This Week in the World Affairs Brief:
ANOTHER PHONY UNDERWEAR BOMBER PLOT
It is no coincidence that Sen. Rand Paul’s bill to abolish the TSA is met the following week with yet another phony airline bomb plot. The only reason for the government choosing a second underwear bomb scheme is to make sure Congress doesn’t impose a ban on those irritating body-revealing airport scanners, which are making rich men of insiders like former Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff. This week’s CIA backed plot, however, did more than simply reinforce the need for Millimeter wave scanners, it also managed to provide a plug for using killer drones—again, just when public discontent about civilian casualties by drone warfare was reaching a crescendo. You can request a one-time free sample of the briefs by sending an email to editor@worldaffairsbrief.com.
Also:
- The Truth about the Russian Troops at Fort Carson
- Bogus Insider Sources Feeding False Claims to Internet
- Russia’s Preemptive Threat to Europe’s Missile Defense
Daily News
Pakistan Shuts Its Border; Pentagon Shuts Its Mouth
posted by askousen - Wednesday, May 16 2012
For nearly six months, Pakistan has closed its ground shipping routes to convoys resupplying the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. Getting those resupply routes open is preoccupying U.S. military officers and diplomats as they haggle, sweet-talk, beg and cajole their Pakistani counterparts, since alternative shipping routes are vastly more expensive. Exactly how expensive, the Pentagon won’t say, probably because disclosing that figure could undermine the U.S. in its talks with its Pakistani frenemy.
The so-called "Ground Lines of Communication" - GLOCs, pronounced "Gee-Locks" in military parlance - slammed shut after a November disaster in which U.S. troops killed 24 of their Pakistani counterparts during a chaotic nighttime border mission. That’s a costly closure. Last year, every U.S. shipping container crossing in through Pakistan cost the U.S. about $6,200, according to Defense Department figures provided to Danger Room. The average container flown in from the air transit route at Manas, Kyrgyzstan cost a whopping $15,800. — Wired.com
Blogger Shines Light on U.S. Shadow War in East Africa
posted by askousen - Wednesday, May 16 2012
In a series of blog posts over the past two weeks, Cenciotti has described in unprecedented detail the powerful aerial force helping wage Washington's hush-hush campaign of air strikes, naval bombardments and commando raids along the western edge of the Indian Ocean, including terror hot spots Yemen and Somalia. Cenciotti outlined the deployment of eight F-15Es from their home base in Idaho to the international air and naval outpost at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, north of Somalia.
Over the years there have been hints of the F-15s' presence in East Africa, but "their actual mission remains a (sort-of) mystery," Cenciotti writes. Based on the evidence, he proposes that the twin-seat fighter-bombers - one of the Air Force’s mainstay weapon systems in Afghanistan - are dropping bombs on al-Qaida-affiliated militants in Yemen. If true, that means the U.S. intervention in the western Indian Ocean is far more forceful, and risky, than previously suggested. — Wired.com
The Case of the Missing Terrorists
posted by askousen - Wednesday, May 16 2012
Who is Jose Rodriguez? He is the criminal who ran the CIA torture program. Most of his victims were not terrorists or even insurgents. Most were hapless individuals kidnapped by warlords and sold to the Americans as "terrorists" for the bounty paid.
If Rodriguez's identity was previously a secret, it is no more. He has been on CBS "60 Minutes" taking credit for torturing Muslims and using the information allegedly gained to kill leaders of al Qaeda. If terrorists were really the problem that Homeland Security, the FBI and CIA claim, Rodriguez's name would be a struck through item on the terrorists' hit list. He would be in his grave.
So, also, would be John Yoo, who wrote the Justice (sic) Department memos giving the green light to torture, despite US and International laws prohibiting torture. Apparently, Yoo, a professor at the Boalt School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, was ignorant of US and international law. And so was the US Department of Justice. — Paul Craig Roberts/Lew Rockwell
As the Boomers Head for the Barn
posted by askousen - Wednesday, May 16 2012
When the April figures on unemployment were released May 4, they were more than disappointing. They were deeply disturbing.
