Blood Stained Legacy of Ariel Sharon

The whitewashing of the late Ariel Sharon's blood-stained legacy was both predictable - and predicted. But that doesn't make it any less forgivable or tolerable. For example, Listen to Carl Bildt, the Swedish foreign minister: "Ariel Sharon was a great leader of Israel. A brilliant military commander, but also a wise statesman seeing the necessity of peace."

Or US senator and former Republican presidential candidate John McCain: "Few statesmen have made sacrifices that were as difficult, and were prepared to make more painful sacrifices still, for the sake of peace and the security for their nation."

Why did Osama declare war on USA - Pt 2

This historical introduction is important (in order) to know the beliefs of Osama and his thoughts and ideology. I do not know – O American – if you are following the news of Osama; but I will remind you of his historical promise after the event of 9/11 when he said: “I swear by Almighty Allah who raised the heavens without any pillars, that America will not dream of living in security before we experience security in Palestine and not before all the infidel armies have left the land of Muhammad, peace be upon him”. And the one who knows Osama’s history, he will realize that Osama lived to abide (by) his promise.

Islamists vs Secularists

From Cairo to Dhaka ‘Islamists’ are emerging as potential challenge to the secular nationalist forces who fear getting marginalized and losing power. The well-entrenched army and judiciary, with ‘liberal’ orientation, are backing the latter at the cost of professional ethics, integrity of the institution and canons of justice. The ruling class seams scared of the growing influence of the Islamic groups and therefore have decided to sweep them out from the political firmament of the country.

Why did Osama declare war on USA - Pt 1

This is an article written in response to a Question asked by an American citizen. The Question (posted online) reads:

    I’m an American, and I really don’t believe everything my government says. I was moved by the way the media dealt with the death of Osama bin Ladin. I thought he was hated by the Muslims because of his ways; at least, that’s what the officials told us in our country. I realized after his death that he was loved by most of you! I want to know exactly what Osama meant to you as Muslims. I want to know the truth from you, and not from the media, because I simply do not trust the media. Please be straightforward and honest. I really want to know the truth.

Most dangerous War

As predicted the most dangerous battle ever to have been engineered will now manifest itself into the bloodiest war ever to be inflicted on to the people of the Middle East. Syrians have suffered at the hands of Bashar al Khanzeer and his Shabiha for nearly 3 years. They have suffered at the hands of the Americans and Israelis who have been funding disgusting terrorist mercenaries to carry out attacks on the muslimeen of Bilad al Sham to further their agenda of removing Bashar so they can replace him with someone just as corrupt and who in typical puppet fashion will only serve western interests.

Will the USA attack Syria!

On Wednesday, August 21st, the Syrian regime attacked civilians in the Damascus countryside of al-Ghouta, killing around 1729 people as reported by the Syrian opposition. Immediately the day after, French Foreign minister Laurent Fabius, said that "reaction with force" might be needed if the claim of using such weapons is confirmed. Last Friday, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that the Pentagon has ordered some naval assets to move closer to Syria in preparation for a possible military strike using cruise missile. In addition, Britain has set a firm position too, where Prime Minister David Cameron spoke to US president Barack Obama in which they both agreed that there must be a "serious response" to using such weapons. On Sunday, several US lawmakers in Washington expressed their belief that they "expected limited military" strike by the US and its allies. Hence the important question: will the US strike the Assad regime?

Egypt After Morsi: Chaos or Bloodshed?

The ousting of elected President Muhammad Morsi has brought Egypt back to an era of instability. Hundreds of thousands of protesters both for and against Morsi have filled the streets of Egypt; clashes between these protesters and the army caused many violent incidents. The Muslim Brotherhood, which Morsi belongs to, has accused the army and its chief of wanting to drive Egypt towards another Syria. Such accusations arose after the army killed 51 of the Brotherhood's demonstrators and wounded over 430 others in front of the Republic Guard compound in Cairo. In response, the army called the protesters "terrorists." With all this  turmoil, the question remains, where is Egypt headed to?

Rape - USA's war weapon

In March 2006 four US soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division gang raped a 14 year old Iraqi girl and murdered her and her family —including a 5 year old child. An additional soldier was involved in the cover-up.

One of the killers, Steven Green, was found guilty on May 07, 2009 in the US District Court of Paducah and is now awaiting sentencing.

The leaked Public Affairs Guidance put the 101st media team into a "passive posture" — withholding information where possible. It conceals presence of both child victims, and describes the rape victim, who had just turned 14, as "a young woman".

The US Army's Criminal Investigation Division did not begin its investigation until three and a half months after the crime, news reports at that time commented.

This is not the only grim picture coming out of Iraq U.S. forces being accused of using rape as a war weapon.

