conference in South Africa due to Blair's presence at the event."
9/1/12 US Justice Department Closes CIA Probe with No Charges in Torture, Murder of Detainees, by Bill van Auken, Op Ed News. "In other words, after three years of investigation, the Obama administration has not only granted full impunity to those involved in the crimes of rendition, torture and murder carried out under Bush. It has failed to even issue a ruling on the 'propriety' of torturing detainees to death. The clear implication is that the US government and legal system sanction such practices, and they will continue. ... Since taking office, Obama has continuously backpedaled from his condemnations of torture in 2008, insisting that he would "look forward, not backward" and declaring his opposition to any "witch-hunt," while reneging on his promise to shut down the Guantanamo prison camp."
8/29/12 Peace Advocates Attempt 'War Crimes' Arrest of Condi Rice at RNC, by Common Dreams Staff, Common Dreams. "Tampa police barred a dozen peace activists on Tuesday from entering an event attended by Condoleezza Rice after asserting their intention to perform a citizens arrest of the former Secretary of State for war crimes relating to her involvement with the invasion of Iraq in 2003."
8/27/12 Call to arrest Tony Blair during SA visit gains momentum, by Rebecca Davis, Daily Maverick (South Africa). "Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is in town this week to address a leadership summit in Johannesburg. He may want to watch his back, though: a group called the Society for the Protection of our Constitution has launched an urgent application to the NPA to issue a warrant for Blair's arrest for the 2003 Iraq invasion. ... It has been claimed that he is one of the most expensive public speakers in the world, allegedly commanding fees of up to £6,000 [$9,480] a minute."
8/25/12 Guantanamo 9/11 hearings delayed to mid-October, AFP (Agence France-Presse). "US NAVAL BASE AT GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba – Preliminary hearings for the trial of five alleged 9/11 plotters were canceled this week over Tropical Storm Isaac are now set for mid-October, the US military said Friday. The hearings, at which confessed [under torture] September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is due to appear, are now due to take place from October 15-19 at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to the US military commissions website."
8/20/12 Guantanamo Torture Disallowed From Discussion In Tribunals, by Jane Sutton and Josh Meyer, Reuters, The Huffington Post. "[T]he al Qaeda suspects who were subjected to so-called harsh interrogation techniques, and the lawyers charged with defending them at the Guantanamo Bay military tribunals, are not allowed to talk about the treatment they consider torture. ... Prosecutors say every utterance of the alleged al Qaeda murderers, and what their lawyers in turn pass on to the court, must be strictly monitored precisely because of the defendants' intimate personal knowledge of highly classified CIA interrogation methods they endured in the agency's clandestine overseas prisons. ... [A]ll documents and legal motions related to their cases...cannot be made public unless they're cleared by a Department of Defense Security Classification Review team. How that team works is a secret. ... The review teams are made up of Pentagon lawyers, translators and former intelligence officers — people from the same agencies that detained and interrogated the defendants and are now prosecuting them."
8/15/12 Perfecting Illegality; Impunity at Home, Rendition Abroad: How two administrations and both parties made illegality the American way of life, by Alfred W. McCoy and Nick Turse, Antiwar.com. "With the past largely rewritten to assure Americans that the CIA's 'enhanced interrogation' had worked, the perpetrators of torture were home free and the process of impunity and immunity established for future use. ... Absent any searching inquiry or binding reforms, assassination is now the everyday American way of war while extraordinary renditions remain a tool of state. Make no mistake: some future torture scandal is sure to arise from another iconic dungeon in the dismal, ever-lengthening historical procession leading from the 'tiger cages' of South Vietnam to 'the salt pit' in Afghanistan and 'The Hole' in Somalia. Next time, the world might not be so forgiving. Next time, with those images from Abu Ghraib prison etched in human memory, the damage to America's moral authority as world leader could prove even more deep and lasting."
8/14/12 Lawyer for [Alleged] 9/11 mastermind accuses U.S. of torturing Khalid Sheikh Mohammed by waterboarding him 183 times, by Daly Mail Reporter, Daily Mail (UK). "'The US government said that because Mr Mohammed was a high-value detainee, he was exposed to classified CIA information and is therefore a holder of classified information. So effectively: "Because we tortured you, you can't speak".' [Captain Jason Wright, the attorney appointed by the military to defend Khalid Sheikh Mohammed] is appearing in court this week to argue for the ability to confidentially communicate with his client. Without that ability, he says his client will not have adequate defense or a fair trial."
8/13/12 Second-Class Justice for Second-Class Detainees , by William Fisher, Prism. "Two of the Commissions' most outspoken critics on the issue were Lt. Col. (formerly Maj.) David Frakt of the US Air Force Reserves, and Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, the ex-prosecutor who resigned in September 2008. On July 8, Lt. Col Vandeveld said that the Commissions were 'broken beyond repair,' and 'cannot be fixed, because their very creation – and the only reason to prefer military commissions over federal criminal courts for the Guantánamo detainees – can now be clearly seen as an artifice, a contrivance, to try to obtain prosecutions based on evidence that would not be admissible in any civilian or military prosecution anywhere in our nation.'"
8/7/12 Military limiting Guantanamo detainee access to lawyers, by Bill Mears, CNN. "In a 52-page filing, Justice Department lawyers said they have started restricting when Guantanamo prisoners can challenge their detention in a Washington-based federal court. ... Under the proposed changes, the Navy base commander at Guantanamo would have sole veto power over attorney access, as well as access to classified material, including information provided directly by the detainees from interrogations."
8/2/12 On 10th Anniversary Of Yoo and Bybee's "Torture Memos," Col. Morris Davis Reminds Americans About Justice And The Law – OpEd, by Andy Worthington, Eurasia Review. "These two memos, generally known as the Bybee memos, but forever known to anyone with a conscience as the 'torture memos,' marked the start of an official torture program that will forever be a black mark on America's reputation.... Accountability, after all, is still needed for senior officials who knowingly committed crimes that led to the use of torture by US forces."
8/1/12 The Neoconservative War Criminals In Our Midst, by Paul Craig Roberts, Institute for Political Economy. "Today, war criminals run the State Department and the entire US Government. They are elected to the presidency, the House, and the Senate, and appointed to the federal courts as judges. ... Hypocrisy is Washington's hallmark, and all but the most delusional are now accustomed to their rulers speaking one way and behaving in the opposite. It is now part of the American character to regard ourselves as members of the 'virtuous nation,' 'the indispensable people,' while our rulers commit war crimes around the globe. Whereas we have all been made complicit in war crimes by 'our' government, it still behooves us to know who are the active war criminals in our midst who have burdened us with our war criminal reputation. ... You can find the names of some of humanity's worst enemies here."
7/31/12 The Return Of The King — Tony Blair And The Magically Disappearing Blood, by David Cromwell, Center for Research on Globalization. "Perhaps it is useful to be reminded that even war criminals can be 'funny' and 'self-deprecating'. In contrast, Independent columnist Matthew Norman made clear his disdain for Blair: 'Call it an atrocious strategic misjudgment, a dementedly misguided Neocon experiment, a war crime or whatever, it is perfectly well understood in these child-like terms: Mr Blair did a truly terrible thing, with unspeakably terrible consequences for the people of Iraq, the troops killed and maimed in prosecuting his folly, and those who died and were injured here in retaliatory bombings in July 2005, the morning after the 30th Olympiad was hereby awarded to the city of London.'"
7/20/12 George W. Bush to skip GOP convention, by Brian Montopoli, CBS News. "Mr. Bush is still an unpopular political figure: A CBS News poll found he left office with just a 22 percent approval rating, and recent surveys show it has improved little since then. Romney rarely speaks approvingly of Mr. Bush.... Former president George H.W. Bush – Mr. Bush's father – also will not attend the convention, a spokesman said earlier this week, citing health issues."
7/20/12 Accountability for torture by Bush regime taboo under Obama: "Last War Crime" movie and torture documents, by Daya Gamage, Asian Tribune. "Overwhelming evidence of torture by the Bush administration obliges President Barack Obama to order a criminal investigation into allegations of detainee abuse authorized by former President George W. Bush and other senior officials, Human Rights Watch said in a report released July 12, 2011. The Obama administration has failed to meet US obligations under the Convention against Torture to investigate acts of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees, Human Rights Watch noted."
7/19/12 VIDEO (4:19) Obama drone strikes as illegal as Bush torture practices: Analyst, Interview with Judge Alfred Lambremont Webre, PressTV (Iran). [Transcript] "We were able to prove that the Kuala Lumpur war crimes tribunal, I mean we judged it, we had opposing [counsel], we had defense [counsel] and prosecution [counsel], and we the court determined that in fact Cheney, Rumsfeld and Bush, and their four lawyers including Attorney General Alberto Gonzales having engaged in a conspiracy to circumvent the Geneva Conventions, and most probably that is occurring here in my judgment as a war crimes judge and as a war crimes attorney."
7/18/12 Relatives Sue Officials Over U.S. Citizens Killed by Drone Strikes in Yemen, by Charlie Savage, The New York Times. "Relatives of three American citizens killed in drone strikes in Yemen last year filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against four senior national security officials on Wednesday. ... The Justice Department, which is likely to provide lawyers for the defendants, may ask a judge to dismiss the case by asserting that the evidence necessary to litigate it would disclose state secrets, or that decisions about whom to kill in an armed conflict are 'political questions' not fit for judicial review. The government asserted both arguments in the 2010 case, and the judge who dismissed that lawsuit also cited the 'political question' doctrine. "
7/17/12 VIDEO (1:03:21) Uncommon Knowledge: George W. Bush, Interviewed by Peter Robinson, Hoover Institution. "This week on Uncommon Knowledge President George W. Bush discusses postpresidential life and his work at the Bush Institute." [at 4:05] "Eight years was awesome, and y'know, I was famous, and I was powerful. But I have no desire for fame or power anymore. ... And I have found that life after the presidency is awesome."
7/14/12 Why Iran Should Sue the U.S. at the International Court of Justice , by Franklin Lamb, Foreign Policy Journal. "Iran has the facts of the US sanctions case in its favor and there are ample solid legal theories to argue to and convince the World Court. Under the ICJ Statute, the ICJ must decide cases in accordance with international law. Hence the ICJ must apply (1) any international conventions and treaties; (2) international custom; (3) general principles recognized as law by civilized nations; and (4) judicial decisions and the teachings of highly qualified publicists of the various nations. From this body of international law, the International Court of Justice would find ample basis to support Iran's claims not only for the benefit of its civilian population but also to advance the rule of law in the global community."
7/13/12 Bush-Cheney Torture Protocol: "The Last War Crime" Debuts at Cannes--but Censored in US, by Jeanine Moloff, Centre for Research on Globalization. "In spite of strong evidence identifying Dick Cheney as the mastermind behind this torture regime–the subject remains taboo, both in the 'news' business and in Hollywood–that is until Hollywood executives watched trailers for the anti-war documentary–The Last War Crime. Written, produced and directed by a new talent known only as 'The Pen,' this film documents the torture protocol ordained by the Bush-Cheney administration. Since it first circulated a trailer on the web, it has been heavily censored and cyber attacked. You Tube has removed it at intermittent intervals and MTV (which is owned by Viacom) has refused to sell air time for a commercial."
7/11/12 EXCLUSIVE: DoD Report Reveals Some Detainees Interrogated While Drugged, Others "Chemically Restrained" , by Jeffrey Kaye and Jason Leopold, Truthout. "Over the past decade, dozens of current and former detainees held by the US government in Guantanamo, Iraq and Afghanistan have alleged in news reports and in court documents they took pills against their will or were forcibly injected with unknown substances that had mind-altering effects during or immediately prior to marathon interrogation sessions in an attempt to compel them to confess to terrorist-related crimes of which they were accused. ... 'The medics walked around with little white cups that had pills in it a couple of times a day,' said Neely, who sometimes accompanied the medics when they distributed the medication. He added that if detainees refused to take it an 'Immediate Reaction Force' team, who guards would call to deal with resistant or combative detainees, would administer the medication to prisoners by force. ... 'I think any rational person would agree that confessions of terrorism while under the influence of mind-altering drugs are about credible as professions of love while under the influence of alcohol,' Raut, al-Nusairi's attorney, told Truthout."
7/6/12 VIDEO (12:28) 'President Bush should be criminally investigated for torture', Interview with Philippe Sands, Professor of Law at University College, London, author of "Torture Team," Russia Today. "There's already some degree of accountability, I mean, there's a group who are known as 'The Bush Six', the six main lawyers at the top of the Bush administration.... It's very difficult for them to set foot outside the United States now; there's every possibility that they could be subject to questioning if they were to set foot outside the United States. ... President Bush has rather brazenly given a series of interviews in which he says water boarding is right, 'if I had to do it, I'd do it again'. Dick Cheney said the same thing, and has taken responsibility for it, and that's had certain consequences in the sense that some of his international travel has been limited. He was due last year to go to Switzerland; that didn't happen it is said, because there were questions. There have been protests when he's gone to Canada, and who knows what will happen over time? One of the things that I was involved with many years ago was the case of Pinochet. That was of course a different time, a different scale, but it took 25 years for the wheels of justice to sort of creak into motion, and one day visiting London he was arrested. So these things take time."
7/4/12 As I see it - Bush and al Bashir: How are they different?, by Michael Dingake, MmegiOnline (Botswana). "According to reports GW Bush former president of the US will be visiting Botswana this week. Since the announcement of the visit I have been on tenterhooks reading the newspapers and watching Btv to get a hint of what would happen to the gentleman when he lands at the Airport. I am aware he has been here before and was given a red carpet. This was however before we grasped the iniquities committed while he was president."
6/27/12 AUDIO (29:00) Talk Nation Radio: Contempt, Congress, and Elizabeth Holtzman on How to Prosecute George W. Bush, Interview by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "Guest Elizabeth Holtzman discusses the possibility of creating a climate of accountability by prosecuting George W. Bush. Holtzman was a member of Congress and of the House Judiciary Committee that voted for articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon. ... Liz Holtzman's new book, co-authored with Cynthia Cooper, is called Cheating Justice: How Bush and Cheney Attacked the Rule of Law and Plotted to Avoid Prosecution, and What We Can Do About It. In the book, and in this interview, Holzman builds a case that Bush and his vice president Dick Cheney went out of their way to carefully protect themselves from prosecution but nonetheless left themselves open to it."
6/22/12 9/11 judge facing calls to step down over Abu Ghraib trial , by Peter Foster, The Telegraph (UK). "Colonel James Pohl, 61, is deemed to be unfit to preside over the Guantánamo war crimes tribunals because of the way he conducted the court-martials that followed the 2004 Iraq prisons scandal, The Daily Telegraph can reveal. ... 'Judge Pohl assigned himself to the vast majority of the Abu Ghraib trials and prevented the defence from going up the chain of command,' Richard Kammen, the lead defence lawyer for Abd Al-Rahim Al Nashiri, the accused in the USS Cole bombing, told The Daily Telegraph."
6/22/12 CIA Wanted 'Torture' Cage for Secret Prison: Official, by Randy Kreider, ABC News. "A Polish official says that prosecutors have a construction order that proves the CIA wanted a cage for terror suspects built at a secret 'black site' prison inside Poland. ... ABC News previously revealed the location of another CIA prison at a former riding academy outside Vilnius, Lithuania. In 2006, President Bush acknowledged that the U.S. had used 'black site' prisons in foreign countries, and said many of the suspects who had been detained there were then moved to Guantanamo Bay. While denying that the U.S. employed torture, he said that the U.S. had used an 'alternative set of procedures' to interrogate prisoners."
6/22/12 Some U.S. drone attacks may be war crimes, UPI. "Defending armed drone use by calling them a valid response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States is unjustifiable, Christof Heyns, United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, told a U.N. Human Rights Council conference in Geneva, Switzerland, after Russia and China issued a joint statement to the council condemning drone attacks. ... Heyns told the Geneva conference of reports of 'secondary drone strikes on rescuers who are helping [people injured] after an initial drone attack.'"
6/18/12 Guantanamo's Goon Squads Still Torturing Under Obama, by Sherwood Ross, Veterans Today. "In illegal and cowardly assaults on tied-up inmates that violate the Geneva Conventions, five or more Pentagon IRF MPs will spray Mace in a prisoner's face and then gang-beat him. The MPs are known to break bones, gouge eyes, squeeze testicles, inject disease, force the prisoner's head into a toilet or bang it on a concrete floor, smear the prisoner with feces, douse him with noxious chemicals, urinate on him and even sodomize him. ... 'As Commander in Chief of United States Armed Forces under the terms of the United States Constitution, President Obama has an absolute obligation to terminate torture and war crimes committed by the IRFs on Gitmo,' says Francis Boyle, professor of international law at the University of Illinois, Champaign. 'Failure to do so renders him liable for these international crimes under international criminal law, U.S. domestic criminal law, and U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10 on the Law of Land Warfare under the doctrine of Command Responsibility.'"
6/15/12 Presidential Medal of Freedom Hypocrisy, by Stephen Lendman, The Progressive Radio News Hour. "The Presidential Medal of Freedom mocks what it claims to represent. It replicates Nobel hypocrisy. Unworthy Peace Prize recipients include war criminals and genocidists. Anyone can be nominated. Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin and George W. Bush were past nominees. So were Tony Blair and Rush Limbaugh. Shimon Peres was a past honoree. He's a war criminal and genocidist. He deserves prosecution and imprisonment, not awards. Instead, fellow war criminal/Nobel winner Obama honored him."
6/15/12 VIDEO (27:04) 'Obama speaking of Israeli peace and freedom, joke', Interview with Michael Santomauro, freelance journalist and blogger; Paul Larudee of the Free Palestine Movement; and Bruce Katz, co-President of the Palestinian and Jewish Unity. Press TV (Iran). "US President Barack Obama's use of the expression 'peace and freedom' in relation to Israeli President Shimon Peres is a 'sick joke,' as the entity is incompatible with such concepts, says an analyst."
6/14/12 VIDEO (8:27) 'United States is addicted to war', Interview with Kamel Wazni, a Beirut-based political analyst, Press TV (Iran). "This is a disgrace for justice...One [war] criminal honoring another [war] criminal."
6/7/12 George W. Bush's favorable rating lowest among living presidents, by Ashley Portero, International Business Times. "Three-and-half years has not done much to improve the American public's view of former President George W. Bush, according to a new CNN/ORC poll, which concluded he is the only living ex-president with an under-50 percent approval rating."
