Serving the Empire Through the Back Door? Iran, India to counter 'Taliban threat'

Press TV

"Top Iranian and Indian officials have agreed to "counter the threat of Taliban's resurgence in Afghanistan" and boost their economic and energy ties.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Ali Fathollahi met with Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao in New Delhi where the two sides discussed a range of issues from cooperation in establishing regional security to expanding bilateral ties.

"Ways to stem the influence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and its backers in Pakistan figured prominently in the discussions," Sify News quoted informed sources as saying on Thursday....."

An apology fatally devalued by the passage of 65 years

Robert Fisk reports on the day America and Britain united with Japan to remember victims of the world’s first atomic bomb

"At last we’ve apologised for Hiroshima – well, sort of. We’ve recognised the suffering our atom bombs caused –well, kind of. President Obama was showing off his anti-nuclear credentials in the killing grounds of Hiroshima, but this was not to be confused with saying sorry.

The presence of John Roos, the US ambassador to Japan, and the British deputy ambassador, David Fitton, at the site of the world's first atomic bombing was an odd appearance.

We are looking at the survivors' ceremony and recognising their suffering – how very Blairite of us – and even the British embassy's words were of Blairite insincerity. "This is the right move at the right time," it said. But the right 'move' for what? After all, we are really not apologising for the 220,000 dead of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hell, didn't we win the Second World War?.....

Taking his cue from the idea that Hiroshima and Nagasaki spared the Allies a bloody invasion of mainland Japan – a thesis which now appears to be completely untrue – Lord Louis Mountbatten remarked that "if the bomb kills Japanese and saves casualties on our side I am naturally not going to favour the killing of our people unnecessarily ... I am responsible for trying to kill as many Japanese as I can. War is crazy ... But it would be even more crazy if we were to have more casualties on our side to save the Japanese.".....

Even now, we have no intention of apologising to the Iraqis for our illegal 2003 invasion. Ed Miliband announced only a few days ago in typical anthropological claptrap that it was "time to move on" [to another slaughter "theater" such as Afghanistan??]; and we shall not mention Blair's arrogant performance in front of the Chilcot inquiry.....

But it raises another question. When do our war "crimes" have an expiry date. Blair gave his half-hearted apology to the Irish a century and a half after ....."

Gaza aid flotilla to set sail from Lebanon with all-women crew

Arabic singer joins crew of nuns, doctors, lawyers and journalists for humanitarian mission despite Israeli warning

Ruth Sherlock in Beirut

guardian.co.uk, Friday 6 August 2010

"A ship bearing aid for Gaza is preparing to leave Tripoli in Lebanon this weekend in the latest attempt to defy the Israeli blockade – with only women on board.

The Saint Mariam, or Virgin Mary, has a multi-faith international passenger list, including the Lebanese singer May Hariri and a group of nuns from the US. "They are nuns, doctors, lawyers, journalists, Christians and Muslims," said Mona, one of the participants who, along with the other women, has adopted the ship's name, Mariam.

The Mariam and its sister ship, Naji Alali, had hoped to set off several weeks ago but faced several delays after Israel launched a diplomatic mission to pressure Lebanon to stop the mission.

The co-ordinator of the voyage, Samar al-Haj, told the Guardian this week the Lebanese government had given permission for the boats to leave for Cyprus, the first leg of the journey, this weekend......

"Have blood tests in case we come under attack from Israel and you need a blood transfusion," she said. She added that organisers were going out of their way not to provoke Israel.

"We will not even bring cooking knives," she said.

Serena Shim, who is heavily pregnant, decided to join the voyage because of her belief that the blockade is unjust. "These people need aid,'' she said.

Asked how they would react to an Israeli military assault, one activist, Tania al Kayyalisaid: "We are not planning to fight or attack – but we will not leave the St Mariam.""

هذه هي ممارسات حماس، وهذا نهجها!../

رشاد أبوشاور

"....
لقد راجت ( طرفة) سوداء حقيقيّة عن حوار مع الدكتور محمود الزهّار، فقد سأله أحدهم مستنكرا: كيف تطلقون الرصاص على أرجل شباب تختلفون معهم يا دكتور؟ فكان أن أجاب ببراءة: وأين تقترحون أن نطلق عليهم الرصاص؟!

ذكرتني هذه الطرفة بجواب رئيس المحكمة الثورية التي تشكلت بعد انتصار آية الله الخميني، والذي أصدر 600 حكم إعدام، فضجت الناس من عسفه، وسرعة إصداره الأحكام بالإعدام، فأقيل من منصبه، وذات يوم توجه إليه صحفي بالسؤال: يا مولانا ألست نادما على إصدارك 600 حكم إعدام في غضون أيّام؟ بكى آية الله حتى اخضلت لحيته، وأجاب: بل أنا نادم لأنني لم أعدم 600 آخرين كنت في سبيلي لحكمهم.. يا بني!

حماس لن تندم، لماذا؟ لأنها فازت بالاستئثار والإنفراد ( بحكم) غزّة، وهي ماضية في بسط هيمنتها على مليون ونصف مليون لا تستشيرهم في حكمها، فلا انتخابات، ولا رأي لأحد، ولا مشورة، فالجميع علمانيون كفرة.. وهذا هو الحكم على كل من يخالفها الرأي، حتى لو كان يخالفها من موقع إسلامي كالجهاد، وحزب التحرير، وأي مسلم مستقل الرأي والاجتهاد!
في صبيحة الجمعة 6 آب الجاري، أُتحفنا بخبر من غزّة عن الصحفي أحمد فيّاض الذي صادرت حماس كاميرته، وتناوب المجاهدون - كما روى بنفسه - على ضربه وبهدلته والتنكيل به، لأنه كان ينقل وقائع ما جرى من فوضى في حفل (فرقة طيور الجنّة الإنشاديّة) في المدينة الرياضيّة بخان يونس، حيث تتسع لثلاثة آلاف، بينما المشرفون يحاولون حشر 10 آلاف في مكان ضاق بهم، وحرم كثيرين من الدخول، رغم أن ثمن البطاقة 10 شيكل.. فكم ستدفع أسرة لديها 5 أطفال، خاصة والناس هناك يشكون الفاقة، رغم وجود الأنفاق التي تدر على حكومة حماس ما تدر من ملايين الشواكل،
كعادتي صبيحة كل يوم، دخلت إلى موقع القدس العربي على الإنترنت لأتصفحها، فقرأت خبرا عجيبا عن (مجاهد) من سرايا القدس (الجهاد الإسلامي)، بعد مشاجرة سويّت بتسليم الجهادي لأجهزة حماس الأمنيّة، و.. لتفاجأ الجهاد صبيحة اليوم التالي بوجوده في المستشفى، وقد أطلقت النار على قدميه!..طبعا كان هذا عقابا حمساويا له، رغم أنه يخرجه من ( المعركة) مع العدو الصهيوني.. ولكن يبدو أن قيادات حماس وبعد أن استقّر لها التحكّم في قطاع غزّة ما عادت تفكّر في المعركة مع العدو، رغم تصريحات قادتها عن متابعة المقاومة!
....
مجاهد يتسلمونه، ويؤتمنون عليه، ف.. يطلقون الرصاص على ساقيه، ثمّ ينقلونه إلى المستشفى.. أي بشر هؤلاء، وأي ثقافة هذه، وأية أخلاق؟!

