Archive

For May, 2012

May 30

BBC Wages Propaganda War on Syria

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by Stephen Lendman

 

Millions globally follow BBC reports regularly. Most perhaps don’t know they get propaganda, not real news, commentary and opinion.

 

Since established in October 1922, it’s operated as a UK imperial tool. Its first general manager, John Reith, set the tone, saying:

 

“They (meaning the UK government) know they can trust us not to be really impartial.”

 

Straightaway he betrayed the public trust. Operating as a reliable business and government partner got BBC labeled the “British Falsehood Corporation.” Some today call it the “British Bombing (or Bombast) Club.”

 

Reith used BBC as a strikebreaker. He secretly wrote anti-union speeches. He refused air time for worker representatives. He and current officials represent elitist interests, not public ones media outlets are supposed to serve.

 

Job applicants are vetted to assure pro-government, pro-business credentials. Aberrant ones aren’t wanted. Whether on domestic or foreign issues, fair and balanced reporting isn’t tolerated.

 

How can it be when government officials appoint senior managers. Any stepping out of line get fired. Nothing changed from inception to now.

 

Its claim about “honesty, integrity (being) what the BBC stands for, free from political influence and commercial pressure” is willful, deceptive hype.

 

UK-based Media Lens offers independent, “authoritative criticism.” Its reports reflect “reality.” It’s free from corporate or government influence.

 

It covers BBC reporting. It once called it fundamentally one-sided, imbalanced, “biased, blinkered and culpable.”

 

“Anyone can spot the propaganda with a modicum of vigilance while watching the news.”

 

Western interests alone are represented. Viewers and listeners get one side only. They’re “clearly expected to identify with NATO.” They’re “asked to assume there is a moral basis to (its) killing.”

 

Attacking nations Washington and Britain declare “officially-decreed enemies” is supposed to be just and righteous no matter how lawless and indefensible.

 

BBC does what it’s told. It’s government funded, operated and controlled. It’s Britain’s official voice. It pretends to be independent and impartial.

 

“Propaganda merchants R Us,” says Media Lens.

 

“In each decade, from its inception to the present day, the BBC bears the scars of its entanglements with those in power.”

 

Media Lens quoted BBC news director, Helen Boaden. On June 10, 2011, she spoke the above words. She discussed the “value of journalism speech.”

 

She quoted Groucho Marx once saying:

 

“The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing….And if you can fake that, you’ve got it made!”

 

Journalists are supposed to speak truth to power. Few, in fact, do it. None working for scoundrel media. BBC falls woefully short. It represents interests it’s supposed to confront and hold to account.

 

Instead it serves wealth and power. It’s a “propaganda system for elite interests,” says Media Lens. Viewers and listeners are betrayed, especially on issues mattering most.

 

What’s more important than war or peace? When Britain and America rage to fight, BBC marches in lockstep.

 

On February 1, 2012, the Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) headlined “BBC Peddles War Propaganda,” saying:

 

BBC willfully misrepresents Iran’s nuclear program. For example, on January 26, it “explicitly stated that Iran has nuclear bombs!”

 

A “tirade of demonization and misinformation” followed. Spurious accusations claimed Iran threatens world peace. Question Time host David Dimbleby breached journalistic fairness and accuracy codes. He featured guests stating spurious misinformation, not truth and full disclosure.

 

Journalist Melanie Phillips claimed “Iran is threatening genocide against Israel virtually every week, and it means it.” She referred to the canard about wiping Israel off the map.

 

She continued saying:

 

“You are dealing in Iran with people who are not rational. You are dealing with people who believe that if they provoke the apocalypse, the end of days, they will bring to earth the Shiia Messiah, the Mahdi, and so they are in the business of provoking an apocalypse.”

 

“It does not matter to them that in a nuclear exchange they may lose half of their own country. It doesn’t matter. This is the mentality that you are dealing with. And the threat is to all of us.”

 

Broadcasting these type comments is unconscionable. Other guests say similar things. BBC features them. Viewers and listeners are misinformed. It repeats daily, especially when Britain and America plan war. CASMII had every right to complain. Doing so fell on deaf ears.

 

Last March, Alastair Crooke headlined his Asia Times article “Syria: Straining credulity?”

 

He quoted an unnamed US officer defining the future of warfare. In a 1997 US Army War College Quarterly article, he said:

 

“….we are already masters of information warfare. Hollywood is ‘preparing the battlefield.’ (We) will be writing the scripts, producing them, and collecting the royalties. Our creativity is devastating.”

 

“Hatred, jealousy, and greed – emotions, rather than strategy – will set the terms of (information warfare) struggles.”

 

Media scoundrels play the same role. The Syrian conflict “is scripted in emotional images and moralistic statements that always….trump rational analysis.”

 

Baseless suspicions bring charges of crimes against humanity. Opposition and Western sources are cited. Warmongering officials write the scripts. Media scoundrels regurgitate their misinformation.

 

“Those who try to argue that Western intervention can only exacerbate the crisis are confronted (with images) of dead babies.”

 

Those who write the scripts set the tone. Who’ll contradict them without major media support? Expect none from BBC.

 

“Are we now to (believe) that armed opposition (insurgents are) motivated by” humanitarian concerns? “Will a Kosovo-type solution (improve things) in Syria?”

 

Does “anyone really believe American and European objectives in Syria (are) purely humanitarian?” Info-wars have other things in mind. At issue is regime change, not reform. It’s about isolating Iran. It’s about setting the stage for toppling its government after disposing of Syria.

 

“Do these reporters really believe” the agitprop they air? “Perhaps some do, but others (say things) to prepare the battlefield.”

 

It bears repeating. When America, Britain, and rogue partners go to war or plan one, media scoundrels march in lockstep. BBC’s done it for decades. Now it’s at it again.

 

Spurious accusations claim Iran is developing nuclear weapons. In fact, none exist, and Iran threatens no one.

 

On May 27, Houla’s massacre was featured. Reporting from Beirut, Jim Muir said:

 

“Some opposition groups are saying this could be a turning point.”

 

“Western nations are pressing for a response….”

 

America wants “an end to (Assad’s) ‘rule by murder.’ ”

 

“The killings have sparked a chorus of international condemnation.”

 

US, UK, French, and UN officials were quoted. They all pointed fingers one way. So did BBC by featuring them. The blame game accuses victims. Perpetrators get scant mention. Heated interventionist calls increase. “(I)ndiscriminate and disproportionate use of force” was charged.

 

On May 29, BBC reported on “how a massacre unfolded,” saying:

 

“Anti-government activists, eyewitnesses and human rights groups – including the UN’s high commissioner for human rights – point the finger at the Syrian army and the shabiha, a sectarian civilian militia that supports the regime of Bashar al-Assad.”

 

BBC claimed army shelling began the attack. Syria categorically denies it. No tanks or artillery targeted Houla. None were positioned nearby. Hundreds of heavily armed Western-sponsored gunmen bear full responsibility.

 

Like other scoundrel media, BBC reported a tsunami of misinformation and lies.

 

On May 27, the London Telegraph headlined “BBC News uses ‘Iraq photo to illustrate Syrian massacre,” saying:

 

Willful deception was caught red-handed. The image used “was actually taken on March 27, 2003….” It “shows a young Iraqi child jumping over dozens of white body bags containing skeletons found in a desert south of Baghdad.”

 

BBC posted it on its web site under the heading “Syria massacre in Houla condemned as outrage grows.” The caption suggests Houla bodies awaited burial.

 

Photographer Marco di Lauro spotted the deception. He took the photo. When he saw it he said he nearly “fell off his chair,” adding:

 

“One of my pictures from Iraq was used by the BBC web site as a front page illustration claiming (Houla body images were) sent by an activist.”

 

BBC pulls stunts like this often. So do US and other Western media. Notoriously they misreport on imperial wars and events preceding them. Propaganda substitutes for real news and information. Apologies after the fact when caught don’t matter. Damage done can’t be reversed.

 

What could Assad gain by killing babies, young children, women and the elderly? How would cutting their throats or shooting them at point blank range help? Obvious questions go unanswered. Regurgitated lies substitute.

 

The pattern repeats when Washington, Britain, and rogue partners want independent governments toppled. Media propaganda promotes wars.

 

It rages against Syrian civilians. Insurgent death squad assassins target them. They’ve been doing it since early last year. Like other scoundrel media, BBC ignores truths and features willful misinformation and lies. Fake images are prominently featured.

 

Viewers and listeners are misinformed and betrayed. Many wonder what’s next. Domestic needs suffer to serve ravenous imperial appetites. No end of conflicts appear near.

 

Iran parliamentarians condemned the Houla massacre. They compared it to Israel’s Sabra and Shatila slaughter. They called it “blatant….terrorist acts (of) mass murder….” Insurgents bear full responsibility. Assad is wrongfully blamed.

 

America should be held accountable, they said. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said it was done “to create chaos and instability.” It’s also about preventing peace and paving the way for war.

 

On May 29, Press TV reported that the Habilian Association human rights group said:

 

“We have conclusive proof and documents showing that the MKO (Mujahedlin-e Organization) has a strong and significant presence in Syria.”

 

“The terrorist group has begun, in an all-out fashion, acts of sabotage and terrorism against the Syrian government and nation, and has found major influence among the Syrian rebels.”

 

Washington is directly involved. So are Western and regional partners. MKO plans a “large-scale attack.” Preparations are underway.

 

Everything ongoing facilitates Washington’s war plans. The worst could erupt any time. First Syria, then Iran, then new targets in an endless cycle of violence, killing, and destruction. Expect it. It’s coming.

 

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

 

His new book is titled “How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War”

 

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

 

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

 

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour.

May 30

Violence-Wracked Honduras

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by Stephen Lendman

On June 28, 2009, a coordinated State Department-Pentagon project allied with Honduran military commanders and top opposition figures ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

Industrialists, financial interests, large landowners, and transnational corporations supported the coup.

A Porfirio Lobo fascist dictatorship replaced him. Washington backs, arms and funds it.

All Honduran officers from captains on up train at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC).

Formerly it was called the School of the Americas (SOA). It’s popularly known as the “School of Assassins.”

It teaches how to torture, repress, exterminate poor and indigenous people, overthrow democratically elected governments, assassinate targeted leaders, and suppress popular resistance when it erupts.

