Rats are dying on the streets, doo-duh, doo-duh, rats are dying on the streets, dying for Israel!
http://breakingnews.sy/en/article/5012.html

Posted by: pewpewlazergun | Aug 17 2012 17:36 utc | 3

Increasingly silent about Syria… this seems like good news to me.

Posted by: peter radiator | Aug 17 2012 19:06 utc | 5

very good, peter. seems the FSA is loosing big time or has already lost!

Posted by: pewpewlazergun | Aug 17 2012 19:53 utc | 7

– Vice have a good 20 minute documentary up about Hezbollah’s Propaganda War. Not too friendly to Hezbollah but worth a watch, since he travels to alot of the well known places in Lebanon and talks to plenty of Lebanese about their views.
– Cryptome has a slideshow of photos from todays protest outside the Ecuador embassy supporting Assad.
– Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV got to meet up with the Syrians and Turkish hostages being held in Lebanon by the Al Miqdad clan. So far the Military Wing holding them have said they will only target Syrian FSA fighters holed up in Lebanon and Turkish citizens. They mentioned that if they wanted to kidnap any Gulf countries they would have since there is Qatari princess living in Beirut.
– The Diplomat on “The Coming US-China Space Race” ok but forgets the dynamics of Russian/Indian/European space projects.

Posted by: Colm O’ Toole | Aug 17 2012 20:02 utc | 9

it doesn’t matter what people think of Assange, the fact in itself of another Latin American country (after Brazil’s refusal to extradite Battisti to Italy) teaching a lesson in human right to arrogant western countries is priceless
if Assange had been Russian or Chinese he would already have been granted the Nobel prize
a toast to Correa and Patino

Posted by: claudio | Aug 17 2012 22:09 utc | 11

claudio
honor to ecuador & honor to brail for battisti
now assange must honor ecuador & not treat it as most westerners do
the obsession with pussyriot is beyond me, those united states are packed to the fills with political prisoners who have spent the mast 40 years in the most inhuman conditions, thanks to the jericho movement these people are never forgotten
in ireland marian price is behind bars with the help of gerry adams & other dissidents are held in interment. bellmarsh prison && others in the uk are in fact little more than torture centres for the underclass
& it is surprising no one is speaking of the carnegie endowments connection to pussyriot, it is similar to the salafists connection with nato in libya & syria

Posted by: remembererringgiap | Aug 17 2012 23:37 utc | 13

Russia issues warning to Britain over Assange
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen in London in 2010. Russia on Friday warned Britain against violating fundamental diplomatic principles after London suggested it could arrest Assange inside Ecuador’s embassy.
AFP – Russia on Friday warned Britain against violating fundamental diplomatic principles after London suggested it could arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange inside Ecuador’s embassy.
“What is happening gives grounds to contemplate the observance of the spirit and the letter of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and in particular the Article 22 spelling out the inviolability of diplomatic premises,” the Russian foreign ministry said.
Ecuador on Thursday granted asylum to Assange — whose website enraged the United States by publishing a vast cache of confidential government files — but Britain has vowed not to grant him safe passage out of the country.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague has said his government was obliged under its own law to extradite the Australian national to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over alleged sex crimes.
Britain has angered Ecuador by suggesting it could invoke a domestic law allowing it to breach the usual rules and go in to arrest Assange, who has been holed up in Ecuador’s London mission since June.
This would challenge a fundamental principle of the diplomatic system, and the threat has left Britain in unchartered legal waters.
At the same time, Moscow warned Britain against interpreting the law selectively, stressing that London has given refuge to “dozens of people suspected of committing grave crimes” who are wanted in other countries.
“What to do with a right to refuge for Julian Assange when London turns the observance of this right for this category of people into an absolute principle?” the Russian foreign ministry asked, referring to a number of high-profile figures granted asylum in Britain.
Russia has for years sought the extradition of top Kremlin critic Boris Berezovsky as well as several other figures.
http://www.france24.com/en/20120817-russia-issues-warning-britain-over-assange

Posted by: brian | Aug 18 2012 0:50 utc | 15

Scott Ludlam press conference on Julian Assange | Greens MPs
http://greensmps.org.au/content/audio/scott-ludlam-press-conference-julian-assange-0
Ludlum says it pressure from US regime

Posted by: brian | Aug 18 2012 1:11 utc | 17

Russian embassy in UK attacked by vandals
Aug 17, 2012
Russia’s embassy in London has been attacked by vandals chanting anti-Syrian slogans, while the British police took no measures to stop the violence or detain the attackers.
According to the reports, the Consular Section is severely damaged; but there has been no report of embassy staff being hurt.
The reportys come as 40 protestors masked in balaclavas, targeted the embassy which is located in an upscale part of London.
A spokesman for the Russian embassy said a group of protestors, who were chanting anti-Assad government slogans, attacked the building in the middle of the night, throwing stones and smashing windows.
He said, “The police who arrived at the scene regretfully did not take any measures to stop the unsanctioned protest and detain the attackers,”
The Russian Foreign Ministry has accused London police of not taking measures to stop any of the violence or vandalizing of the embassy’s building.
The Foreign Ministry has announced the attack as one more case of the principal of inviolability of diplomatic nations.
This has not been the first time the Russian Embassy in London was attacked this year. The diplomatic mission said that the consulate would remain closed until Friday noon due to the attack.
The Metropolitan Police of London refused to comment on the attack.
Moreover, Russia Today (RT), the Russian English language news channel, has been subject to a DDoS attack by a group who call themselves Antileaks in an apparent protest at their support for the renegade Australian, Julian Assange.
Assange has been granted political asylum in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, which is delaying his extradition to Sweden to answer claims of sexually assaulting two women.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/08/17/256754/russian-embassy-in-uk-attacked-by-vandals/