6/6/12 Colin Powell: Another War Criminal Cashes In, by Medea Benjamin and Charles Davis, Antiwar.com. "Powell is a war criminal in his own right, one who in more than four decades of 'public service' helped kill people from Vietnam to Panama to Iraq who never posed a threat to America. ... Rather than apologize to the victims of that war, however, he has decided to cash in, hawking his latest volume of apologia at a Costco or Sam's Club near you. ... [I]t's up to us to remind Powell that while his subservience to deadly state power may have worked for him, it didn't work out so well for the hundreds of thousands of victims that lay in his wake. And not all of us are willing to forget."
6/3/12 Letter from America: Remembering FALLUJAH and NATO War Crimes, by Dr. Habib Siddiqui, Asian Tribune. "The Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Rice-Blair cabal invaded Iraq under the pretext of stopping the Iraqi dictator of using WMDs, and evidences [sic] since then have proven that not only were there no Iraqi WMDs but that the worst culprits of mass murder and use of WMDs have been the governments of Bush and Blair. ... Where is justice in our world? Will the so-called civilized world ever have the moral courage to convict its former leaders – some of the worst offenders in human history...."
6/1/12 Zimbabwe: The Hague Must Indict Bush and Blair, Says Zanu-PF, by Wongai Zhangazha, All Africa. "THE Zanu PF Youth League has challenged the International Criminal Court to haul former US President George W Bush and former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, before the court on war crimes charges as was the case with former Liberian President Charles Taylor. ... Zanu PF youth secretary Absalom Sikhosana told the Independent in an interview on Wednesday that there were strong grounds for the ICC to indict Bush and Blair, but nothing was being done because of the court's bias against African leaders."
6/1/12 CHANGING MINDSETS: World community must rally to make war a crime, by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia. New Straits Times (Malaysia). "The destructiveness of the last great war deterred the powerful nations from going to war against each other. And so they pick on weak countries to invade, to kill and destroy. The leaders of these powerful nations are not ashamed to tell lies in order to justify their invasions and killings. When their lies were exposed, their people still re-elected them. This makes their people equally culpable."
5/29/12 Only the war protester's abuse rattled Blair as he ran rings around the lawyers, by Brian Reade, The Mirror (UK). "It may not be cricket to burst into a court and scream abuse at an ex-prime minister being quizzed under oath. But at least yesterday's war protester brought a jolt of reality to a room suffocating in sycophancy. Finally, after two hours of Tony Blair being thrown gentle full-tosses, someone had the balls to lob in a hand-grenade and rattle him. ... He can rewrite history, perfect the elder statesman demeanour, put himself across as an inspirational prime minister who transformed his country. But lurking behind the construct are those dead bodies in Iraq."
5/23/12 Obama, Bush testimony sought in 9/11 case at Gitmo, by Ben Fox, The Huffington Post. "Defense lawyers in the Sept. 11 case at Guantanamo are seeking the testimony of former President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama in a motion to dismiss charges, according to a legal motion released Wednesday. ... They have exerted what is known as 'unlawful influence,' over the case with prejudicial statements such as repeatedly referring to the defendants [as] 'terrorists,' and saying they must be brought to justice, the lawyers argue. ... The motion was filed May 11 but was only just released on a Pentagon website following a security review."
5/23/12 Canada's refusal to arrest George W. Bush cited in Amnesty's human rights report, by Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press, Toronto Star. "Among the cases mentioned is Canada's failure last fall to arrest Bush when he visited British Columbia, 'despite clear evidence that he was responsible for crimes under international law, including torture.' Amnesty had campaigned for Canada to arrest and prosecute the former president. The demand for Bush's arrest 'was certainly not a frivolous action on our part,' Tackaberry said in an interview Wednesday."
5/22/12 Tony Blair and George Bush's phone conversation a week before Iraq invasion 'must be released', by Andy McSmith, Belfast Telegraph (Ireland). "The Foreign Office has been ordered to release parts of the note detailing the conversation on 12 March 2003, a week before the invasion of Iraq began. A panel chaired by tribunal judge Professor John Angel overruled objections from the Foreign Office that publishing any part of the conversation could do 'serious damage' to relations with the USA. They said in their ruling: 'The circumstances surrounding a decision by a UK government to go to war with another country is always likely to be of very significant public interest, even more so with the consequences of this war.' ... The tribunal ordered that an edited version of the note should be released within 30 days."
5/20/12 Protesters interrupt former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's commencement speech in Maine, by Associated Press, The Washington Post. "Blair addressed more than 400 Colby College graduates and their guests Sunday morning at the school's 191st commencement in Waterville. Police say the protesters shouted phrases such as 'warmonger' and 'war criminal' during Blair's speech. One person was arrested."
First-person accounts: Why I Heckled Tony Blair, War Criminal, at Colby College Graduation, by Lisa Savage, War Is A Crime, Why I protested Tony Blair's commencement speech at Colby, by Lawrence Reichard, Bangor Daily News.
5/18/12 Ending the World's Double Standard on International Justice, by David Rohde, The Atlantic. "[T]here is a widespread belief that American, NATO and Israeli forces do not face the same level of accountability. ... The U.S. should join the International Criminal Court, as nearly all of its NATO partners have. It should end over a decade of indefinite detention without trial in Guantanamo Bay. American drone strikes should be carried out by the U.S. military, be publicly announced, and no longer be covert operations run by the CIA. And when reports of drones killing civilians emerge, they should be investigated, with compensation paid to the victims – as the laws of war require."
5/17/12 Liberia: Taylor - Prosecute George Bush, Too, by Paul Yeenie Harry, All Africa. "Many have said that the failure of the ICC to issue an arrest warrant on the former president shows that the ICC is biased towards leaders of developing or African countries. Those accusing the ICC indicate that, besides the late Milosevic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, all the other leaders whose arrests have been announced, or whose trials have started, are African leaders."
• See also Charles Taylor was convicted but who else is guilty?, by Brian E. Muhammad, The Final Call.
5/11/12 Kuala Lumpur War Tribunal Finds Bush, Seven Others Guilty Of War Crimes, BERNAMA - Malaysian National News Agency. "In a unanimous decision, former Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Lamin Mohd Yunus who headed the quorum of the tribunal, ruled the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. ... The eight accused persons were charged with the crime of torture, that they had wilfully participated in the formulation of executive orders and directives to exclude the applicability of international conventions and laws, namely Convention against Torture 1984, Geneva Convention 1949, Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Charter, in relation to the war launched by the US and others in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in March 2003."
• ALSO REPORTED IN: Great Britain, Russia, Canada, India, Iran, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Borneo, Honduras.
No American mainstream media have reported this story. Non-mainstream reports: Antiwar.com, Auburn Journal (CA), CityWatch (Los Angeles, CA), Common Dreams, CultureMap (Austin, TX), Democracy Now! (at 9:05), Digital Journal, Eurasia Review, Examiner, Indiana Daily Student, Jurist, OpEd News, Salon (blog), truthout, NewJerseyNewsRoom, Wikinews, Workers World.
5/10/12 Guantanamo Show Trial Begins, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "After years of horrific torture, mistreatment, and deprivation, it's astonishing he[Khalid Sheikh Mohammed]'s still alive to be tried. Doing so in military courts is scandalous. At issue is their illegitimacy. It's also about using torture extracted evidence. ... According to MCA [2006 Military Commissions Act] provisions, [torture]'s permitted. Appeals are prohibited. Convictions are certain. Executions will follow. Justice will be denied. The real 9/11 co-conspirators remain free. They're in charge of condemning innocent suspects to death."
5/9/12 Justice and the Guantánamo trial — OUR OPINION: Release full reports involving torture of accused, The Miami Herald. "What the CIA did to prisoners now at Guantánamo was wrong. We know that from partially released CIA Inspector General's reports on torture, one under President Bush, and the other under President Obama. For the process to have a shred of the credibility Gen. Martins is seeking, the world must not only know what the terrorists did to America, but also what America did to them during their detour to the dark sites on their way to Guantánamo justice."
5/8/12 US troops tortured me, ex-Iraqi detainee tells tribunal, by Maizatul Nazlina, Asia News Network. "The 48-year-old former chief engineer of Iraq's Science and Technology Ministry, who gave his testimonial with his face covered with a scarf, said he and seven other detainees were then transferred to Al Jadiria secret prison, which was formerly an underground shelter. 'There, the soldiers hanged me from the wall while they put weights on my penis for long hours. They extracted my fingernails, forced me to drink a lot of water mixed with diuretic solution and my penis was then tied with rubber band to prevent me from urinating,' he said at a public hearing held in an open court at the Kuala Lumpur Foundation to Criminalise War (KLFCW) here yesterday. When asked by Prof Gurdial Singh Nijar, who led the prosecution, Abbas said he could no longer have children following the torture."
5/7/12 Malaysia puts Bush, Cheney on 'trial' for war crimes, by Lauren Booth, Press TV (Iran). "For the second time, the Kuala Lumpur Foundation to Criminalize War is putting a former head of state and their administration before a peoples court to face charges of Torture and War Crimes."
5/7/12 Torture: The Bush Administration on Trial, by Andy Worthington, The Future of Freedom Foundation. "[Former Director of the CIA's National Clandestine Service Jose] Rodriguez joins an elite club of public officials – including George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld – who have not been prosecuted for using torture or authorizing its use. Instead, they have been writing books, going on book tours, and appearing on mainstream TV to attempt to justify their unjustifiable actions."
5/7/12 Malaysia puts Bush, Cheney on 'trial' for war crimes, by Lauren Booth, Press TV (Iran). "For the second time, the Kuala Lumpur Foundation to Criminalize War is putting a former head of state and their administration before a peoples court to face charges of Torture and War Crimes."
5/4/12 ACLU seeks broad public access to secret testimony in 9/11 trial, by The Miami Herald staff, Boston Herald. "At issue is the court system that employs a 40-second delay of the proceedings, time enough to let an intelligence official hit a white-noise button if any of the men describe what CIA agents did to them after their capture in Pakistan in 2002 and 2003 and before their arrival at Guantanamo in September 2006. ... A court security officer used the white noise at an earlier, aborted effort in 2008 and 2009 to put the five men on trial for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks."
5/3/12 Why Did Rodriguez Destroy The Torture Tapes?, by Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Beast. "[W]atching live-action tapes of waterboarding would have brought the reality of torture – and the rank incompetence and brutality of the torturers – into stark relief. It would have destroyed any remnants of Bush's and Cheney's reputation and America's moral standing in the world. ... The war criminals are on notice. We won't forget. And we will bring you to justice one day – as history already has."
5/2/12 Court rejects torture-related case against Bush lawyer, by Terry Baynes [Reuters], Chicago Tribune. "A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday ruled that John Yoo, a former legal counsel to the Bush administration, is immune from a lawsuit by an American citizen convicted on terrorism charges who said he was tortured at a military jail in South Carolina. ... In a separate case in January, another appeals court rejected a similar suit Padilla filed against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, current Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other officials. Padilla has appealed that case to the Supreme Court."
4/21/12 The Torture Trials At Guantánamo — OpEd, by Andy Worthington, Eurasia Review. "Four years later, President Obama has finally decided to proceed with the trial of Mohammed and four of his alleged accomplices, although, as the New York Times reported last week, in an editorial entitled, 'The Road We Need Not Have Traveled,' [see 4/7/12 below]there is nothing to celebrate about this milestone finally being reached. Over ten and a half years after the attacks that spawned the disastrous 'war on terror,' the dark reverberations of the Bush administration's brutal response continue to echo throughout America, and also to pervade America's reputation around the world."
4/16/12 Tribunal to Hear Second War Crime Charge Against Bush & Associates, by Peter Foster, Mathaba News Agency. "KUALA LUMPUR, 12 April 2012 (mathaba) The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal will be hearing the second charge of Crime of Torture and War Crimes against former U.S. President George W. Bush and his associates namely Richard Cheney, former U.S. Vice President, Donald Rumsfeld, former Defence Secretary, Alberto Gonzales, then Counsel to President Bush, David Addington, then General Counsel to the Vice-President, William Haynes II, then General Counsel to Secretary of Defense, Jay Bybee, then Assistant Attorney General, and John Choon Yoo, former Deputy Assistant Attorney-General. The charge reads as follows..."
4/13/12 Guantánamo war crimes tribunals 'transparently unfair', by Peter Foster, The Telegraph (UK). "During the hearings, the defence complained they were locked in a grossly unequal contest with the US Government, being left short of resources for translators and blindsided by rules governing the disclosure of classified documents. Mr Kammen objected strenuously to being asked to submit an outline of defence arguments without seeing summaries of secret documents. Originals cannot be shown to the defence because of national security concerns."
4/11/12 The unclassified Zelikow torture memo as evidence of crimes, by Michael Collins, The Agonist. "The memo makes clear that successive Justice Departments to this day have ignored their obligation to prosecute those responsible for outlawed interrogations. This would make all those responsible but failing to prosecute eligible for charges under the honest services fraud law of 1988. That law makes it a federal crime for government officials to fail to do their jobs...."
4/9/12 9/11 As Sequel to Iran-Contra: Armitage, Carlucci and Friends, by Kevin Ryan, Foreign Policy Journal. "[T]he lack of thorough investigation and prosecution of those responsible for Iran-Contra led to 'strengthening the very institutions that made their abuses possible.'[33] As a result....Armitage and Carlucci, along with colleagues like Cheney, McDaniel, Green, and Rumsfeld, were in positions to make the attacks of September 11 an extraordinary sequel to the Iran-Contra crimes. If and when an honest and independent investigation into 9/11 occurs, these men should certainly be among those investigated."
4/8/12 'Bush, Blair must stand trial for committing war crimes', Interview with Webster Griffin Tarpley, PhD, et al., Press TV (Iran). "George W. Bush and Tony Blair have committed international conspiracy to launch an aggressive war, subject to a future Nuremberg prosecution, says an analyst."
4/7/12 The Road We Need Not Have Traveled, Editorial, The New York Times. "All of the men could have been brought to trial years ago, but President Bush decided he could ignore the Constitution. He ordered them to be held in secret C.I.A. prisons and subjected to brutal and illegal interrogations. Mr. Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times in one month alone. That torture produced no useful intelligence, according to virtually all accounts, except those offered by people like former Vice President Dick Cheney, who was the key architect of the Bush administration's lawless detention and interrogation policies."
4/5/12 Obama Indicts Sixth Whistleblower Under the Espionage Act, by Dylan Blaylock, Government Accountability Project. "It is outrageous that John Kiriakou — the whistleblower — is the only individual to be prosecuted in relation to the Bush administration's torture program. The interrogators who tortured prisoners, the officials who gave the orders, the attorneys who authored the torture memos, and the CIA agents who destroyed the interrogation tapes have not been held professionally accountable, much less charged with crimes. But John Kiriakou is facing decades in prison for helping expose torture."
4/5/12 Death penalty trial of five 9/11 suspects to resume at Guantanamo, by Carol Rosenberg, Miami Herald. "The men face charges of terrorism, hijacking aircraft, conspiracy and murder in violation of the law of war, among other charges, in the system set up by President George W. Bush within months of the attack, and then modified by President Barack Obama in 2009. ... All five were interrogated by the CIA in secret overseas prisons — Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times, according to declassified CIA documents — before their 2006 transfer to Guantanamo. Once in Cuba, he bragged to a panel of U.S. military officers that he was responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks 'from A to Z.'"
4/5/12 Video: Bush Administration Committed War Crimes Says Bush Official Philip Zelikow, by Michael Allen, Opposing Views. "An anti-torture memo that the Bush administration has been trying to hide from public view for years was finally made public, reported MSNBC's Rachel Maddow (video below) on Wednesday night. ... Wired reporter Spencer Ackerman finally obtained the memo, through a Freedom on Information Act request that he made three years ago. Zelikow's memo warned the Bush Administration in 2006 that the interrogation techniques used on terror suspects by the CIA were 'a felony war crime.'"
4/1/12 Man whose WMD lies led to 100,000 deaths confesses all, by Jonathan Owen, The Independent (UK). "'Curveball', the Iraqi defector who fabricated claims about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, smiles as he confirms how he made the whole thing up. It was a confidence trick that changed the course of history, with Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi's lies used to justify the Iraq war. ... The chemical engineer claimed to have overseen the building of a mobile biological laboratory when he sought political asylum in Germany in 1999. His lies were presented as 'facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence' by Colin Powell, US Secretary of State, when making the case for war at the UN Security Council in February 2003."
3/31/12 Poles talk about CIA prison, breaking silence, by Associated Press, CBS News. "Former CIA officials have told the AP that a prison in Poland operated from December 2002 until the fall of 2003, and that prisoners were subjected to harsh questioning and waterboarding in Stare Kiejkuty, a village set in a lush area of woods and lakes. Human rights groups believe about eight terror suspects were held in Poland, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.... Poland is the only country that has opened a serious investigation into the matter, something which Bodnar says is a sign of maturing in this 23-year-old democracy, with prosecutors, journalists and human rights lawyers all trying to seek truth and accountability."
3/27/12 Polish Ex-Official Charged With Aiding C.I.A., by Joanna Berendt and Nicholas Kulish, The New York Times. "The former head of Poland's intelligence service has been charged with aiding the Central Intelligence Agency in setting up a secret prison to detain suspected members of Al Qaeda, a leading newspaper here reported on Tuesday, the first high-profile case in which a former senior official of any government has been prosecuted in connection with the agency's program. The daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza reported that the former intelligence chief, Zbigniew Siemiatkowski, told the paper that he faced charges of violating international law by 'unlawfully depriving prisoners of their liberty,' in connection with the secret C.I.A. prison where Qaeda suspects were subjected to brutal interrogation methods."
3/27/12 Op-Ed: The War Criminal's New Heart, by Denis G. Campbell, UK Progressive. "[T]his organ recipient has confessed to ordering and condoning torture. He should legitimately be sitting in a jail cell in The Hague awaiting trial for crimes against humanity. ... When Cheney said on global television he recommended and approved of torture, he became a self-admitted war criminal. It is no coincidence that Cheney, Bush, former AG Gonzalez and others ruled that 'enhanced interrogation techniques' such as waterboarding were legal and NOT torture. It is also no coincidence they all now routinely cancel trips abroad for fear of arrest by another government who takes the Geneva Convention on torture seriously."