Its graduates specialize in state terror. They brutalize, disappear, and massacre elements perceived as threats to their authority. No one lives safe under these conditions.

Honduras’ reputation as the world’s murder capital is well deserved. Political and human rights activists, unionists and independent journalists are especially at risk. Conditions are exacerbated by Washington’s complicity.

On May 11, a US helicopter attack killed four Hondurans, including two pregnant women. Another four were wounded during an anti-drug raid.

American Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) militants were involved. They then stormed homes while occupants slept.

Witnesses said masked men spoke English. Hilaria Zavala said six men kicked in her door at 3AM, threw her husband to the floor, and threatened him at gunpoint.

Earlier, the DEA acknowledged its involvement in Honduras. Nonetheless, spokeswoman Dawn Dearden said agency personnel weren’t in the village on May 11.

Honduran security ministry spokesman Hector Ivan Mejia said he knew nothing about the raid. Police claimed cocaine was aboard the targeted vessel. They said those onboard fired first. They shot back in “self-defense.”

Conflicting Honduran military reports said agents fired on civilians by mistake. Another claimed those killed were drugs traffickers.

Villagers are enraged. Nearby Ahuas Mayor Lucio Vaquedano said they have nothing to do with drugs. Victims were fishing. Helicopter fire machine-gunned them to death. It was cold-blooded murder.

Indigenous Miskito group leaders said:

“For centuries we have been a peaceful people who live in harmony with nature, but today we declared these Americans to be persona non grata in our territory.”

Candelaria Trapp, one of the slain victims, left behind six motherless children.

In response, residents burned government buildings. They demand US agents leave. On May 5, The New York Times headlined “Lessons of Iraq Help US Fight a Drug War in Honduras,” saying:

Washington established “three new (Honduran) forward bases.” The country “is the latest focal point in America’s drug war.” Allegedly US forces only fire in “self-defense.” May 11 proved otherwise.

Moreover, an alleged “drug war” is a red herring. America’s CIA trafficked them for decades. Wall Street and other major banks launder billions in illicit profits.

Written or acknowledged rules of engagement authorize free fire zone directives. In Iraq and Afghanistan they ordered killing every military-aged man in sight. Honduras perhaps is no different.

US wars on terror, drugs, or for other reasons get carte blanche authority to operate freely. Limitations don’t apply. Honduran and US Special Forces work with DEA agents. It’s more about repression than stopping trafficking.

Rights Action reports often on conditions in the country. On May 17, it headlined “Honduras: A Violence, Repression and Impunity Capital of the world,” saying:

“There is no end in sight to violence and repression in Honduras. There is also no end in sight to American and Canadian governments and business maintaining political, economic and military relations with the military-backed regime.”

Besides being Latin America’s murder capital, it’s also the region’s “journalist killing capital….an LGBT killing capital, a prisoner killing capital, a lawyer killing capital, etc.”

Unrestrained violence continues. America’s support and involvement facilitates it. Human rights abuses rage out of control. State terror is policy. Ordinary Hondurans haven’t a chance.

Resistance is their only option. Another coup may follow electoral change if achieved. Odds against it are long.

Zelaya’s wife Xiomara heads a LIBRE political party. It represents the Nacional de Resistencia Popular (FNRP) popular resistance.

Its Declaration of Principles calls revolution “inevitable.” An “unsustainable economic, political and social system” rules Honduras.

Crisis conditions followed the June 2009 coup. It unleashed reign of terror violence. Repressive, anti-democratic, neoliberal forces rule. Predatory capitalism exploits and kills. Hondurans demand change. Perhaps one day they’ll get it. For now, it’s nowhere in sight.

On January 26, a New York Times Dana Frank op-ed headlined “In Honduras, a Mess Made in the US,” saying:

“IT’S time to acknowledge the foreign policy disaster that American support for the Porfirio Lobo administration in Honduras has become.”

“Ever since the June 28, 2009 coup that deposed Honduras’s democratically elected president, José Manuel Zelaya, the country has been descending deeper into a human rights and security abyss.”

“That abyss is in good part the State Department’s making.”

Headlines reflect daily horror stories. A UN report calls Honduras the world murder capital. State-sponsored terror is mostly to blame.

Lobo replicates the worst of other world despots. Elections lack credibility. Democracy isn’t tolerated.

Last October, Obama praised Lobo for “restor(ing) democratic practices.”

Last May, 87 congressional members pushed back a little, not enough. In a letter to Hillary Clinton, they urged suspending military and related aid. House Foreign Affairs ranking Democrat, Howard Berman (D. CA) asked whether Washington was arming a dangerous regime.

In December, Senator Patrick Leahy (D. VT) and others won small concessions on what’s supplied, but not enough to matter.

“Why has the State Department (backed) the Lobo administration,” Frank asked? In part, it caved to right-wing ideologue Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, (R. FL), House Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman.

Extremists like her infest Congress like crabgrass besets lawns. As a result, repression proliferates. Deaths follow. Hondurans face “a tragic abyss.” It’s time to stop “feeding the beast.” Alternative approaches are long overdue.

Hondurans, not America’s State Department “have the right to lead their country forward.”

Frank is a University of California, Santa Cruz, Professor of History. The Times provided rare op-ed space for honest opinion.

On January 24, a Miami Herald editorial headlined “Central America’s free-fire zone,” saying:

US Peace Corps volunteers left. It’s “one more sign (Honduras) deteriorated to crisis levels not seen since the” 1980s Contra wars. “The country is quickly turning into a disaster zone.”

US-backed Honduran officials “are complicit in the violence and criminality.” The country is a virtual “free-fire zone.” Its murder rate exceeds 82 per 100,000. In Miami, it’s 5.5 per 100,000.

In a nation of eight million, nearly 7,000 2011 homicides were reported. It increased 250% in the last six years. It reflects the world’s highest per capita rate.

Security forces are directly involved. State-sponsored violence is policy. Police and military elements are “enforcers and bodyguards for drug traffickers.”

Journalists, whistleblowers, and prosecutors courageous enough to point fingers are murdered. Top law enforcement officials are involved. National Police director Jose Ricardo Ramirez del Cid is complicit.

Internal police reports named him and others. Violations go unaddressed. Lobo looks the other way. He’s directly complicit. So are lawmakers, government bureaucrats, and top Washington officials.

The stench of corruption and other crimes in Honduran high places is too clear to ignore. By providing arms, funding and training, Washington’s directly involved.

“(W)here’s the accountability,” asked the editorial? “Congress should withdraw assistance if the Honduran government blocks reforms. This crisis requires more than tough talk.”

So far, meaningful change remains elusive. Washington’s to blame for the region’s worst state terror. It backs other notorious despots globally.

It’s official state policy. Bipartisan support backs it. Change depends on Americans no longer putting up with what no one should tolerate. Perhaps one day they will. They better. Human survival’s at stake.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled “How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War”


Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

May 28

Israel’s Enforcer

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Israel’s Enforcer

 

by Stephen Lendman

 

Israel enforces rogue state harshness. Rule of law principles are spurned. Even Jewish rights are marginalized. Palestinians have none.

 

Occupation ruthlessness terrorizes them. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad serve illegitimately.

 

Israel manipulated the process to elect Abbas and keep him in charge. Despite virtually no popular support, Fayyad was appointed.

 

Enforcing Israeli authority is policy. Abbas is a longtime collaborator. Duplicity defines his agenda. Israel and Washington know he’s reliable. They support him to serve their interests.

 

Abbas took credit as Oslo’s architect. Israel controlled the process. Sellout defined it. Israel got what it wanted. Palestinians were shut out. Abbas sold out. He agreed to unilateral surrender. So did Arafat.

 

In April, Al-Ahram contributor Hasan Afif El-Hasan headlined “Twenty lost years,” saying:

 

Post-Oslo, nothing changed. Israel’s military protects settlers and terrorizes Palestinians. PA security forces violate the rights of their own people “in accordance with guidelines and direct orders established by Israel.”

 

“The path the PA chose since Oslo has not led to Palestinian independence and it has weakened the Palestinian national movement.”

 

“The PA does not govern its own territory, and became for all intents and purposes the administrator of an Israeli protectorate while Israel carries on with ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem, colonising the West Bank and enforcing the criminal blockade on Gaza.”

 

Abbas and Fayyad replicate US-controlled puppet authority in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere. PA security forces prevent and/or contain peaceful demonstrations.

 

During Cast Lead, anti-Israeli protests were prohibited. Abbas tried to prevent war crime investigations. He won’t permit another Intifada. He targets Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine supporters.

 

Historian Beshara Doumani recently visited the West Bank. He said PA crackdowns prevent Palestinians from expressing views freely. He called Nablus “a broken city.” Resistance is confronted and quashed.

 

Sociology Professor Khalil Nakhleh calls PA/Israeli cooperation frightening. Palestinian elites place their interests above collective ones.

 

PA leaders work cooperatively with a “Jewish-ethno-security regime.” They rule Palestine “from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean….” What chance have Palestinians when top officials representing them sell out to Israeli authority?

 

On May 10, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights reported (PCHR) Palestinian security forces broke up “the concluding colloquium of the Palestine Festival of Literature.”

 

Free expression and opinion were violated. So was the right to peacefully assemble. Palestinian law affirms rights too important to deny.

 

Arab poets and writers attended. Egyptian blogger ‘Amru ‘Izzat spoke about liberty. Security forces cut off electricity and told attendees to leave. Those refusing were confronted. Cameras were confiscated. Chaos resulted. Later, the colloquium resumed at al-Quds International Hotel.

 

In early May, PA security forces arrested dozens of journalists and activists voicing dissent. Al Haq director Shawan Jabarin said:

 

“There are many people I’m sure that are afraid and will count to ten before they say anything. Maybe they’ll push people to speak underground instead of expressing their opinions freely.”

 

“I think they’re using different words here and there, just to undermine these people in the eyes of the public and to say that they are creating trouble and creating divisions. It’s a political judgement more than (something) illegal.”

 

Palestinian Attorney General Ahmad al-Maghni hasn’t “protect(ed) the freedoms and the rights of the people in the face of arbitrary detention, instead of arresting people.”

 

“Here, we see him acting quickly” and irresponsibly. “(A)t the same time, he’s closing his ears and his eyes on the crimes going on.”

 

“He is not taking into his mind that the law that he is using was approved in 1960 and these days, we are in 2012 and the main principle now in all the world is freedom of expression.”