Posted by: brian | Aug 18 2012 2:27 utc | 19

Galloway on Syria, from a earlier thread posted by O’ toole, if my memory is correct. Excellent!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&hl=en&v=xUZ5FwYmkhw&gl=US

Posted by: ben | Aug 18 2012 2:59 utc | 21

anyone have any information on the story that after liberation from the British and separation from the Indians that the Pakis and Afghans sought to unite? This would have made the Pashtun people the demographic majority in a joined state. But, that the British (and later the US) prevented this union.

Posted by: scottindallas | Aug 18 2012 3:11 utc | 23

brian 19
*The Russian Foreign Ministry has accused London police of not taking measures to stop any of the violence or vandalizing of the embassy’s building*
could this be part of the *consequences* that mdm sec clinton warned russia n china about their veteo ?
seems to be a pattern there….
china opposed the bombing of exyugo
resulting in its embassy obliterated by three precision guided bombs
for its objection to the iraq invasion
china’s embassy got sacked for FOUR days right under the nose of the patrolling marines, inspite of repeated calls to the marine local commandant for help
http://tinyurl.com/cnoe4m6
fukusi is the biggest outlaw out there, no contest

Posted by: denk | Aug 18 2012 3:27 utc | 25

Gotta larf at some people’s fascination with 50 year old non-events.
1) as far as people’s behaviour and beliefs go perception is reality. So whatever ‘really’ happened to the sleazy double dealer jack kennedy way back when; about half at the time acted as though he was the victim of a ‘crazy loner’. And the other half that he had been taken out by right wing nutters.
The fact that both of those explanations suited the PTB right down to the ground doesn’t even occur to dingbats ready to subject Assange to the cui bono test on the basis of no evidence, but who will ignore the fact that the jack kennedy, spoilt rich boy’s so-called ‘lone gunman’ had considerable documented ties to the administration headed up by a victim of hundreds of kennedy inspired assassination
attempts.
Still, expecting consistency from a one-eyed, subjectivist closed mind is prolly too ambitious.
Here is a simpler example, one that happens with awful regularity. An Iraqi journo from middle class sunni family writes stories that get to the heart of the corrupt middle management who have run Iraq since the illegal amerikan invasion. This causes considerable discomfort in many segments of Iraq’s power centres.
The journo is warned, and filled with a sense of righteousness fuelled by anger at the state of his once humanist society, continues to write stories, some of which begin makin it out of arab language blogs and into mainstream euro language media.
It is only a matter of time until an english language outlet picks up one of the stories which feature players who made it big in Iraq back when the amerikan gold was gettin pumped into a wide selection of pockets.
This causes some consternation in washington where the Iraqi ‘new waves’ opposite numbers have also made it big – helped in no small part by ‘leakage’ of the gold making it back to washington where it oiled some particularly squeaky wheels on capitol hill.
So a decision is made. The journo ‘must go’. The odds are good his elimination would be a simple enough approval to get from prez oblamblam, but it may cause a small partisan problem later on.
Some of those most affected by the journo’s stories bat for the other half of the all-empire all amerikan murdering party.
So this job will be done covertly using ‘resources on the ground’, namely a carefully tended group of young & disaffected shia males. The group is controlled by an imam who bears more than a passing resemblance to the sociopathically articulate southern baptist preachers that happily live off of ten per cent of income which 20 or 30 impoverished families in small town amerika grab on the ‘trickle down’.
The imam has a contact who is case-managed by the daughter of just such a preacher. She knows well which buttons to press to achieve the outcome amerika’s corrupt and self serving ‘administrators’ require.
Pretty soon a mob of shia kids blow up the Iraqi journo – along with his entire immediate family of wife children and in-laws. It is as if he never existed – “good job I can see why oblamblam stayed away from this one though” was the first thought of most of the empire’s corrupt and self serving hand maidens ‘in the know’.
So my question is:
Who killed the reporter?
was it:
(A) amerika, the evil empire whose perfidy knows no bounds?
or
(B) Those Looney toons rag heads who will kill anyone to cop their 40 virgins.
Nah!
Perhaps it was:
(3) Hubris. That sanctimonious prick shoulda stuck to re writing embassy and Iraqi govt press handouts.
no? Then it was
4)Organised religion – without bullshitting organised religion in amerika or in Iraq no one woulda had an excuse.
nah that doesn’t cut it there are plenty of greedy atheists.
how about?
(5) The corrupt media. Those journo schools teach a hideous ersatz ethics to cover the reality of what journos really get up to. Most journos see through it but every now and again some derp believes the bullshit – often with catastrophic results.
maybe it was
(6) men – women don’t kill each other do they? Sorry they do.
I could come up with someone or something different to blame for this horrendous crime for as long as I can be bothered to think of ’em. Anyone could but none of them provide a complete answer and none of them will do anything to repair the damage the crime caused so why bother?
This is what I find so frustrating about the trainspotting approach to abuses of power by the elite, ptb, 1% or whatever you want to call em. All documenting their crimes does is make it easier for them. In case you haven’t noticed most people have learned to live with being at the blunt end of a very sharp knife which is slicing and dicing its way through the humans living close to
something the 1% wants.
Insufficient peeps are payin attention to outrageous and egregious behaviour by the empire and there is no way of changing that as long as sufficient peeps cop a miserly ‘dribble down’ while the mob in charge continue their strangle hold on open debate. It matters little to the 1% whether or not the 99% get the news they want them to, or no news, the people will remain compliant.
I am super pissed this weekend about this I’ve got a great big hole in the side of my skull. Had it most of my life in fact. I copped it from a batoning attack by police tasked with
stopping me and my associates from drawing attention to the west’s complicity with apartheid South Africa. Back then the mob of cunts currently in charge in South Africa were the ones complaining about the whitefella jaapie administration slaughtering striking miners. I was seventeen and still thought that some politicians were honest and committed. LOL.
Since the deal was done between the ANC and the empire, the only thing which has changed is the colour of the puppets.
As for media outlets, they have a simple tale to tell – this is what happens when unwhite revolutionaries are trusted and allowed to govern. Nothing to suggest that this could be the result of the same fuckers causing havoc in South Africa as have always caused it since the dutch n englanders first invaded.
Peeps can continue down the path of “that lying cock sucker is bad, but that duplicitous double dealer is ‘our’ duplicitous double-dealer, and therefore good”, all they want, but they oughtta know that as long as they do, nothing substantive will ever change.
Replacing one power a structure with another cannot and will not work. That is the only worthwhile lesson of the 20th century.
The solution/s must be a form of power to the people where power resides in hands of everyone and is not vested in a structure that claims to be acting in the people’s ‘best interests’.
Right there, is a contradiction that has to be resolved. If the current power structure is abolished and no new structure implemented, what is to prevent the usual sociopaths from doing what they always do; going off and building an unofficial ‘off the books’ replacement system for robbery and oppression?
As long as peeps stick with one perspective, one that is usually either the one they were
indoctrinated with from birth or the diametric opposite of the one their immediate childhood environment adhered to, alla this shit is gonna continue, whether or not we ‘know’ it.

