The ongoing persecution of Julian Assange has reached a new level of absurdity today after it was announced that Ecuador had granted the founder of Wikileaks asylum. In the aftermath of Quito granting asylum to Assange the
British government sent this letter to the Ecuadorians
You should be aware that there is a legal basis in the U.K. the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act which would allow us to take action to arrest Mr. Assange in the current premises of the Embassy.
We very much hope not to get this point, but if you cannot resolve the issue of Mr. Assange’s presence on your premises, this route is open to us.
We understand the importance to you of the issues raised by Mr. Assange, and the strong public pressure in country. But we still have to resolve the situation on the ground, here in the U.K., in line with our legal obligations. We have endeavored to develop a joint text, which helps both meet your concerns, and presentational needs.
After sending this letter threatening to storm the Ecuadorian embassy the British government denied that this was a threat. This denial of a threat was followed by the sending of non-threatening police vans to surround the Ecuadorian embassy. Continuing in this vain of non threatening behavior by the British government, William Hague had this to say regarding diplomatic asylum
We will not allow Mr Assange safe passage out of the United Kingdom, nor is there any legal basis for us to do so. The United Kingdom does not recognise the principle of diplomatic asylum.
It is far from a universally accepted concept: the United Kingdom is not a party to any legal instruments which require us to recognise the grant of diplomatic asylum by a foreign embassy in this country.
Moreover, it is well established that, even for those countries which do recognise diplomatic asylum, it should not be used for the purposes of escaping the regular processes of the courts. And in this case that is clearly what is happening.
So are we really meant to believe that Britain is willing to break diplomatic conventions and storm a foreign embassy (exposing their diplomats to untold dangers overseas) and arrest Julian Assange so he can be brought to Sweden for QUESTIONING( he has never been charged) in a sex crimes case against him? The answer is no. Britain is jumping through all of these hoops at the behest of their American cousins. This has nothing to do with rape allegations. That is merely the justification for extraditing Assange to Sweden do he can be sent to the United States for trial or indefinite detention. If Britain were so forthright with prosecuting sex offenders they would have extradited Pinochet who had countless women raped while he was dictator of Chile. Luckily for Pinochet he commanded a greater deal of respect from the British government. Indeed if Sweden was so concerned with these two women who have accused Assange of rape, why have they turned down multiple invitations to question Assange in London? Because they too are doing the bidding of the Americans.
I know I am rehashing a lot of stuff here, but the point is to really make clear how extraordinarily outrageous this whole affair is. All of this is being done at the behest of our liberal democracy loving president to punish someone for exposing the truth about Americas crimes around the world. England, Sweden, and Australia are all willing to put their own diplomats in danger all because the president and America got embarrassed. This should instill a sense of shame and rage in all Americans. The saddest part of all of this is how blatant it is. No one is even trying to spin this as an extradition meant to uphold the law and bring justice for these alleged rape victims. As Marcy Wheeler so brilliantly points out, this whole diplomatic fiasco is doing exactly what Wikileaks did in the first place. Which was to
expose publicly what has become true but remains largely unacknowledged: the US and its allies find international law and protocols to be quaint. That was obviously true under Bush, with the illegal Iraq war and his disdain for the Geneva Conventions. But Obama, too, continues to do things legally authorized only by the most acrobatic of legal interpretations.
Spill over from the Syrian civil war is
making its way into Lebanon. Around 30 Syrians have been kidnapped in Lebanon in total, with most being held by the powerful Lebanese Shiite family al Mokdad. The kidnappings are in retaliation for one of their family members being kidnaped supposedly by the FSA in Syria. The al Mokdad clan has threatened to abduct Qatari and Saudi nationals that they find in Lebanon. The Gulf nations have taken this threat very seriously. On Wednsday Qatar and Saudi Arabia urged all of its citizens to leave Lebanon immediately. This latest development should be a warning to any an all nations meddling in the Syrian civil war; stay out or face the consequences. What ever happens in Syria will reverberate in Lebanon. Small sale fighting has already taken place in Tripoli which has a significant Alawite community. We are now reaching the point of no return in this conflict. For all of the bluster from Western and Gulf leaders about the imminent downfall of Assad, he still remains in power. Short of an intervention no one knows how long he will continue fighting. As horrific as the civil war is now, it will surely be eclipsed by what will come after Assad leaves or is murdered. Fighting between Assad’s forces and the rebels are leading to a mutual cycle of violence that will sow enough hate on both sides to have this conflict last for years if not decades. This latest spate of kidnapping illustrates this point perfectly. The kidnapping of one Lebanese individual has now mobilized an entire family into a militia. The al Mokdad clan have no ties to either Hezbollah or Amal, the main Shia factions in Lebanon, but they are now firmly in the camp that opposes the FSA and the rebels in Syria. Animosity between the FSA and the al Mokdad clan is not going to end when the civil war ends.