 

Jabarin referred to the long outdated 1960 Jordanian Penal Code.

 

An-Najah University student Hasan Abbadi was jailed for days and fined for “creating disunity.” Others were targeted for Facebook and other social network comments.

 

Abbas ruthlessly targets truth. Criticizing PA authority isn’t tolerated. Web sites were blocked. Al Mughani ordered them shut. Internet freedom’s threatened. So are peaceful assembly and other rights.

 

Palestinians should ask who’s side are they on? It’s simple knowing and should mobilize them to react. Otherwise, current policies will continue and worsen.

 

Palestinian Security Forces Trained to Serve Israel

 

From 2005 until he retired in October 2010, Lt. General Keith Dayton served as US Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority head (USSC). Lt. General Michael Moeller replaced him. He reports directly to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

 

The State Department says he “directs all facets of U.S. security sector assistance to the Palestinian Authority and synchronizes international supporting efforts.”

 

It’s part of Washington’s pro-Israel/anti-Palestinian agenda. USSC created, built, trains and funds a 25,000-strong PA force. Hundreds of millions are spent. At issue is Institutionalizing hard-line control. Israel’s own security operations are supplemented.

 

Dayton built and renovated garrisons, training colleges, Interior Ministry facilities, and security headquarters. In January 2010, a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report addressed “US Security Assistance to the Palestinian Authority,” saying:

 

In late 2004, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Abbas created the USSC for “civil security and counterterrorism purposes.”

 

Palestinian recruits train at Jordan’s International Police Training Center (JIPCA) near Amman. Instruction includes crowd control, confronting “terrorist networks,” and consolidating “competent, defactionalized civilian control” over the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Hamas controls besieged Gaza. Perhaps Israel plans another war to change things.

 

At issue is maintaining militarized occupation control, confronting challenges to Israeli authority, serving imperial Washington, and denying Palestinians freedom and control over their own lives.

 

PA security forces assist Israeli harshness. Five PA security organizations operate: the National Security Forces (including military intelligence), Palestinian Civil Police, Preventive Security Organization, Presidential Guard, and General Intelligence Service.

 

Together they comprise the Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF). The PA interior minister controls them. He’s beholden to Israel. So are Abbas and Fayyad. Palestinians lose out. They have two enemies – Israel and their own West Bank government.

 

USSC is a multinational organization comprised of military officers and civilian personnel. Its core staff numbers about 45, including Americans, Canadians, Brits, and Turks. Operations are based in Jerusalem and Ramallah.

 

US private military contractors (PMCs), including DynCorp., are involved. So are around two dozen US and foreign law enforcement and security training specialists, as well as seven US and foreign technical advisors with expertise in security and Middle East affairs, strategic planning and organizational development, contracts and grants, procurement, logistics, and finance.

 

At issue is enforcing occupation harshness, denying Palestinian self-determination, and eliminating challenges to Israeli control. Palestinian security forces target their own people. Abbas and Fayyad collaborate for whatever benefits they derive.

 

Israel has final say on policy. Washington’s a reliable partner. Palestinians are left out and exploited. They’re on their own against two rogue states denying their legitimate rights. Liberation depends on restoring them.

 

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

 

His new book is titled “How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War”

 

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

 

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

 

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

May 28

Daily Kristallinacht in Palestine

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Daily Kristallinacht in Palestine

 

by Stephen Lendman

 

Imagine daily life under these conditions. Occupation harshness enforces institutionalized terror. Fear is constant. Collective punishment is policy.

 

Peaceful public demonstrations are assaulted. Free expression and movement are prohibited. Population centers are isolated. Borders are closed.

 

Normal daily life is denied. Economic strangulation and institutionalized racism are imposed. So are curfews, roadblocks, checkpoints, separation walls, electric fences, and other barriers.

 

Neighborhood incursions, land, sea and air attacks, bulldozed homes, land theft, ethnic cleansing, slow-motion genocide, targeted killings, mass arrests, torture, and gulag imprisonment reflect daily life for praying to the wrong God.

 

Fundamental civil and human rights are denied. Crimes of war and against humanity repeat without redress. Wanting to live free in sovereign Palestine is called terrorism.

 

Punitive taxes are imposed. Few services are provided. Vital ones are lacking or inadequate. Palestinian lawmakers are imprisoned for belonging to the wrong party.

 

Fishermen are attacked at sea. So are farmers working their land. Trying at the wrong time risks arrest, injury or death. Crops and orchards are destroyed. Settlers commit regular attacks. Courts provide no help.

 

Gaza is suffocating under siege. Scoundrel media policy enforces coverup and denial, blame the victim, and portray Israel as the region’s only free democratic state. Reality reflects police state harshness. It persists without end.

 

Even Jews challenging injustice are targeted. Rogues tolerate no opposition. Israeli ones have few equals.

 

On May 24, Haaretz headlined “Amnesty International: Israel uses excessive force against Palestinians,” saying:

 

AI’s 2012 annual report “is highly critical of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians….” It charges Israel Defense Forces with “frequent” use of “excessive, sometimes lethal force against demonstrators in the West Bank and civilians in Gaza.”

 

Dozens are lawlessly killed, including children. Blockading Gaza enforces a “humanitarian crisis.” Restricting free movement was also criticized.

 

So was Israel’s Separation Wall on stolen Palestinian land, settlement expansions, home demolitions, destroying so-called “unrecognized” villages, and failure to “bring those (who) attack Palestinians to justice.”

 

Settlers were mentioned. They commit vandalism and kill Palestinians with impunity. Israeli security forces do nothing to stop them. More on that below.

 

Wrongfully imprisoning Palestinians was criticized. Thousands rot unjustly in Israel’s gulag. Hundreds are there uncharged. Torture and ill-treatment were highlighted. So were other abuses.

 

On May 25, Al Haq headlined “Rampant settler attacks against Palestinians,” saying:

 

Since January, Al Haq documented “98 incidents of settler violence against Palestinians across the West Bank.”

 

Those living closest to settlements are most vulnerable. Attacks include property damage or destruction, physical assaults, and murder.

 

Al Haq highlighted several recent incidents:

 

(1) On May 19, about 150 settlers, some heavily armed, invaded ‘Asira al-Qibliya village south of Nablus. Twenty nearby Israeli soldiers watched and did nothing.

 

Crops were burned. Youths confronted settlers. They used live fire in response. Bassam Nijem ‘Asayra witnessed events. One settler “pointed his gun directly towards him,” he said.

 

Nimer Fathi Nijem intervened to help him. Settlers opened fire. He incurred face and neck wounds. Bassam thought he would die. He was hospitalized with severe damage to his right cheek, left ear, and jaw.

 

Clashes continued for another two hours. Soldiers intervened. They assaulted Palestinians, not settlers, with tear gas and rubber bullets. Incidents like this repeat often.

 

(2) On May 20, Muhammad ‘Aqel Mur’s crops were set ablaze. Two settlers were responsible. Muhammad approached. They hurriedly left.

 

Police and Israel’s Civil Administration (ICA) were informed. Security forces and ICA personnel arrived to assess damage and question Muhammad.

 

Two settlers were apprehended. “Muhammad is not optimistic that they will be held to account.” It rarely happens. Occasionally settlers are questioned and released without further action.

 

(3) On May 17, Hamza Zeid ‘Allan saw his father’s car on fire. Three arsonists were spotted leaving the scene.

 

Hamza notified the Israeli Coordination office nearby. Police and military forces arrived to investigate. A complaint was filed. No further action was taken.

 

(4) On May 17, settlers destroyed 33 fruit trees belonging to Muhammad ‘Abd-al-Hamid al-Sleibi. He and his family relied on harvested crops for income since 1959.

 

In April, settlers destroyed his olive groves and over 30 vine trees. They left behind “price tag” and “revenge” slogans. They reflect repeated vandalism and other violent incidents. Extremist settlers commit them with impunity.

 

“Mumammad and his lawyer are still waiting for an appointment with the Israeli Civil Administration regarding this incident.” They expect little help. Settlers act lawlessly with impunity.

 

On May 26, armed settlers launched multiple attacks on Palestinian villages near Nablus. Farmers were attacked on their land. One was shot and wounded. He was struck in the abdomen and hospitalized.

 

Farmlands were also set ablaze. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Palestinians defending their property. One arrest followed. Palestinians don’t know what’s worse – marauding settlers or soldiers defending their right to commit vandalism and other crimes with impunity.

 

On May 25, Adalah headlined “Adalah to Government and Knesset: “Sanctioning Construction on Private Palestinian Land in the West Bank Violates Israeli and International Law,” saying:

 

If passed, Knesset bills will “legalize building on private Palestinian land in Israeli Jewish settlements in the West Bank.”

 

Adalah attorney Suhad Bishara said doing so amounts to large-scale lawless confiscation of Palestinian land. Resources on it will be lost. Israeli wants all valued parts of Judea and Sameria Judaized.

 

Israel’s High Court accepts the legitimacy of private Palestinian property rights. It also recognizes international humanitarian and human rights laws. Israel systematically ignores them.

 

Politically confiscated land is prohibited. Knesset bills permit it. If enacted, they’ll circumvent recent Supreme Court rulings. They ordered illegal settler outposts on private Palestinian land dismantled. Forged papers were used to build them.

 

Extremist Israeli cabinet members threatened to resign if settlers are removed. Netanyahu postponed demolitions. He appears poised to recognize them retroactively.

 

Israeli officials often circumvent High Court decisions. Netanyahu heads Israel’s worst ever government. Racist, hardline rogues infest it. Democratic values don’t matter. Laws are routinely violated.

 

Palestinian rights are systematically denied. State terror is policy. Adalah knows petitioning for what’s right has little chance of succeeding. Nonetheless, it persists like other human rights groups. Palestinians deserve that much and more. So does everyone.

 

Progress comes slowly in baby steps. On May 23, Ahmed Moor’s Mondoweiss article headlined “Why ‘Brand Israel’ is failing,” saying:

 

“Israel is less popular among young Americans than ever before” for good reason. Doing the wrong thing long enough attracts attention. It’s encouraging to see young people understand, including Americans.

 

They’re assaulted by one-sided pro-Israeli scoundrel media. For them, the harshest Israeli policy is justified. Palestinians are vilified as terrorists for wanting to live free.

 

For young Americans, however, “the conversation about Zionism in America is dramatically different from what it was only a few years ago.” Facts slowly displace fiction. Truths reach people wanting to know.