Posted by: Debs is dead | Aug 18 2012 4:20 utc | 27

great stuff Debs.

Posted by: scottindallas | Aug 18 2012 4:38 utc | 29

here’s a news despatch after the fall of iraq
look at the kind of bs they were telling the home crowd
*our boys are over there to keep law n order,
the iraqis are welcoming us with their open arms* [sic]
it also shed light on the most likely cia orchestrated sacking of the chinese embassy, studiously ignored by the marine patrols
——————————————————————————–
Return to Fort Campbell Deployment story page | Return to Kentucky New Era home page
Colonel jokingly takes new title: Mayor of Southcentral Baghdad (April 16, 2003)
By KIMBERLY HEFLING
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — To his men, he’s Lt. Col. Lee Fetterman. But on Tuesday, the Frot Campbell, Ky., Army officer picked an unofficial new title: mayor of Southcentral Baghdad.
“This is ours. We will take care of it,” Fetterman told his men in the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) shortly after they were ordered to clean up that sector of Baghdad of everything from weapons caches to trash.
Other areas of the city have become the responsibility of other military units. Col. Michael Linnington, commander of the 3rd Brigade, jokingly said to Fetterman on Tuesday, “You are now the mayor of Southcentral Baghdad.”
Fetterman’s day started with a visit to the Sudanese Embassy, one of several embassies in the neighborhood that also has middle-class housing. By evening, he had lectured looters about stealing from a warehouse, attended a brief meeting at a former palace of Saddam Hussein and set up a headquarters at the Mauritanian Embassy.
“The first thing we need to do to set this place up for success is clean up the garbage,” Fetterman said as he surveyed his new territory.
His soldiers patrolled the streets on foot and in Humvees. They broadcast messages in Arabic from military vehicles to inform residents they were here to restore order.
Children and men waved from outside their homes as Fetterman’s driver navigated around palm-tree trunks that had been placed in streets to slow down drivers. One woman stood on a corner selling baskets. Nearby, soldiers talked to local men over stone fences.
“They obviously have some sort of need for some sort of legitimate government or police force,” Fetterman said, observing the trunks in the road. Household trash littered sidewalks and streets.
But he said he thought things were going well in the neighborhood.
Indeed, there were positive signs: After broadcasting prayers, a cleric at the mosque next to the vacant school where Fetterman and his men slept had called out that Americans were there to help. And none of the soldiers had been fired at on their first night in the neighborhood.
Fetterman wanted to visit the Sudanese Embassy because he was curious how it was able to fend off looters while most of the others had been shut down and pillaged.
He was greeted by about 10 men standing outside. One held a little girl in his arms. A man named Ayman M. Osman Elobeid identified himself as being in charge. He said they were able to fend off looters by shooing them off and waving a weapon.
Elobeid said he watched for four days as the Chinese Embassy across the street was robbed from morning to midnight.
“The only thing they couldn’t take was the satellite on the roof,” Elobeid said.
Elobeid said he was operating so he could help Sudanese citizens in Iraq return home. He said he felt better knowing American soldiers were patrolling the streets.
“Last night, we slept well when we saw the Army,” Elobeid said. “I think things will return back to normal in Baghdad.”
Fetterman asked that the men from the Sudanese Embassy not carry weapons at night. He said the U.S. Army was there to help.
As Fetterman sat down in his Humvee outside the embassy, a call came over the radio that his men had detained 25 Iraqis who were looting a warehouse. He drove to the site, and with the help of an interpreter, lectured them.
(c) 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
——————————————————————————–
Return to Fort Campbell Deployment story page | Return to Kentucky New Era home page