While the unemployment rate had fallen from 8.2 percent to 8.1 percent, 342,000 workers had stopped looking for work. They had just dropped out of the labor market.
Only 63.6 percent of the U.S. working age population is now in the labor force, the lowest level since December 1981. — Pat Buchanan/Lew Rockwell
Washington's New Pet Terrorists: State Department Prepares to "De-List" the Iranian MEK
posted by askousen - Wednesday, May 16 2012
In another portent of war with Iran, the U.S. State Department is prepared to remove the Iranian group Mujahadin al-Khalq (MEK) or "People's Mujahadin" from its official list of terrorist organizations. This follows what the Wall Street Journal calls "an aggressive legal and lobbying campaign in Washington over the past two years" carried out by the terrorist group, which has been aided by a lengthy roster of highly influential current and former U.S. officials.
The list of high-profile MEK advocates, some of whom were put on retainer by the group, includes Rep. Patrick Kennedy, former Indiana Congressman Lee Hamilton, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, former Pennsylvania Governor - and founding Secretary of Homeland Security - Tom Ridge, ex-Attorney General Michael Mukasey, former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell, Former CIA Director Michael Hayden, and retired General Wesley Clark. Under federal law each of the MEK's supporters is liable to huge fines and lengthy imprisonment for providing material support to a listed terrorist group - that is, if the law actually applied to the elite. — William N. Grigg/Republic Magazine
Iran hangs 'Mossad agent' for nuclear scientist killing
posted by askousen - Wednesday, May 16 2012
Iran has hanged a man who was sentenced to death for the 2010 killing of a nuclear physicist, state media reported yesterday.
Majid Jamali Fashi, 24, who had been accused of being an agent of the Israeli spy agency, Mossad, was tried and convicted last August.
The Tehran University physics professor Masoud Ali Mohammadi was killed by a bomb-rigged motorcycle that exploded outside his house as he was leaving for work in January 2010. He had no publicly disclosed links to Iran's nuclear programme. — The National
"Chaos" as Romney and Paul Supporters Clash at GOP Conventions
posted by askousen - Wednesday, May 16 2012
For the fourth time in a couple of weeks backers of the libertarian-leaning former obstetrician have wrestled control of a state convention from the smaller, Establishment bloc of the GOP.
As we have reported, in Maine and Nevada, Republicans who consider themselves soldiers in the Ron Paul Revolution took advantage of Party rules to get a Paul-friendly slate of delegates elected to represent them at the Republican National Convention that will take place in August in Tampa, Florida.
The battle for the future of the Republican Party, particularly as pertains to the person who will be ultimately chosen to face off against President Obama in November, continued this weekend in Arizona and Oklahoma. In those states as in Nevada and Maine, the word "chaos" was appropriately applied to the scene as the Romney camp felt the power of the Paul brigades. — The New American
On the Agenda
posted by askousen - Wednesday, May 16 2012
This week, the House of Representatives will take up the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, H.R. 4310. Last year, the FY 2012 NDAA contained two detention provisions, Section 1021 and 1022, that allowed for the indefinite detention of American citizens and resident aliens.
Now is the time for Congress to fix the mess they created. Several amendments regarding the detainee provisions will be voted on either Wednesday or Thursday of this week.
Contact your representative and urge him or her to oppose the indefinite detention of American citizens and individuals captured on US soil by fixing the mess they created last year. — Campaign for Liberty
Paul Campaign Makes Major Announcement
posted by askousen - Wednesday, May 16 2012
Immediately following media reports that Paul had in fact suspended or ended his campaign, Ron Paul campaign blogger Jack Hunter (above left) attempted to clarify Paul's announcement. In a YouTube video posted on Paul’s website RonPaul2012.com, Hunter states, "Ron Paul has not dropped out. Ron Paul has not suspended his campaign. What happened today was an announcement of a new strategy moving forward."