 

Learning them is eye-opening. Oslo “facilitate(d) the preservation of Jewish privilege.” Occupation terrorizes Palestinians. Zionism reflects racism, violence, and rapaciousness. It’s an instrument for harsh repression. It abhors love thy neighbor and do unto others.

 

Anti-Semitism is an outworn canard. It’s become “an exercise in self-caricature.” Public support for Israel is eroding. Perhaps one day political Washington will notice. How it reacts is another matter altogether, and the same goes for racist European governments.

 

Understanding is one thing, policy another. Change so far is nowhere in sight. Palestinians know best of all.

 

A Final Comment

 

On May 23, Haaretz columnist Amira Hass headlined “Israel is doing everything to separate Gaza, West Bank,” saying:

 

Aside from issues of divide, conquer and control, Hass wrote about five Gazan women accepted to attend Bir Zeit University. Four hope to earn master’s degrees in gender studies.

 

Three are in their 40s, one in her 30s, and a fifth just graduated from high school with honors.

 

Israel blocks their admission. It refuses passage rights through its territory to the West Bank. Security is claimed for justification. At issue is racist persecution, not fear of a terrorist attack.

 

“The State Attorney’s Office knows it is difficult to argue persuasively that four middle-aged women who have worked for years to advance women’s rights in the Strip, and one young woman (the daughter of a well-known jurist), will export terror infrastructure to the West Bank.”

 

Instead it says the state has “broad authority to determine” who’s granted entry rights. With regard to students posing no threat, the argument is spurious on its face.

 

Gisha attorneys say Gaza merchants enter Israel for work meetings. Why them and not students? Does modest easing on commerce matter more than education? Do men get rights denied women?

 

Hass notes “the elephant in the room.” Israel wants Hamas rule in Gaza. It facilitates West Bank separation. Oslo stipulated one Palestine, not two. Israel systematically violated all provisions agreed on.

 

Palestinians suffer grievously. Abbas compounds injustice as Israel’s enforcer. He long ago betrayed his people for self-serving reasons.

 

On May 23, Israel’s High Court heard arguments for and against the five Gazan women. Though absent, their presence was felt. Attorneys argued on their behalf.

 

Israel denied them entry for their Supreme Court hearing.

 

At issue is who’ll prevail – students petitioning for justice or the “indefensible” claim of a fundamentally corrupt racist state.

 

Also at issue is does it matter. Extremist governments like Netanyahu’s ignore rulings they reject.

 

Expect nothing different this time. Expect another “Brand Israel” black eye.

 

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

 

His new book is titled “How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War”

 

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

 

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

 

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

May 28

OIL-HUNGRY NEOCOLONIALISM RAMPANT IN AFRICA

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Published in the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Monitor, May 2012, www.policyalternatives.ca

 

OIL-HUNGRY NEOCOLONIALISM RAMPANT IN AFRICA:

 

The U.S. (via its proxy) grabs half of North Sudan’s oil:

Battle over Africa’s oil could inflame entire continent

By Asad Ismi

 

Continuing its oil-grabbing invasions, which include those of Iraq, Libya and Somalia, the United States recently deployed South Sudan, its newly-created proxy nation, to seize control of North Sudan’s oil. On April 9, South Sudan invaded and captured the oil town of Heglig in North Sudan. The area around Heglig contains about half of the oil in North Sudan.

When South Sudan became independent in July 2011, it took over 75% of Sudan’s oil and now is attempting to grab the rest.  The new country emerged after a 20-year civil war between North and South Sudan in which more than two million people were killed. The U.S. backed the southern insurgency led by the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), financing and training its soldiers, mainly to procure Sudan’s oil riches by fomenting the country’s division. The U.S. gave the SPLA $100 million a year in military assistance. Washington has followed similar strategies in Iraq, Libya, and Somalia. Sudan before its division was Africa’s largest country.

South Sudan has refused to leave Heglig and return to its borders, and its military leaders speak about marching to Khartoum (North Sudan’s capital). As Glen Ford, executive editor of the authoritative Black Agenda Report website, explains: “South Sudan is a U.S. client state that owes its independence to the U.S. and to Europeans and Israel, which was deeply involved in the Sudanese civil war. It is inconceivable that South Sudan would defy the United Nations and the European Union to invade North Sudan and seize half of its oil reserves without the connivance of the United States.

“U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, who has been calling for the head of Sudanese President [Omar] al-Bashir since George Bush was in office, will pretend that she is ‘concerned’ about the fighting between the two Sudans, and so will Obama. But U.S. client states like South Sudan don’t invade their neighbours without Washington’s blessing.”

President Salva Kiir of South Sudan actually wears a cowboy hat he was given by U.S. President George W. Bush in 2006. When U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed “grave concerns” to Kiir over the invasion of Heglig, Kiir’s reply was that “I am not under your command.” The U.N. has condemned South Sudan’s invasion and threatened sanctions against the latter if it does not withdraw. The African Union has also denounced the South’s occupation of Heglig as “illegal and unacceptable,” and appealed to the two countries to prevent a “disastrous” war. The European Union also called South Sudan’s invasion “unacceptable” and condemned it.


Omar al-Bashir, North Sudan’s president, has threatened to overthrow South Sudan’s government, accused it of fulfilling an “external agenda,” and vowed to “liberate” its people. Al-Bashir saw the U.S.’s hand behind the war when he said, “Our brothers in South Sudan have chosen the path of war, implementing plans dictated by foreign parties who supported them during the civil war… War is not in the interest of either South Sudan or Sudan, but, unfortunately, our brothers in the South are thinking neither of the interests of Sudan nor of South Sudan.”

When the two countries could not agree on oil transport fees, South Sudan shut down its oil fields in early 2012, losing $4 billion a year. North Sudan was also denied billions of dollars in fees since the South’s oil is pumped through a pipeline owned by the North in exchange for such charges. Now the additional closure of the Heglig fields has put even more financial pressure on the North.


According to Princeton Lyman, U.S. special envoy to the two Sudans, “this is war. [And] one of the dangers is that it is a war that will spread well beyond Heglig [and] get nastier and nastier.” As Time Magazine explains: “Since the end of hostilities in 2005… a very different creature has emerged in the south: a regime every bit as corrupt as the north, with a predatory army and the same flair for ruthless political brinkmanship, which — dominated by an ethnic Dinka majority — is either unwilling or unable to stop a spate of tribal violence that has left hundreds, if not thousands, dead so far just this year.”

 

Endre Stiansen, Norway’s special envoy to both Sudans, in commenting on South Sudanese leaders’ hopes of removing al-Bashir’s government through war and economic punishment, said: “I don’t think these people are reasonable, and I don’t think they are smart.”


In early April, President Kiir of South Sudan met with U.S. President Obama. The U.S. has stationed Special Forces in South Sudan, as it has in neighbouring Uganda, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These forces are part of the U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM, set up by President Bush in 2008. Under Obama, AFRICOM “claims military responsibility for the entire continent except Egypt.”


As Glen Ford describes it, “The U.S. military command has assembled a dizzying array of alliances with regional organizations and blocs of countries that, together, encompass all but a few nations [in Africa] – leaving those holdouts with crosshairs on their backs.” Having taken Iraq’s and Libya’s oil and after thoroughly destabilizing oil-rich Somalia, the U.S. is now aggressively going after the rest of Africa’s petroleum, with North Sudan being the latest target.


This threatens to provoke a conflict between the U.S., China and Russia, the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (UNSC). While South Sudan is a U.S. ally, North Sudan is close to Russia and China. Said political author and columnist Reason Wafawarova, speaking to Russian Television (RT): “If the conflict escalates, we are likely to see a stalemate at the U.N.S.C., with China and Russia opposing any proposals that may be politically costly to Sudan… The U.S., with its allies France and the U.K., is likely to push for proposals politically favourable to South Sudan.”


According to Wafawarova, the big power confrontation in the region may lead to an arms race between the two Sudans. The U.S. will be “expanding the military strength of South Sudan, while China and Russia will keep arming [North Sudan],” he says.


RT adds that “Experts say the behaviour of President Kiir may be explained by the fact that he was confident of the unshakable support of the United States.” According to RT, “There are also persistent rumours that the U.S. plans to set up a military base in South Sudan – to be the largest in Africa.”  Says Wafawarova,“The U.S. has failed to set up its AFRICOM base in Ghana, Mozambique, Uganda, Kenya, and other proposed countries in the past… It would not be surprising if the U.S. is trying to capitalize on the vulnerability of South Sudan in its efforts to establish the planned AFRICOM base somewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.”


In North Sudan’s case, China is Washington’s target, as well, since it is the largest investor in the country’s oil resource development, as well as the leading customer for this oil. According to F. William Engdahl, author of the book A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics in the New World Order, “There is a major AFRICOM and U.S. State Department campaign… to undermine Chinese influence in central Africa — now that they have successfully driven the Chinese oil companies out of Libya, and carved out a new republic of South Sudan containing much of the oil that fuels China’s economy.” [Chinese companies dominate South Sudan’s oil sector, as well.]


Engdahl points to Chinese and U.S. competition for the resources of Africa’s Great Rift Belt. This area includes Uganda (which borders South Sudan), where a huge oil field has been discovered, and some of the world’s richest mineral areas including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan, North Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Mozambique.


“This East African Rift System… is, prospectively, one of the richest treasures of subsurface minerals, including clearly vast untapped reserves of oil and gas.”


According to Engdahl, since Tullow Oil, a British company, found about two billion barrels of oil in Uganda in 2009, “the geopolitical importance of the entire central African region suddenly underwent change.” China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), China’s leading offshore oil explorer, is in a joint venture with Tullow Oil to develop three oil blocks in Uganda’s Lake Albert basin.


Engdahl adds that, “According to geologists, the East African Rift is suspected to be one of the last great oil and natural gas deposits on Earth. This region of central and east Africa is considered one of the hottest unexplored regions in the world for potential hydrocarbons — oil and gas… While West and North Africa have undergone tens of thousands of oil well drillings over the last decades, East and Central Africa, including Darfur and South Sudan, Chad, Central African Republic are all but terra incognita in terms of drilling.”