نحن مع فك الحصار عن القطاع، لأننا مع أهلنا هناك، ومرارا دعونا حماس للتخلّي عن السلطة، والعودة للمقاومة، ولكن قادتها يصرحون بين يوم وآخر أنهم مع ( دولة) في حدود ال67 .. وهنا المشكلة الحمساوية، فهي تهدّيء ( الأجواء) حول القطاع، وهي تطارد بخاصة عناصر الجهاد لأنها ترفض( توريطها) في معركة غير مناسبة راهنا!

بماذا يختلف خطاب حماس عن خطاب السلطة؟! بادعاء المقاومة! وبماذا تختلف ممارساتها؟! بأن أجهزة السلطة في الضفة بناها ويأمرها دايتون، وبأن أجهزة حماس بنتها حماس.. و.. الممارسات واحدة: سلطوية، قمعية، قهرية، استبدادية، متطاولة على الشعب الفلسطيني، ولا قانون يسندها، ويشكّل مرجعية لها، سوى قانون القوّة الآثمة المارقة!

حادثتان داميتان تفصل بينهما ساعات، إهانة صحفي، ومصادرة كاميرته، والتناوب على ضربه، و.. إطلاق الرصاص على قدمي شاب فلسطيني، قدميه اللتين بهما يمشي إلى فلسطين، وعليهما يسير إلى ميدان المعركة.. حدث هذا من قبل، ويحدث اليوم، وسيحدث غدا، ما دام ثمّة جهلة يصرخون: دعني أدخل به الجنّة!
أي جنّة وأنتم والسلطة قد أدخلتم قضيتنا وشعبنا في الجحيم؟!
"

Israel demands discharge of Lebanese company commander

According to Lebanese media Israel has demanded the discharge of a commander in the Lebanese army, who is suspected of having ordered the sniper fire that killed an Israeli officer earlier this week, Army Radio reported.[I demand the discharge of the entire state of Israel]

Bad Dog SAM, by Khalil Bendib

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

Palestinian-American professor threatened by Israeli authorities

"Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh, who has taught at Yale and Duke Universities in the US, and is a renowned author and activist on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, has been issued an order by the Israeli military to appear before a military tribunal on August 9th.

Qumsiyeh's supporters believe that he is being targeted by Israeli authorities for his documentation of non-violent demonstrations against the Israeli Annexation Wall in the Bethlehem area. He has posted dozens of videos on Youtube in recent months, showing Israeli troops attacking non-violent demonstrators engaged in 'sit-ins' to protest the illegal construction of the Israeli Wall on their land, in violation of international law....."

Iran Benefits from Arab Disillusion with Obama

By Jim Lobe

"WASHINGTON, Aug 5, 2010 (IPS) - U.S. President Barack Obama has suffered a sharp drop in popularity in the Arab world over the past year, and Iran may be reaping the benefits, according to a major new survey of public opinion in five Arab countries released here Thursday....

When respondents were asked to name the world leader they admired most, Obama's standing was less than one percent. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was cited most often (20 percent), followed by last year's top pick, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (13 percent), and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (12 percent)....

"This is the prism through which Arabs view the Untied States," Telhami said, referring to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Iran appears to have benefited, at least indirectly, from Arab disillusionment with Obama, the poll results suggested.

While a majority of respondents (55 percent) said they believe Tehran's nuclear programme is aimed at developing weapons – a charge denied by Iran – nearly four out of five respondents (77 percent) said the country has the right to pursue the programme – a whopping increase of 24 percent since last year.

Support for the programme was strongest by far in Egypt and Morocco...."

Racism Legitimised by Law

By Mona Alami

"BEIRUT, Aug 6, 2010 (IPS) - Lebanon has a reputation for openness because of the relative freedom enjoyed by women in comparison to other Middle Eastern countries. But many women face rampant discrimination.

Women driving luxury vehicles with an Asian or African woman relegated to the back seat is a common sight around Beirut. Most domestic workers come from places like the Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Ethiopia.

People of colour are not only mistreated by employers -- who take away their passports and force them to work seven days a week -- they also face discrimination outside the workplace. At beaches around town, nannies are seen sitting fully clothed by the pool in the scorching heat, while their charges happily play in the water...."

Welcome to Lebanon: Graveyard of the Arrogant

"Failed State" Myths

By PATRICK COCKBURN
CounterPunch

"......Just how and why Israel and most of the rest of the world so grossly underestimated the ability of the Lebanese to defend themselves is the main theme of David Hirst’s elegantly written and highly informed history Beware of Small States: Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East (Nation Books.) ......

The explanation for Israel’s failure in Lebanon, not just in 2006 but over the previous three decades, is important because American interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia have followed a similar trajectory....

Lebanon may be the ‘battleground of the Middle East’, as Hirst’s subtitle suggests, but this does not explain how it has become such a lethal trap for its tormentors over the last thirty years....

One explanation for Israeli and American lack of military success stems from the outcome of the Iranian revolution in 1979. This was the same year that the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty changed the balance of power in the Middle East by removing Israel’s most powerful Arab opponent from its list of active enemies. It opened the door to Israel’s armed intervention in Lebanon. But the revolution in Iran ushered in a more important change in the type of resistance that Israel faced. The Arab nationalism originally inspired by Gamal Abdel Nasser dissipated after humiliating defeat by Israel in 1967 and the failure of corrupt and incompetent military rulers across the Arab world to confront Israel successfully.....