3/26/12 To Hell With The Hague!, by Philip T. Shingirai, The Southern Times (South Africa). "The ICC serves as a tool with which to beat Africa while ignoring the excesses of the powerful and rich in the West. ... The selective prosecution at The Hague that has seen the likes of Blair, Bush, Kagame and Museveni going scot-free does nothing to instill faith in the international justice system. Just last year, the West was complicit in starting a war in Libya that resulted in the deaths of an untold number of civilians and forcing a change of government. Nothing has been done about that, but the ICC is eager to prosecute members of the former regime led by Muammar Gaddafi, who was murdered in broad daylight. Former US Secretary of State, Collin Powel, is on record confessing that the Bush regime that he worked for lied so that it could start the war in Iraq. ... Does that testimony not lay the basis for at least an investigation into the war on Iraq?"
3/25/12 Afghanistan Crimes: Absolving Higher-Ups, by Stephen Lendman, Progressive Radio News Hour. "Convicted Nazi war criminals were hanged. American ones keep killing with impunity. ... Perhaps one day American war criminals will face their Nuremberg moment. It won't compensate for decades of war, mass killing and destruction, torture as official policy, every other imaginable barbarity, and human suffering beyond comprehension."
3/24/12 NATO's Secrecy Stance [Cover-Up of War Crimes: "Zero" Civilian Deaths], by C.J. Chivers, The New York Times. "By the time NATO's planes departed, at least 34 people had been killed, many of them women and small children.... In a report quietly made public early this month, a United Nations commission pointedly noted that after examining the destruction in Majer, interviewing survivors, reviewing documents and conducting an analysis of satellite imagery from before and after the attack, it found no evidence that 'the site had a military purpose.' It added that 'it seems clear that those killed were all civilians.' ... [B]ecause the [NATO] alliance has refused to look into credible allegations of the scores of civilian deaths that independent investigations have found it caused, it is impossible for the official tally to rise above zero."
3/12/12 Dick Cheney cancels Toronto visit over security concerns, by The Canadian Press, CBC News. "Former U.S. vice-president Dick Cheney has cancelled a Canadian speaking appearance due to security concerns sparked by demonstrations during a visit he made to Vancouver last fall, the event promoter said Monday. Cheney, whom the protesters denounced as a war criminal, was slated to talk about his experiences in office and the current American political situation at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on April 24."
3/9/12 Beast of the Middle East: Hillary Clinton & War Crimes, by Bill Van Auken, World Socialist Web Site. "Behind the crocodile tears shed by the war criminals in Washington, the demands for regime-change in Syria have no more to do with human rights than the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq had to do with protecting the American people from terrorism."
3/4/12 Un-Cheating Justice: Two Years Left to Prosecute Bush, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "But it is the Democratic switch to defending all presidential wrongdoing since 2008 that has put the largest nails into the coffin of legitimate rule by law in this country. Bush's crimes have been legitimized. Obama has claimed the power to torture as he deems necessary, the power to imprison and rendition as he sees fit, the power to murder any human being including U.S. citizens and children as he and he alone declares necessary, and powers of state secrecy that Nixon and Cheney never dreamed of."
3/4/12 Obama, the "Denier" of Israel's Crimes, by Col. Ann Wright, War Is A Crime. "Having been to Gaza within days after the 22-day Israeli attack on Gaza that killed 1440, wounded 5,000 and left 50,000 homeless (13 Israelis were killed–5 by Israeli fire), I know the Goldstone Report is accurate in its recording of endless Israeli attacks on Gaza by air, land and sea. President Obama must not know that the Goldstone report comments on the actions of all parties, not just the Israelis. ... In another event concerning Gaza, Obama recounted, 'When Israel was isolated in the aftermath of the flotilla incident, we supported them.' I was a passenger on one of the six ships in the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla. I know personally that Israeli commandos brutally attacked all six ships in the flotilla."
3/3/12 Hillary Clinton and Middle East war crimes, by Bill Van Auken, World Socialist Web Site. "Behind the crocodile tears shed by the war criminals in Washington, the demands for regime-change in Syria have no more to do with human rights than the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq had to do with protecting the American people from terrorism."
2/28/12 President Obama and His Key Advisors are a Gang of War Criminals, by Dave Lindorff, This Can't Be Happening. "The simple fact is that the president of the United States, Barack Obama, and his top generals and cabinet officers, are committing a war crime every time they threaten Iran with attack. ... What is absolutely stunning is that this massive criminality at the highest levels of the US government is going on totally unchallenged by the US mainstream media."
2/22/12 Americans Abandon International Law, by Nat Parry, Consortium News. "While just six years ago the U.S. public ranked among the world's most enthusiastic supporters of international law (falling just behind the Germans and the Chinese in global surveys), it now appears that vast majorities of Americans reject the applicability of international law when it comes to the actions of the U.S. government in the 'global war on terror.' ... With the Obama administration's failures to prosecute the worst crimes of the Bush years as well as its continuation of many of the same policies, the U.S. government's routine violations of international norms has seemingly become normalized to a broad cross-section of the American people."
2/12/12 Guantanamo Ten Years Later: "It's a Disgrace," Says Expert Andy Worthington, Interview by Brad Jacobson, truthout. "All of the studying that I've done over the years of what purports to be the evidence establishes that there's very little that can be regarded as reliable....when analyzed, are full of statements made by a handful of particular, notoriously unreliable informants." [See : Seton Hall Report (PDF) concluding that 92% of the Guantanamo detainees had not been al-Qaeda fighters; only 5% of the Guantanamo detainees were captured by the Americans themselves; 440 of 517 detainees appeared to have been captured by bounty hunters, in return for a $5,000 reward.] We need decent and honest Americans of all political persuasions to say, 'This is a disgrace, and we'd like it brought to an end.'"
2/10/12 Israel, MEK and state sponsor of Terror groups, by Glenn Greenwald, Salon. "The group of MEK shills includes former top Bush officials and other Republicans (Michael Mukasey, Fran Townsend, Andy Card, Tom Ridge, Rudy Giuliani) as well as prominent Democrats (Howard Dean, Ed Rendell, Bill Richardson, Wesley Clark). As The Christian Science Monitor reported last August, those individuals 'have been paid tens of thousands of dollars to speak in support of the MEK.'... [T]here are numerous Muslims inside the U.S. who have been prosecuted for providing 'material support for Terrorism' for doing far less than these American politicians are publicly doing on behalf of a designated Terrorist group."
2/9/12 VIDEO (1:05:16) Nader and Fein at Harvard Law School: "America's Lawless Empire: The Constitutional Crimes of Bush and Obama", Harvard Law School. "Ralph Nader '58 and Bruce Fein '72 visited Harvard Law School for a talk sponsored by the HLS Forum and the Harvard Law Record. At the event, 'America's Lawless Empire: The Constitutional Crimes of Bush and Obama,' both men discussed what they called lawless, violent practices by the White House and its agencies that have become institutionalized by both political parties."
2/9/12 Famous Spain Judge Convicted of Misusing Authority, by Daniel Woolls, Associated Press. "Baltasar Garzon was unanimously convicted by a seven-judge panel of the Supreme Court. ... Hours after the verdict, hundreds of Garzon supporters braved freezing weather in Madrid's central Sol plaza shouting 'Shame! Shame!' in protest. ... The verdict came despite declarations by Spanish prosecutors that Garzon committed no crime. ... Human rights groups that hold up Garzon as a hero slammed the decision, saying he was targeted by critics who wanted to bring him down."
1/27/12 Justice Dept. takes on itself in probe of 2001 anthrax attacks, by Jerry Markon, The Washington Post. "In documents deep in the files of a recently settled Florida lawsuit, Justice Department civil attorneys contradicted their own department's conclusion that Ivins was unquestionably the anthrax killer. The lawyers said the type of anthrax in Ivins's lab was 'radically different' from the deadly anthrax. They cited several witnesses who said Ivins was innocent, and they suggested that a private laboratory in Ohio could have been involved in the attacks."
1/25/12 Interview with Col. Morris Davis, by The Talking Dog, The Moderate Voice. "When I resigned as chief prosecutor for the military commissions in 2007, I immediately received an order directing me that I couldn't talk about why I had resigned."
1/25/12 Baltasar Garzón: The Man Who Refuses Silence, by William Fisher, The Public Record. "According to West Chester University history professor Lawrence Davidson, Spanish and US authorities want even the remotest possibility of charges against Bush Administration officials to go away – quietly. To this end Spain is attempting to silence 'a very important truth-teller (who has) conducted a number of investigations into violations of international law against torture.' ... He concludes: 'Yet truth-tellers, like Manning, Assange and Garzon have good historical memories and they do notice and do care. They realize that when big truths turn out to be big lies people suffer–they suffer in the millions, bombs range down from the skies, economies falter and the public sphere of life becomes like a poisoned well. That is why accountability for the crimes hidden behind big lies is so important. That is why no government, no politician, no media organization should be allowed to manipulate the truth about the past or the present. On this the future depends.'"
1/25/12 U.S.: Drowning In Hypocrisy, by Paul Craig Roberts, Foreign Policy Journal. "But it is in the War Crimes Arena where Washington shows the greatest hypocrisy. The self-righteous bigots in Washington are forever rounding up heads of weak states whose countries were afflicted by civil wars and sending them off to be tried as war criminals. All the while Washington indiscriminately kills large numbers of civilians in six or more countries, dismissing its own war crimes as 'collateral damage.' Washington violates its own law and international law by torturing people."
1/23/12 Marine charged in Haditha, Iraq, killings pleads guilty to lesser charge, by Stan Wilson, CNN. "After years of delay, the court-martial of the last of eight Marines charged in the shooting deaths of 24 Iraqis in the village of Haditha in 2005 ended in a guilty plea to one count of negligent dereliction of duty, officials said Monday. ... Maximum punishment for the single guilty charge is confinement of three months, two-thirds forfeiture of pay for three months and reduction in rank to private (E-1), McMeen said."
1/20/12 Complaint Filed with U.N. Special Rapporteur, by Matt Eisendbrandt and Katherine Gallagher, Scoop Independent News (NZ). "The complaint focuses on three criminal cases currently before the Spanish courts in which all potential defendants are U.S. citizens. The first is an investigation into the systematic use of torture at U.S.-run detention centers in Guantánamo and elsewhere initiated by Judge Baltasar Garzón, who oversaw the investigation until he was removed from office in 2010. The second case is the so-called 'Bush Six case,' filed against former Bush administration lawyers for elaborating and authorizing a torture policy, and aiding and abetting the torture of detainees. The third case regards the unlawful killing of José Couso Permuy, a Spanish cameraman killed in Baghdad in 2003 as a result of U.S. tank fire at his hotel."
1/17/12 Halting Canadian Bush Prosecution Violated International Obligations, by Matt Eisendbrandt and Katherine Gallagher, JURIST. "One hundred and forty-seven countries, including Canada and the US, are parties to the Convention Against Torture, meaning that those countries have committed to promptly investigate, prosecute and punish torturers. All signatories are obligated to investigate and submit for prosecution, or extradite to another country for prosecution, anyone present in their territory who they reasonably believe has committed torture. In light of Canada's violation of its duty in the case of George W. Bush, we are reviewing our options at the domestic and international levels."
1/13/12 Spanish judge reopens Guantánamo torture probe, by Carol Rosenberg, Miami Herald. "A Spanish judge on Friday re-launched an investigation into the alleged torture of detainees held at the U.S. detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, one day after a British authorities launched a probe into CIA renditions to Libya. The twin developments demonstrated that while the Obama administration has stuck to its promise not to investigate whether Bush administration officials acted illegally by authorizing the use of harsh interrogation techniques, other countries are still interested in determining whether Bush-era anti-terror practices violated international law."
1/13/12 For the families of Haditha, this is a matter of honour, by Nick Broomfield, The Guardian (UK). "This was Bush's My Lai, or, as Pennsylvania congressman John Murtha later put it: 'cold blooded murder.' ... The Iraqi families who turned down the insulting offer of $2,500 in compensation for each family member killed are still waiting to see justice done. As do we all, and to see if the hypocrisy of the Bush era, with its willful disregard for the Geneva conventions, the rule of law, and every other yardstick of a civilised democracy, will continue under the Obama administration. "
1/10/12 'Tortured' Guantanamo Bay prisoner seeks release of secret videos, by Jeff Black, MSNBC News. "In their lawsuit filed Monday, Lawrence Lustberg and Sandra Babcock seek to shed light on the treatment of their client Mohammed al-Qahtani, who was captured in Afghanistan during the hunt for Osama bin Laden in 2001 and was whisked to Guantanamo Bay, where government investigators later identified him as a man who had planned to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. ... In February 2008, he was charged with war crimes and murder, but on May 11 of that same year those charges were dropped. ... 'We tortured Qahtani,' [Bush Administration Official] Susan J. Crawford said. 'His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that's why I did not refer the case' for prosecution."
1/6/12 US war history in 2 minutes: arrest US War Criminals to stop war on Iran, by Carl Herman, Examiner. "US military and/or law enforcement must arrest the current War Criminals to end this history of murder. If not, it will repeat by mass-murdering Iranians, and more ignorant/gullible US soldiers. The basis of law provides US military and all with Oaths to defend the US Constitution to refuse unlawful orders and act to arrest those who issue them."
1/4/11 No Immunity for Torture, World Organization for Human Rights USA. "This recently released report, Indefensible: A Reference for Prosecuting Torture and Other Felonies Committed by U.S. Officials Following September 11th (PDF, 3.4MB)...lays the groundwork for litigation against those responsible for approving and using illegal interrogation techniques that were the official policy of the Bush Administration."
12/5/11 Arrest George W. Bush for Crimes against Peace, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, by Dirk Adriaensens, Centre for Research on Globalization. "More political personalities should have the courage to follow Dr. Mahathir's example. War Crimes should not go unpunished. Visits of Bush & Blair should be protested, wherever they go. War criminals should not feel themselves safe from punishment. Moreover, many countries have the right and the duty to arrest and prosecute War Criminals under the law of Universal Jurisdiction."
12/2/11 Amnesty International calls for arrest of George W. Bush, by Corbett B. Daly, CBS News. "It is not the first time human rights groups have called for Mr. Bush's arrest. Amnesty called for his arrest in October during a visit to Canada and the former president canceled a visit to Switzerland in February on fears that he may have faced legal action there."
12/2/11 The Bush Administration Was an Ongoing Criminal Conspiracy Under International Law and U.S. Domestic Law, by Prof. Francis A. Boyle, Centre for Research on Globalization. "Of course the terrible irony of today's situation is that sixty-five years ago at Nuremberg the U.S. government participated in the prosecution, punishment and execution of Nazi government officials for committing some of the same types of heinous international crimes that the members of the Bush administration inflicted upon people all over the world. "
11/28/11 Kuala Lumpur tribunal: Bush and Blair guilty, by Prof. Richard Falk, Aljazeera. "This recent session of the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal offers a devastating critique of the persisting failures of international criminal law mechanisms of accountability to administer justice justly, that is, without the filters of impunity provided by existing hierarchies of hard power. "
11/25/11 Iran Contra At 25: Reagan and Bush [Sr.] 'Criminal Liability' Evaluations, by Robert O'Dowd, Salem-News.com. "The criminal liability studies were drafted in March 1991 by a lawyer on Walsh's staff, Christian J. Mixter (now a partner in the Washington law firm of Morgan Lewis), and represented preliminary conclusions on whether to prosecute both Reagan and Bush for various crimes ranging from conspiracy to perjury. ... As the scandal unfolded a year later, Reagan and his top aides gathered in the White House Situation Room the day before the November 25 press conference to work out a way to protect the president from impeachment proceedings. On the Contra operations, Mixter determined that Reagan had, in effect, authorized the illegal effort to keep the contra war going after Congress terminated funding by ordering his staff to sustain the contras 'body and soul.' "
11/25/11 Action possible against Bush, Blair, by Eunice Au, New Straits Times. "Bush and Blair were found responsible for the war that had killed more than 1.4 million Iraqis and declared guilty as charged. Whether or not the tribunal's findings will make an impact at the UN assembly, the fact remains that both men had been tried and found guilty, and all countries can take notice of this."
11/23/11 Bush and Blair found guilty of war crimes for Iraq attack, by Glenn Greenwald, Salon. "In other words, because their own nations refuse to hold them accountable and can use their power to prevent international bodies from doing so, the tribunal wanted at least formal legal recognition of these war crimes to be recorded and the evidence of their guilt assembled. ... But the only thing this Malaysian tribunal is doing is applying the clear principles of the Nuremberg Tribunal as enunciated by lead prosecutor and former U.S. Attorney General Robert Jackson in his Opening and Closing Statements at Nuremberg.... That American war criminals are being aggressively shielded from any and all accountability is not an ancillary matter but one of enduring historical significance."
11/22/11 U.S. human rights abuser using PSYOP against Iran: Shocking torture video proof, by Deborah Dupre, Human Rights Examiner. "With impunity, the U.S. has put 80,000 people through its 'rendition' system, kidnapped and taken them to secret prisons that torture according to Reprieve. Specialists such as U.S. Air Force reservist, Lt. Col. Yvonne Bradley report that the American public has only seen 'tip of the iceberg' of torture horrors secretly practiced in their name."
11/20/11 The Prosecution of Tony Blair and George W. Bush: Day 2 of the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal - PNAC, Downing Street Documents, Bush Book All Smoking Guns on Conspiracy to go to War Against Iraq, by Cynthia McKinney, Center for Research on Globalization. "The Prosecution asked that the Tribunal's findings be sent to the International Criminal Court for their information and action and urged individual states to exercise universal jurisdiction 'if ever these war criminals appear on their shores; include the names of these two accused in the Commission's register of war criminals, and inscribe them in the publications of this Tribunal should they be found guilty.' "
11/14/11 KL [Kuala Lumpur] tribunal to try Bush, Blair for Iraq war crimes, by R. Sittamparam, New Straits Times. "The three-day hearing, conducted by seven senior judges headed by retired Federal Court judge Datuk Abdul Kadir Sulaiman, will go on although the two accused leaders and other defendants have yet to respond to the tribunal's notice. ... Yaacob said the tribunal of conscience was modelled on the one convened by philosopher Bertrand Russell in 1966 to try the perpetrators of the Vietnam War."
11/13/11 Former Guantanamo Chief Prosecutor: "A Pair of Testicles Fell Off the President After Election Day", by Jason Leopold, truthout. "Davis continued to publicly oppose the military commission process after his resignation and, more recently, he has also criticized the Obama administration for refusing to hold accountable key Bush officials who implemented a policy authorizing the torture of 'war on terror' detainees."