Engdahl points out that, by 2007, “China was making economic and diplomatic inroads all over Africa and there was increasing international competition for access to Africa’s oil and other natural resources.” In 2006, China hosted more than 40 African heads of state in Beijing, following that with state visits across Africa, with Chinese oil companies signing multi-billion-dollar deals with the continent’s governments. Washington noticed China’s moves and President Bush reacted in 2008 by creating AFRICOM, a single Pentagon command, for Africa.

As Daniel Volman, director of the African Security Research Project in Washington, explained, “A number of developments — especially the continent’s increasing importance as a source of energy supplies and other raw materials — have radically altered the picture. They have led to the growing economic and military involvement of China, India, and other emerging industrial powers in Africa and to the re-emergence of Russia as an economic and military power on the continent.


“In response, the United States has dramatically increased its military presence in Africa and created a new military command — the Africa Command, or AFRICOM — to protect what it has defined as its ‘strategic national interests’ in Africa. This has ignited what has come to be known as the ‘new scramble for Africa’ and is transforming the security architecture of Africa.”


Given its chronic economic weakness, the U.S. is answering Chinese economic power in Sudan and Africa with military power.  As in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Somalia, this strategy threatens to set the continent aflame with potentially millions of people dying in resource wars. The U.S. has already killed about six million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo by using its proxies Rwanda and Uganda to invade the country and pillage its mineral resources, starting in 1998. This holocaust now appears set to engulf all of Africa.

—————————————————–

Asad Ismi is the CCPA Monitor’s international affairs correspondent. He is author of the radio documentary The Ravaging of Africa which has been aired on 28 radio stations reaching a global audience of about 30 million people.  For his publications, visit www.asadismi.ws.

May 27

Burn Hollywood Burn

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Burn Hollywood Burn

By Solomon Comissiong

Originally Posted March of 2010

 

Another Oscar (Academy Awards) season has come and gone and so, too, with it another year of Hollywood subsidized racist imagery. Hollywood, like many American mainstream institutions, has the ability to socially condition a great deal of the populous and therefore society. This social conditioning has, by design, far researching ramifications, especially for people of color. African Americans, for instance, continue to bare the brunt of Hollywood’s perpetual racist social conditioning. The American film industry has a long tainted history in depicting black people in the most negative manner. Their motives, in general, are rooted in nothing short of institutionally racist and white supremacist themes. Films like D.W. Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation” often serve as a point of reference in highlighting the American film industry’s repugnant and racist past. However, structural racism within Hollywood, as with America, is alive and well in 2010. The racist nature of the US is manifested throughout every corner of the country; Hollywood is merely one of those places.

 

America is a paragon when it comes to institutional racism. This country could give a damn what kind of longstanding impact its debilitating system has on people of color. In essence, America has no conscience regarding its inherent bigotry. Institutional racism and white supremacy are so tightly stitched into the flawed fabric of America that it has become virtually undetectable, much like carbon monoxide, until the fatal damage is done. Police brutality and gentrification are two of the more deleterious forms of institutional racism, however even in the world of “entertainment”, where racism is frequently marketed, racism has long been fashionable. Movies like “Precious” are heavily promoted because they reinforce common racist stereotypes of black women that much of white America enjoys believing in. The fact that some black people, who have long prostituted themselves to white America(e.g. Oprah), underwrite these types of films only it makes it easier for the white dominated film industry to market to the masses. Films that feed into the most destructive stereotypes are no less racist simply because they are made, endorsed or supported by black luminaries. Were early 20th century minstrel shows any less racist because they often featured black people within them? Unlike many of the African Americans who were forced into those roles, people like Oprah seem to enjoy “tap dancing” for white people. As a matter of fact the institutionalization of these stereotypically racist films (Precious) is exactly what makes them so dangerous in the 21st century—their racism is virtually unnoticeable to the media-illiterate mind. America’s atmosphere of racism is so smothering that many people of color have subconsciously absorbed it and redirected the bigotry towards themselves, as well as their communities.

 

Hollywood and white America, in general, enjoy rewarding black people who are willing to perpetuate racist stereotypes that denigrate African Americans. This is why white owned media corporations (radio, television, record labels) love to promote the most racially stereotypical images in Hip Hop, all the while methodically repressing the most talented, progressive and resistance oriented black and brown skinned rappers. There was no need for a term such as “Underground Rap” until these nefarious white corporations began to buy out everything from the record labels to radio stations, thus suppressing the empowering messages of Hip Hop’s “Golden Era”. Rewarding black people to promote their racist beliefs of African Americans saves them the limited public rebuke, and hassle, of having to do it themselves—all the while making them money. It makes them feel as though they have no blood on their slime laden palms. Meanwhile, the cognitive decapitation goes on without a hitch. On March 5th 2006 the “Academy Awards” rewarded the African American rap group Three 6 Mafia with an Oscar for best song for their hit, “Its Hard out here for a Pimp.”  As the progressive Boston based rapper (Akrobatik) said in his song  ‘Front Steps/Tough Love’, “They shut down the conscious rastas but talk about being a pimp, you’ll win an Oscar.”

 

As long as Hollywood and the film industry are predominately controlled by so-called liberal or conservative whites, progressive images of blacks will always be filtered down. America, in general, is a nation unwilling to face up to its ugly truths about the past, as well as the present. And because of this, America’s future regarding institutional racism has no end in sight. The United States would rather spend billions of dollars falsely promoting itself throughout the globe as some kind of utopia for all people regardless of their backgrounds, rather than doing anything constructive—such as dismantling its systems of structural racism and ubiquitous white supremacy.

 

While the US attempts to psychologically manipulate people into believing that they do not systemically oppress people of color, tens of millions of people of color are being systematically oppressed, starved, warehoused and ultimately killed. And the US believes it has the moral ground to lecture Cuba on racism? The inherently racist American propaganda machine has no limits—the Hollywood film industry is a vessel used to regularly carry out their reprehensible campaign. Hollywood and corporate media are used to tame, obfuscate and socially engineer Americans, whether they are black, brown, red or white. Knowing what we do about Hollywood can we really expect them to produce more films that are socially conscious, culturally edifying, historically accurate, or dare I say—not virulently racist? With movies like “The Blind Side”, the answer should be as clear as day.

 

The Blind Side the classic racist white paternalistic thrash that Hollywood frequently puts out. It is a movie that features Sandra Bullock as white southern woman who takes in, along with her opulent family, a large homeless African American teenage male from the “wrong side of town” (always the black side). Throughout the movie she and her family “nurture” and build up the young man into someone they now feel is ready for society and who has lived up to his “full potential”.

 

With the help of these “white people” the young man soon becomes a standout, on and off the football field. This movie is apparently based on a “true story” but do we ever ask ourselves why these types of “true stories” always make their way to the “big screen?”  It always has to be a white “savior” saving the black and brown kids from themselves and their neighborhood. Never will one find a movie where the black and brown kids are trying to save their communities from the constant onslaught of American institutional racism. If America was a socially progressive society these types of films would be a lot more balanced and therefore more accurate. People of color (especially those with progressive ideologies) would have much more say and control of their images, and stories, throughout Hollywood and the media. As it stands, Hollywood actively recruits, promotes and rewards as many socially malleable blacks as they possibly can.  Until progressive and historically astute African Americans fully control the creation, production, and distribution of its images Hollywood will always produce and support factually limited and inherently racist imagery of blacks. A planned lack of accuracy and context within most Black “History” based Hollywood films purposefully confuses moviegoers with little point of reference to begin with.

 

Instead of factually and socially misleading films like Invictus there should be films called “Spear of the Nation” that chronicle the military wing (Umkhonto we Sizwe) of the African National Congress beginning in the 1960s. However, Hollywood, and white America, wants nothing to do with images and stories of Africans resisting (through armed struggle) the evils of white supremacy and European colonization. Whether in Zimbabwe or Angola, black Africans resisted European colonization tooth and nail. Black people should never rely on to tell their stories, especially those of resistance and struggle. Hollywood’s role, like America’s, is to mollify any notion of black resistance. Therefore films like Invictus only serve as models of pacification while taking attention away from the fact that whites in South Africa still enjoy the “fruits” of the land they stole from indigenous black Africans. Invictus makes sure the viewer thinks nothing about the majority of black South Africans who, to this day, live in devastating poverty. Invictus creates the illusion that blacks and white in South African live in equality. The safe image of Nelson Mandela in 1995 is as nonthreatening to the white power structure as Barack Obama was to many of the white liberals who voted for him in 2008. Invictus also uses the backdrop of the 1995 Rugby World Cup to create the false impression of unity and equity in South Africa. That notion couldn’t be further from the truth! Progressiveness and equity continually evade Hollywood as they do US society.

 

Unfortunately Hollywood (and America) is far from being socially progressive. However, if it was, we might see movies like, “The Life and Times of Nat Turner”. That would certainly be a movie that I would love to watch, especially the action packed last 45 minutes as the protagonist (Mr. Nat Turner) exacts his justifiable revenge.  I would relish seeing many movies in which Native Americans soundly defeat every group of thuggish white cowboys (thieves) trying to encroach on their land. And instead of movies like “The Blind Side” there would be movies featuring titles like “The Right Side”. This movie would detail the life of a poor white teenage boy who grew up in a trailer park amongst an openly racist community and within a broken and extremely racist family (this is a true story replicated throughout America). The young man wanders onto the “right side” of town (in this case the black side of town), where he is taken in by an African American family that teaches him civility, justice, resistance, and humanity. The author would also gladly pay to view multiple films featuring black educators going into predominately white schools to help properly socialize the white students to live their lives free of the racist and xenophobic poison their parents (and America) tried to systematically feed them.

 

Finally, there would have to be movies that exposed the vile and racist nature of policing in America. However, justice was ultimately achieved when a group of racist white cops found guilty in a police brutality case are sentenced to life in a privately owned prison. The ultimate icing on the cake for this masterpiece shows a portrayal of a prison system consisting of 70 percent white men.  Rotting in those prisons would be the cops who murdered scores of black and brown men like Sean Bell, Oscar Grant, and Timothy Stansbury. Unfortunately movies like those do not exist, at least not in Hollywood. More importantly, reality and justice like this does not reside anywhere within the fabricated borders of American society. Until they do the fight for equality must continue and the resistance to white supremacy must remain ceaseless. Tangible justice and equality will only be achieved if we remain consistent in our collective fight. Until then, as Chuck D, Ice Cube and Big Daddy Kane figuratively said, “Burn Hollywood Burn.”