Everything in the Middle East has turned out the opposite of what Israeli foreign policy planners expected half a century ago. Then the Israeli priority was to weaken the mainstream Sunni Arab powers and build up an ‘alliance of the periphery’ through which non-Arab states such as Iran and Turkey would be cultivated as Israel’s friends. Part of this policy worked: Arab powers like Egypt were marginalized by military defeat and became politically moribund. Secular Arab nationalism, of which the PLO was the symbol and proponent, has been discredited by its weaknesses and failures......

One of the many fascinating aspects of Israel’s involvement in Lebanon is not that it got sucked into the Lebanese political morass but the way in which it kept on repeating earlier mistakes. Over thirty years there was continual underestimation of the other side, starting with the siege of Beirut in 1982......

Super patriotism and jingoism at times of war or threat of war are not an exclusively an Israeli trait but in Israel the propaganda is more intense and all pervasive. It distorts Israelis’ sense of reality. By any standards the assault by Israeli commandos on the May 2010 Gaza aid flotilla was a disaster, focusing international attention on the blockade and infuriating Turkey, once a strong Israeli ally. But by justifying this fiasco as a perfectly reasonable policing action in which the Turkish peace activists were at fault, the Israelis open the door for their own leaders to do exactly the same thing in future. And the very same leaders are likely to be in charge, because the refusal to admit that mistakes were made makes it impossible to fire those responsible for previous idiocies. Disaster-prone politicians like Benjamin Netanyahu and the Defense Minister Ehud Barack blunder on regardless of their long history of failing to balance high risks of failure against limited benefits from success. This is despite the fact that Israel’s wars against Lebanon in 2006, Gaza in 2008 and the Turkish aid flotilla in 2010 all left Israel weaker and its enemies stronger. At a time when Israel is threatening an air attack on Iran, its leaders are frighteningly incapable of calculating their own best interests."

Real News Video: MI5 HEAD TOLD BLAIR IRAQ NO THREAT

Eric Margolis: Most US media ignoring explosive testimony by former MI5 head at Iraq inquiry

Real News Video: "MEDIA GIVES OBAMA PASS ON IRAQ"

Gareth Porter: Most US media helps Obama back away from Iraq pledge

Israel Plans Mass Forced Removals of Bedouin

By Jonathan Cook - Al-Araqib
Palestine Chronicle

Fascist Israel Razes Second Beduin Village within a Week - Demolishing Al Araqib Village
- Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

"Israeli security forces destroyed a Bedouin village this week for the second time in a matter of days, leaving 300 inhabitants homeless again after they and dozens of Jewish and Arab volunteers had begun rebuilding the 45 homes.

Human rights groups warned that these appeared to be the opening shots in a long-threatened campaign by the Israeli government to begin mass forced removals of tens of thousands of Bedouin from their ancestral lands in the southern Negev....

Mr Abu Freih said other parts of the tribe’s lands nearby had been secretly settled by Jews in 2004. In a night-time operation JNF and government officials set up caravans that subsequently became an exclusively Jewish known as Givat Bar.

From 2002, Israel began a policy of annually spraying herbicide on al-Araqib’s crops, in an attempt to move them off the land, until the supreme court deemed the practice illegal in 2007."

This Should Make Tariq Aziz Happy: Iraq: We’re ‘Withdrawing’ – But Not Leaving

In Bizarro World, "withdrawing" means "staying"

by Justin Raimondo, August 06, 2010

"...Oh happy day! But, wait – not so fast …

Like everything else in our oh-so-modern world, things are not quite what they seem: "complexities" get in the way. So let’s look at what is actually happening, not what the President and his amen corner would like us to see, before we throw our hats in the air....

Secondly, we aren’t leaving at all – there’s that bothersome "transitional force" (as the Prez puts it) of up to 50,000 troops. Oh, but these soldiers won’t be "combat troops" (never mind that they’ll be fully armed, and backed up by an equal number of "private" contractors). When up against the intractable reality of Iraq’s chaos, the Obama administration simply redefines "combat troops" as "training and support" troops.

Presto-change-o! That was easy, now wasn’t it? ....."

And now for some good news

We'll never know the names of all the people who paid with their limbs, their lungs or their lives for the goodies in my home and yours

By Johann Hari

"....Deaths from overwork are so common in Chinese factories that they have a word for it: guolaosi. China Daily estimates that 600,000 people are killed this way every year, mostly making goods for us. Li had never experienced any health problems, his family says, until he started this work schedule; Foxconn say he died of asthma and his death had nothing to do with them. The night Li died, yet another Foxconn worker committed suicide – the tenth this year.

For two decades now, you and I have shopped until Chinese workers dropped. Business has bragged about the joys of the China Price. They have been less keen for us to see the Human Price......

This isn't a distant struggle: you are at its heart, whether you like it or not. There is an electrical extension cord running from your laptop and mobile and games console to the people like Yan Li and Liu Pan dying to make them. So you have to make a choice. You can passively let the corporations and governments speak for you in trying to beat these people back into semi-servitude – or you can side with the organisations here that support their cry for freedom, like No Sweat, or the TUC's international wing, by donating to them, or volunteering for their campaigns.

Yes, if this struggle succeeds, it will mean that we will have to pay a little more for some products, in exchange for the freedom and the lives of people like Yan Li and Liu Pan. But previous generations have made that choice. After slavery was abolished in 1833, Britain's GDP fell by 10 percent – but they knew that cheap goods and fat profits made from flogging people until they broke were not worth having. Do we?"

Fazed Withdrawal, by Tanya Tier

Calling Gaza a prison camp is an understatement

There may be some semblance of civil life and stability in Gaza, but it is our freedoms that are under siege

Laila El-Haddad
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 5 August 2010

"It's three years since I've been back to Gaza. Much has happened since my last visit. Fatah waged a failed coup and now rules only the West Bank, while Hamas is in charge of Gaza. Israel launched its deadly Cast Lead assault. Fuel shortages. Electricity crises. And so on.

I needed to regain perspective. So I walked and I talked and I listened. I went to the beach where women – skinny jeans and all – were smoking water pipes, swimming and generally having a good time, irrespective of the purported Hamas ban on women smoking sheesha.

During the eight hours of electricity we get each day, I logged on to the internet and browsed the English-language papers. It seemed like suddenly everyone was an expert on Gaza, claiming they knew what it's really like. Naysayers and their ilk have been providing us with the same "evidence" that Gaza is burgeoning: the markets are full of produce, fancy restaurants abound, there are pools and parks and malls … all is well in the most isolated place on earth – Gaza, the "prison camp" that is not.....