"Since the very beginning of this campaign, we've had a delegate strategy ... not only has this worked, it has been extremely successful," Hunter continues. "That's going to continue, all that hard work has paid off and will continue to pay off going all the way to Tampa." — The New American
The Fed: Mend It or End It?
posted by askousen - Tuesday, May 15 2012
Last week I held a hearing to examine the various proposals that have been put forth both to mend and to end the Fed. The purpose was to spur a vigorous and long-lasting discussion about the Fed's problems, hopefully leading to concrete actions to rein in the Fed.
First, it is important to understand the Federal Reserve System. Some people claim it is a secret cabal of elite bankers, while others claim it is part of the federal government. In reality it is a bit of both. The Federal Reserve System is the collusion of big government and big business to profit at the expense of taxpayers. — Pual.house.gov
Ron Paul's message to the GOP
posted by askousen - Tuesday, May 15 2012
...In the past few days alone, several incidents cast the campaign in an unfavorable light: Mitt Romney's son Josh was booed off the stage by Paul backers in Arizona Saturday, and Romney surrogates Tim Pawlenty and Gov. Mary Fallin received similarly rude treatment in Oklahoma. They were the latest in a string of recent disruptions from Maine to Alaska that threatened to tarnish Paul's legacy and marginalize the ideas he believes will one day dominate the Republican Party.
"It concerns him," campaign chairman Jesse Benton told POLITICO. "He wants to convey to everybody and our staff want to convey that we'll lose more than we gain if we go and we're disrespectful. Respect and decorum are very important to Dr. Paul."
"You need to give respect to get respect," he added. "We are confident that there will be mutual respect at the convention. We want to make sure that we take every step we can to make sure that happens." — Politico
Here's The REAL Reason Why Ron Paul Is Done With The Primaries
posted by askousen - Tuesday, May 15 2012
"We've know this was coming for a long time," senior campaign advisor Doug Wead said of today's announcement. "It was a signal to the forces in the field - we have to concentrate our resources and primaries would require huge amounts of time and money."
According to Wead, the decision to stop competing in the primaries was the result of a combination of factors, but was "primarily driven" by the surprising success of the campaign's delegate strategy, which has netted Paul a disproportionate number of RNC delegates at state conventions across the country.
"We are in the process of remaking the Republican Party - and it has been more successful than we ever expected," Wead told Business Insider. "It is truly a movement." — Business Insider
Ron Paul effectively ending presidential campaign
posted by askousen - Tuesday, May 15 2012
Ron Paul, Mitt Romney's lone remaining rival for the Republican presidential nomination, announced Monday that he would stop spending money on the party's 11 remaining primaries, in effect suspending his campaign.
The libertarian Texas congressman told supporters in an email that he would continue to accumulate delegates to the Republican National Convention in August in Tampa, Fla.
"Moving forward, however, we will no longer spend resources campaigning in primaries in states that have not yet voted," he wrote. "Doing so with any hope of success would take many tens of millions of dollars we simply do not have." — LA Times
Will Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio's popularity continue amid lawsuit?
posted by askousen - Monday, May 14 2012
The careers of most politicians would crumble under the heavy scrutiny that the self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in America now faces.
But despite a mountain of legal troubles, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio remains popular with voters and has more than $3.4 million in the bank for his November re-election campaign.
The Justice Department sued the five-term sheriff on Thursday on allegations that his officers racially profile Latinos – a move that has his critics saying that voters will finally be turned off and his supporters saying the development will only make him more beloved among voters who want a tough sheriff who doesn't back down from anyone.
"He's the new Wyatt Earp," said Tom Morrissey, chairman of the Arizona Republican Party in a reference to the Arizona lawman made famous by the gun fight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone. "The guy's legendary.”
"What he stands for resonates across the country," said Morrissey, also a retired chief U.S. Marshal. "Hundreds sometimes thousands of people cheer this man, give him standing ovations everywhere he speaks. That speaks volumes." — Christian Science Monitor
California Deficit Swells to $16 Billion, Governor Brown Says
posted by askousen - Monday, May 14 2012
California Governor Jerry Brown said his state's budget deficit grew to $16 billion amid a tepid economic recovery that sapped tax collections even as actions by the federal government and courts blocked cost cutting measures.