Posted by: denk | Aug 18 2012 5:40 utc | 31

Westphalian sovereignty, Geneva Convention, Vienna Convention, that’s so old Europe. Old Believers in Russia and Salt Lake and Riyadh-clown cars and sideshows lighting the way.

Posted by: Biklett | Aug 18 2012 6:01 utc | 33

‘However, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said his country would not be lectured by Ecuador.[ ‘we take our orders from the US thank you very much’!]
Mr Bildt said Sweden was entirely within its rights to question Mr Assange about a serious alleged crime. [‘but we dont want to do it in the ecuador embassy as we have some cumbersome tools of the trade here in sweden!’]
He denied that Mr Assange would ultimately be extradited to the US to face the death penalty. [trust us…would we lie,,.weve never ever extradited anyone on orders from the US regime…ever! oh you ask what about Mohammad al-Zari and Ahmed Agiza…!!!!]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19292323

Posted by: brian | Aug 18 2012 6:19 utc | 35

gulf despots and FUKUSA angry at russia:
‘According to the report that cited ‘diplomatic sources’ it did not name, the US, France and the UK were shocked by the Russian suggestion to debate developments in Bahrain. It did not mention the reaction of China, the fifth member of the Security Council, to the alleged suggestion.
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/bahrain/russia-denies-move-to-put-bahrain-in-un-focus-1.1061291
US France and UK = FUKUSA, alarmed that Bahrain be treated as they treated libya….russia backs down…pity…

Posted by: brian | Aug 18 2012 7:31 utc | 37

Was just watching the BBC going on about the “pussy-riot” stunt.I couldn’t believe!! This is a country that jailed London rioters and showed no mercy..Imagine some air-head punk band playing the stunt “pussy-riot” did in St. Paul’s Cathedral…The outrage!!!
Again, this is another color revolution in the making..The West’s never like Putin coming back and they’re doing everything to destabilize Russia too..
Where will it end?

Posted by: Zico | Aug 18 2012 8:48 utc | 39

‘The network said that peaceful demonstrations would make it easier to develop democracy following a revolution, while militarisation would make it “virtually impossible to establish a legitimate foundation for a proud future Syria.”[6]”‘
‘democracy’…we see what that means in UK where an elected regime is about to destroy international law! did the voters anticipate this!
‘democracy’ or rule by the people….does not exist not in USA nor UK nor anywhere

Posted by: brian | Aug 18 2012 13:26 utc | 41

@ brian # 18?
Who is anti-leaks?
Prolly the same people as Wiki-leaks.
And now that I think of it Wikileaks is a name that an operative or corporation comes up with. It’s not an organic name.

Posted by: Walter Wit Man | Aug 18 2012 14:04 utc | 43

At Brian #32,
How has Wikileaks revealed war crimes?
Cause so far nothing has happened from the leaks. The helicopter gunship attacks on the Iraqi civilians/journalists was deemed appropriate by the American military. The military didn’t punish anyone for that.
In fact, the military hasn’t even told us what their rules of engagement were and are. Did they change them? Or do they just shoot anything around an alleged “target?” Or just males?
Also, the leaks you yourself have linked to, about soldiers laughing or having fun as they kill people, do not violate the rules of war, afaik. It’s unseemly, but not illegal.
Same thing for when the soldiers refuse to medically treat injured children. Totally within the rules and still U.S. policy afaik.
So what did Assange reveal? That U.S. rules of engagement is immoral? I agree with that. But I already knew that. What did the “leaks” change?

Posted by: Walter Wit Man | Aug 18 2012 14:41 utc | 45

Here is how the corrupt media fooled the sheep people of Australia:
http://www.expendable.tv/p/media.html
They will do the same on Julian Assange.