Once again the United States admits that Iran is not building a nuclear bomb. This time around it was in response to the erroneous claims that Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has been making to the media in the Jewish state. Barak recently said that the American position on Iran was finally moving closer Israel’s. This was after Haaretz reported that there was a new NIE stating that Iran was in fact constructing a nuclear bomb. The Haaretz report is as false as Barak’s comments. No where in the Haaretz report is new intelligence cited. The same old lies about a supposed “clean up” at the Parchin military facility are cited as evidence by Haaretz, despite it having been debunked already. Haaretz also relies on anonymous Western and Israeli diplomats as sources for this new revelation. The other “reliable” source used by Haaretz comes from the violent Iranian terrorist cult group the MEK. I won’t even take the time here to break down how the MEK has absolutely no credibility.
So let’s be clear so we don’t have to go through with this for the two hundredth time. Iran is NOT building a nuclear weapon. They ceased construction in 2003 and have not begun again. This was the revelation that was made in the 2007 NIE, and it is still true today. As the L.A. Times pointed out five days ago, there is no nuclear program in Iran. It does not exist. For some further clarification on how ridiculous these claims are, here is former US Navy intelligence analyst John Schindler writing on his blog about these false claims:
A couple rules of the road. NIEs are very special things, exceptionally LIMDIS (limited distribution); when I was a full-time spook I didn’t read them – that was way above my pay-grade. That’s for the White House and related bigwigs. And they are always NOFORN: not for foreigners.
So, a few possibilities. Barak and his government are playing one huge head-fake with Obama, whom they openly dislike, even though he just dumped more money on Israel. Or, they have seen it – how, exactly, this former counterspy wonders – and are diming out DC in a very tough game of hardball.
Regardless, the rules of the spy game are clear and have been since Moses was a boy. When intelligence services share information, as they do every day, you don’t pass it to third parties without clearance. Ever. And if you do, eventually you will get burned and nobody will want to play marbles with you.
Barak and the other warmongers in Israel simply can’t wait to bomb Iran. Netanyahu and Barak are both savvy enough politically to understand that the American public by and large is gullible enough to so take that they say as fact. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times government officials or the mainstream media tells the American people that Iran isn’t building a bomb; they just don’t buy it. Netanyahu and Barak use this fact to brainwash Americans into blindly marching into war with Israel’s enemies. Israel’s enemies are not always our enemies. It’s time for Israel to fight their own battles. If that means attacking and oppressing Muslims through out the Middle East then fine, but we can not be dragged into this. The Muslim and Arab world already hates us enough. Can you really fathom what would happen if we worked with or allowed Israel to attack Iran? Can you imagine how fast Iran would build a bomb if they were attacked? All of the liberal western orientated Iranians that Americans love so much would side with the Ayatollah. A regional as well as global conflict involving other super powers could result in world war three. Once again the United States is driving down the road headed towards another 9/11.
Hillary Clinton always manages to out do herself with a relentless litany of contradictions. Our supposed democracy loving Secretary of State told reporters at a news conference in Pretoria that
We have to send very clear expectations about avoiding sectarian warfare. Those who are attempting to exploit the situation by sending in proxies or terrorist fighters must realize that will not be tolerated,
Well it seems that Secretary Clinton ether forgot or is unaware that this is precisely what the United States is doing in Syria. It’s unlikely that she is unaware or forgot as she is one of the principle officials pushing this policy in Syria. Using the CIA to funnel arms and equipment to rebels so as to overthrow Assad and weaken Iran is the definition of using proxies. Furthermore, using these proxies is only exacerbating the sectarian strife in Syria. The administrations support of Sunni’s is shifting the conflict further in a direction which pits Sunni’s against Christians and Alawites.