 

Solomon Comissiong is an educator, community activist, author and executive director of the Your World News Community Media Collective www.yourworldnews.org and www.yourworldnews.org/blog.

May 27

Anti-Iranian Propaganda

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Anti-Iranian Propaganda

 

by Stephen Lendman

 

When America goes to war or plans one, media scoundrels march in lockstep.

 

Articles, commentaries, editorials, and broadcasts feature Washington handout-style journalism.

 

Managed news misinformation substitutes for truth and full disclosure. Readers and viewers are deceived and betrayed.

 

For years, Iran and Syria have been targeted for regime change. Independent governments aren’t tolerated. Puppet ones are planned to replace them. Scoundrel media play leading roles.

 

On May 24, The New York Times headlined “Iran Nuclear Talks End with No Deal.”

 

P5+1 talks failed as expected. Washington bears full responsibility. Deal-making isn’t at issue. It’s portraying Iran as uncooperative for added justification to wage war.

 

“The six wanted a freeze on Iranian production of uranium enriched to 20 percent purity, which is considered a short step from bomb grade.”

 

In fact, it’s a giant one to 90% required for weapons making. It’s especially so without intent to produce them.

 

Medical isotopes and other peaceful applications require 20%. NPT provisions permit it. Iran fully complies. Washington and Israel are serial violators. Their belligerence threatens humanity. Tehran threatens no one.

 

EU lead negotiator Catherine Ashton said “very intense and detailed discussions (left) significant differences” unresolved. They’ll remain so in future meetings. A June 18-19 Moscow one is planned. Nothing substantive will change.

 

“We will maintain intensive contacts with our Iranian counterparts to prepare a further meeting in Moscow,” Ashton announced.

 

Iran’s chief negotiator, Saeed Jalili said:

 

“Of the main topics in using peaceful nuclear energy is the topic of having the nuclear fuel cycle and enrichment. We emphasize this right.”

 

“This is an undeniable right of the Iranian nation….especially the right to enrich uranium.” If P5+1 nations negotiate in good faith, “we will, of course, welcome some offer to cooperate on.”

 

Iran didn’t go to Baghdad to surrender. Its position won’t change in Moscow. Washington demands it. The Times left that and other key issues unaddressed and/or misreported.

 

On May 26, Reuters headlined “Iran has enough uranium for 5 bombs: expert,” saying:

 

The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) claims “Iran has significantly stepped up its output of low-enriched uranium and total production in the last five years (to provide) enough for at least five nuclear weapons if refined much further.”

 

David Albright heads ISIS. He impersonates a nuclear expert. He’s a former pseudo-UN weapons inspector. Former Iraq chief weapons inspector Scott Ritter called him a “nuclear expert who never was.”

 

His “track record (reveals) half-baked analyses derived from questionable sources….He breathes false legitimacy into these factually challenged stories by” claiming fake credentials.

 

Albright founded ISIS. It’s self-serving. It shuns truth. He fronts for power, privilege, and war profiteers. He’s part of Washington’s anti-Iranian agenda. In Iraq, he played the same role. He’s a pro-imperial opportunist.

 

In June 1996, he appeared once as as a pseudo-Iraq weapons inspector. His role was political, not scientific. He observed and regurgitated what Washington wanted to hear. He’s doing it now on Iran. His credibility is sorely lacking. He has none.

 

Claiming Iran is able to produce five bombs is inflammatory and misleading. All nations with commercial reactors produce enough uranium and plutonium for bomb-making. Only a handful, in fact, do it.

 

Iran isn’t one of them. That’s the headline not featured. Instead, deceptive ones heighten tensions for war.

 

IAEA head Yukiya Amano represents Western, not global interests fairly. He serves Washington’s anti-Iranian agenda. On May 25, he claimed inspectors found Fordo plant enriched uranium traces up to 27%.

 

Around 90% is needed for bomb-making. Iran purifies to 20%. Most amounts are around 3.5%. Traces signify nothing. Iran’s main stockpile complies with what it claims. No weapons development or production evidence exists.

 

At times, over-enrichment occurs. It’s normal, not unusual or cheating. Technicians adjust accordingly. IAEA inspectors should have left it unmentioned.

 

Media scoundrels, of course, jump on it in headlines. Many readers don’t go beyond a few paragraphs to know it’s insignificant.

 

On May 25, a Washington Post editorial headlined, “Iran’s hard bargain,” saying:

 

Iran rejected Western “confidence-building measures.” It demanded rights Washington rejects. “(E)xtended negotiations will only benefit Iran.”

 

“What’s most concerning about the Baghdad talks is that they failed to show that the regime of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has made a strategic decision to strike a bargain.”

 

“Instead, Tehran sought something for nothing: acceptance by the West of its uranium enrichment in return for assertions that it is not seeking nuclear weapons and promises to cooperate with international inspectors.”

 

“In fact, no ‘right’ to process uranium exists under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.”

 

Fact check

 

Iran wants (and deserves) to be treated like other countries with commercial nuclear operations. It complies fully with NPT provisions. Washington and Israel are nuclear outlaws.

 

Iran’s operations are more intensively monitored than any other nation. Washington and Israel prohibit inspections for good reason. Massive cheating would be found. Imperial powers never tell all or say they’re sorry.

 

NPT permits uranium enrichment as long as countries agree to rigorous monitoring. WP editors better check their sources. They, in turn, need to find another line of work.

 

Yousaf Butt is a nuclear physicist. He’s a Federation of American Scientists consultant. In January, his Foreign Policy article headlined “Stop the Madness,” saying:

 

“Despite all the hype, Iran’s nuclear program has yet to violate international law. It’s time to calm down, think, and above all halt the rush to war.”

 

“The IAEA considers 20 percent enriched uranium to be low-enriched uranium and ‘a fully adequate isotopic barrier’ to weaponization.”

 

Iran complies. It does nothing illegal. NPT doesn’t prevent a nuclear weapons “capability” or “option.” Dozens of nations have it.

 

Singling out Iran is for political reasons. It’s not about legitimate fears of an illegal weapons program in the hands of a country threatening to use them.

 

The key red line Iran won’t cross is “diverting” nuclear material for weapons production. Numerous experts and independent reports “affirmed (for) years that they have no evidence (of) any such program.”

 

Multiple rounds of sanctions “go far beyond anything related to its nuclear program.”

 

The hype about it is political. It has no scientific basis whatever.

 

Washington Post editorial assertions are false, misleading, and inflammatory. Iran is legally entitled to pursue its nuclear program.

 

P5+1 proposals were disingenuously one-sided. Unreasonable demands were made. Nothing was offered in return. Western good faith wasn’t present in Baghdad. It’s an oxymoron. It doesn’t exist.

 

Tehran negotiated responsibly. Not good enough, said Washington. Prove a negative was demanded. Refuse and be blamed for Western obstructionism.

 

Multiple rounds of discussions won’t change things. WP editors think the “slide toward war remains desirable. Iran cannot be granted much more time to build and install centrifuges.”

 

Washington is infested with hotheads. WP editorial and op-ed writers are among them. They have lots of scoundrel media company. Promoting war makes it more likely. Body counts and vast destruction don’t matter.

 

Nor for USA Today. It’s post-Baghdad editorial headlined “How the US can win at nuclear poker with Iran,” saying:

 

“There’s an old poker saying that if you look around the table and can’t figure out who the chump is, it’s you. Too often in high-stakes negotiations with rogue states such as North Korea and Iran, the U.S. has looked a lot like the chump as it tried to curtail those nations’ nuclear weapons programs.”

 

“(O)nly a sucker could be confident that….Iran really, really means” what it says.

 

Scoundrel media report this way. Managed news duplicity substitutes for real news, opinion and analysis.

 

Media liars bear full responsibity. So does Washington for failure, not Iran. Tehran can’t succeed without a willing partner. It hasn’t had one in decades. It has the worst of all relationships now. Obama itches for more war post-election.

 

He feigns negotiations while planning it at the same time. Munich and Hitler’s Non-Aggression Treaty with Soviet Russia come to mind. Washington and Israel are no different. Hawks in both countries are especially worrisome. They’re bent on aggression and won’t accept less.

 

In response on May 22, the Tehran Times headlined “Iran must take firm stance at Baghdad talks, saying:

 

For years, Iran “bravely resisted” unreasonable demands to halt its peaceful nuclear program. Tehran believes pursuing it is a legitimate right. It’s “non-negotiatble.”

 

At the same time, Iranian officials try to build trust and resolve differences. They negotiate in good faith. In return, they’re rebuffed, stonewalled, and betrayed.

 

It’s up to Washington to break the deadlock and end sanctions. They’re harsh and unfair. Short of capitulation, tug-of-war diplomacy won’t end. Hillary Clinton said Tehran must “close the gaps. All of our sanctions will remain in place and continue to move forward” for the duration.

 

They’re about making Iran’s economy scream. They’re not for its legitimate nuclear program. That’s red herring camouflage for bigger fish to fry. At issue is installing puppet leaders Washington controls. War looks likely to try.

 

Negotiating with America accomplishes nothing. It never did before and won’t now. “Therefore, resistance seems to be the only option left for the Iranian side to convey its message to the West and to uphold the inalienable rights of the Iranian nation.”

 

America and Israeli want imperial dominance. Iran wants to live free in peace.

 

Sovereign states deserve that much and more. Wars won’t end until enough of them unite and resist. If not soon, they’ll continue and expand dangerously.

 

Never in history has one nation devoted so much firepower to global death and destruction.

 

Saving humanity depends on restoring peace and stability before it’s too late to matter. There may not be much time left to do it.

 

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

 

His new book is titled “How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War”

 

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

 

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

 

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/

May 26

Social Justice on Trial in Canada

By No Comments

 

by Stephen Lendman

 

Destructive neoliberal mandates harm US and European societies. Canada’s conservative government force-feeds similar policies.

 

They include wage and benefit cuts, less social spending, privatization of state resources, mass layoffs, deregulation, tax cuts for corporations and super-rich elites, and harsh crackdowns against resisters.

 

It’s also about sharply hiking college tuition fees, student anger, and criminalizing public responses. More on that below.

 

In the 1980s, it was called Reaganomics, trickle down, and Thatcherism. In the 1990s, it was “shock therapy.” Today, it’s austerity. The result is unprecedented wealth transfers to corporate favorites and privileged elites.