Posted by: Nicola Weaver | Aug 18 2012 17:21 utc | 47

38,Zico, yep suddenly “we” know who these freedom fighters are
Kidnapping, Spats on Docket of Syria Rebel Boss
“Similar makeshift governments are springing up in villages across Aleppo province’s countryside, providing interim courts, keeping basic services running, managing finances and distributing aid shipments.
Many of the rebel courts have taken on an Islamic bent. Tawheed Division commanders forbid the torture of detainees. But that ban doesn’t include whipping the soles of detainees’ feet, Tawheed commander Abdel Aziz Salama told several people, including a Human Rights Watch team. …
Here in Qobtan Jebel, a pinprick village of century-old stone walled homes in the hills west of Aleppo, Mr. Shehab Eddin’s word is law, at least for now. Before the uprising, the self-taught sheik—also known by his nom du guerre, Abu Soleiman—preached covertly to a small following in an adjacent village about the Syrian regime’s ills
…
Next in line was a man from Aleppo who had raised funds for Mr. Shehab Eddin’s brigade, which fought in Aleppo’s Salaheddin neighborhood for 14 days but withdrew last week after supplies wore thin. The fundraiser demanded an explanation for the withdrawal. “We couldn’t stand it anymore. We weren’t getting enough help,” the aide, Mr. Haji, explained, eager not to alienate a supporter.
…
As the sun set, Mr. Haji retired to his commander’s walled residence where he lives with his three wives and 15 children.”
Zico, I guess, the “West” found out that the Syrian National Council they had been grooming has no influence in Syria, and the people who have the power on the ground in Syria are people they do not wish to be photographed with.

Posted by: somebody | Aug 18 2012 21:13 utc | 49

The picture of this child was shared on thousands of pages and millions have cried and keep crying when they see it. When it was made public, the Syrian opposition in pages said that the child “was killed in cold blood in Homs” and of course they accused what they call the “Militia of Bashar Al Assad” of “killing” the kid. However, some of them said that he was killed in Deraa and others said that he was killed in Aleppo. But all agreed that “the Shabiha raped his mother, caught his father and killed him.” Discover the truth in less than a minute: the child is alive and was asked to pretend that he was dead to simply take the picture. Once the picture was taken, it was easy to invent a story because, according to them, people believe what they see and never check the truth of what they are told
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=405804012808455

Posted by: brian | Aug 19 2012 0:23 utc | 51

since this is an open thread, and the subject came up repeatedly, I’ll share my view on JFK’s assassination: I find convincing the version given by “the crow” (don’t have the link now, it’s a well-known ex-CIA agent): the FBI did it, on orders by the CIA, because they intercepted the direct calls between JFK and Krushev where the two shared the info their respective secret services were handing them, and whose alarmist analysis they didn’t believe (btw, they were both right!), so the CIA decided JFK was a national liability (also correct, from a certain point of view)
it’s the only interpretation I read that I find compatible with the subsequent management of the crisis; it also coincides with my idea of the CIA as the real brains and command center of the Empire (well, that which most resembles one), only challenged later by the neocons’ preference for the Pentagon; plus, the subsequent parallel demotion of Krushev is striking

Posted by: claudio | Aug 19 2012 0:52 utc | 53

‘Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu: “This is a very strong message for the Syrian regime telling them that the Islamic world cannot accept a system that kills its people. And it’s a message to the international community, as well, telling them that the Islamic community supports a political, peaceful solution and does not want any more bloodshed.’
so lying is an islamic virtue? as is terrorism of which islam is a world leader

Posted by: brian | Aug 19 2012 1:10 utc | 55

Fair enough claudio but if you consider who shot kennedy in the light of what the amerikan authorities did once it occurred then the scenario I outlined above plays equally well.
One thing I hope most peeps can agree upon is that any suggestion of the death being the result of a commie conspiracy had to be knocked on the head. If the ‘pinkos had done it’ there would have been no way of preventing the cold war from warming up, an outcome that was in nobody’s best interest.
So the amerikan security establishment went to great pains to construct a range of alternative scenarios. The crazed ‘lone gunman’ -the closest to reality, was put out for the rightists but alla the stuff about Oswald and his Cuban contacts was played down and only ekked out to divert theorists and keep the rightist base hating ‘lefties’ in just the correct dosage.
The rightwing conspiracy was distributed for the leftie consumption. Lefties needed someone to blame without endangering jackie the slug’s and by extension, the dem’s, credibility as leftists. Commies killing kennedy would have been politically more problematic for dems than rethugs while it would have been disastrous for humans everywhere. Especially those of us living outside the two fortresses who were vainly attempting to resist imperial incursion by the thugs from either.
If you were around at the time Claudio you will remember that every week a news story from someone inside amerika’s security establishment ‘leaked’ and pointed the finger of blame in a new direction.
Add that to the simple reality that human witnesses provide bad evidence about 99% of the time and you may understand why, this far into the future from the assassination I discount all contemporaneous ‘eye witness’ testimony. Including the zapruder film. I don’t know oliver stone nor do I know anyone who knows him and 2 degrees is the maximum amount of separation anyone should ever allow to determine the veracity of any human on any issue, let alone one that generated an industry of tabloid journalistic coverage about every aspect of the killings and it seems like all humans within 3 or 4 degrees of separation from the actual event.
It is quite frankly impossible to determine what occured that day and this will always be the case. I prefer my opinion because not only does it fit within the boundary of knowable facts (cite D Rumsfield) it puts a positive cast on a period in history where humanist leaders from smaller nation states had few victories.