11/9/11 Guantanamo Trial Opens With A Series Of Firsts, by Dina Temple-Raston, National Public Radio. "For his alleged role [in the USS Cole bombing in 2000], al-Nashiri is being charged with war crimes – including terrorism, conspiracy and murder. ... Another issue: Al-Nashiri was arrested in 2002 and then disappeared for nearly four years. The CIA has since acknowledged that he was in its custody and that he was waterboarded and subjected to other enhanced interrogation techniques. ... 'It is not a real court; this is not fair or legitimate. It is a court organized to convict and a court organized to kill.' "
10/29/11 Former US chief prosecutor condemns 'law-free zone' of Guantánamo, by Ed Vulliamy, The Guardian (UK). "The former chief prosecutor for the US government at Guantánamo Bay has accused the administration he served of operating a 'law-free zone' there, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the order to establish the detention camp on Cuba. Retired air force colonel Morris Davis resigned in October 2007 in protest against interrogation methods at Guantánamo...which he described as 'torture'...."
10/27/11 Argentine case revives call for post 9/11 accountability, by Carol Rosenberg, The Miami Herald. "In Argentina Wednesday night, a court ordered a dozen ex-military officers to serve life in prison for committing crimes against humanity in the treatment and disappearances of thousands of leftists at the Navy Mechanics School, during the country's 1976-83 dirty war. Hours later after a marathon session, Uruguay's Congress lifted its national amnesty law, suddenly making it possible for the first time to prosecute crimes committed during the military dictatorship that ended a quarter century ago. And in Brazil, the legislature endorsed creation of a truth commission to probe crimes committed during the military regime that ruled from 1964 to 1985."
10/21/11 BUSH AND BLAIR TO BE TRIED FOR WAR CRIMES, Press Release, Kuala Lumpur Foundation to Criminalise War. "The prosecution for the trial will be lead by Prof Gurdial S Nijar, prominent law professor and author of several law publications and Prof Francis Boyle, leading American professor, practitioner and advocate of international law, and assisted by a team of lawyers. The trial will be held in an open court on November 19-22, 2011 at the headquarters of the Al-Bukhary Foundation at Jalan Perdana, Kuala Lumpur."
10/19/11 Torture Victims to Initiate Private Prosecution against George W. Bush on His Arrival in Canada, Press Release, Canadian Centre for International Justice. "Matt Eisenbrandt, legal director of the [CCIJ], who will submit the filing on men's behalf, added, 'Canadian law could not be clearer. If an alleged torturer is present in Canada, the government has the power to prosecute. As a signatory of the Convention Against Torture, Canada has an obligation to initiate an investigation when Mr. Bush sets foot in this country.' "
10/13/11 Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch Call For Arrest Of George W. Bush, Huffington Post. "The advocacy organizations have called on Canadian federal authorities to arrest Bush [before his appearance at an economic summit in Surrey, British Columbia on October 20th] due to the 'overwhelming evidence that Bush and other senior administration officials authorized and implemented a regime of torture and ill-treatment of hundreds of detainees in US custody.' "
10/11/11 Justifying the Killing of an American, Editorial, The New York Times. "The decision to kill Mr. Awlaki was made entirely within the executive branch. The memo was not shared with Congress, nor did any independent judge or panel of judges pass judgment. The administration set aside Mr. Awlaki's rights to due process."
10/8/11 Secret U.S. Memo Made Legal Case to Kill a Citizen, by Charlie Savage, The New York Times. "The Obama administration's secret legal memorandum that opened the door to the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born radical Muslim cleric hiding in Yemen, found that it would be lawful only if it were not feasible to take him alive, according to people who have read the document."
10/6/11 Feds urged to detain and investigate Bush for war crimes, by Bryn Weese, Toronto Sun. "The government of Canada has an obligation to start an investigation into former U.S. president George W. Bush's alleged involvement in, and responsibility for crimes under international law, including torture, while he is visiting Canada on 20 October."
10/4/11 War Crimes - Start at the Top Like at Nuremberg, by Lance Ciepiela, OpEdNews. "If justice were to truly prevail in the United States, if the rule of law was really supreme, and if 'no one was above the law' as our officials say, and IF ONLY Obama/Holder had the required courage to 'uphold the laws of the land' and their sworn duties, the Principals of the George W. Bush administration would be tried for the very same war crimes as those at Nuremberg, and these Principals would have a 'Day of Reckoning' in the United States - justice, so swift and sure, helping all of mankind to secure the peace of the world, by serving notice to all would be dictators and tyrants, that evil shall not prevail in the United States."
10/2/11 Abu Ghraib defense attorney faces murder charge, by Dolores Cox, Workers World. "Bergrin, a renowned defense attorney for the poor and people of color, former military officer and former prosecutor, has been aggressively fighting to put Bush and Rumsfeld on trial for the abuses in Iraq. ... Although none of the prosecutor's statements were corroborated, Judge Madeline Arleo denied the bail request and included a $50,000 fine. Bergrin was immediately put in solitary confinement for nine months — and remains in prison to this day. On Oct. 11, Bergrin's trial is scheduled to begin in a federal court in Newark." See also www.paulbergrin.org
9/29/11 Obama: A disaster for civil liberties, by Jonathan Turley, Los Angeles Times. "By blocking the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for torture, Obama violated international law and reinforced other countries in refusing investigation of their own alleged war crimes. ... In time, the election of Barack Obama may stand as one of the single most devastating events in our history for civil liberties."
9/29/11 Ex-U.S. leaders should face justice, by Matt St. Amand, The Windsor Star (Ontario). "The government of Stephen Harper must commit to arresting and prosecuting former U.S. president, George W. Bush, former vice-president, Dick Cheney, former secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld on the charge of war crimes should they ever enter Canada."
9/28/11 VIDEO (5:34) Keith Olbermann - Veterans For Peace Board member Rumsfeld protest Boston. Veterans For Peace Treasurer and Board member Nate Goldshlag interviewed by Keith Olbermann about the attempted citizens arrest on Donald Rumsfeld Sept. 26, 2011.
9/27/11 Vancouver protesters call Dick Cheney a war criminal, by Kevin Drews, The Globe and Mail (Toronto). " 'We're very angry that he has chosen Vancouver as the first location outside of the United States to do a book tour event, and we feel it's important that citizens of Vancouver show that we won't tolerate a war criminal coming and speaking in our town,' said Derrick O'Keefe, co-chair of the StopWar Coalition."
9/23/11 Protesters at Beth El demand jail for former President Bush, by Jonathan Kunesh, Twin Cities Daily Planet. "A protester holding a large sign that read, 'ARREST BUSH FOR WAR CRIMES' said that while a handful of drivers yelled at them, the majority of people who drove by honked their horns and gave them a 'thumbs up' for support."
9/23/11 Cheney and justice for torture victims, by Ariel Dorfman, CNN Opinion. "By refusing to investigate, let alone prosecute, members of the Bush administration who stand accused by many human rights activists of crimes against humanity, the United States is telling the world that it does not obey the treaties it has signed or even its own domestic laws."
9/23/11 Donald Rumsfeld's Ugly Suits, by Joel Handley, In These Times. "If Vance, Ertels and Doe win their cases and receive financial restitution, Attorney General Eric Holder might be emboldened to pursue criminal charges against Rumsfeld and other Bush administration officials who oversaw human rights abuses."
9/20/11 [WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT] UPDATED: Welcome to Boston, Mr. Rumsfeld. You Are Under Arrest., by Ralph Lopez, Daily Kos. "In the criminal complaint filed in Germany against Rumsfeld, Karpinski submitted 17 pages of testimony and offered to appear before the German prosecutor as a witness. Congressman Kendrick Meek of Florida, who participated in the hearings on Abu Ghraib, said of Rumsfeld: 'There was no way Rumsfeld didn't know what was going on....' ... And Major General Antonio Taguba, who led the official Army investigation into Abu Ghraib, said in his report: 'there is no longer any doubt as to whether the [Bush] administration has committed war crimes. The only question is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.' "
9/15/11 Bush Kept Out of Canada, Can We Keep Him Out of Minnesota Too?, by Coleen Rowley, Huffington Post. "Has Beth El Synagogue sold out? I'm referring of course, to their 250 tickets ranging in price from $1250 to $3600 that Synagogue leaders predicted would sell out quickly for an 'intimate evening' with George Bush."
9/12/11 Media Whitewash on Cheney War Crimes Palpable as Whistleblowers Cry Foul, by Gustav Wynn, OpEd News. "New Whistleblowers Joining Old Whistleblowers - With Wilkerson making headlines telling Amy Goodman and Salon's Glenn Greenwald he is 'willing to testify', interest is growing anew, with recent reports coming from several directions."
9/12/11 Who Are These People?, by Robert Parry, Consortium News. "Yet what is perhaps most striking about Keller's article is what's not in it. There is not a single reference to international law, or to the fact that Bush undertook the invasion in defiance of a majority on the United Nations Security Council and in violation of longstanding U.S.-enunciated principles against aggressive war."
9/9/11 Bird-Dogging Torturers in NYC, by Ray McGovern, Consortium News. "In coming to the Rumsfeld/Mukasey/Fleischer/Medved whitewash of the incompetence before 9/11 and then the aggressive wars and torture afterwards, I did not expect to be able to resume the four-minute impromptu debate I had lucked into with Rumsfeld on live TV on May 4, 2006, in Atlanta."
9/9/11 Canada must arrest George W. Bush if he enters Canada, by Lawyers Against the War, Global Research. "In coming to the Rumsfeld/Mukasey/Fleischer/Medved whitewash of the incompetence before 9/11 and then the aggressive wars and torture afterwards, I did not expect to be able to resume the four-minute impromptu debate I had lucked into with Rumsfeld on live TV on May 4, 2006, in Atlanta."
9/8/11 Cheney 'War Criminal' protest crowd at his book talk, by Deborah Dupre, Human Rights Examiner. "Iraq war veterans held a banner that read: '1 million dead, thousands tortured: Bush and Cheney guilty of war crimes — IndictBushNow.org.' "The rights group outside chanted through their megaphones and hands, 'Cheney, you can't hide. We charge you with genocide,' following the voice of Mike Prysner, a former U.S. army soldier," reported the Daily Titan's Susana Cobo."
9/7/11 Obama Team Feared Coup If He Probed War Crimes, by Andrew Kreig, Justice Integrity Project. "Edley's rationale implies that Obama and his team fear the military/national security forces that he is supposed be commanding. It suggests also that Republicans have intimidated him right from the start of his presidency even though voters in 2008 rejected Republicans by the largest combined presidential-congressional mandate in recent U.S. history. ... [T]he White House and Justice Department have, in effect, ignored countless news reports and what must be hundreds of thousands of reader phone calls, letters and emails seeking accountability for Bush-era injustices."
9/3/11 Insider Tells Why Obama Chose Not to Prosecute Torture, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. Peace and justice activist Susan Harman: "Then Dean Chris Edley volunteered that he'd been party to very high level discussions during Obama's transition about prosecuting the criminals. He said they decided against it.... He shrugged and said they will never be prosecuted, and that sometimes politics trumps rule of law."
9/2/11 Cheney: Still no shame, Editorial, The Charleston (SC) Gazette. "History showed that all the Bush-Cheney reasons for the 2003 Iraq invasion were bogus. Yet now the former vice president had the gall to write a churlish memoir claiming he was correct and most of his Bush Republican allies weren't. ... In addition to the Iraq war and his pandering to Wall Street, [Atlantic Magazine] cited his advocacy of torturing Muslim prisoners, plus wiretapping of U.S. citizens, plus lucrative war contracts given without bids to Cheney's Halliburton firm by the Bush administration."
8/30/11 Former Powell Chief of Staff: Cheney "Fears Being Tried as a War Criminal", by Shushannah Walshe, ABC News. "He's developed an angst and almost a protective cover, and now he fears being tried as a war criminal so he uses such terminology as 'exploding heads all over Washington' because that's the way someone who's decided he's not going to be prosecuted acts: boldly, let's get out in front of everybody, let's act like we are not concerned and so forth when in fact they are covering up their own fear that somebody will Pinochet him," Wilkerson said alluding to the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who was arrested for war crimes.
8/30/11 George W. Bush: Canada Must Bar Entry or Arrest and Ensure Prosecution for Torture, by Lawyers Against the War, Global Research. "Canadian courts have recognized that the duty to deny safe haven from prosecution cannot be mitigated in the case of grave and heinous crimes such as torture. Inadmissibility under the IRPA is established when there are "reasonable grounds to believe" the foreign national--in this case George W. Bush--has engaged in torture or other international crimes."
8/26/11 Obama moves more deeply into Bush-Cheney dark side, by Nat Hentoff, Coshocton Tribune. "Almost immediately after he was sworn in, Obama also offered us a pie in the sky by assuring Americans he would close all CIA secret prisons ('black sites') and end 'renditions' of terrorism suspects to countries known for torture."
8/19/11 Obama bans war criminals, except our own , by Nat Hentoff, The Star Democrat. "This means that you, President Obama, are obligated to bring the foregoing list of war criminals during the Bush presidency into our courts or, before that, be subject to an independent criminal investigation. [There are] reasons to believe that you and your administration have also been violating the Geneva Conventions, the Convention Against Torture and U.S. laws."
8/12/11 The Patriot Act and the End of the Rule of Law, by Charles Lugosi, Jurist. "Since 9/11, we are living in a political state where personal privacy, free flow of information and freedom of association have been diminished as a result of the Patriot Act, which weakens the rights of individuals while increasing the military and police power of the state and federal governments."
8/11/11 The shrinking world of George W Bush, by Ali Dayan Hasan, The Express Tribune Interview. "International law binding on the US obliges President Barack Obama to order criminal investigations into allegations of detainee abuse authorised by Bush and his other senior officials. The evidence of torture by the Bush administration is overwhelming."
8/11/11 VIDEO (20:30) U.S. Navy Vet Sues Donald Rumsfeld for Torture in Iraq, Court Allows Case to Move Forward, Democracy Now! Interview. "Donald Vance and Nathan Ertel were working for a private U.S. government contractor, Shield Group Security, in 2006 when they witnessed the sale of U.S. government weapons to Iraqi rebel groups for money and alcohol. After they became FBI informants and collaborated with an investigation into their employer, the company revoked their credentials... [T]hey were arrested and detained by U.S. troops, moved to the U.S.-run prison at Camp Cropper, and subjected to [torture]... eventually released and never charged with a crime."
8/11/11 Commentary: Ignoring the past doesn't erase our responsibility for it, by Dennis Jett, McClatchy Newspapers. "Instead of bearing any responsibility for the war and its aftermath, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell and Tenet rake in seven figure advances for their books and six figure fees for giving speeches to friendly audiences. ... The four failures identified by the Chilcot committee apply even more to Bush since Blair was only acting as Bush's poodle. ... So if crimes were committed and go unpunished, and not even investigated, all Americans are accomplices and the blood is on all our hands."
8/10/11 War Criminals Converging on NYC for 10th Anniversary of 9/11, War Criminals Watch. "These are the people who brought us torture, indefinite detention, and trillion-dollar wars that have claimed countless Afghani, Iraqi and US lives. They should be indicted and prosecuted for their crimes, not honored as speakers and special guests at symposia, memorials and fancy dinners."
8/9/11 Donald Rumsfeld Faces Another Torture Lawsuit, by Patrick G. Lee, The Wall Street Journal Law Blog. "The suit upheld Monday includes unnamed individuals as defendants and it alleges that they, along with Rumsfeld, developed and authorized rights-violating interrogation tactics for use in Iraq in 2006 against the two men, who worked for a private security company at the time."
8/4/11 Judge allows American to sue Rumsfeld over torture , by Nedra Pickler, Associated Press. "In many other cases brought by foreign detainees, judges have dismissed torture claims made against U.S. officials for their personal involvement in decisions over prisoner treatment. But this is the second time a federal judge has allowed U.S. citizens to sue Rumsfeld personally."
7/31/11 The damning of Tony Blair: Former PM to be held to account on Iraq in Chilcot report on war, by Simon Walters, The Mail (UK). "Tony Blair is to face scathing criticism from the official inquiry into the Iraq War for the role he played in leading Britain into one of its biggest foreign policy fiascos in modern history. [He] will be held to account on four main failings: * Bogus claims that were made about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. * Not telling the British public about his secret pledge with George Bush to go to war. * Keeping the Cabinet in the dark by his 'sofa government' style. * Failing to plan to avoid the post-war chaos in Iraq."
7/24/11 National commentary: Don't close the book on U.S. torture policy, by Nat Hentoff, Herald Times Reporter. "So far, there is no record of Petraeus saying torture is wrong to those he now commands in the CIA. Does he agree with Obama and Holder that accountability for this part of the CIA's history not be subject to a full-scale investigation? Is this disgraceful chapter in our history — in our American history — to be closed, [G]eneral? Not on this citizen's watch."
7/22/11 Afghan Judges Accuse U.S. of War Crimes, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "What the United States and NATO are doing, seizing people, locking them up, disappearing them, and torturing them is clearly illegal and against international law, she said. According to international treaties, she went on, when one country occupies another, the host country does not lose its sovereignty, and yet all decisions are now being made by the occupying country without any say by the Afghan government."
7/22/11 Demands for U.S Waterboarding in Thailand to be Investigated, by Richard S. Ehrlich, Scoop News (New Zealand). "The [CIA] agency believed tougher-than-usual tactics were necessary to squeeze information from him [Zubaydah], so Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Jessen flew to a secret CIA prison in Thailand to oversee Zubaydah's interrogation," the Associated Press reported in December 2010, referring to two American psychologists who helped create the CIA's interrogation program. 'The pair waterboarded Zubaydah 83 times, according to previously released records and former intelligence officials,' A.P. reported. ... The CIA's former head, Porter Gross, agreed with his top aide's 2005 decision to destroy videotapes in Thailand of harsh interrogation, according to internal CIA e-mails, A.P. reported in 2010."
7/21/11 The Criminal Fraud of the ICC, by Allen L. Jasson, Media With Conscience. "As a result of the excessive and unreasonable influence of the US the ICC has become a contrived deception of the general global population and governments. While masquerading as an instrument of justice it serves merely as an instrument of imperial power to undermine the authority of governments and support an unfair imbalance of global political and economic power."
7/19/11 VIDEO (11:56) Jeremy Scahill: Eyewitness report on CIA's secret prisons in Somalia and US drone attacks, morning joe, MSNBC.
7/18/11 VIDEO (2:56) Pakistan drone victims seek CIA arrest - Press TV News, Press TV. "Relatives of the drone victimes...filed a complaint with the police in the capital Islamabad against a retired CIA official [John A. Rizzo, former acting general counsel to the CIA] who used to approve a list of persons to be killed every month in Pakistan by US drones... [and] who has publicly confessed* to have approved the killing of innocent civilians in the Pakistan's tribal belt."
*Inside the Killing Machine, by Tara McKelvey, Newsweek (February 13, 2011). "At times, Rizzo sounded cavalier. 'It's basically a hit list,' he said. Then he pointed a finger at my forehead and pretended to pull a trigger."
7/18/11 VIDEO (4:48) Trained for Pain: Get your Torture Degree from School of Americas, Russia Today.