The shortfall has widened from the $9.2 billion Brown estimated in January, after April income-tax revenue missed budget forecasts by $2 billion. He's set to unveil a revised spending plan tomorrow and said he will need to make cuts even deeper than he has already proposed.
Brown, 74, set out an initial budget in January with $92.6 billion in spending for fiscal 2013, which begins in July. That plan stripped more than $4 billion from health and welfare programs while relying on higher income and sales taxes. The levy increases will go before voters in November. If rejected, schools will lose $4.8 billion midway through the year.
"We are still recovering from the worst recession since the 1930s," Brown said — Bloomberg
US spy agency can keep mum on Google ties: court
posted by askousen - Monday, May 14 2012
The top-secret US National Security Agency is not required to reveal any deal it may have with Google to help protect against cyber attacks, an appeals court ruled Friday.
The US Court of Appeals in Washington upheld a lower court decision that said the NSA need not confirm or deny any relationship with Google, because its governing statutes allow it keep such information secret.
The ruling came in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from a public interest group, which said the public has a right to know about any spying on citizens.
The appeals court agreed that the NSA can reject the request, and does not even have to confirm whether it has any arrangement with the Internet giant. — Yahoo News
'No progress' on China dissident Chen Guangcheng's passport
posted by askousen - Monday, May 14 2012
The blind Chinese dissident who escaped from house arrest and hid in the US embassy has said there is no progress on his passport application.
When the dissident, Chen Guangcheng, left the embassy China promised him he could apply to study abroad.
But more than a week later Mr Chen told the BBC there was no movement.
He said no Chinese officials had visited him in recent days, there had been no forms to fill in and no photograph had been taken. — BBC
Amendment to NDAA Would Give Military 'Clandestine Operation' Authority in Cyberspace
posted by askousen - Monday, May 14 2012
As if the NDAA wasn't bad enough -- essentially turning the whole planet, including America into one giant battlefield -- Congress is set to introduce an amendment that would grant even more power to the military for offensive operations in cyberspace.
As Mike Masnick highlights in his article for TechDirt, the applicable section currently gives authority to the president, whereas the amendment would give the entire Department of Defense the same authority.
The prospect of clandestine military actions online against whichever targets any one of the military agencies deems appropriate will officially complete the goal of full spectrum dominance.
The current text of the NDAA reads as follows: — Activist Post
What Constitutes a Fair Trial?
posted by askousen - Monday, May 14 2012
The trial of the alleged masterminds of 9/11, which began last week at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will address some of the most profound issues of our era. Are natural rights truly inalienable, as Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence, or can the government take them away from those it hates or fears? Does the Constitution protect the rights of all persons who come in contact with the government, or does it protect only certain Americans, as the government argues? Can the government deny a person due process by changing the rules retroactively, or is the Constitution's guarantee of due process to all persons truly a guarantee?
These are all questions that the government does not want to answer. But it should know better, because by structuring the trial after the crime was committed and by establishing retroactive rules – which are prohibited by the Constitution – that have never before been used in any American civilian or military court, Congress has created and the Obama administration will conduct a trial that will resemble none in our history. — Lew Rockwell.com
Corporate Media Finally Admits Ron Paul Has Won 5 States And Secured RNC Slot
posted by askousen - Friday, May 11 2012
Fox News has become the first mainstream media outlet to admit that Ron Paul has won 5 states and has secured a spot at the Republic National Convention.
Despite repeated attempts to claim that Ron Paul hasn't won any states, those following the real delegate counts knew the truth all along, - the non-binding straw polls meant absolutely nothing. — The Intel Hub
"Collateral damage." How the DEA defines your business, your freedom, and your life.
posted by askousen - Friday, May 11 2012
Today, Wallace and Ottenberg are fighting the Drug Enforcement Administration and state officials to continue to operate their business. Why? The DEA says that drug dealers are using their product to make methamphetamine.