Now if a big bad Republican had said this Democrats would be screaming bloody murder. And herein lies the problem with liberals. They are perfectly content with calling out conservatives when they advocate dangerous and illegal policies, but they are unable to reprimand their own people for doing the same thing. If a war criminal like George W. Bush had done this it would have been very bad. When the great liberal savior Barack Obama does it it’s different because he is doing it with good intentions. At least Republicans have the decency to be upfront and admit that their awful policies are aimed at ensuring American imperialism and hegemony over the world. Democrats hide behind the veil of humanitarianism and human rights when implementing their domineering foreign policy.
When Bush claimed to be bringing democracy to Iraq anyone with half a brain was able to see that this wasn’t the case. Instead it had everything to do with getting rid of someone who didn’t submit and play by Americas rules, and putting in place a puppet beholden to the United States and it’s interests. To a lesser extent is also
had to do ridding the region of Israel’s only real adversary. Unsurprisingly this didn’t turn out the way it was planned. Instead Saddam was replaced with another authoritarian leader who has exacerbated sectarian and ethnic tensions far beyond Saddam. Maliki is not beholden to anyone except his own desire for power. He has become increasingly close with America
and Israel’s sworn enemy Iran. The Obama administrations goal in Syria has a much to do with human rights and democracy as Bush’s Iraq strategy did. The real goals in Syria are two fold. Weaken and isolate Iran, and slow down the Arab Spring by putting in place an American stooge that will look out for America not Syria’s interests. Liberals and Democrats need to wake up to this sooner rather than later. In a few months it may not be possible to undo a civil war that will engulf the entire region.
16 Egyptian border guards were killed Monday by militants operating in Sinai. This is the latest in a string of incidents involving militants and disenfranchised communities in the peninsula. This latest attack was perhaps the most brazen though. After killing the border guards the militants drove stolen armored cars into the Israeli side of the border before being killed by the Israelis. Israel was quick to exploit the situation in Sinai to their advantage by calling the attack a “wake up call” for the Egyptians. As of recently Israel has been pointing its finger at Egypt and Gaza anytime an attack of this nature happens. The Israelis claim that the security vacuum is the fault of Egypt and is being exploited by Hamas and other Palestinian factions. Many political commentators in Israel also chalk up this violence to President Morsi’s “close” ties to Hamas. While this may play well for the Israeli public and western governments it’s simply not true.
Sinai has always been a region plagued by violence and militancy. In 2004 a 400 pound car bomb exploded outside the Hilton Hotel in Taba killing 34 people. A year later three bombs would go off in a coordinated attack that would claim the lives of 83 people in the resort town of Sharm al-Sheikh. And in 2011 the Egyptian oil pipeline connected to Israel and Jordan was attacked a whopping 12 times. All of this violence stemmed from Egypt’s close ties to Israel, something most if not all Egyptians loath, and the abysmal living conditions of the Bedouin communities living in the Sinai peninsula. These are attacks perpetrated by groups that are fed up with the oppressive Israeli occupation of the Palestinian people and the cooperation they receive from the Egyptian political elite, as well as by groups who historically have been neglected by the Egyptian government. The Israeli narrative that this is somehow the work of Hamas or some form of Palestinian resistance group doesn’t hold up. The biggest net loser from this recent attack is Gaza. The Rafah crossing which Morsi promised to fully open is now closed. Politically speaking Israel and it’s supporters are able to use this as further evidence of a global terror campaign directed at the Jewish state. Also keep in mind that Hamas directs their attacks against Israel and not Egypt.
The biggest net winner is of course Israel. Netanyahu and his partner in crime Barak can now blame Egypt and Gaza for all their foreign policy failures. The two of them can present this to other western nations as further evidence of how weak and ineffectual Morsi is as a leader. How can Israel expect to work with Egypt if it’s president can’t control his own people? This is the same tactic that the Israelis have used time and time again. The pro-Israel warmongers here in America will start screaming bloody murder soon enough, claiming that Morsi shouldn’t be president because poor defenseless Israel who never hurt anybody might be attacked.