 

Capital’s divine rights are prioritized. Social justice is on the chopping block for elimination. Living standards are sacrificed. Ordinary people lose out. Vital services are cut. Human needs go begging. Unemployment and poverty soar. So does rage for change.

 

Years ago Canada lost its moorings. In December 1984, conservative prime minister, Brian Mulroney, addressed policies that began in the 1970s. Speaking before the New York Economic Club, he announced:

 

“Canada is open for business.”

 

He meant US companies were welcome. Both countries cooperated for greater economic integration. Corporate interests were prioritized. Ordinary people lost out.

 

Oh Canada took on new meaning. Sacrificing pluralist Canadian democracy and social justice traditions became policy. Major parties formed consensus the way Democrats and Republicans do in America.

 

Neoliberal harshness was institutionalized. The conservative Harper government stiffened earlier policies. It serves Canada’s ruling class. Finance capital is dominant. What big money wants it gets. Corporate power overall makes policy.

 

Canada shifted hard right under Mulroney. Harper institutionalized it further. Last January, he addressed Davos World Economic Forum participants. He pledged “transformative” pro-business policies.

 

They include more tax cuts, privatizations, deregulation, and austerity hitting ordinary people hardest. “We will do more, much more,” he promised.

 

Socio-economic policies established represent some of much more to come. Social Canada was hardest hit. Rights for ordinary Canadians no longer matter.

 

Last March, Canada’s House of Commons passed budget cuts and austerity measures on top of others enacted earlier.

 

They included eliminating thousands of public sector jobs, cutting billions from federal programs, raising the retirement age to 67, and calling federal debt the problem to be addressed. It’s the same canard America and European countries use to justify neoliberal harshness.

 

Canadian social justice follows the same downward trajectory as America and across Europe. Eliminating it altogether is planned. Higher education is affected. Once it was affordable. No longer for many as tuition and fees soar.

 

Last winter, Quebec’s Liberal government announced tuition fee increases over the next five years of around 75% (or $1,625). Stiff annual increases are policy. Other measures slashed vital services and benefits. Thousands of students reacted.

 

In mid-February, protests and strikes began. One of three provincial student associations initiated them: the Coalition large de l’association pour une solidarite syndicale etudiante (CLASSE: the Broader Coalition of the Association of Student-Union Solidarity).

 

Others joined in: FEUQ (the Quebec Federation of University Students) and FECQ (Quebec Federation of College Students).

 

Thousands swelled to 200,000 or more. Most Quebecers support them. Sharp tuition and fee increases force students and families into debt. Others drop out. Available aid is meager compared to years earlier. Higher education grows more unaffordable.

 

Students react by strikes and protests. They continue into their fourth month. Police confront them. Clashes and arrests follow. The usual pattern repeats against all social justice demonstrations. Legitimate struggles are criminalized.

 

Money power decides what’s right or wrong. Ordinary people haven’t a chance. In neoliberal societies like Canada, young people have most to lose. Increasingly shut out of higher education, decent jobs, and bright futures, fighting back remains their only option.

 

Criminalizing dissent became policy. On May 18, Quebec’s Liberal government passed Bill 78. Provisions prohibit student protests or other “form(s) of gathering” within 50 meters of the “outer limits” of the “grounds” of any university or CEGEP (College of general  and vocational education) building.

 

In Quebec, high school ends at grade 11. Completing CEGEP grades 12 and 13 are required for college or university admission. Doing it successfully earns them DECs (dioplomes d’etudes collegial).

 

CEGEPs also offer three-year programs in vocational studies, computer science, nursing, and other fields. With DEC credits, Bachelor’s degrees can be completed in three years. Supporters and critics disagree on the system’s merits or disadvantages. It’s unique to Quebec.

 

Bill 78 also requires student associations, unions representing teachers, and CEBEP staff to “employ appropriate means to induce” compliance with enacted measures or face prosecution.

 

Article 9 authorizes the Minister of Education, Recreation and Sports to modify any law to ensure school sessions throughout the bill’s time frame.

 

All demonstrations exceeding 50 people were declared illegal without provincial police approval. Offenders face daily fines. A date for education employees to return to work was established.

 

Winter semester classes at 11 universities and 14 CEGEPs were suspended. Completing them by August or September was mandated. The law expires July 1, 2013. It’s patently illegal.

 

The 1982 Constitution Act established the Constitution of Canada. It contains a bill of rights called The Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It states:

 

“Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:

 

(a) freedom of conscience and religion;

 

(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;

 

(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and

 

(d) freedom of association.”

 

Article 7 assures “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person and the right not to be deprived thereof in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.”

 

Academic and speech freedoms are fundamental in free societies. So are public assembly and association rights. Without them, all others are threatened.

 

Howard Zinn called dissent “the highest form of patriotism.” Voltaire said, “I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

 

Jefferson said, “The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.”

 

Bill 78 violates Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. So does a newly passed Montreal City Council ordinance criminalizing face paint, niqads, and other face or head coverings while demonstrating.

 

On May 22, it was invoked. Baton-wielding police confronted downtown Montreal protesters violently.

 

Tear gas was used. Dozens were arrested. Charges claimed protesters wore illegal masks and/or confronted police violently.

 

On May 21, confrontations occurred in Sherbrooke. It’s Quebec Premier Jean Charest’s home city. Dozens of arrests followed. Charges included demonstrating illegally.

 

A Final Comment

 

Student anger shows no signs of ebbing. Social justice rights are too important to sacrifice. Affordable education is vital. Resolution is nowhere in sight. Quebec officials are determined to force-feed austerity. They include stiff annual tuition and fee hikes.

 

Students are on their own. Union officials sold out to power. Who knows where this ends. Hopefully working Canadians will join them. Social justice includes more than affordable education.

 

Class war rages in Canada and other Western societies. Governments serve wealth and power. Eroding social justice heads faster toward total elimination. Popular interests suffer.

 

Ordinary people face neo-serfdom, debt peonage, and police state harshness for resisting. Fighting back is the only chance for change.

 

A long struggle remains. In fact, it’s just begun. Staying the course is key. It’s how all great victories are won. They never come easily or quickly. Hopefully Quebec students understand and won’t quit. There’s too much at stake.

 

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

 

His new book is titled “How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War”

 

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

 

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

 

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour.

May 25

Iran Nuclear Talks in Baghdad

By No Comments

Iran Nuclear Talks in Baghdad

 

by Stephen Lendman

 

Previous nuclear talks failed. On April 14 and 15, another round convened.

 

Istanbul hosted so-called P5+1 countries. They include the five permanent Security Council members – America, Russia, China, Britain, and France – plus Germany.

 

Iran participated in good faith. Its delegation came with little hope hardline Western views would soften. On April 14, both sides agreed to more talks in Baghdad on May 23.

 

At issue isn’t Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran’s a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) signatory. It complies fully with provisions. No evidence suggests otherwise. Nonetheless, bogus accusations persist.

 

Iran won’t relinquish its legal rights. Washington remains hardline and obstructionist.  An unnamed US official called May 23 talks “very difficult.”

 

Both sides continued on Thursday. A possible Geneva June round was discussed. On May 24, the Washington Post headlined “Iran nuclear talks continue on second day,” saying:

 

Talks resumed Thursday “amid fading hopes that these latest negotiations would help ease tensions over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.”

 

As explained above and numerous previous times, Iran’s program complies fully with international law obligations. Washington’s the problem, not Tehran.

 

“Iran rejected” P5+1 proposals, said the Post. Thursday talks won’t likely resolve things. They center on Iran’s legitimate right to pursue a peaceful nuclear program. Washington wants it denied. No sovereign country should yield to that type pressure.

 

Iran justifiably rejected proposals it called “outdated, not comprehensive and unbalanced. There is no balance, and there is nothing to get in return. What we heard in Istanbul was more interesting….We believe the reason P5+1 is not able to reach a result is America.”

 

According to former Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Hossein Mousavian:

 

“The world powers are asking Iran for diamonds, in the form of ceasing to enrich uranium to 20%, and all they are offering in return is peanuts, in the form of spare parts for Iranian airline planes.”

 

A member of the Iranian delegation added:

 

“The American delegation says on the one hand that they want to reach a fast agreement through negotiations, but on the other hand they are continuing to impose unilateral sanctions on Iran.”

 

An unnamed Israel official said:

 

“We will hear about what was discussed, and then respond accordingly.”

 

P5+1 demands include halting uranium enrichment to 20%. It’s needed to produce medical isotopes. Weapons grade uranium requires close to 90% enrichment. Scoundrel media reports don’t explain it or that Iran’s program is peaceful.

 

Washington also wants its Fordo plant closed. It’s deep underground within a mountain for protection against US and/or Israeli attacks.

 

Iran alone faces unreasonable demands. Dozens of other nations with commercial nuclear operations have no such restrictions. Tehran calls this unacceptable. It’s also offered nothing in return.

 

Chief negotiator Saeed Jalili wants sanctions lifted in return for negotiating in good faith, cooperating with IAEA inspectors, and complying fully with NPT provisions.

 

Iran’s Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani rejected proposals restricting Tehran’s legitimate enrichment rights, saying:

 

“(A)uthorities of the Islamic Iran will never retreat from the country’s natural and inalienable rights. Our people and officials are in consensus over nuclear advancement. Our team of negotiators will never make a deal over nuclear enrichment.”

 

Iran’s IAEA permanent envoy, Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh, reiterated Tehran’s position. It won’t compromise its legitimate rights, nor should it.

 

Iran countered with a five-point proposal. Details weren’t disclosed. It includes recognizing Tehran’s legitimate nuclear program and discussing Syria’s insurgency. Damascus is a key Tehran ally. Western-generated violence justifies concern. Together with responsible Western nations is an appropriate forum to raise it.

 

Washington flatly refused. Nor will it yield on other unreasonable demands. Stalemate looks likely. Tehran will be blamed. Fingers point the wrong way. Diplomatic breakthrough hopes fade.

 

Resolution’s not possible without willing partners. Iran has none in Baghdad. What’s next remains to be seen. More talks won’t reverse this round’s failure. Expect more heated rhetoric.

 

On May 23, Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Western power is declining. “No matter their propaganda, they are being weakened and destroyed.”

 

“The Iranian nation is hopeful of the future. And the horizon of the future is smiling toward the Iranians.”

 

Optimism isn’t easy with Washington remaining hardline. It negotiates one way. It’s all take and no give.