Hizbu Allah to Hizbu Shaitan!

On May 25th, Hezbollah's chief, Hassan Nasrallah, declared that his Lebanese based Shia militia will fight with all its capacity to save the Syrian regime. After several maneuvers in the last few months, walking the tightrope of public diplomacy, he finally admitted his direct involvement in supporting Bashar al-Assad's brutal crackdown on the Syrian Revolution. In pushing out the Israeli occupation from Lebanon in 2000 and it's tactical victory over Israel in 2006, Hezbollah skyrocketed in fame amongst all Arabs, including even Sunnis. Siding with the oppressive regime in Damascus, however, has destroyed any goodwill Hezbollah had within the Sunni majority of the Middle East. Nasrallah, Arabic for "God's victory", became famously Narsallat, or "idol's victory" and his party of God became known as the party of Satan within the media and the masses.

Palestine: The Deir Yassin Massacre

On April 9, 1948, members of the underground Jewish terrorist group, the Irgun, or IZL, led by Menachem Begin, who was to become the Israeli prime minister in 1977, entered the peaceful Arab village of Deir Yassin, massacred 250 men, women, children and the elderly, and stuffed many of the bodies down wells. There were also reports of rapes and mutilations. The Irgun was joined by the Jewish terrorist group, the Stern Gang, led by Yitzhak Shamir, who subsequently succeeded Begin as prime minister of Israel in the early ’80s, and also by the Haganah, the militia under the control of David Ben Gurian. The Irgun, the Stern Gang and the Haganah later joined to form the Israeli Defense Force. Their tactics have not changed.

The massacre at Deir Yassin was widely publicized by the terrorists and the numerous heaped corpses displayed to the media. In Jaffe, which was at the time 98 percent Arab, as well as in other Arab communities, speaker trucks drove through the streets warning the population to flee and threatening another Deir Yassin. Begin said at the time, "We created terror among the Arabs and all the villages around. In one blow, we changed the strategic situation."

Basharul Assad's brutal Survival tactics

By Adnan Khan

Bashar al-Assad vowed to “live or die’ in Syria, I am Syrian, I was made in Syria, I have to live in Syria and die in Syria. I do not think the West is going [to intervene], but if they do so, nobody can tell what is next. I think the price of this invasion if it happened is going to be more than the whole world can afford." Speaking with Russia Today TV earlier this month, the Syrian president made clear he had no intention of fleeing. Whilst the syrian military has numerous shortcommings, Assad’s armed forces possess more capability than the opposition forces and this has allowed Assad to pursue a four pronged strategy of crushing the uprising.

Air raids and long range artillery bombardment has been a consistent feature of al-Assad’s strategy to subdue the masses. Daraa in March 2011 was the first town to have faced al-Assad’s strategy of crushing the people with overwhelming force. Snipers took up positions on rooftops, water supplies were cut, as well as telephone lines, the town was completely cut off from the rest of the country as artillery rained upon the town. The use of Soviet era aircraft is part of Assad’s psychological war. Residents have confirmed “pilots employ psychological tactics. Jets frequently swoop down in mock strafing raids, break the sound barrier over urban centers, or fly menacingly at high altitudes, a sign of a possible bombing raid. Low flying helicopter gunships also spray streets with machine-gun fire, and residents lose sleep over air activity at night that frays the nerves of civilians and rebels alike.” This strategy softens the rebels' defenses ahead of the next phase which is conducting a wide scale siege.

How the British Divided Ottoman Empire into Arab Nation States

The development of the modern nation states throughout the Arab world is a fascinating and heartbreaking process. 100 years ago, most Arabs were part of the Ottoman Empire/Caliphate, a large multi-ethnic state based in Istanbul. Today, a political map of the Arab world looks like a very complex jigsaw puzzle. A complex and intricate course of events in the 1910s brought about the end of the Ottomans and the rise of these new nations with borders running across the Middle East, diving Muslims from each other. While there are many different factors leading to this, the role that the British played in this was far greater than any other player in the region. Three separate agreements made conflicting promises that the British had to stand by. The result was a political mess that divided up a large part of the Muslim world.

The Outbreak of World War I

In the summer of 1914, war broke out in Europe. A complex system of alliances, a militaristic arms race, colonial ambitions, and general mismanagement at the highest government levels led to this devastating war that would claim the lives of 12 million people from 1914 to 1918. On the “Allied” side stood the empires of Britain, France, and Russia. The “Central” powers consisted of Germany and Austria-Hungary.