7/18/11 Time Is Right For Americans To Pay Attention To Human Rights Watch's New Torture Report — OpEd, by Andy Worthington, Eurasia Review. "Seven years is a long time to wait for something — anything — resembling justice, and, of course, the Obama administration has been a thorough disappointment, allowing the damning conclusions of an ethics investigation into Yoo and Bybee...to be whitewashed...."
7/18/11 Predator Drones and the International Mafia, by Dr. Reza Pankhurst, Foreign Policy Journal. "Arbitrary extrajudicial executions, carried out at the press of a button from CIA locations in California, with no transparency or accountability, are undoubtedly a violation of international law possibly constituting war crimes. ... According to the Brookings Institution more than 90 percent of those killed have been civilians."
7/13/11 Feds Eye CIA Officer in Prisoner Death, by Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman, Time. "Stormoen, 56, was part of the CIA's paramilitary arm, the Special Activities Division, after leaving the Army. He retired after al-Jamadi's death and received a letter of reprimand for his role in Abu Ghraib. He has since rejoined the intelligence community as a contractor working for a company called SpecTal, which was bought last year by BAE Systems, a leading defense contractor. ... There is no statute of limitations on war crimes if a death is involved."
7/12/11 Obama urged to investigate Bush torture claims, BBC News. "In its 107-page report, HRW [Human Rights Watch] claims there is substantial information warranting criminal investigations of Mr Bush and his senior officials for ordering practises such as waterboarding, the use of secret CIA prisons and the transfer of detainees to countries where they were tortured. ... The failure to investigate officials undermines US efforts to press for accountability for human rights violations abroad in countries like Libya and Sri Lanka, the group argues."
DOWNLOAD 107-PAGE REPORT FROM HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Getting Away With Torture
7/8/11 Avoiding Impunity: The Need to Broaden Torture Prosecutions, by Prof. Marjorie Cohn, Jurist. "Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Yoo have all said they participated in the decision to waterboard and would do it again. Thus, they have admitted the commission of war crimes."
7/2/11 'Obama made deal to cover up torture', Press TV (Iran). "Allen Roland, an online columnist based in California:.... Once again we are talking about covering up for senior people who ordered this.... This is all a cover-up to protect higher-ups -- that's the big thing -- particularly people like Rumsfeld, etc. They are all being protected by this Obama administration."
7/1/11 Torture crimes officially, permanently shielded, by Glenn Greenwald, Salon. "All of those efforts, culminating in yesterday's entirely unsurprising announcement, means that the U.S. Government has effectively shielded itself from even minimal accountability for its vast torture crimes of the last decade. Without a doubt, that will be one of the most significant, enduring and consequential legacies of the Obama presidency."
6/30/11 Justice Department won't pursue bulk of CIA detention cases by Ken Dilanian, Los Angeles Times. "The announcements mean that no CIA officer will face criminal prosecution in connection with interrogations that the agency's inspector general and a former Bush Justice Department official concluded exceeded what lawyers had authorized.... [S]aid Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU's National Security Project[:] 'The central problem was not with interrogators who disobeyed orders, but with senior officials who authorized a program.' "
6/29/11 Memoirs of Torturers by David Swanson, War Is A Crime. "This is the story of how a none-too-bright, self-centered, insecure, careerist bureaucrat with weak principles, a fragile ego, a troubled marriage, and no interrogation experience, but the ability to actually speak Arabic, was chosen to lead the interrogating (or 'interviewing') of an innocent man the CIA boneheadedly believed to be a 'top al Qaeda terrorist' when they kidnapped him off a street and flew him to an undisclosed location outside any rule of law.... Carle concludes his book by opposing prosecuting anyone involved in the crimes he was involved in."
6/24/11 One Tiny Voice, by William Manson, Counterpunch. "You see, I discovered who (and what) the voice is. It is the voice of conscience--a voice often unheard in the mad activity and mindless diversions of our daily lives, but a voice utterly true to our truest, innermost selves.
So, as you might expect, I stopped hearing the voice--stopped, because I became the voice. I don't know what I can accomplish, but I can't really go back to the way things were. In any way I can, by speaking up, I will challenge my friends' complacency, my neighbors' self-indulgence, by speaking for something so much greater than our personal comforts: Justice. And this is what I will say: George W. Bush is a mass murderer."
6/23/11 Washington's Hardliners Are Guilty of Treason: Team B's Direct Connection To 9/11, by Saman Mohammadi, OpEdNews. "If Rumsfeld, Cheney and Wolfowitz were chased out of town like rats for spreading lies and manipulating the public in the 1970s and 1980s then these traitorous demons would not have been confident and powerful enough to stage the 9/11 attacks. They should be hanged for deceiving the U.S. military and the American people and committing crimes humanity in the Middle East."
6/22/11 The true definition of "Terrorist", by Glenn Greenwald, Salon. "The U.S. repeatedly tried to kill Saddam at the start of the Iraq War, and -- contrary to Obama's early pledges -- has done the same to Gadaffi in Libya."
6/20/10 U.S. officially drop all charges against Osama bin Laden, Daily Mail (UK).
• June 6, 2006: FBI says, "No hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11", by Ed Haas, Muckraker Report, Global Research. See also Project Censored (Top 25 of 2008): #16 No Hard Evidence Connecting Bin Laden to 9/11
6/15/11 Osama bin Laden: Closing the Case on an Innocent Man - A Bush Era Lie: they made the whole thing up., by Gordon Duff, Salem-News. "The real Osama bin Laden was someone few Americans knew anything about. He knew nothing of Al Qaeda, never planned 9/11, never advocated terrorism, not once, but he did make enemies. Bin Laden, in 2001, believed Israel would push the US into a war across the Middle East, a war that would go on for years."
6/13/11 Haunted by Homicide: Federal Grand Jury Investigates War Crimes and Torture in Death of 'the Iceman' at Abu Ghraib, Plus Other Alleged CIA Abuses, by Mark Thompson, Time.
6/13/11 Families say Guantanamo 'suicides' were killings, by Stephen M. Walt, Agence France-Presse. "A subsequent medical exam revealed that his son's esophagus had been ripped out and his body bore signs of torture, including several injection marks on his hands, according to Zahrani."
6/13/11 VIDEO (8:47) A Security and Finance State that Dominates the American People: Interview with Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, The Real News. (At 1:01) "The thing that probably tunred me off from my enthusiasm for Truth, Justice, and the American Way, more than any other element of what occurred during the Bush administration--the Cheney administration... the thing that really got me was torture--torture and abuse. ... This was a perversion of American values and a perversion of American beliefs."
6/8/11 War Crimes and Misdemeanors, by Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy.
6/6/11 Impeachment or an obsolete Constitution?, by Bob Patterson, OpEd News. "Has President Obama become the first Nobel Peace Prize winner to be subject to arrest in The Hague for war crimes?"
6/3/11 Former Gitmo Prosecutor: "Torture has no place as evidence in what purports to be an American military court of justice", by Matt Welch, Reason Magazine. "Morris Davis used to be the United States government's chief prosecutor for military commissions at Guantanamo Bay. He resigned in late 2007 to protest the admission of evidence obtained via torture." Read his first person account here (TORTURE: FINDING OUR MORAL COMPASS).
6/2/11 A memo on torture to John Yoo, by Vincent Iacopino, MD, PhD, The Guardian (UK). "The acts of torture that John Yoo and other Bush administration officials so proudly defend are nothing less than war crimes that, in the absence of accountability, continue to undermine the United States' claim to respect the rule of law."
5/31/11 Conditioned To Love Deception, by Ethan Jacobs, J.D., Activist Post. "Sadly, people who refuse to objectively examine the overwhelming evidence that 9/11 was a false flag operation, or simply 'don't want to know,' act as accomplices to the crimes of that day. Allowing the true perpetrators to evade justice and even prosper is clearly aiding and abetting them."
5/31/11 'Obama is convicting himself of war crimes in Afghanistan', by Rick Rozoff, PressTV (Iran).
5/30/11 French lawyers to sue Sarkozy for war-crimes over Libya campaign, by Agence France-Presse, News.com (Australia).
5/28/11 Anatomy of a Murder: How NATO Killed Qaddafi Family Members, by Cynthia McKinney, Dissident Voice. "On 22 May 2011, I had the opportunity to visit the residence of the Qaddafi family, bombed to smithereens by NATO.... According to the BBC, the NATO military operations chief stated that a 'command and control center' had been hit. That is a lie."
5/26/11 Libya under NATO attack, by Cynthia McKinney, Dissident Voice. "Whatever the military objectives of the attack (and I and many others question the military value of these attacks) the fact remains the air attack was launched [against] a major city packed with hundreds of thousands of civilians.... What we do know, and what is quite clear, is this: what I experienced last night is no 'humanitarian intervention.'"
5/20/11 There is Much More to Say, by Noam Chomsky, ZNet.
5/25/11 Daniel Ellsberg: "Secrets ... Can Be Kept Reliably ... For Decades ... Even Though They Are Known to THOUSANDS of Insiders", Washington's Blog. "In summary, the claim that conspiracies couldn't have happened or else we would have known when someone bragged about their deeds [is] completely false. Conspiracies are generally not discovered unless the facts are aggressively investigated and prosecuted."
5/20/11 There is Much More to Say, by Noam Chomsky, ZNet.
5/20/11 Obama's "Original Sin" Against Morality, by Andrew Levine, Counterpunch. "If Bush and Cheney can go free, there is impunity for anyone 'too big' to be brought to justice without shaking the system to its foundations. In Obama's America, the rule of law is just for the little people; and, despite Nuremburg and the UN Charter, their counterparts in the international arena."
5/19/11 Time to Tell the Truth: Obama Ought to be Impeached, by Mark Goldman, OpEd News. "The fact is that Obama has continued to commit many of the crimes that Bush and his administration committed, including murder, torture, renditions, indefinite detentions, launching illegal war and other crimes including various war crimes and other affronts against the Constitution."
5/16/11 US Government Spying on Americans, Lawsuits Against Telecom Partners, by Tom Burghardt, Global Research (Canada). "What should interest readers here, is the fact that while the Obama administration wages war on whistleblowers like Thomas Drake, Bradley Manning and others, who expose waste, fraud, abuse and war crimes, the architects and perpetrators of those offenses, high-level corporate and government officials, escape justice and continue to operate with impunity."
5/16/11 Supreme Court refuses terror suspects' case alleging CIA torture, by Warren Richey, The Christian Science Monitor. "U.S. officials have acknowledged that such a policy [extraordinady rendition] existed, but the government nonetheless urged the courts to throw the case out because the litigation would disclose state secrets."
5/15/11 The Catholic voice in the torture debate, by Father John A. Coleman, SJ, Catholic San Francisco. "It would be ironic and perverse for Christians who worship a man who was tortured and killed, to use torture themselves."
5/13/11 Inside the Detainee Abuse Task Force, by Joshua E.S. Phillips, The Nation. "It didn't accomplish anything—it was a whitewash."
5/13/11 The quaint and obsolete Nuremberg principles, by Glenn Greenwald, Salon. "Comparisons [to Bin Laden] aside: what is clear is that Bush's crimes are grave, of historic proportion, and it's simply impossible for anyone who believes in the Nuremberg Principles to deny that."
5/11/11 Bin Laden's death and the debate over torture, by Sen. John McCain (R - Ariz.), The Washington Post. "I asked CIA Director Leon Panetta for the facts, and he told me the following: The trail to bin Laden did not begin with a disclosure from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was waterboarded 183 times."
5/11/11 AUDIO (7:29) Cynthia McKinney: Attack on Gaddafi Family Shows Obama as "War Criminal", Black Agenda Radio. "If there was anyone who doubted that our president was a war criminal, there is no doubt anymore."
5/9/11 VIDEO (2:00) Activists Confront Condoleeza Rice at Stanford University, Code Pink. "You are a war criminal... You should be ashamed of standing in front of law students and law professors as if you knew anything about international law...."
5/9/11 The Targeted Assassination of Osama Bin Laden, by Marjorie Cohn, law professor, author.
5/5/11 Angry Colonel [Lawrence Wilkerson] On MSNBC: Let Me Waterboard Rumsfeld And 'We'll See If He Says It's Torture', by Matt Schneider, MEDIAite (includes video clip).
5/5/11 Gaddafi, Obama, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld — All War Criminals, by Rick Bronson, From the Trenches World Report.
5/2/11 Applying the Law in Guantanamo: 'The Government's Narrative Was a Lie', by Col. Morris Davis, Der Spiegel (Germany). When he arrived at Guantanamo in 2005 as chief prosecutor, Colonel Morris Davis thought that he would be dealing exclusively with fanatical terrorists. But he soon realized that many prisoners shouldn't have been imprisoned at all. In a contribution for SPIEGEL, he describes his path from idealism to disillusionment.
4/29/11 The Easter Message Most Christians Didn't Hear ... and Should Have, by Rev. William E. Alberts, Ph.D., CounterPunch.
4/25/11 Newly leaked documents show the ongoing travesty of Guantànamo, by Glenn Greenwald, Salon.
4/25/11 Guantànamo Files: The essential primer, by Natasha Lennard, Salon.
• Almost 100 of the inmates who passed through Guantànamo are listed by their captors as having had depressive or psychotic illnesses. Many went on hunger strike or attempted suicide.
• Children and senile old men were among the detainees, including "an 89-year-old Afghan villager, suffering from senile dementia, and a 14-year-old boy who had been an innocent kidnap victim."
• "Authorities relied heavily on information obtained from a small number of detainees under torture. They continued to maintain this testimony was reliable even after admitting that the prisoners who provided it had been mistreated." [cont'd]
4/22/11 Ex-Blackwater Guards Face Renewed Charges, by James Risen, The New York Times.
4/22/11 ElBaradei suggests war crimes probe of Bush team, Associated Press.
4/11/11 Video: US troops fire on Iraqi detainees, Press TV (Iran). "The footage shows US forces using disproportionate force and live rounds against prisoners at the US prison facility Camp Bucca located in Iraq. The Iraqi detainees were protesting the American troops' desecration of Islam's holy book, the Qur'an."
3/26/11 The Case against George W. Bush under Torture Law, by Michael Ratner, Global Research.
3/25/11 Suit Filed on Behalf of Spanish Judge, by The Associated Press, The New York Times.
3/21/11 Nader, Kucinich call Libya action "impeachable", by Peter Finocchiaro, Salon.
3/11/11 Guantanamo: Obama Turns The Clock Back To The Days Of Bush's Kangaroo Courts And Worthless Tribunals, by Andy Worthington, The Public Record.
3/7/11 Obama approves Guantanamo prosecutions, reversing vow, by Paul Koring, The Globe and Mail.
2/25/11 Spanish Judges Rule Case on US Torture Can Continue, Center for Constitutional Rights.
2/19/11 Indictment For Torture Filed Against George W. Bush: The Facts, by Andy Worthington, Eurasia Review.
2/15/11 Activists Encourage Spanish Government to Prosecute Bush Administration Lawyers, by Staff, InfoZine (Kansas City).
2/8/11 AP IMPACT: At CIA, grave mistakes, then promotions, by By Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press. "In the years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, officers who committed serious mistakes that left people wrongly imprisoned or even dead have received only minor admonishments or no punishment at all, an Associated Press investigation has revealed."
2/8/11 George Bush: Preliminary Indictment For Torture, by Stephen Lendman, Countercurrents.
2/7/11 Bush cancels Europe trip amid calls for his arrest, by Justin Elliott, Salon.
2/6/11 George W. Bush cancels trip to Switzerland amid calls for protests & war crimes investigation, by Philip Caulfield, New York Daily News.
2/4/11 Japan parliament calls for Iraq war inquiry, by Barbara Bayer, Press TV, Tokyo.
2/4/11 Anti-torture group urges Swiss to probe Bush, Expatica Switzerland.
2/3/11 Rumsfeld remains largely unapologetic in memoir, by Bradley Graham, The Washington Post.
1/28/11 Bush, Obama, Wiki and the CIA, by William Fisher, truthout.
1/26/11 Blair sister-in-law wants him tried for Iraq crimes, Agence France-Presse.
1/24/11 Special Counsel: Bush Administration Broke Law, CBS News.
1/24/11 U.S. Condemns Tyranny While Torturing Bradley Manning, by Juan Cole, Veterans Today.
1/24/11 It Gets Worse: The Ongoing Torture of Bradley Manning, by Charles Davis, CriminalJustice.Change.org.
1/24/11 More evidence of US war crimes, by Patrick Martin, World Socialist Web Site. The ACLU states that 25-30 of the 190 deaths that occurred under custody of the U.S. government at Guantanamo Bay were "unjustifiable homicides."
1/22/11 Swiss groups plan protest, legal action during Bush visit to Geneva, The Associated Press. "Bush is taking part in a Feb. 12 dinner hosted by the United Israel Appeal.... Protest co-ordinator Paolo Gilardi said several groups will seek Bush's arrest on war crimes charges during the visit."
1/22/11 Blair should be prosecuted to prevent future illegal wars, says MP. By IRNA, TwoCircles.net (India).
1/21/11 Iraq: 'evidence for criminal case against Blair' says expert. Michael Mansfield QC tells Channel 4 News that there is enough evidence for the International Criminal Court to mount a case against Tony Blair (includes VIDEO, 5:41), Channel 4 News (UK).
1/21/11 'Blair should be tried for war crimes', interview with Dr. Shahrar Ali, Britain Green Party, London (includes VIDEO, 24:29), PressTV (Iran).
1/21/11 Reversal of Guantànamo policy 'will harm US reputation abroad', interview with Jonathan Hafetz, Associate Professor of Law at Seton Hall University, Newark, NJ, Deutsche Welle (Germany).
1/20/11 Former CIA "Ghost Prisoner" Abu Zubaydah Recognized as "Victim" in Polish Probe of Secret Prison, by Andy Worthington.
1/20/11 'War-crimes' complaint centred around role of chain of command, documents show, by Colin Freeze, The Globe and Mail (Toronto).
1/18/11 Pentagon Propaganda on Gitmo Prisoners Releases, by Andy Worthington, The Future of Freedom Foundation.
1/18/11 'I wake up screaming': A Gitmo nightmare - Islamic scholar's experience sheds light on counterterrorism efforts in wake of 9/11 attacks, by Carol Grisanti and Fakhar ur Rehman, NBC News.
1/17/11 Exclusive: DoJ veteran sees 'dangerous precedent' in letting Bush officials walk, by Brad Jacobson, The Raw Story.
1/12/11 Will Bush's Torture Memo Team Face Justice in Spain?, by Nancy Goldstein, The Nation.
1/7/11 Bringing the 'Bush Six' to justice, by Michael Ratner, The Guardian (UK).
1/7/11 Rights Groups Urge Spanish Judge to Subpoena Former Guantànamo Commander for Role in Detainee Torture, Center for Constitutional Rights.
1/6/11 Ending Bush's big lie on Guantànamo, by Andy Worthington, The Guardian (UK).
1/4/11 PODCAST The Rob Kall Bottom Up Radio Show Podcast: Andy Worthington [on] Guantànamo Prison, Wikileaks and Julian Assange, by Rob Kall, OpEdNews.
12/27/10 Dick Cheney's $250-Million 'Get Out of Jail Free' Card, by John Nichols, The Nation.
12/24/10 From Florida to Spain, intrigue to stop a judge, by Carol Rosenberg, The Miami Herald. WikiLeaks cables revealed a secret concerted U.S. effort to stop a crusading Spanish judge from investigating a torture complaint against former Bush administration officials.
12/23/10 Pakistani drone victim seeks to put US on trial Associated Press
12/23/10 CIA drone strikes: a legal war? Channel 4 News (Belfast)
12/17/10 Bush Sr., James Baker Instrumental in Getting Nigeria to Drop Bribery Charges Against Cheney by Jason Leopold, truthout
12/7/10 Nigeria charges Dick Cheney with bribery, by Jennifer Epstein, Politico.
12/5/10 Cables reveal policies of war, torture by Bush, Obama, by Thomas E. Reifer, San Diego Union Tribune.
12/1/10 Nigeria to Charge Dick Cheney in Pipeline Bribery Case, by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo, Bloomberg.
12/1/10 Wikileaks: US pressured Spain over CIA rendition and Guantànamo torture, by Giles Tremlett, The Guardian (UK).
12/1/10 Obama and GOPers Worked Together to Kill Bush Torture Probe, by David Corn, Mother Jones.
12/1/10 Zimbabwe's Mugabe: Why not indict Bush and Blair?, Reuters Africa.
11/29/10 WikiLeaks v. the imperial presidency's poodle, by Pratap Chatterjee, The Guardian (UK).
11/24/10 Insouciant America, by Paul Craig Roberts, Pacific Free Press
11/23/10 The Two Most Essential, Abhorrent, Intolerable Lies Of George W. Bush's Memoir, by Dan Froomkin, The Huffington Post
11/23/10 A Liar's Narrative: George W. Bush's "Decision Points", by Bud Goodall, OpEdNews
11/22/10 RALPH NADER: Bush at large, The Register Citizen (Litchfield County, CT)
11/19/10 VIDEO (6:04) COUNTDOWN with Keith Olbermann:
BUSH WARNED TO KEEP BOOK TOUR DOMESTIC