 

Extremist groups like the Foundation for Defense of Democracy (FDD) make things harder. Its president, Clifford May, headlined a Scripps Howard News Service article “What Iran’s Rulers Want,” saying:

 

“It’s no longer possible to pretend we don’t know the intentions of Iran’s rulers.” They want Israel destroyed, he claims.

 

A spurious Ayatollah Ali Khamenei comment alleged he said “Israel must be burned to the ground and made to disappear from the face of the Earth.”

 

According to former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar, he and other Iranian officials want Israel destroyed “through military force.”

 

May claims Tehran is “committed to war, genocide and developing nuclear weapons.” Other spurious accusations were made. He included the longstanding canard about Iran being “the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism.” Another claimed it “violate(s) the most fundamental tenets of international law.”

 

When supportive facts don’t exist, extremists like May invent them. Op-ed space in major broadsheets publish them.

 

The Washington Post featured FDD’s Mark Dubowitz and Reuel Marc Gerecht’s commentary headlined “An Underwhelming Approach to Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions,” saying:

 

Given Iran’s “advanced nuclear program….the West appears poised (again) to take the easy way out.” Both writers favor force, not diplomacy. They want Tehran’s uranium enrichment entirely prohibited.

 

“A new red line at 20 percent enrichment (leaves Israel) two options: strike or give up.”

 

“For those who fear another conflagration in the Middle East, that ought to be a compelling reason to hang tough in Baghdad. Odds are, however, we won’t.”

 

According to the hawkish American Enterprise Institute (AEI):

 

“Any outcome that does not include the verifiable dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program and the removal of all nuclear material – at any level – will allow Iran to retain the ability to acquire nuclear weapons fuel in short order.”

 

AEI’s Iran section features this and similar comments in articles and reports like:

 

“The new deal with Iran”

 

“A Regional Reality Check about Iran as the P5+1 Meet”

 

“Iran’s nuclear weapons fuel production capability”

 

“Iran, sanctions, and what can Congress do?”

 

“Iran Guards Corps Fears Attack by Israel, fears Hezbollah will be the spark”

 

“Congress and Iran”

 

“Stop giving Iran a pass.”

 

Others follow variations on the same theme. Syria is also targeted.

 

AEI was influential ahead of Washington attacking Iraq. It’s pushing war now against Tehran and Damascus. It’s ties to top administration and congressional leaders makes more conflict likely.

 

Congressional neocon extremist Senators John McCain (R. AR), Lindsey Graham (R. SC), and Joe Lieberman (I. CT) need no convincing. Their Wednesday Wall Street Journal op-ed said:

 

“Given the Iranian regime’s long-standing pattern of deceptive and illicit conduct, we believe that it cannot be trusted to maintain enrichment or reprocessing activities on its territory for the foreseeable future – at least until the international community has been fully convinced that Iran has decided to abandon any nuclear- weapons ambitions.”

 

“We are very far from that point,” they added. The so-called “three Amigos” and other like-minded congressional hawks believe military action against Iran and Syria is the only viable option.

 

Israeli hard-liners concur. They’re coordinating with Obama officials on Iranian and Syrian policy. The tail perhaps wags the dog. It wouldn’t be the first time.

 

It’s no coincidence that Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited Washington last week. He came mainly to discuss Iran ahead of the P5+1 talks. An Israeli delegation didn’t participate. America represented Tel Aviv’s interests.

 

Both nations prefer conflict, not compromise or conciliation. Peace isn’t an option. Capitulation’s demanded. If not forthcoming, expect war. Influential hawks in both countries urge it. So does the Israeli lobby.

 

Earlier scenarios repeat. They include baseless accusations, fearmongering, scoundrel media headlines claiming nonexistent threats, op-ed contributors pushing war, and, at times, false flags launching them.

 

At issue isn’t Tehran’s nuclear program. It’s unchallenged US hegemony. Other nations besides Iran and Syria are targeted.

 

A rage to fight dominates Washington policy. One war follows another. Empires that overreach eventually self-destruct. America’s no exception.

 

Living by the sword doesn’t work. Today’s destructive weapons threaten everyone, not just nations using them.

 

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

 

His new book is titled “How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War”

 

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

 

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

 

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour.

May 24

Time Profiles a World Class Thug

By No Comments

 

by Stephen Lendman

 

Time magazine’s May 28 cover features “King Bibi: He’s conquered Israel. But will Netanyahu make peace – or war?”

 

Managing editor Richard Stengel titled his profile “Bibi’s Choice.” Readers got him sanitized, not accurately presented. Omitted was what they most need to know.

 

Time included, America’s scoundrel media feature managed news and information. Truth and full disclosure are excluded and prohibited.

 

Netanyahu heads Israel’s worst ever government. Bipartisan MKs are racist, hardline rogues. What little opposition exists is weak-kneed. Most go along to get along.

 

Netanyahu exceeds the worst of Ariel Sharon and previous hardline leaders. He’s an embarrassment to democratic governance.

 

Israel is more hypocrisy than democracy. Few benefit. Most don’t. Arab citizens are entirely denied. Arundhati Roy calls India a “limbless, headless, soulless torso left bleeding under the butcher’s clever with a flag driven deep into her mutilated heart.”

 

Netanyahu’s Israel replicates it. Rogue government rules. Official policies reflect belligerence, violence, racist hate, exploitation, occupation harshness, neoliberal rapaciousness, and war when Israel chooses.

 

Netanyahu deplores peace. Negotiations were always stillborn from inception. Writer Henry Siegman once called them “the most spectacular deception in modern diplomatic history.”

 

Netanyahu calls them “a waste of time.” Palestinians can’t negotiate without a legitimate partner. Talks every time reflect tragedy and travesty. Israel’s all take and no give. Oslo was unilateral surrender, a Palestinian Versailles.

 

Israel got what it wanted. Palestinians got nothing for renouncing armed struggle, recognizing Israel’s right to exist, and agreeing to leave major unresolved issues for later final status talks.

 

Nearly two decades later, they’re still unresolved. They include an independent sovereign Palestine free from occupation, the right of return, settlements, borders, water rights, and East Jerusalem as Palestine’s future capital.

 

Israel yields nothing. Netanyahu won’t give an inch. He doesn’t negotiate. He demands. He also spurns peace and social justice.

 

Last summer, unaffordable housing prices sparked weeks of nationwide protests. Other issues were raised.

 

They include high food and energy prices, low wages and eroding social benefits, onerous taxes on working households, weak labor rights, education and healthcare deficiencies, as well as other ways neoliberal harshness harms most Israelis.

 

Netanyahu turned a blind eye. Wealth transfers from Israeli workers to privileged elites and corporate favorites is policy. In early May, public anger again erupted. Expect another long, hot summer.

 

Perhaps he plans more war to shift public attention. He threatened Iran for months. At issue isn’t its nuclear program. It’s unchallenged regional hegemony.

 

The alleged Iranian threat is baseless. It’s program is peaceful, not belligerent. It conforms to Nuclear Non-Proliferation (NPT) provisions. Nothing proves otherwise. It’s well known but not acknowledged.

 

Israel’s a nuclear outlaw. It spurned NPT. It prohibits IAEA inspections. It threatens the region menacingly. Neighbors know the threat. Iran hasn’t attacked another country in over 200 years.

 

War is official Israeli policy. So is state terror. Fear is stoked to enlist popular support.

 

Most Israelis oppose attacking Iran without US support. Given administration and congressional hawkishness, expect it after November elections.

 

Israel’s Likud/Kadima unity government increased chances for what will inflame the entire region and threaten general war beyond it.

 

Netanyahu, Obama, and officials in both countries have greater aims than world peace and sparing humanity a potential holocaust.

 

No matter. Time gave “King Bibi” top billing. Stengel anointed him rock star status. He’s:

 

“poised to become the longest-serving Israeli Prime Minister since David Ben-Gurion, the founding father of Israel. He has no national rival.”

 

“His approval rating, roughly 50%, is at an all-time high. At a moment when incumbents around the world are being shunted aside, he is triumphant.”

 

“Like his father, he sees Jewish history as a succession of holocausts. Like his father, he has an almost mystical belief in the abiding power of anti-Semitism, as though it were more biological than cultural.”

 

He has “a governing coalition that will not leak or collapse if he opens negotiations. He will no longer have to look over his shoulder.”

 

“He will not have to call elections at the drop of a hat. He has not had that before, and it gives him room to maneuver and room to compromise.”

 

Abbas said: “Now he is the emperor….he can do anything.”

 

He always took full advantage. Imagine what he’ll do now. Imagine the regional consequences. Imagine how much more Palestinians will suffer. Imagine the threat to world peace.

 

Israelis watch and wait. At best, they express luke warm support. Haaretz contributor Bradley Burston says they’re “exhausted by war, graft, bureaucracy, failed ideologies, the compendium of false promises,” and major unaddressed issues.

 

For years, thousands of Israelis voted with their feet and left. Many others consider going for good reason. Like America, Israel increasingly isn’t fit to live in. For Arabs it’s hell. For Jews, promised land illusions vanished long ago.

 

Netanyahu ignores public needs. War is prioritized. Removing a nonexistent Iranian threat is planned. He’ll risk a potential holocaust for Israeli hegemony and personal ambitions. That elevates rogue status to a higher level.

 

Is there reason to think he wants peace with Palestinians? He favors hardline persecution instead. He threatens war on Gaza. Another potential Lebanon conflict looms. He’s involved with Western-generated insurgent violence in Syria.

 

He’s a regional menace. Yet he had the effrontery to tell Time that Palestinians “will never have a better partner than me….I can make (peace) happen and make it stick.”

 

His agenda excludes peace in our time. He deplores it like US administration and congressional hawks, as well Knesset hardliners.

 

Like Obama, Netanyahu’s a war criminal multiple times over. Peace isn’t on his mind. Neither is compromise. He spurns democratic values and rule of law principles. He practices state terror. He’s more rogue than statesman. He’s a destroyer, not builder or visionary.

 

In June 1996, after being elected prime minister for the first time, Time’s cover story headlined “Can He Make Peace?”

 

He spurned it then and does now. As long as he leads Israel, peace in our time remains illusory, not real. The region’s fate hangs in the balance, and maybe a lot more.

 

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

 

His new book is titled “How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War”

 

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

 

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

 

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour.

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