Using the phrase "prison camp" to describe Gaza, as Britain's prime minister did, is not vile rhetoric. It is an understatement and even a misnomer. Prisoners are guilty of a crime, yet they are guaranteed access to certain things – electricity and water, even education – where Gazans are not. What crime did Gazans commit, except, to quote my late grandmother, "being born Palestinian"?"

Guess Who Wants the US Occupation of Iraq to Continue? Tariq Aziz! Yup, You Read That Right!

Saddam Hussein deputy Tariq Aziz calls for US forces to stay in Iraq

Exclusive: In his first interview since the fall of Baghdad, Tariq Aziz accuses Barack Obama of 'leaving Iraq to the wolves'

Martin Chulov in Baghdad
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 5 August 2010

"Saddam Hussein's most loyal deputy, Tariq Aziz, has accused Barack Obama of 'leaving Iraq to the wolves' by pressing ahead with a withdrawal of combat troops in the face of festering instability and a surge in violence.

In his first interview since he was captured shortly after the fall of Baghdad more than seven years ago, Iraq's former deputy prime minister and long-time face to the world said the United States would cause the death of Iraq if it continued to withdraw its combat forces.

"We are all victims of America and Britain," he told the Guardian from his prison cell in Baghdad. "They killed our country in many ways. When you make a mistake you need to correct a mistake, not leave Iraq to its death.".....

Saddam, however, preferred a policy of ambiguity, a stance that heightened US and British suspicions. After his capture, Saddam told the FBI that his main intent had been to keep Iran guessing, not to beat the drums of war.

"Partially it was about Iran," Aziz confirmed. "They had waged war on us for eight years, so we Iraqis had a right to deter them. Saddam was a proud man. He had to defend the dignity of Iraq. He had to show that he was neither wrong nor weak.

"Now Iran is building a weapons programme. Everybody knows it and nobody is doing anything. Why?"

"Bush and Blair lied intentionally. They were both pro-Zionist. They wanted to destroy Iraq for the sake of Israel, not for the sake of the US and Britain.""

Israeli Rabbis Predict “Bloody War” This Month

Al-Manar

"06/08/2010 The Israeli daily Maariv reported on its Website that “a long line of rabbis” declared that Israel will engage in a ‘bloody war’ this month.

According to the report, rabbi Amnon Yitzhak said during a lecture last week that the recent training of Israeli troops on helicopters in Romania was aimed at making it possible to “attack distant countries, the government of Hamas, and the government of Lebanon during the next war with Hezbollah.”

The Ultra-Orthodox rabbi added that “no wars will take place in the winter” because “the (Israeli) army will not be dragged to drown in the winter mud of Lebanon.”....."

Israel getting ready for 'future wars'

Press TV

"A recent Israeli military helicopter crash in Romania reveals that Tel Aviv has operated other air exercises in European countries to prepare for "future wars."

An article published on Israeli media outlet Ynet on Thursday said that the European states "never know what hides behind the training sessions held" in their territories.

Hungary, Romania, Greece, Italy and Germany are among the locations where the Israeli Air Force has held military drills so far.

"In most cases, these training sessions do not include joint drills between Israel's Air Force and the hosting Air Force; rather, the host country provides [Israeli] Air Force with a training platform for two weeks or longer," according to the article.

The Romania incident, which killed six Israeli soldiers and one Romanian officer in July, shed light on the secret air operations carried out by the Israeli military in other countries. The Israeli media described the July operation as part of routine air force drills, but the objectives of the maneuver were not discussed.

The article concluded that as the Israeli helicopters are "navigating through thousands of kilometers and unfamiliar routes while refueling in midair," Tel Aviv is getting ready to launch another military conflict in the near future. "

Western wars vs. Muslim women

A GOOD PIECE
By Marwan Bishara
Al-Jazeera

"Western media is awash with reports about Taliban mistreatment of women in Afghanistan and Pakistan that feature countless voices in support of the war to secure a 'brighter future for women's rights'. This week's Time magazine cover story is a case in point.

If Western wars 'liberate' Eastern women, Muslim women would be - after centuries of Western military interventions - the most 'liberated' in the world. They are not, and will not be, especially when liberty is associated with Western hegemony.

Afghanistan has had its share of British, Russian and American military intervention to no avail. In fact, reports from credible women's groups there signal worsening conditions for Aghan women since the US invasion a decade ago.....

White Man's Burden

The same Orientalist civilising rationale that was used over centuries to justify bloody colonial wars is being used nowadays to manipulate a war-averse public into supporting military escalation in Central Asia.

Western man's long-held fantasy of 'rescuing' veiled women from their repressive captors is being exploited to promote the idea that war can free women from the wrath of the 'bearded terrorists', as it 'liberates America' from their terrorism.

In light of such a heavy dose of surplus morality, it was particularly embarrassing for US leaders that their allies were making amends with the same shunned illiberal groups and practices.....

White Woman's Burden

The irony escapes the likes of conservative British politician Cyril Townsend who wrote in the Saudi owned pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat under the headline "Women's Rights in Afghanistan" that British female soldiers are fighting for women's rights to be realised there.

No explanation has been offered as to why, 18 years after the deployment of half a million US and British troops to liberate Kuwait and defend their ally Saudi Arabia, Saudi women still cannot vote or drive.....

Victims of the ultimate power abuse, wars

As the foremost victims of the abuse of power, Western women are uniquely positioned to reject the most patriarchal and destructive of all power abuses: Wars.

As for Muslim women, there is no room in this war for what they stand for, their hopes or aspirations. Their voice is progressively silenced by the deafening sound of bombs and explosions.

Eastern women have been the first civilian casualty of wars. How many mourning widows, mothers, sisters and daughters will it take to reject wars of choice and expose their alleged civilising mission?....."

Now available! Midnight on the Mavi Marmara - Full Story of the Attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla only from OR Books

"CONTRIBUTORS: Ali Abunimah, Eyad Al Sarraj, Lamis Andoni, Omar Barghouti, George Bisharat, Max Blumenthal, Noam Chomsky, Marsha B. Cohen, Juan Cole, Murat Dagli, Jamal Elshayyal, Sümeyye Ertekin, Norman Finkelstein, Neve Gordon, Glenn Greenwald, Arun Gupta, Amira Hass, Nadia Hijab, Adam Horowitz, Rashid Khalidi, Stephen Kinzer, Iara Lee, Henning Mankell, Paul Larudee, Gideon Levy, Alia Malek, Lubna Masarwa, Mike Marqusee, Yousef Munayyer, Ken O’Keefe, Daniel Luban, Kevin Ovenden, Ilan Pappé, Doron Rosenblum, Sara Roy, Ben Saul, Adam Shapiro, Raja Shehadeh, Henry Siegman, Ahdaf Soueif, Raji Sourani, Richard Tillinghast, Alice Walker, Stephen M. Walt, Philip Weiss, and Haneen Zoabi.