Posted by: Debs is dead | Aug 19 2012 1:30 utc | 57

Debs, yes, we don’t know what really happened that day; I also like “the crow’s” version because it gives a political sense to the episode, albeit less gratifying than yours: that episode would mark the emergence of the “deep state” in the Us
as Copeland put it:

It is said that Kennedy was the last president who really thought he could grab the power levers himself and assume meaningful executive power, post national security state.

in general, I agree with your analysis of the management of the crisis, but I was referring mainly to the fact that it was the FBI that was obviously in charge of the “damage control” (killing witnesses, tampering with evidence, etc); now, I don’t think they would have gone so far as they did just for general “political” motivations: I think they were above all protecting their own asses;

Posted by: claudio | Aug 19 2012 2:09 utc | 59

UK home of islamic terrorism!
http://aangirfan.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/al-qaeda-in-manchester-and-london.html

Posted by: brian | Aug 19 2012 2:46 utc | 61

@scottindallas #62
1. The EXCLUSIVE purpose of the IAEA, according to the NPT, is to ensure the non-diversion of nuclear fuel to weapons programs, which they have consistently and repeatedly reported as in compliance in Iran. There are no other “strictures” in the NPT. After all, it is a treaty entered into voluntarily by Iran (unlike Israel, Pakistan and India) and its purpose was not to force Iran (or any other signatory) to cede sovereignty to any international agency.
2. The US has employed the Jundullah (God’s soldiers) as terrorists in Iran. Revelations by the brother of Jundullah leader Abdolmalek Rigi (before he was executed) have confirmed reports that the U.S. helped the armed separatist ring carry out terror activities in Iran. “In Pakistan, Malek (Abdolmalek Rigi) contacted an individual that resided in the U.S. who then put him through to the FBI. So, Malek said that he would go to Islamabad and meet with the Americans,” he explained.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Aug 19 2012 3:19 utc | 63

I’m sorry but the lack of blood on Jackie’s dress is highly suspicious. What are the odds she would have no blood on the backside of her dress? 1%? She allegedly sat in a pool of blood for over 10 minutes and holding Kennedy’s head.
Furthermore, this bit from the news film of the time happens to catch a trooper appearing to throw or spray something into the backseat of the car.
http://gifsoup.com/view/3379255/parkland-hospital-jfk.html
What police officer would taint the murder scene of the president in such a way? There is no “innocent” explanation for the officer’s behavior because he’s ruining the case against the president’s killers by making it look like he’s tampering with evidence.
Here’s the entire comment by ‘Culto’ that describes the motorcycle cop and the blood evidence: http://letsrollforums.com/showpost.php?p=226278&postcount=247
There are many other weird facts associated with the blood evidence: Jackie’s dress didn’t have blood where it should have, they covered Kennedy’s head with a jacket as they removed him from the car, he Secret Service weirdly put the bubble top up on the car and some even started “washing” the car. Then the Secret Service quickly loaded the car on a plane and transported it to D.C. There they staged the photos showing blood on the backseat that Arlen Spector entered in evidence at the Warren Commission. The Secret Service immediately sent the car to Ford and had it totally dismantles and reassembled, presumably replacing the bloody parts. They locked up Jackie’s bloodstained dress for 100 years!
Oh, and the shirt Kennedy was wearing that day doesn’t match the bloodied shirt from his autopsy. It has different pinstripes.
There are many more facts that support the staged assassination theory, but the blood evidence is the best, imho.
As far as motive. As Albertde notes, maybe it had to do with Jackie wanting a divorce or maybe Kennedy’s relationship with Mary Pinchot Meyer.
I actually agree with some of the speculation about the CIA above. I think Kennedy was working with these people however and was not their victim. Plus he only feinted moves to the left. He was not sincere. None of these ‘heroic’ actions he took to reign in the empire ever amounted to anything. Not in Vietnam. Not with the federal reserve. Not reigning in the CIA. Hell, if you look at Kennedy’s actions, he appears to have fully supported the same MIC and secret wars that the other fascist jerks did.
The motive may have been to lionize the presidency. To create Camelot and get Americans to respect their masters. Also, there was the message that a president will never be able to do liberal things–he’ll get whacked by the CIA. So it may have been done to intimidate as well. Plus, it was the start of the big psy op done in the open with the media. They went on to use this MO all the way up to today. They love it and I think the success of the Kennedy ‘assassination’ psy op caused them to love this MO.

Posted by: Walter Wit Man | Aug 19 2012 6:31 utc | 65

hans @ 66
I think the rise of the MB in the region is good for the US and bad for Iran – in the short term..The US sees the MB as a counter to what the call “Iranian influence”..The MB are financed/controlled by the house of Saud and their tag-alongs and the house of Saud are controlled by Washington etc etc.
I believe there’ll come a time,perhaps in the near future, where there’s going to be a direct clash between Iran and the MB..We’re already witnessing this on a smaller scale in Syria with the US and the house of Saud fully backing the MB along with all their assorted jihadis. They’re trying to form a ring of Sunni dominated states around Iran in order to make a future war with Iran fairly easy..Per their calculations, once Assad is toppled, the circle is complete and Iran will therefore be contained, cutting off Hezbollah from their syria corridor to Iran. The plan looks brilliant on paper, but I’m not so show how this will pan out..Assad’s fall will bring even more chaos in the region – maybe this is the ultimate plan.
This is the clever divide and conquer game played by the powers that be to further their geopolitical interest..The brotherhood in Syria claim they’re fighting to establish a purely Sunnis state and their only grudge with Assad is that he’s a Shiite and they hate all shiites.
What the backers of this dangerous plot fail to realize is the blowback aspect of it..The revolution in Tunisia’s turned out to be a disaster..They seem to be going backwards instead of progress..Libya’s a mess, Egypt, no money so they have to again to back to US fold. Syria, threatening to become a regional Sunni/Shia war and is already spreading to Lebanon..
Someone needs to pull the breaks on this before it’s too late..