At first, the Ottoman Empire decided to remain neutral. They were not nearly as strong as any of the other nations fighting in the war, and were wracked by internal and external threats. The Ottoman sultan/caliph was nothing more than a figurehead at this point, with the last powerful sultan, Abdulhamid II, having been overthrown in 1908 and replaced with a military government led by the “Three Pashas”. They were from the secular Westernized group, the Young Turks. Financially, the Ottomans were in a serious bind, owing huge debts to the European powers that they were not able to pay. After trying to join the Allied side and being rejected, the Ottomans sided with the Central Powers in October of 1914.

Globalizing Torture: 54 Countries Join USA In Global Kidnap, Detention And Torture

 via countercurrents.org

At least 54 countries co-operated with USA inn global kidnap, detention and torture operation mounted after 9/11 attacks, says Globalizing Torture , a comprehensive report. The countries include Afghanistan , Canada , Egypt , Iceland , Iran , Ireland , Jordan , Pakistan and the UK .

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 , the Central Intelligence Agency embarked on a highly classified program of secret detention and extraordinary rendition of terrorist suspects. The program was designed to place detainee interrogations beyond the reach of law. Suspected terrorists were seized and secretly flown across national borders to be interrogated by foreign governments that used torture, or by the CIA itself in clandestine “black sites” using torture techniques.

Globalizing Torture is the most comprehensive account yet assembled of the human rights abuses associated with CIA secret detention and extraordinary rendition operations.

It details for the first time what was done to the 136 known victims, and lists the 54 foreign governments that participated in these operations. It shows that responsibility for the abuses lies not only with the United States but with dozens of foreign governments that were complicit.

More than 10 years after the 2001 attacks, Globalizing Torture makes it unequivocally clear that the time has come for the United States and its partners to definitively repudiate these illegal practices and secure accountability for the associated human rights abuses.

Ian Cobain reported :

The full extent of the CIA's extraordinary rendition program has been laid bare with the publication of the report showing there is evidence that more than a quarter of the world's governments covertly offered support.

Iran and Syria are identified by the OSJI as having participated in the rendition program. Syria is said to have been one of the "most common destinations for rendered suspects", while Iran is said to have participated in the CIA's program by handing over 15 individuals to Kabul shortly after the US invasion of Afghanistan , in the full knowledge that they would fall under US control.

Syrian Revolution: Possible Outcomes

By Abu Anas

The Syrian rebels accomplished a strategic success in shifting the balance of the battle against Bashar al-Assad's regime through a well-crafted military plan based on guerrilla warfare tactics. The United States, worried by the rebels’ ability to carry out these unexpectedly quick and sudden maneuvers, went to the point of threatening direct military intervention. Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, stated on December 3rd, that “we are certainly planning to take action if that [using chemical weapons] eventuality were to occur.” The US and Western powers in general are trying to preserve their prior influence in Syria, which guarantees their involvement to steer the revolution towards an outcome that suits their interests. The Assad regime is nearing total collapse and there are 4 possible outcomes for this conflict.

The Arab Spring has shown that there is a general awakening within the Muslim world, with the majority demanding Islam to play a greater role in politics. A study conducted by the PEW Research Center in July 2012 said: “Many across the predominantly Muslim countries surveyed want Islam to have a major influence in politics.”

Secret US-Syria Relations

In Picture Above:  Former Syrian Dictator Hafiz Al-Asad (Father of Bashar Al-Asad)

 By Abu Anas

After the defeat of the Ottoman Caliphate in World War I, and through the Sykes-Picot agreement between France and Britain in 1916, the French occupied what we know today as  Syria. For one to understand the extent of US influence in Syria and to map the relationship between the Assad regime and the US, one must consider the history of modern Syria. The following are 10 key points, in chronological order, starting from the time of Western colonization of Syria to the present day, highlighting US involvement in the country.
 
1.    US and CIA orchestrated military coups in Syria since 1949: The US, through its embassy in Damascus and the CIA, led the first ever military coup in Syria in 1949, as detailed in the book “The Game of Nations” by Miles Copeland. This marked the beginning of the international struggle over the Middle East between the United States, the new entrant to the world arena, and the Europeans (French and British) who held the influence in the region but came out of World War II devastated. The US embassy and the CIA continued to support several subsequent military coups in Syria throughout the 50s and 60s against their European rivals, this was an era of instability that lasted over two decades. 

2.  Hafez's pullout out of the 1967 war to secure Israel: Ex-President, Amin al-Hafiz, said in an interview on Al-Jazeera on July 2nd, 2001 that Hafez al-Assad, the then Defense Minister, sent a strict order of withdrawal to the Syrian army from the Golan Heights at the beginning of the war. This was before any sign of defeat or real confrontation against the Israeli military which has resulted in the occupation of such a strategic location.[1] It was through this move, Assad gained the trust of the US in defending Israel's northern border, which he continued to do for the next three decades.