“We have been attacked while in international waters. That means the Israelis have behaved like pirates … The moment they start to steer this ship towards Israel, we have also been kidnapped. The whole action is illegal.”—Henning Mankell, aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla

Eastern Mediterranean, Monday, May 31st, 2010, 4.30am: Israeli commandos, boarding from sea and air, attack the six boats of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla as it sails through international waters bringing humanitarian relief to the beleaguered Palestinians of Gaza. Within minutes, nine peace activists are dead, shot by the Israelis. Scores of others are injured. The 700 people on board the ships are arrested before being transported to detention centers in Israel and then deported.

Within hours, outrage at Israel’s action echoes around the world. Spontaneous demonstrations in Europe, the United States, Turkey, and Gaza itself denounce the attack. Turkey’s prime minister describes it as a “bloody massacre” and “state terrorism.” Lebanon’s prime minister calls it “a dangerous and crazy step that will exacerbate tensions in the region.”

In these pages, a range of activists, journalists, and analysts piece together the events that occurred that May night, unpicking their meanings for Israel’s illegal, three-year-long blockade of Gaza and the decades-long Israel/Palestine conflict more generally. Mixing together first-hand testimony, documentary record, and illustration, with hard-headed analysis and historical overview, Midnight on the Mavi Marmara reveals why the attack on Gaza Freedom Flotilla may just turn out to be Israel’s Selma, Alabama: the beginning of the end for an apartheid Palestine."

2010 Arab Public Opinion Poll: Results of Arab Opinion Survey Conducted June 29-July 20, 2010

Shibley Telhami, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Saban Center for Middle East Policy

The Brookings Institution

Click Here to Download Polling Results (PDF)

"....This year’s poll surveyed 3,976 people in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates, during the period of June 29–July 20, 2010.

Among the key poll findings are:

* A substantial change in the assessment of President Obama, both as president of the United States and of Obama personally.

* Remarkably stable views on the Arab-Israeli conflict and the prospects of its resolution.

* A majority of the Arab public now see a nuclear-armed Iran as being better for the Middle East.....

Among the most striking findings on the question of attitudes toward President Obama: Early in the Obama administration, in April and May 2009, 51% of the respondents in the six countries expressed optimism about American policy in the Middle East. In the 2010 poll, only 16% were hopeful, while a majority - 63% - was discouraged....

On Iran's potential nuclear weapons status, results show another dramatic shift in public opinion. While the results vary from country to country, the weighted average across the six countries is telling: in 2009, only 29% of those polled said that Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons would be "positive" for the Middle East; in 2010, 57% of those polled indicate that such an outcome would be "positive" for the Middle East....."

Imperial Stooges in Tehran

What Are the Imperial Stooges Doing in Tehran?

An Interesting Photo, to Say the Least!

An Israeli Backdoor to War with Iran?

JUST FOREIGN POLICY

"Some Members of Congress are trying to create a political "backdoor" to war with Iran by pushing a resolution expressing support for Israel's "right" to launch a military attack on Iran. Such an Israeli attack would be likely to draw the U.S. into war, so efforts to legitimize an Israeli attack constitute a stealth path to a U.S. war.

Please urge your Representative to oppose this resolution by using the form below....."

EXCLUSIVE...Emily Henochowicz Speaks Out: Art Student Who Lost Her Eye After Being Shot by Israeli Tear Gas Canister in West Bank Protest

EXCLUSIVE...Emily Henochowicz Speaks Out: Art Student Who Lost Her Eye After Being Shot by Israeli Tear Gas Canister in West Bank Protest Discusses Her Life, Her Art, and Why She Plans to Return

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman



"Today, a Democracy Now global broadcast exclusive interview with Emily Henochowicz. She’s the 21 year-old American art student who lost her eye in May after being shot in the face by an Israeli tear gas canister at a protest against Israel’s attack on the Gaza flotilla that left nine people dead. "I’m not ashamed of the fact that I lost my eye. I’m proud of who I am. I believed in the cause and that’s why I came to that demonstration on that day," Henochowicz says. "I’m not going to be the same person that I was before this happened."....."

Real News Video: OBAMA REBRANDS IRAQ WITHDRAWAL?

Gareth Porter: Obama backtracks on commitment to withdraw combat troops from Iraq

Why Muslims should rethink Palestine

By Ramzy Baroud

Thousands of faithful assiduously listened as I outlined the challenges facing Palestine and its people. Cries of “Allahu Akbar” - God is Great - occasionally resounded from a corner of the giant South African mosque. Many whimpered as I described the tragedy that had befallen Gaza as a result of the Israeli siege. They cheered, smiled and nodded as I emphasised how the will of the Palestinian people would not be defeated. A few older people at the front simply wept throughout my talk, which preceded a Frid?y sermon in Durban a few months ago.

The result was most disappointing. There was no clear strategy, no attempt at relevance, and no tangible difference to be yielded from the support of hundreds of millions of Muslims worldwide.

In a way, such failure is symptomatic of a much greater ailment that has long befallen Muslims. After the demise of the Ottoman Empire, the concept of a Muslim Ummah (nation) - demarcated by real spatial and political lines - was replaced by references to a nation that existed within indefinable intellectual boundaries. This concept was shrewdly patronised by various Arab and Muslim leaders throughout history, who insisted that they - and they alone - represented the political centrality of that impalpable?Muslim body. Therefore, owing to the centrality of the Palestinian cause to Islam, these leaders also adopted the Palestinian cause as there own, even if that relationship remained confined to fiery speeches and heartrending Friday sermons.

In other words, Palestine, for many Muslims existed as part of a collective imagination, solidified with unifying symbols such as Al Aqsa Mosque, and references to specific verses in the Holy Koran. Such tactics worked wonders, as helpless but fervent Muslims donated generously, or chanted the name of whomever posed as the saviour of the “Islamic land of Palestine” and its holy mosque.