The DEA says meth heads are interested in Polar Pure's key ingredient, iodine crystals.
Too lazy to go after the meth heads, they have to go after perfectly legitimate business, destroying the dream of two honest elderly Americans. You don't have to be opposed to the Drug War to be opposed to such tyranny.
Wallace and Ottenberg's business will of course be ruined, because they cannot possibly comply with the laws demands that they pay huge regulatory fees, plus "register with the state and feds, report any suspicious activity and keep track of each and ever person who bought a bottle of their product." Nor can their customers, which included camping stores and online outlets that stocked their product. They are being wiped out, and the DEA dismissively calls this "collateral damage" — Classical Values
Tangled Web of Corruption Debilitates Mexico
posted by askousen - Friday, May 11 2012
Although Mexico has signed several multilateral anti-corruption agreements, so far these instruments have yielded few concrete results in combating the rampant bribery, extortion and embezzlement, according to experts.
"We have the necessary legal instruments, but they are rarely used. More laws will not reduce the risk of corruption," Eduardo Bojorquez, head of Transparencia Mexicana, the national chapter of the Berlin-based watchdog Transparency International, told IPS. — IPS News
Few Companies Fight Patriot Act Gag Orders, FBI Admits
posted by askousen - Friday, May 11 2012
Since the Patriot Act broadly expanded the power of the government to issue National Security Letters demanding customer records, more than 200,000 have been issued to U.S. companies by the FBI. But the perpetual gag orders that accompany them are rarely challenged by the ISPs and other recipients served with such letters.
Just how rare these challenges are became more evident following the recent release of a 2010 letter from the Justice Department to a federal lawmaker.
In December 2010 in a letter (.pdf) from Attorney General Eric Holder to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), the FBI asserted that in February 2009 it began telling recipients they had a right to challenge the built-in gag order that prevents them from disclosing to anyone, including customers, that the government is seeking customer records. That policy was mandated by a 2008 appellate court decision, which found that the never-ending, hard-to-challenge gag order was unconstitutional. — Wired.com
Senate bill looks to close 'loophole' in White House's war powers
posted by askousen - Friday, May 11 2012
Sen Jim Webb (D-Va.) is looking to close a critical "loophole" in the administration's war powers, which could be used to take military action against Syria without congressional approval.
Webb is planning to introduce legislation requiring the president to obtain congressional approval before using military force for humanitarian or peacekeeping operations.
The pending bill will also require that debate begin within days of such a request and that a vote "must proceed in a timely manner," the Virginia Democrat said during a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday.
"This is not a political issue," he said. "We would be facing the exact same constitutional challenges no matter the party of the president. In fact, unless we resolve this matter, there is no doubt that we someday will." — The Hill.com
Twitter Hits Back at Court, Prosecutors Over 'Occupy' Order
posted by askousen - Friday, May 11 2012
In the battle to fight online fishing expeditions by law enforcement officials there is little we can do individually to protect ourselves - which makes it all the more important for internet companies like Twitter and Google to fight back on our behalf.
That's exactly what Twitter did when it filed a surprisingly feisty motion (.pdf) this week in New York City Criminal Court to quash a court order demanding that it hand over information to law enforcement about one of its account holders - an activist who participated in the Occupy Wall Street protests - as well as tweets that he allegedly posted to the account over a three-month period. The company stepped in with the motion after the account holder lost his own bid to quash the order. — Wired.com
Search Results Protected by First Amendment, Google-Funded Analysis Says
posted by askousen - Friday, May 11 2012
In the report, titled "First Amendment Protection for Search Engine Results," the libertarian-leaning Volokh, who runs the popular Volokh Conspiracy group blog, argues that search engine results that Google and others produce are a form of opinion. Therefore they have the right to choose what goes into that opinion – whether this means excluding certain links entirely or ranking them in a manner that the search engine deems is most relevant to users.