11/19/10 Bush branded a 'war criminal' at Rocky's Salt Lake rally, by Derek P. Jensen, The Salt Lake Tribune
11/19/10 About (Late) Last Night: George W. Bush wins big laughs on 'The Tonight Show' (includes NBC video clips), Los Angeles Times Entertainment blog
11/18/10 Obama's Torture Problem, by David Cole, The New York Review of Books Blog
11/17/10 Floridians confront Bush for 9/11, war crimes (video), by Deborah Dupré, Examiner.com
11/17/10 Hundreds of masked protesters call for George Bush to be arrested for war crimes as he opens Presidential Centre in Dallas, Daily Mail (UK)
11/16/10 Accountability for Torture (in Britain), "The contrast could not be more distressing." Editorial, The New York Times
11/16/10 INTERVIEW-UN expert urges full U.S. torture investigation, by Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters Africa
11/12/10 Damn Wrong: Bush Admission on Torture Should Draw Special Prosecutor, by Elizabeth Holtzman, The Huffington Post
11/11/10 Outrage Mounts over Bush's Waterboarding "Confession", by Wiliam Fisher, Inter Press Service
11/11/10 ACLU: Investigate Bush for Waterboarding Admissions, CBS News
11/10/10 Amnesty International: US must begin criminal investigation of torture following Bush admission, (AI Press Release)
11/10/10 George Bush could face arrest over sanctioning torture, says leading human rights lawyer, by Tim Shipman, James Slack and Tom Leonard, Daily Mail (UK)
11/10/10 Bush Lying in Memoir, Says Ex-German Leader, CBS News
11/12/10 George Bush Book 'Decision Points' Lifted From Advisers' Books, by Ryan Grim, The Huffington Post
11/9/10 The People vs. Bush: How to Prosecute a President, by Charlotte Dennett, The Huffington Post
11/9/10 Special Prosecutor Declines to File Criminal Charges Over Destruction of CIA Torture Tapes, by Jason Leopold, truthout. "Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, said Durham's decision 'is stunning.' 'There is ample evidence of a cover up regarding the destruction of the tapes,' Romero said. 'The Bush administration was instructed by a court of law not to destroy evidence of torture, but that's exactly what it did....' "
10/19/10 Obama Working Hard to Shield Ashcroft from Penalty for His Crimes, by David Swanson, War Is A Crime.org
10/18/10 VIDEO (7:49) Citizens Arrest of Condi Rice, War Criminal in San Francisco, CODEPINK
9/18/10 Blair's Journey: Questions Before Charge. Evidence of Extensive War Crimes Committed by a British Prime Minister, by Dr. David Halpin, Global Research
9/8/10 Nuremberg is valid precedent for Iraq trials, by Cesar Chelala, MD, PhD, Gulf Times (Qatar)
9/4/10 VIDEO Interview With Kate O'Sullivan after making Citizen's Arrest on Tony Blair (Ireland)
9/2/10 Where to Arrest Karl Rove
9/1/10 A Court Without Jurisdiction: A Critical Assessment of the Military Commission Charges Against Omar Khadr, by Prof. David W. Glazier, Loyola Law School Los Angeles
8/18/10 Other countries probing Bush-era torture — Why aren't we?, by Shashank Bengali, McClatchy Newspapers
8/18/10 EDITORIAL: Barack Obama, war criminal, The Washington Times
8/10/10 Iraq Veterans Against the War Calls for Prosecution of Bush Administration Officials for War Crimes, Common Dreams
8/8/10 [Ret. US Brig. Gen.] Stephen Xenakis: Omar Khadr's unlikely defender, by Michelle Shephard, The Toronto Star
8/7/10 Khadr trial will be a window into America's war on terror, by Carol Rosenberg, The Miami Herald
7/27/10 Hold U.S. Leaders Accountable for War Crimes: LEGAL AUTHORITY, by Sherwood Ross, Veterans Today
7/26/10 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange: Documents on 'thousands' of possible US war crimes in Afghanistan N.Y. Daily News
7/15/10 Author of Torture Memos Admits Some Techniques Were Not Approved By DOJ by Jason Leopold, truthout
7/13/10 Fox Host: Bush and Cheney 'Should Have Been Indicted'
7/12/10 VIDEO (2:27) C-SPAN: JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO INTERVIEWED BY RALPH NADER:

JUDGE NAPOLITANO [at 1:04]: "So what President Bush did with the suspension of habeas corpus, with the whole concept of Guantanamo Bay, with the whole idea that he could avoid and evade federal laws, treaties, federal judges and the Constitution was blatantly unconstitutional and in some cases criminal...."
RALPH NADER: "What should be the sanction?"
JUDGE NAPOLITANO: "They should have been indicted! They absolutely should have been indicted — for torturing, for spying, for arresting without, without warrant...."
RALPH NADER [at 1:43]: "So you think George W. Bush and Dick Cheney should, even though they've left office, they haven't escaped the criminal laws, they should be indicted and prosecuted?"
JUDGE NAPOLITANO: "The evidence in this book, and in others — our colleague, the great Vincent Bugliosi has amassed an incredible amount of evidence; the purpose of this book was not to amass that evidence, but I do discuss it — is, is overwhelming, when you compare it to the level of evidence required for a normal indictment, that George W. Bush, as President, and Dick Cheney, as Vice President, participated in criminal conspiracies to violate the federal law and the guaranteed civil liberties of hundreds, maybe thousands, of human beings."

7/13/10 Rep. Nadler: Investigate torture or face road to 'tyranny' by Sahil Kapur, the raw story
7/9/10 Torture Complicity Under the Spotlight in Europe (Part Two): Germany and France by Andy Worthington, The Public Record
7/6/10 Torture Complicity Under the Spotlight in Europe (Part One): The UK by Andy Worthington, The Public Record
6/28/10 Antitorture group demands probe of doctors' roles in experiments on detainees The Christian Century
6/27/10 Obama won't charge Blackwater with violation of Sudan sanctions
6/14/10 Did CIA Doctors Commit War Crimes for Bush?
6/4/10 Bush admits to war crimes in Grand Rapids speech
5/20/10 VIDEO (18:00) The People v. Bush Author Charlotte Dennett Interview on Chelsea Green TV (Extended) discusses her campaign to prosecute Geroge W. Bush for murder and the Accountability Movement
5/4/10 The Battle for Justice Heats Up, by Charlotte Dennett, The Huffington Post
5/3/10 Prosecuting A Tortured Child: Obama's Guantanamo Legacy, by Andy Worthington, Eurasia Review
5/2/10 Bush and Blair Guilty of War Crimes and Genocide, by Peter Eyre, The Palestinian Telegraph
4/28/10 Drone Pilots Could Be Tried for 'War Crimes,' Law Prof Says, by Nathan Hodge and Noah Shachtman, WIRED Magazine
4/26/10 Members of U.S. Congress Circulate Anti-ICC Letter, by Mark Leon Goldberg, UN Dispatch
4/24/10 Tony Blair, Very Close to Being Indicted for War Crimes, by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky, GlobalResearch.ca
4/22/10 Why Were CIA Interrogation Tapes Destroyed?, by Robert Baer, Time Magazine
4/21/10 Tony Blair stands accused, by Prof. Shad Saleem Farudi, The Star (Malaysia)
4/16/10 Secret CIA Documents: CIA Officers May Have 'Lied' About Permission To Destroy Torture Tapes, ABC News
4/14/10 Wilkerson Demolishes Bush, Cheney, And Rumsfeld's Lies About Guantanamo, by Andy Worthington, The Public Record. Download Wilkerson affidavit, 3/24/10 (9 pages, 908KB PDF)
4/14/10 Crimes without punishment: The question of accountability for human rights abuses in the Bush era has not been resolved by the Obama administration, by J. Patrice McSherry, The Guardian (UK)
4/9/10 Ramsey Clark chosen to head commission to investigate Bush crimes, Veterans Today
4/8/10 A duty to uphold the law, even in war, by Benjamin B. Ferencz, prosecutor at the Nuremberg war crimes trials after World War II.
4/2/10 Washington Post Warns That Prosecuting Crime of Aggression Might Deter It, by David Swanson
4/1/10 United States Should Join the International Criminal Court, by Amitabh Pal, The Progressive
4/1/10 The Case for Impeachment of President Barack Obama, by David Lindorff
3/23/10 Journalist attempts citizen's arrest of Blair in EU parliament, by Leigh Phillips, EUobserver
3/20/10 Iraq Inquiry asks to question George Bush's senior officials, The Daily Telegraph (UK), Iraq: Bush team should talk, Boston Globe editorial (3/23/10)
3/15/10 Cynthia McKinney: Leaders' lack of respect for rule of law makes us all victims of 9/11
3/4/10 The People v. Bush: How to Prosecute a President, by Charlotte Dennett
3/3/10 Transcript: Jonathan Hafetz on GITMO lawyers, by Glenn Greenwald
3/1/10 How the Torture Lawyers Broke the Law, and Why They Must be Punished, by Steve Sheppard, Judge Enfield Professor of Law, University of Arkansas School of Law
2/23/10 Lawyers and Journalists' Group Sees No End in Sight to the Controversy over Bush "Torture Lawyers", by The Justice Robert Jackson Steering Committee
2/22/10 David Margolis Is Wrong, by David Luban
2/15/10 Cheney Admits to War Crimes, Media Yawns, Obama Turns the Other Cheek, by Jason Leopold
2/12/10 Cynthia McKinney: Munich Peace Speeches
2/6/10 Why We Can't Afford to Let Obama Give Bush's War Criminals a Free Pass, by Charlotte Dennett