Unfortunately, some resorted to the same exclusivist language of the past, itself rich in religious positivism. This may not always be intentional, but it is likely to weaken international solidarity, or, at best, relegate Muslim relevance to a group of people whose link to Palestine is merely religious.

At this advanced stage of the solidarity, which shows Palestine once again at the top of international agenda, including in civil societies around the world, Muslims must redefine their link to Palestine, based on the values and principles reflected in Islam. But they must also present it in universally shared ideal, speaking a unified and unifying language. While they must proudly embrace their symbols, they should also understand that the fight is one for freedoms and rights, and not specific corporeal l?cations.

Muslims must stand, hand in hand, with people from all different backgrounds, not as exclusive owners of the Palestinian struggle, but as proud contributors to a global movement that wishes to ensure that justice is served, rights are attained and peace for all is realised.

Striking matches in Middle East tinderbox -- Pentagon and Israelis working together to trigger war

An Important Special Report

By Wayne Madsen
Online Journal Contributing Writer

Aug 5, 2010, 00:25

"(WMR) -- In the days before, during, and after Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen revealed the Pentagon has a military strike plan for Iran, part of that plan may have already been launched. WMR’s Lebanese sources report that a number of recent provocations in the region are being viewed by regional intelligence agencies in Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Jordan, and Egypt as being launched by the United States Joint Special Operations Command in alliance with the Israelis.

The presence in Beirut last week of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict (SO/LIC) Michael Vickers has local intelligence sources believing the visit, timed just before a UN Report is expected to blame Lebanese Hezbollah for the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, is part of a wider U.S. and Israeli program to destabilize the Middle East prior to a military attack by one or both nations on Iran.

Intelligence sources point to a series of unexplained incidents in the region that have ratcheted up tensions. On July 28, the Japanese supertanker, M. Star, reported that it was damaged by an explosion in the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman. Local Omani Coast Guard officials reported the ship was damaged by a “freak wave” generated by an earthquake in Iran. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, the owners of the ship, reported that the vessel, which docked in Fujairah, UAE, for repairs, was struck by an explosion from “external sources.”

There were local reports that a submarine was responsible for the explosion. However, the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain stated that no U.S. Navy ships were in the area. Israel, on the other hand, is known to have permanently stationed submarines in the Gulf.

On August 2, a series of Grad rockets were fired at the coastal tourist towns of Aqaba, Jordan and Eilat, Israel. A rocket fired into Aqaba landed outside the Intercontinental Hotel killed a Jordanian taxi driver and injured five others. A rocket fired into Eilat, on the other hand, landed harmlessly into a field. Two rockets splashed into the Red Sea and another landed in Jordan. Israel immediately blamed the attack on Hamas and said the rockets were fired from Sinai in Egypt. However, Hamas denied responsibility and Egypt said the rockets were not fired from its territory and that its heavy security presence in the peninsula detected no suspicious activity. Regional intelligence sources believe the rockets may have been a false flag provocation carried out by Israel and the United States with the cooperation of Jordanian intelligence. Suspiciously, Israel claimed the rockets were Iranian-made and were fired by “Global Jihadists.”

Tuesday, there was an outbreak of fighting between Israeli and Lebanese troops on the border. The shooting began after an Israeli patrol crossed into Lebanese territory and fired at Lebanese troops and civilians after the Lebanese attempted to repel the attack. Israel also reportedly disregarded warnings from UN peacekeepers to halt their movement into Lebanese territory. Three Lebanese troops and a journalist were killed in the Israeli attack.

The motivations for the Israeli border aggression may have been to seek a response from Hezbollah. Israeli bombing raids into Gaza this week are also seen as a move to seek a response from Hamas. The bombing raids were followed by the deadly rocket attack on Aqaba, an attack Israel blamed on Hamas.

The unexplained attacks on the supertanker in the Strait of Hormuz and the rocket attacks on Aqaba at the northernmost end of the Gulf of Aqaba, has increased worries about access to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Aqaba through the Straits of Tiran. The U.S. Navy will undoubtedly use the fear to expand its presence in regional waters.

Tuesday also saw the bombing of a train in eastern Turkey’s Erzincan province by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas. No one was injured in the attack but eight freight cars derailed. The Turkish Intelligence Organization (MIT) has determined that since the break-down of relations between Turkey and Israel, Israeli commandos have been assisting PKK guerrillas in launching terrorist attacks in Turkey. The PKK attacks come from Iraq’s Qandil Mountains, a stronghold of joint PKK-Kurdistan Regional Government-Israeli attacks on Turkey. Overall security for the mountainous region and the anti-Turkish operations conducted in it are overseen by U.S. special operations forces."

Tony Blair Must Be Prosecuted

by John Pilger, August 05, 2010

"Tony Blair must be prosecuted, not indulged like his mentor Peter Mandelson. Both have produced self-serving memoirs for which they have been paid fortunes. Blair’s will appear next month and earn him £4.6 million. Now consider Britain’s Proceeds of Crime Act. Blair conspired in and executed an unprovoked war of aggression against a defenseless country, which the Nuremberg judges in 1946 described as the "paramount war crime." This has caused, according to scholarly studies, the deaths of more than a million people, a figure that exceeds the Fordham University estimate of deaths in the Rwandan genocide.

In addition, four million Iraqis have been forced to flee their homes and a majority of children have descended into malnutrition and trauma. Cancer rates near the cities of Fallujah, Najaf, and Basra (the latter "liberated" by the British) are now revealed as higher than those at Hiroshima. "UK forces used about 1.9 metric tons of depleted uranium ammunition in the Iraq war in 2003," the Defense Secretary Liam Fox told parliament on 22 July. A range of toxic "anti-personnel" weapons, such as cluster bombs, was employed by British and American forces.Such carnage was justified with lies that have been repeatedly exposed....

Instead of remorse, Blair has demonstrated a voracious and secretive greed. Since stepping down as prime minister in 2007, he has accumulated an estimated £20 million, much of it as a result of his ties with the Bush administration......


In his unpaid but expenses-rich role as the West’s "peace envoy" in the Middle East, Blair is, in effect, a voice of Israel, which awarded him a $1 million "peace prize." In other words, his wealth has grown rapidly since he launched, with George W. Bush, the bloodbath in Iraq....."