What this means in practice is that Google should be protected from claims others have made that the search engine giant is abusing its power by excluding certain links altogether or ranking results in a way that can harm the business of others. — Wired.com
FBI: Fake Underwear Bomb Plot Proves Need for Warrantless Surveillance
posted by askousen - Friday, May 11 2012
Though it turns out that the so-called bomber unveiled by the Obama Administration on the anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s assassination turned out to be a CIA employee, officials still continue to try to make hay out of him being "foiled" to their own ends.
FBI Director Robert Mueller, whose bureau had absolutely nothing to do with the CIA manufactured plot, cited it as proof that Congress needs to extend his ability to conduct electronic surveillance without a warrant.
"The amendments that are up for passage again - reenactment - at the end of this year [are] absolutely essential in our efforts to address this threat." Mueller insisted. At no point did Mueller make it clear why he’d need to conduct electronic surveillance on a CIA employee in the first place. — antiwar.com
EDITORIAL: Uncle Sam the snooper
posted by askousen - Friday, May 11 2012
Tampa, Fla., wants to cancel the rights of concealed-carry permit holders in the vicinity of the upcoming Republican National Convention. Commuter-train passengers in Chicago will be subjected to frisking and airport-style X-ray scanning during next week's NATO summit. The Obama administration is asking for warrantless access to cellphone location records.
The common thread in these recent headlines is the notion that government can do no wrong when it comes to making people feel safe. It's an illusion. Instead of enhanced safety, we're seeing the destruction of the fundamental values - based on the liberty of the individual - that once made America stand apart from the rest of the world.
In the 1980s, the phrase "Papers, please" was the sort of thing heard only when watching a spy movie set in a totalitarian state such as East Germany. Now we have a Supreme Court that rules the Fourth Amendment's protection against suspicionless search and seizure of individuals must be set aside so police can set up Soviet-style roadblocks to verify that a person's driving papers are in order. This is supposedly for safety. — Washington Times
Latest Al Qaeda Boogeyman is CIA Agent
posted by askousen - Thursday, May 10 2012
Most recently we have the "new and improved" underwear bombing narrative, now admitted to be the work of a CIA operative and constitutes a now tiresome storyline where sensational headlines create "terronoia" in the minds of millions of Americans before it is revealed that the entire plot was a production of the US government itself. In the small gap between "terronoia" and reality, exists a period where the corporate-media attempts to resell the merits of the TSA, their invasive checkpoints, and the scandalous irradiating "body scanners," which we were told have been "vindicated" by this recent bombing plot being "foiled," now exposed as government manufactured.
Meanwhile, real terrorists around the globe, guilty of blood-chilling atrocities on nation-wide scales are receiving arms, funding, training, air support, and diplomatic recognition from the US government - including in Libya, and more recently in Syria. In fact, many of the US funded, armed, and backed terrorists from Libya are turning up in increasing numbers in Syria's so-called indigenous "rebellion." Additionally, the US State Department has announced that it is close to making an announcement on the de-listing of the terrorist organization Mujahadin-e Khalq (MEK), guilty of killing both US troops and civilians, as well as carrying out to this day a terrorist campaign against not only Iranian military targets, but political and civilian targets as well. — Land Destroyer Report
Spain nationalizes fourth-largest bank as crisis deepens
posted by askousen - Thursday, May 10 2012
On Friday, the government is expected to announce a more wide-ranging banking system overhaul to free up frozen credit as Spain weathers a recession and 24.4% unemployment - the worst jobless rate among the 17 nations that use the euro.
Bankia faces the heaviest exposure among Spain's banks to bad property loans caused by a construction boom that went bust, and holds €34 billion in problematic loans.
The government decision to assume control of the bank came after Bankia directors approved the plan and nervous investors sent Spanish government bond yields soaring and stocks plunging. They are concerned Spain may be forced to ask for a bailout.
Spain will get 45% of Bankia under the deal and "will acquire control," the ministry said. — USA Today