Posted by: Zico | Aug 19 2012 9:31 utc | 67

having in the same open thread JFK’s assassination plus the Mayan prophesies maybe is a bit too much … we should be taking turns …

Posted by: claudio | Aug 19 2012 11:10 utc | 69

a dodgy priest attacks Mother Agnes….
Syrian Liberal @SyrianLiberal1
It would be great if Fr Paolo could tell us why the Jesuit Order in Damascus published a statement to distance itself from his stance. #PT
18 Aug Syrian Liberal @SyrianLiberal1
Father Paolo dall’Oglio accuses Mother Agnes of peddling ‘regime lies’ about crisis in #Syria http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/0818/1224322385595.html#.UC8839B99lE.twitter … via @IrishTimes
==============
so who is this father Paolo serving?…..see below!
(photo from a propaganda anti-gov page) https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=428741927171988&set=a.212072788838904.56465.209091349137048&type=3&theater-

Posted by: brian | Aug 19 2012 11:24 utc | 71

in the “Iran is isolated (not)” department–
Aug 18, 2012
100 countries will attend NAM summit in Iran
Tehran Times:
TEHRAN – About 100 countries will participate in the Non-Aligned Movement summit which will be held later this month in Tehran, the NAM spokesman announced on Saturday.
Mohammad Reza Forqani told a press conference that 41 countries will participate at the highest level: 35 heads of state, five first vice presidents or vice presidents, and a parliament speaker.
21 countries will send their foreign ministers, 5 countries their president’s special envoys, two countries at the level of minister other than foreign minister, he added.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Aug 19 2012 15:55 utc | 73

Morsi is probably reaching out to Iran because Saudi has refused to accept MB despite its reassurances
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3278/saudi-newspaper-warns-muslim-brotherhood

Posted by: Nikon | Aug 19 2012 19:02 utc | 75

King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, of Saudi Arabia, Custodian of the Two Mosques, may have developed some tolerance toward the MB as being a useful Sunni force against Syria, and Iran by proxy.
The US envoy to the recent OIC conference in Mecca, who probably forced the Syria OIC ouster, Iran and Algeria dissenting, was Rashad Hussain, who has an alleged history that includes MB events.
http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2010/02/a_defense_of_rashad_hussain.php

Posted by: Don Bacon | Aug 19 2012 20:11 utc | 77

The Saudi’s won’t get along with the MB. With the Muslim Brotherhood you have at its core democratic Islam. A belief that Islam should play a role in politics but that it needs to be in a democratic state (no problem for them since in such a religious Middle East they would sweep the elections). That’s all the Muslim Brotherhood have ever wanted in Egypt, the right to run in free elections. But any popular democratic trend in the Middle East is an existential threat to the Saudi monarchy.
They would prefer the Salafists. Saudi Arabia’s official constitution is the Quran. One famous Salafist slogan is “The Quran is our constitution, the Prophet is our Leader, Jihad is our path and death in the name of Allah is our goal”. Under Salafist ideology anyone who takes part in democratic elections is claiming to speak above the Quran. Anyone who runs in democratic elections is saying that they should be the Leader instead of the Prophet. Under the Salafists, even Hamas were condemned for taking part in elections in the Gaza strip.
Saudi Arabia will be nervous looking at a popular democratic tide under the Muslim Brotherhood sweeping the Middle East. They know most of there own Sunni population would vote MB. Qatar probably has the same fear but thinks they can control the MB with money (their wrong in the long-term). Saudi Arabia has shed to much Brotherhood blood to buy them off now and is to tied to the Salafist & Wahhabi camp. Iran is loving it since the Muslim Brotherhood is similar to its own structure (democratic Presidential elections, democratic Parliment, but with an Ayatollah as “guide” and an Islamic bent to the democracy).

Posted by: Colm O’ Toole | Aug 19 2012 21:38 utc | 79

RE 79
I’m not sure I’d take the MB quite as you do. In Egypt they’re democrats, sure. In Syria, not so certain.
In any case, Qatar is an autocracy. They support potentially democratic regimes elsewhere, in full confidence that the democracy will not return upon them. Are they right?

Posted by: alexno | Aug 19 2012 22:36 utc | 81

In Iran, Supreme Leader Ali Hoseini-Khamenei is more than a “guide,” he is Iran’s Chief of State.
In Iraq, I have no doubt that the current AQ attacks against Shia are supported by KSA and USA.
On the subject of supporting groups of a different ideology, Iran has supported Taliban in Afghanistan against a common enemy.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Aug 19 2012 23:18 utc | 83

no 81 alexno, they can afford to as their population size is the size of a medium sized city, and they can pay off any dissent. The danger for them is more likely to be invaded by larger populations, so they are completely dependent on the US.