A Cakewalk Against Iran

by Philip Giraldi, August 05, 2010

"....A resolution (HR 1553) is making its way through Congress that that would endorse an Israeli attack on Iran, which would be going to war by proxy as the US would almost immediately be drawn into the conflict when Tehran retaliates. The resolution provides explicit US backing for Israel to bomb Iran, stating that Congress supports Israel’s use of "all means necessary…including the use of military force." The resolution is non-binding, but it is dazzling in its disregard for the possible negative consequences that would ensue for the hundreds of thousands of US military and diplomatic personnel currently serving in the Near East region. Even the Pentagon opposes any Israeli action against Iran, knowing that it would mean instant retaliation against US forces in Iraq and also in Afghanistan. The resolution has appeared, not coincidentally, at the same time as major articles by leading neoconservatives Reuel Marc Gerecht and Bill Kristol calling for military action. Both Gerecht and Kristol insist that action by Israel or the US would be better than doing nothing and both downplay the ability of Iran to counter-attack effectively. One might note that both Kristol and Gerecht have been dramatically wrong in the past, most notably in their analyses of developments in Iraq......

The reality is that an Israeli attack on Iran will trigger an all-out war in the region, which will quickly include the United States. It might or might not eliminate Iran’s technical ability to build a nuclear weapon and it would almost certainly accelerate that process. It would not bring down the Iranian regime and usher in reformers who would embrace Israel and the United States while singing "Kumbaya" around the campfire. It would be extremely nasty, would not solve any problems in the Middle East, and would kill tens of thousands of innocent people, if not more. It could easily lead to the use of nuclear weapons by either the United States or Israel. For the neoconservatives, it is easy to dismiss the possible downside while emphasizing the upside that they perceive, which is protecting Israel by damaging Iran’s nuclear program and possibly bringing about some version of regime change. But we have seen too many times in the past how the neoconservatives can be wrong — think only of the "cakewalk" that has been Iraq now seven years on and still running. A new war in the Middle East would be an unmitigated disaster for Iran, the United States, and even for Israel. It must be avoided at all costs."

No guns? They must be terrorists

By Mark Steel
The Independent

"....But it seemed to matter to the Israelis, because until this week they insisted their own inquiry was sufficient, and that was already under way. One fact emerging from this process was that the victims, according to "Sgt S" who shot six of them, "were without a doubt terrorists". And he produced evidence to back this up, which was: "I could see the murderous rage in their eyes".

This matches the classic definition of a terrorist according to international law, as someone "with murderous rage in their eyes", and shows the key witness in any terrorist trial isn't the forensics expert or explosives analyst but an optician. If they're trained well enough they can shine a light at the iris and tell whether you're short-sighted, long-sighted, Hamas or Basque separatist.

But there was more. According to the Jersusalem Post the IDF told the inquiry that the group on the boat were "well-trained and likely ex-military" because "each squad of the mercenaries was equipped with a Motorola communication advice, so they could pass information to one another". A Motorola communication advice? So these so-called peace-activists were armed with mobile phones! It's a wonder the whole Middle East wasn't set alight. And to think Motorola and other sinister arms dealers such as Nokia and Orange go round trading in this deadly merchandise quite openly.

If the IDF were asked to police a rock festival, at the moment when everyone used their mobiles to take a photo they'd open fire on the whole crowd. Then once 3,000 were dead, Sgt S would say: "Well done, boys, if we hadn't been so careful that could have turned quite nasty."

One possible difficulty in proving the optically murderous gang's intent could be that none of them had guns. But the IDF dealt with that by saying the "mercenaries" preferred to use "bats, metal bars and knives, since opening fire would have made it blatantly clear they were terrorists and not peace activists". So this was another cunning trick of the terrorists, to disguise the fact they were terrorists by not doing anything terrorist. My neighbour's much the same; disguising her terrorism by being 74 and spending all day peacefully doing the garden without ever shooting anyone, the evil witch.

Even more blatantly, the inquiry was told the group did have guns on board, but "the mercenaries threw their weapons overboard after the commandos took control of the vessel". Because that's classic guerrilla training, to carry guns right up until the moment when the enemy arrives, and then throw them away. This is the strategy of all great military thinkers. That's why Nelson, at the Battle of Trafalgar said: "Men, I see the French, and so let every Englishmen do his duty, and chuck all our weapons in the sea. That'll teach the bastards."

On and on this goes, with Prime Minister Netanyahu making it clear he agrees with it, himself calling the victims "mercenaries". Because these mercenaries were trying to get goods such as medicine to an area that's under a blockade, which is typical mercenary behaviour, except instead of gun-running, they were inhaler-running....."

Obama Warned Israel May Bomb Iran

by Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity

A VERY IMPORTANT PIECE
(Scroll down for more new posts)

MEMORANDUM FOR: The President

FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)

SUBJECT: War With Iran

"We write to alert you to the likelihood that Israel will attack Iran as early as this month. This would likely lead to a wider war.

Israel's leaders would calculate that once the battle is joined, it will be politically untenable for you to give anything less than unstinting support to Israel, no matter how the war started, and that U.S. troops and weaponry would flow freely. Wider war could eventually result in destruction of the state of Israel.

This can be stopped, but only if you move quickly to pre-empt an Israeli attack by publicly condemning such a move before it happens.

We believe that comments by senior American officials, you included, reflect misplaced trust in Israeli Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu....

Blindsiding has long been an arrow in Israel's quiver. During the emerging Middle East crisis in the spring of 1967, some of us witnessed closely a flood of Israeli surprises and deception, as Netanyahu's predecessors feigned fear of an imminent Arab attack as justification for starting a war to seize and occupy Arab territories....

Netanyahu believes he holds the high cards, largely because of the strong support he enjoys in our Congress and our strongly pro-Israel media. He reads your reluctance even to mention in controversial bilateral issues publicly during his recent visit as affirmation that he is in the catbird seat in the relationship. During election years in the U.S. (including mid-terms), Israeli leaders are particularly confident of the power they and the Likud Lobby enjoy on the American political scene.

This prime minister learned well from Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon. Netanyahu's attitude comes through in a video taped nine years ago and shown on Israeli TV, in which he bragged about how he deceived President Clinton into believing he (Netanyahu) was helping implement the Oslo accords when he was actually destroying them.

The tape displays a contemptuous attitude toward - and wonderment at - an America so easily influenced by Israel.Netanyahu says:

"America is something that can be easily moved. Moved in the right direction. ... They won't get in our way ... Eighty percent of the Americans support us. It's absurd."....

The power of the Likud Lobby, especially in an election year, facilitates Netanyahu's attempts to convince those few of his colleagues who need convincing that there may never be a more auspicious time to bring about "regime change" in Tehran.