6. WAR PROPAGANDA/PROVOCATION

To understand how to end wars, we must understand how they're started —
WAR IS A LIE (Video, 11:08)

End US Wars calls upon our fellow war resisters to become disablers of war party mentality. To do this, we have to confront and reject war propaganda.

In the video below left, long-time peace activist Dr. Graeme MacQueen, Professor of Religious Studies and founding director of the Centre for Peace Studies, McMaster University in Toronto, Canada, explains how he became aware of the "fraudulent trigger incident" (referring to 9/11) that allowed the American public to accept the October 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, which had been planned months in advance.

The 36-minute video presents a "Challenge to the Peace Movement" delivered by Professor MacQueen on September 13, 2009 in New York City. It's all the more relevant relevant now, as we see no end to our wars, while more and more failed "terrorist" plots are being overhyped by the media to keep Americans in a constant state of fear. (See below: Video "YEMEN: Connect the Dots..." and RELATED ARTICLES.)

MacQueen: [above, at 31:15] " ... I watched the
official narrative dissolve before my eyes in two or
three days. I want to offer that same challenge to
the rest of the peace movement. This is important.
How can you claim to understand war if you don't
understand the events that trigger it?"

7. 9/11: STOP THE LYING. STOP DENYING. START DEFYING.
Exposing the 9/11 Fraud Will End U.S. Wars. Period.

• 1,923 Professional Architects and Engineers (verified) Demand New, Truly Independent 9/11 Investigation
• 17,163 Others (and growing) Signed a Petition to Congress
• Consensus911.org Expert analysis of "best evidence" opposing the official narrative about 9/11.
• REMEMBER BUILDING 7 Donate to help air 30-second TV spot.
• 9/11 COMMISSION CAMPAIGN: Citizens Working For a New 9/11 Investigation Through The Ballot Initiative
• VIDEO (19:32) Psychologists on coping with 9/11 truth: Why is Explosive 9/11 Evidence so Hard to Accept?, AE911truth.

"Understanding the full truth of 9/11 seems to require two separate awakenings. The first, awakening to the fraudulence of the 'official 9/11 story,' is a pretty simple brain function and only requires a little study, logic or curiosity..... The second step, however, consciously confronting the implications of that knowledge—and what it says about our media, politics and economic system today—is by far the harder awakening and requires an enormous exercise of nerve and heart." —How To Begin Questioning? 911truth.org

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE? The Twin Towers burned for only 56 and 102 minutes respectively before being suddenly [PHOTO], explosively [PHOTO], and totally demolished [PHOTO] in less than 15 seconds. Damage of this magnitude simply cannot be caused by an airplane impact [VIDEO, 0:36] and localized office fires, regardless of duration. The official explanation contradicts universal laws of physics [VIDEO, 5:32], as well as common sense.

COINCIDENCE? The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were the single "catastrophic and catalyzing event — like a new Pearl Harbor" which was eerily predicted in a September 2000 report by the neo-conservative think tank Project for the New American Century. It was considered a necessary accelerant for the "process of transformation" of the U.S. military to ensure global American dominance in the 21st century (See p. 51 of the 90-page report, PDF). Many PNAC members (Cheney, Libby, Perle, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz) later held powerful positions in the Bush Administration, which repeatedly exploited the 9/11 tragedy in order to:

   • justify "preventive" wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (which had been planned before 9/11);
   • launch a never-ending global "War on Terror";
   • pass and continue to extend the insidiously-named "Patriot [U.S.A.P.A.T.R.I.O.T.] Act";
   • create a vast Orwellian cabinet department to protect "The Homeland";
   • legalize surveillance on innocent American citizens — and secrecy for guilty Government officials;
   • impose Islamophobia as our national religion and torture as our foreign policy;
      and finally
   • escalate military spending to astronomical levels, to benefit the power elite, while neglecting critical domestic needs in education, health care, social services and infrastrcuture.

9/11 CHANGED EVERYTHING.
ONLY 9/11 TRUTH WILL CHANGE IT BACK:

WEBSTER TARPLEY (above) historian, investigative journalist and author of 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA. A well-researched, scholarly presentation from 2006 with historical examples on how the 9/11 "false flag" operation was staged by the shadow government, using patsies, moles, technicians, and professional killers — under cover of multiple routine military drills which were "flipped live" on the morning of 9/11.

Q. WOULD THE U.S. MILITARY DO SOMETHING SO BARBARIC TO INNOCENT CIVILIANS?
A. YES.

NORTHWOODS Memorandum, Classified "TOP SECRET" 13 March 1962, DECLASSIFIED November 1997 for the Assassination Records Review Board [Read the entire 201-page document here.].
5/1/01 "U.S. Military Wanted to Provoke War With Cuba", by David Ruppe, ABC News. "In the early 1960s, America's top military leaders reportedly drafted plans to kill innocent people and commit acts of terrorism in U.S. cities... [including] the possible assassination of Cuban émigrés, sinking boats of Cuban refugees on the high seas, hijacking planes, blowing up a U.S. ship, and even orchestrating violent terrorism in U.S. cities...as ways to trick the American public and the international community into supporting a war to oust Cuba's then new leader, communist Fidel Castro [emphasis added]." (It has been suggested that President Kennedy's blunt rejection of the plan led to an assassination plot against him by agents of the shadow government.)
11/21/11 SEE ALSO "The Doomsday Project and Deep Events: JFK, Watergate, Iran-Contra, and 9/11" by Prof. Peter Dale Scott, The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 9, Issue 47 No. 2, Nov. 21, 2011. "I shall try to show today that in this respect 9/11 was only the culmination of a sequence of deep events reaching back to the Kennedy assassination if not earlier, and that the germs of the Doomsday Project can be detected behind all of them."
2/7/12 ...AND SYRIA: CIA-MI6 Intel Ops and Sabotage by Felicity Arbuthnot, Centre for Research on Globalizatiom, "In late 2003, the year of the Iraq invasion, Matthew Jones, a Reader in International History, at London's Royal Holloway College, discovered 'frighteningly frank' documents: 1957 plans between then UK Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, and then President, Dwight Eisenhower, endorsing: 'a CIA-MI6 plan to stage fake border incidents as an excuse for an invasion (of Syria) by Syria's pro-western neighbours.' "

"Credible scientific evidence brings into question the possibility that some aspects of the events of 9/11 involved State Crimes Against Democracy. Psychologically this is a very hard concept for Americans to even consider. However, ignoring the issue in the context of multiple proven SCADs* since World War II seems far more dangerous for democracy than the consequences of future scientific inquiry and transparent, fact-based investigative reporting." [emphasis added]
—Profs. Peter Phillips and Mickey Huff, State Crimes Against Democracy, The Daily Censored, March 4, 2010.

*Proven SCADs since World War II: McCarthyism, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Watergate, Iran-Contra, Florida's 2000 Election, Iraq's WMDs. Other suspected SCADs: the assassinations of Lee Harvey Oswald, Martin Luther King, George Wallace (attempted); the October Surprise; the collapse of Building 7 on 9/11; the anthrax mailings post-9/11. "The proven SCADs have a long trail of congressional hearings, public records, and academic research establishing the truth of the activities. The suspected SCADs listed above have substantial evidence of covert actions with countervailing deniability that tend to leave the facts in dispute. The term 'conspiracy theory' is often used to denigrate and discredit inquiry into the veracity of suspected SCADs." See deHaven-Smith, "Beyond Conspiracy Theory: Patterns of High Crime in American Government" [PDF, 225K], American Behavioral Scientist, Feb. 2010.

NOT IN OUR NAME

AMERICA MUST DEMAND THE WHOLE TRUTH, WHEREVER IT MAY LEAD, HOWEVER PAINFUL IT WILL BE — AND WHOMEVER IT MUST CONDEMN.

FROM 9/11 TRUTH TO 9/11 JUSTICE. In honor of the 3,000 victims who were murdered that day, and the millions of others who have suffered and died as a result, we join our fellow patriots in questioning the discredited 9/11 Commission Report and demanding a new, non-partisan, scientifically thorough, and truly independent investigation — leading to the prosecution and punishment of all guilty parties.

WARNING

TREASON AND MURDER: NO STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS. ANYONE IN THE U.S. GOVERNMENT WHO HAD PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF THE ATTACKS AND REMAINED SILENT — OR WORSE, SECRETLY HELPED TO PLAN OR CARRY THEM OUT — MUST BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL LAW.

FURTHER, ANYONE WHO PARTICIPATES IN A COVER-UP — including the President, members of the U.S. Congress and their staff, the 9/11 Commission, the Department of Justice, NIST, other governemntal agencies and the media, after having knowledge of treason, perjury or other high crimes — is guilty under U.S. law at a minimum of MISPRISION OF TREASON and/or MISPRISION OF FELONY.

8. WAR CASUALTIES: STOP THE KILLING!

U.S. MILITARY CASUALTIES
Iraq: 4,486 KILLED (to date); 31,9257 WOUNDED (DCAS Report, March 29, 2003 to date)
Afghansitan: 2,227 KILLED (to date); 18,493 WOUNDED (DCAS Report, October 7, 2001 through May 10, 2013)
Operation New Dawn (post-war Iraq, 9/1/10 to 5/10/13): 66 KILLED; 295 WOUNDED
Official US Defense Casualty Analysis System: Download PDFs here.
Unreported Suicides (January 2010): "Over the past nine years, more US military personnel have taken their own lives than have died in action in either the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan."

CIVILIAN CASUALTIES

VIDEO (4:39) 12/20/09 AMAZING SPEECH BY WAR VETERAN [at 0:36] "We were told we were fighting terrorists. The real terrorist was me, and the real terrorism is this occupation."

About Us

Our Purpose

Our Demands

Our Supporters Are Associated With:

NEW SECTION

• ACTIONS & EVENTS...

• PENTAGON SPENDING...

STOP THE BLEEDING!

• OUR GOVERNMENT?...

• OBAMA'S WARS... (SYRIA) ALTERNATIVE REPORTING/RESEARCH ON SYRIA: SYRIA NEWS / A CLOSER LOOK ON SYRIA

• JUSTICE...

• WAR PROPAGANDA/PROVOCATION...

• 9/11 - NATIONAL EMERGENCY...

• WAR CASUALTIES...

ARCHIVE SECTION

1. ACTIONS & EVENTS

2. AMERICA IN DISTRESS: NATIONAL 911 EMERGENCY

WHY WE MUST QUESTION 9/11 (America CAN Handle the Truth!)

New York City, Sept. 13, 2009: Dr. Graeme MacQueen9/11 TRUTH: THE CHALLENGE TO THE PEACE MOVEMENT"You must understand 9/11 as a fraudulent trigger incident." (See video below)

CONTINUED BELOW 9/11: STOP THE LYING. STOP DENYING. START DEFYING.

SEE ALSO WAR PROPAGANDA/PROVOCATION BELOW

3. OUR GOVERNMENT?

PENTAGON: 7 WARS OF AGGRESSION – ALL PLANNED BEFORE 9/11:

GRAPHIC: MAPPING A SUPERPOWER-SIZED MILITARY

LOOK WHO'S GETTING OUR TAX DOLLARS – AND FOR WHAT: (Contracts valued under $6.5 million are not counted here by DoD)