Posted by: somebody | Aug 20 2012 6:16 utc | 85

German spy ship has taken over the command and control of syrian rebels from turkey.

Nixon @74
Has the Iranian military managed to compromise NATO secure communication. Did the failure of the FSA and it’s associated rats fail because the Syrian knew in advance what was the battle scenario. It looks very likely based on the reality of what happened around the mountains of Latakia. Was it bad decisions by the British and German intelligence or Syria and Iran managed to break the secure communication. This is not far fetched it was very successful with HA during the 2006 war with Israel.

Posted by: hans | Aug 20 2012 8:46 utc | 87

alexno 88, that is Saudi Arabia with the Shia Eastern Province?
This here is Quatar according to Wikipedia:
“The country has an area of 4,254 square miles (11,020 km2) and a total population of more than 907,200, of whom one quarter are citizens. Of the citizen population, Shi’a Muslims account for approximately 10 percent and Sunni Muslims 90 percent. The majority of noncitizens are from South and Southeast Asian and Arab countries working on temporary employment contracts, accompanied by family members in some cases. Most noncitizens are Sunni or Shi’a Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, or Bahá’ís. Most foreign workers and their families live near the major employment centers of Doha, Al Khor, Mesaieed, and Dukhan.
While the Government does not release demographic figures regarding religious affiliation, some membership figures are available from Christian community groups. Accordingly, the Christian community includes Roman Catholics (80,000), Eastern and Greek Orthodox, Anglicans (10,000), Copts (3,000), and other Protestants. The Hindu community is almost exclusively Indian, while Buddhists include South, Southeast, and East Asians. Most Bahá’ís come from Iran. Religion is not a criterion for citizenship, according to the Nationality Law. However, nearly all Qatari citizens are either Sunni or Shi’a Muslims, except for at least one Christian, a few Bahá’ís, and their respective families who were granted citizenship.
No foreign missionary groups operated openly in the country.”

Posted by: somebody | Aug 20 2012 13:59 utc | 89

re 89
You are right. I mistakenly thought you were talking about my 82. There weren’t many clues in what you wrote.

Posted by: alexno | Aug 20 2012 14:27 utc | 91

A hundred thousand refugees in Turkey would constitute 0.13% of its population. Syria, a much smaller country, absorbed over a million refugees from Operation Iraqi Freedom or about seven percent of its population. Nobody including the UN raised a peep about that.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Aug 20 2012 15:33 utc | 93

Veterans Today,as of yesterday,still had the Shillary shot at in Israel report up.Talk about news that’s not fit to print,and collusion by the Zionist MSM.

Posted by: dahoit | Aug 20 2012 16:16 utc | 95

Man who armed Black Panthers was FBI informant, records show

The man who gave the Black Panther Party some of its first firearms and weapons training – which preceded fatal shootouts with Oakland police in the turbulent 1960s – was an undercover FBI informer, according to a former bureau agent and an FBI report.

Same as it ever was …

Posted by: b | Aug 21 2012 17:43 utc | 97

zionist jews pressure the Guardian to say Tel Aviv is NOT the capital of israel (so if telaviv isnt and international law says Jerusalem isnt..so Israel has NO capital!
the worlds nastiest are at it again::
The Guardian newspaper retracted its claim that Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel after a watchdog group filed a lawsuit against Britain’s Press Complaints Commission.
In May, The Guardian posted a photo with a caption that referred to Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The caption was later corrected, saying that it “wrongly referred to the city (Jerusalem) as the Israeli capital. The Guardian style guide states: ‘Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel; Tel Aviv is.”
The watchdog group HonestReporting filed a complaint with the UK Press Complaints Commission, which ruled that the newspaper could refer to Tel Aviv as Israel’s capital and was not in breach of accuracy clauses.
HonestReporting then launched legal proceedings against the commission.
Under pressure from the commission, The Guardian issued a correction and changed its style guide. The correction does, however, assert that Israel’s designation of Jerusalem as its capital is not recognized by the international community.
The correction, issued Wednesday, read that “A correction to a picture caption said we should not have described Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. It went on to relay the advice in our style guide that the capital was Tel Aviv. In 1980 the Israeli Knesset enacted a law designating the city of Jerusalem, including East Jerusalem, as the country’s capital. In response, the UN Security Council issued resolution 478, censuring the ‘change in character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem’ and calling on all member states with diplomatic missions in the city to withdraw. The UN has reaffirmed this position on several occasions, and almost every country now has its embassy in Tel Aviv. While it was therefore right to issue a correction to make clear Israel’s designation of Jerusalem as its capital is not recognized by the international community, we accept that it is wrong to state that Tel Aviv—the country’s financial and diplomatic centre—is the capital. The style guide has been amended accordingly.”
HonestReporting CEO Joe Hyams called on the commission “to issue a new ruling categorically stating that Tel Aviv is not Israel’s capital so that it is clear to the British media that it will not be allowed to repeat this error.”
http://www.jewishjournal.com/israel/article/guardian_correction_withdraws_claim_that_tel_aviv_is_israeli_capital_201208/

Posted by: brian | Aug 22 2012 6:56 utc | 99