And, as we hope your advisers have told you, regime change, not Iranian nuclear weapons, is Israel's primary concern.....

Israel probably believes it must give more weight to the official testimony of Blair, Burgess, and Cartwright, which dovetail with the earlier NIE, and the Israelis are afraid that the long-delayed Memorandum to Holders of the 2007 NIE will essentially affirm that Estimate's key judgments.

Our sources tell us that an honest Memorandum to Holders is likely to do precisely that, and that they suspect that the several-months-long delay means intelligence judgments are being "fixed" around the policy - as was the case before the attack on Iraq...

The NIE infuriated Israel leaders eager to attack before President Bush and Vice President Cheney left office. This time, Netanyahu fears that issuance of an honest Memorandum might have similar effect.

Bottom line: more incentive for Israel to pre-empt such an Estimate by striking Iran sooner rather than later......

We'll say it again: the objective is regime change. Creating synthetic fear of Iranian nuclear weapons is simply the best way to "justify" bringing about regime change. Worked well for Iraq, no?....

This time around, Mullen returned with sweaty palms from a visit to Israel in February 2010. Ever since, he has been worrying aloud that Israel might mousetrap the U.S. into war with Iran, while adding the obligatory assurance that the Pentagon does have an attack plan for Iran, if needed.....

Sadly, our former colleagues tell us that politicization of intelligence analysis did not end with the departure of Bush and Cheney...and that the problem is acute even at the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, which in the past has done some of the best professional, objective, tell-it-like-it-is analysis......

Guns of August?

The stakes could hardly be higher. Letting slip the dogs of war would have immense repercussions. Again, we hope that Adm. Mullen and others have given you comprehensive briefings on them.

Netanyahu would be taking a fateful gamble by attacking Iran, with high risk to everyone involved. The worst, but conceivable case, has Netanyahu playing - unintentionally - Dr. Kevorkian to the state of Israel.....

We VIPS have found ourselves in this position before. We prepared our first Memorandum for the President on the afternoon of February 5, 2003 after Colin Powell's speech at the UN.

We had been watching how our profession was being corrupted into serving up faux intelligence that was later criticized (correctly) as "uncorroborated, contradicted, and nonexistent" - adjectives used by former Senate Intelligence Committee chair Jay Rockefeller after a five-year investigation by his committee.

As Powell spoke, we decided collectively that the responsible thing to do was to try to warn the President before he acted on misguided advice to attack Iraq. Unlike Powell, we did not claim that our analysis was "irrefutable and undeniable.".......

We now believe that we may also be right on (and right on the cusp of) another impending catastrophe of even wider scope - Iran - on which another President, you, are not getting good advice from your closed circle of advisers....

Steering Group, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)

Phil Giraldi, Directorate of Operations, CIA (20 years)
Larry Johnson, Directorate of Intelligence, CIA; Department of State, Department of Defense consultant (24 years)
W. Patrick Lang, Col., USA, Special Forces (ret.); Senior Executive Service: Defense Intelligence Officer for Middle East/South Asia, Director of HUMINT Collection, Defense Intelligence Agency (30 years)
Ray McGovern, US Army Intelligence Officer, Directorate of Intelligence, CIA (30 years)
Coleen Rowley, Special Agent and Minneapolis Division Counsel, FBI (24 years)
Ann Wright, Col., US Army Reserve (ret.), (29 years); Foreign Service Officer, Department of State (16 years)"

The US isn't leaving Iraq, it's rebranding the occupation

Obama says withdrawal is on schedule, but renaming or outsourcing combat troops won't give Iraqis back their country

Seumas Milne
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 August 2010

"....The US isn't withdrawing from Iraq at all – it's rebranding the occupation. Just as George Bush's war on terror was retitled "overseas contingency operations" when Obama became president, US "combat operations" will be rebadged from next month as "stability operations".

But as Major General Stephen Lanza, the US military spokesman in Iraq, told the New York Times: "In practical terms, nothing will change". After this month's withdrawal, there will still be 50,000 US troops in 94 military bases, "advising" and training the Iraqi army, "providing security" and carrying out "counter-terrorism" missions. In US military speak, that covers pretty well everything they might want to do.....

Meanwhile, the US government isn't just rebranding the occupation, it's also privatising it. There are around 100,000 private contractors working for the occupying forces, of whom more than 11,000 are armed mercenaries, mostly "third country nationals", typically from the developing world.......

What is abundantly clear is that the US, whose embassy in Baghdad is now the size of Vatican City, has no intention of letting go of Iraq any time soon. One reason for that can be found in the dozen 20-year contracts to run Iraq's biggest oil fields that were handed out last year to foreign companies, including three of the Anglo-American oil majors that exploited Iraqi oil under British control before 1958....

It's not only the hundreds of thousands of dead and 4 million refugees. After seven years of US (and British) occupation, tens of thousands are still tortured and imprisoned without trial, health and education has dramatically deteriorated, the position of women has gone horrifically backwards, trade unions are effectively banned, Baghdad is divided by 1,500 checkpoints and blast walls, electricity supplies have all but broken down and people pay with their lives for speaking out.

Even without the farce of the March elections, the banning and killing of candidates and activists and subsequent political breakdown, to claim – as the Times did today – that "Iraq is a democracy" is grotesque. The Green Zone administration would collapse in short order without the protection of US troops and security contractors. No wonder the speculation among Iraqis and some US officials is of an eventual military takeover.....

But by playing the sectarian and ethnic cards, it also prevented the emergence of a national resistance movement and a humiliating Vietnam-style pullout. The signs are it wants to create a new form of outsourced semi-colonial regime to maintain its grip on the country and region. The struggle to regain Iraq's independence has only just begun."

The Eve of Destruction?

By Tony Karon

"Tuesday’s cross-border firefight between Israeli and Lebanese government forces might simply have been a misunderstanding. And the rockets fired from Gaza and the Israeli air strikes on the besieged territory over the past week could be viewed as periodic blip in business as usual on that front. By the same token, last Friday’s unprecedented joint visit to Beirut by the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Syria could be viewed simply as a move to stop the conflict between their Lebanese proxies turning nasty. And British Prime Minister David Cameron’s pleas to Turkey to keep open its communication channels with Israel’s leaders are quotidian diplomatic common sense. Viewed in a wider context, however, each of those events could be taken as signs of why many in the Middle East believe that despite the outward calm, the region may be on the brink of another catastrophic war....."