This recent attack is a wake up call to Egypt as much as it is to Israel. Morsi has to address the Bedouin situation in the Sinai. He can not solve the militancy problem the way Mubarak did; round up and torture every Bedouin and man with a long beard. The Egyptian military must also come to understand that they are a catalyst for much of this violence. The breif love affair that those in Tahrir Square had for the military is now over. The military’s domination of the economy must cease so that those at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder can have a chance to get ahead. President Morsi may also have to examine whether a close relationship with the Jewish state is really in Egypt’s national interest. This doesn’t mean tearing up Camp David or going to war, but it may mean asking the Israelis to put their money were their mouth is on the question of peace with the Palestinians. For Israel this should be the wake up call that they can no longer expect to do whatever they please to Arab peoples and not expect a response. Israel can no longer rely on their dear friend Mubarak to slaughter his own population; which of course was the major cause of discontent amongst Egyptians critical of Israel. The Arab world is changing and Israel needs to catch up. Gone are the days of relying on secular dictators like Mubarak to help imprison the Palestine’s in the Gaza Strip. For too long Israel has relied on the fact that Arab dictators are as afraid of Arab democracy as they are. Israel never really had to make peace with the Palestinians because no Arab leader actually cared about the plight of their Palestinian brothers and sisters. And the populations living in Arab countries had no real voice or means to press their unelected leaders. For the first time now those in Gaza have a real ally in Egypt. It is time for Israel to wake up and see that their hegemony over the Middle East is slowly ending. The easiest way to prevent violence spilling over into Israel is to stop implementing a foreign policy doctrine that oppresses Arabs. And the first step in this process is to begin a real dialogue with those nations neighboring Israel. As more leaders are democratically elected in the Arab world the less leeway Israel has to do whatever they want in the region with out serious repercussions.
Riad Hijab is not a nice person. To spite what his spokesman has been telling Al Jazeera and Western media, Hijab is nothing more than a corrupt Assad crony. Reading his statement from today one might think that Hijab is a brave freedom fighter:
I announce today my defection from the killing and terrorist regime and I announce that I have joined the ranks of the freedom and dignity revolution. I announce that I am from today a soldier in this blessed revolution…
Hijab’s spokesman Muhammad el-Etri continued this repulsive narrative in an interview with Al Jazeera:
This defection has been being planned for more than two months. He was given two options: to either take the office of prime minister or be killed. He had a third option in mind: to plan his own defection in order to direct a blow to the regime from within and today he is declaring his defection…
I believe he is the highest ranking official in Syria [to defect]… it is one of a kind and it will have grave repercussions on the regime and significant implication after the departure of the regime and [for] the success of the revolution.
Did Hijab have a problem 17 months ago when this all started? For that matter did Hijab have a problem at all with the way that Assad has brutally been ruling Syria since 2000? It’s not as if Assad suddenness started killing his own people and Hijab became disillusioned with the Baathist’s. Hijab is a Sunni who benefited politically and financially from a dictator who oppresses Sunni’s plain and simple. As the civil war becomes increasingly bad Hijab doesn’t want to be on the losing side of the conflict. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that Hijab is some poor innocent politician. Had the civil war never happened Hijab would be content with stealing and abusing the Syrian people.
The above video allegedly shows the FSA executing regime loyalists. Those being executed are most likely members of the powerful al-Barri family. The al-Barri family is a wealthy Sunni clan in Syria which has been loyal to the regime for some time. A few days ago a newly elected Syrian MP was publicly executed by the FSA in Aleppo. This MP was named Zeino al-Barri. It is safe to say that the huge extended al-Barri family will never be on the side of the FSA and those trying to overthrow Assad. It is also safe to say that the FSA committed a war crime here. Thats the same FSA that John McCain and Anne-Marie Slaughter and all the other warmongers in Washington want the United States to arm and fully support. These are the gallant freedom fighters that deserve our help and money.
Blowhard racist, Newt Gingrich, has a wonderfully moronic OP-ED in Politico in which he defends Congresswoman Bachmann’s witch hunt against the Muslims Brotherhoods supposed infiltration of American politics. In the article he urges the American people to open up their eyes to the fact that radical Islam is infiltrating American politics. Gingrich claims that our political correctness has made it impossible for us to ask the hard hitting questions about Islamic infiltration. According to Newt it is the goal of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood to destroy Western civilization. But this supposed student of history fails to understand how Americas historical role as an oppressor of Muslims has led the Muslim Brotherhood to dislike America.
No where in the article does Newt mention why Muslims groups like the Brotherhood or Hamas hate the West. Newt uses the same idiotic argument that all neocons use; Muslims hate the West because of our freedom. He claims that “Munich in 1972, New York City on Sept. 11, Hasan at Fort Hood, the Times Square car bomber, the bombings in Iraq this week” are all the result of Islamic fundamentalism, not the result of decades of American oppression and murder of Muslims worldwide. The killing of Israeli athletes in Munich was a response to Israel’s murder of Palestinians, and colonization of their land. 9/11 happened because America had been killing Muslims for decades. Fort Hood and Times Square happened because two individuals were fed up with Americas attitude towards the Muslim people. Newt later makes this point as more justification of the Brotherhoods evil plans against the West and our cronies:
Just Friday, the Dubai chief of police warned about a Muslim Brotherhood effort to take over the emirates and seize their oil and natural gas wealth.
The UAE is an undemocratic human rights abusing monarchy. What is so terrifying about the Brotherhood taking control of the oil and gas reserves? Might it be that Newt doesn’t want to disrupt the flow of oil to America. The man who attacked Obama for bowing to the Saudi oil kings seems fine with bowing to the Emirati oil kings.
Newts whole argument revolves around the fact that he does not like that Muslims democratically elect groups like the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood has not seized power in Egypt. The Egyptian people voted them in to office. While Newt is to much of a coward to simply admit it, he does not like that free people freely elect their leaders. Neocons like Newt bemoaned the Palestinians for not being democratic enough. But when they democratically elected Hamas the West turned of them. Countries like Tunisia and Egypt elected Islamist political parties as a direct response to Americas oppressive policies in the Arab world. If you don’t want the Brotherhood to come to power than stop oppressing Muslims.
It is a real tragedy that a decade after the 9/11 attacks politicians like Newt Gingrich are still espousing this kind of false rhetoric. It seems that our elites, yes Newt your an an elite, are still trying to trick Americans into thinking that Muslims hate us because of who we are, not because of our actions. The sheepish American public need to actually understand how our policies effect the rest of the world. If they don’t, and instead listen to racists like Newt Gingrich, then we are destined for another terrorist attack on American soil.
Since the beginning of the Arab Spring Turkey has been singing the praises of those fighting for freedom in countries such as Egypt and Yemen. When it comes to their neighbor Syria, Turkey has taken a very strong tone in terms of their support. Turkey has been hosting both the Syrian National Council as well as the Free Syrian Army. As Al Akhbar reports today, Turkey has set up a secret military base with the support of Saudi Arabia and Qatar. This base is being used by Turkey to coordinate FSA attacks in Syria. One of the unintended consequences of Turkeys meddling in Syria is the recent development of an autonomous Syrian Kurdistan. Assad has handed over power of Syria’s Kurdish region to the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Party (PYD). The PYD has ties to the PKK in Turkey, which Ankara designates as a terrorist group.
Part of the reason for Assad’s handing over of power to the PYD is due to the need for more military personal in Aleppo. Assad has removed soldiers form its Kurdish region to fight the Turkish backed FSA in the pitched battle in Syria’s largest city. Unsurprisingly Turkey has declared that it will intervene in Syria so as not to let this “terrorist” group gain a foot hold. Prime Minister Erdogan told Turkish TV that “We will not allow a terrorist group to establish camps in northern Syria and threaten Turkey.”
If this strikes you as hypocritical thats because it is. Turkey is in favor of toppling Assad and brining democracy to Syria only if they can control the outcome. Turkey wants a Sunni dominated Syria that will be subservient to Turkey. Erdogan calling the Syrian Kurds terrorists is also laughable while he is openly funding Sunni extremists carrying out bombings in Syria. What happens when the Kurds in Turkey start demanding the freedom that their brothers in Syria gained? Will Turkey respond like Assad, with bullets and bombs?
Porkins Policy Review 