1) surely, Benghazi prisoners are of a different kind from Baghdad prisoners?

Posted by: somebody | Jul 27 2013 19:04 utc | 3

One of the aspects of the current economic crisis is that there is a very large reserve army of labour, millions of young people looking for work. And something to give meaning to lives consigned to the scrap heap.
On the other hand there are Bandar (and Obama’s) recruiting sergeants, their pockets full of cash, offering to train, equip and organise young men far wars sanctified by the thousands of preachers subsidised and sponsored by the same vaguely aligned forces, ranging from al quaeda, and the various forms the brotherhood takes, through to the Hariri-ites, to the Balkan and Caucasian volunteers…all of whom constitute a militia always at the service of the empire. Whose various parts the empire would rather see massacred than left to its own devices.
The situation in Egypt today, a bloodbath designed to cement an authoritarian regime which has declared war on its own people, is another aspect of the same crisis. On the one hand the government has nothing to give, while on the other thousands of young muslims are being driven into the arms of Bandar’s recruiters. Their most likely destination is Syria/Iraq.
It is becoming crystal clear now why the emir of Qatar had to go, to clear the way for the Saudi/American plan for Egypt.

Posted by: bevin | Jul 27 2013 19:40 utc | 5

6) sure, that’s why they needed NATO.

Posted by: somebody | Jul 27 2013 20:10 utc | 7

6) There seems to be a video of the jailbreak – looks very peaceful.

Posted by: somebody | Jul 27 2013 20:19 utc | 9

I guess the Muslim Brotherhood did in Libya what they did in Egypt – alienate/intimidate/threaten/assassinate every potential or real ally so that everybody now sides with the old regime against them:

During his speech, Magariaf warned against the tens of thousands of people “who use arms or threaten to,” a reference to militiamen who have in the past threatened politicians and besieged ministries to press for the passage of the law. These groups will force Libyans to “remain stuck in a foggy period,” Magariaf said. He attacked parties that put their own interests above those of the country.
…
Islamist parties, their supporters and militiamen stand to gain the most of the Isolation Law since they will be guaranteed the opportunity to fill the resulting vacuum, said Ziad Akl, a senior researcher at the Cairo-based Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic studies.
The Isolation Law will affect everyone from college deans to ambassadors. That could include leaders of the 2011 uprising such as former interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril, who heads the National Forces Alliance, and Mustafa Abdel Jalil, chairman of the National Transitional Council that handed over power to the GNC.
Discussions about the law escalated into clashes between its supporters and opponents in central Tripoli on April 30 and again on May 2 and 3, although no casualties were reported. The law was passed with 164 of the 169 lawmakers present voting in favor, and five opposed. Critics say lawmakers were pressured into supporting it.

Posted by: somebody | Jul 27 2013 20:48 utc | 11

Liberals in the US are all exercised about the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, like it would be something new. Approximately 20% of U.S. crude oil and products come from Canada. A substantial portion of this amount comes from tar sands, and it comes to the US in pipelines, as seen here.
Mother Jones, Dec 15, 2011

Long before the Keystone XL became a cause célèbre, tar sands oil was already ubiquitous in America: It goes to fuel our cars and corporations’ trucking fleets, and it’s used in the production of products from aluminum cans to asphalt. Nearly 50 US refineries that handle tar sands oil. In these refineries, the heavy, molasses-like “bitumen” from the tar sands undergoes heating, blending, and other refining steps and comes out as useable fuel, ready to be pumped into a long-haul semi.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jul 27 2013 21:29 utc | 13

Of course a lot of the people who were calling for the “liberation” of Libya are now quiet uninterested in covering the anarchy it has left behind. Suppose they are all busy pimping for similar medicine in Syria.
Sadly the Egyptian counter-revolution is proving more successful than the revolution. Nothing more depressing than seeing the former revolutionaries now flocking towards Saudi-backed military rule. Robert Fisk reporting from Cairo had a good piece yesterday on it including noticing that a lot of the Pro-Morsi supporters getting gunned down are generally poor people while a lot of the Tahrir crowd cheering the military are more middle class.
He also has a piece today noting that medical staff at a hospital he visited went through 2 weeks of medical supplies in 2 hours. A lot of the Morsi supporters he notes were shoot in the head, some directly through the eyes. Clearly it was “shoot to kill” orders given, and clearly the military is lying when it says no live ammunition was used. The 37 corpses Fisk saw is proof enough of there lies.
Syria seems to be the same as it was in previous weeks. I had thought that Homs was close to being secured but the fighting is continuing on in a few districts. This UPI article is interesting in that it reveals that the much rumored big Syrian army offensive in Aleppo nicknamed “Operation Northern Storm” was actually a ruse and that after Al Qusayr, Homs was the location for the offensive. Either way I expect news of the rebels retreating from Homs will come fairly soon. In Aleppo there is a lot of rumors of a massacre in Khan Assal to the West of Aleppo city. FSA sources saying 150 Syrian soldiers were killed, Iranian sources say 50 civilians were killed. Truth is probably that they were militia, there was certainly a push to retake Khan Assal from the FSA before these reports spilled out.
The interesting news on Syria is the continuing clashes between the rebels and the Kurdish militias. Something must have happened recently because in the last few weeks the Kurds have gone from staying on the sidelines to hitting the rebels hard. This is important because the Kurds control a lot of the Turkish border areas, which could really mess up there northern supply lines. Already this week 2 Syrian border checkpoints have fallen out of rebel hands (Tel Abyad and Ras Al Ayn). Given that the Syrian army broke the rebel supply lines into Lebanon and Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki ordered a few thousand more troops to guard the Iraq-Syria border, the thought of losing checkpoints along the Turkish border is not good news for the FSA.

Posted by: Colm O’ Toole | Jul 27 2013 23:59 utc | 15

This is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand Egypt.

The Grand Scam: Spinning Egypt’s Military Coup

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jul 28 2013 3:27 utc | 17

Worth a listen from DU:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017134327

Posted by: ben | Jul 28 2013 5:07 utc | 19

Programmer under oath admits computers rig elections. From DU:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1017&pid=128141

Posted by: ben | Jul 28 2013 5:57 utc | 21

You have to read conservative websites to find out what is going on in Syria

There are not enough secularists in the opposition to cause Assad to lose a night’s sleep, much less threaten his grip on power. To oust him, the opposition needs legions of Islamic supremacists — armed by the United States. Zarate and Moore try to navigate around this inconvenience by omitting any mention of the Muslim Brotherhood and suggesting that there are only two camps: “moderates” and al-Qaeda. This distortion may be marginally less risible than the Obama administration’s laugh-out-loud tactic of conceding the Brothers’ significance but misrepresenting them as “largely secular.” Still, it is unavailing all the same.
Contrary to the authors’ claim, foreign fighters are not flocking to Syria because they are affiliated with al-Qaeda. They are reacting to a fatwa issued in May by Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the world’s most influential Sunni sharia authority and the Muslim Brotherhood’s chief jurist. Qaradawi declared that the jihad in Syria against Assad and his Shiite backers — primarily, Iran-backed Hezbollah — is a duty for every able-bodied Muslim who is trained to fight.
Qaradawi, who also serves as the backbone of international support for Hamas — the terrorist organization that is the Brotherhood’s Palestinian branch — is notoriously anti-American and anti-Israeli. His prior fatwas, in addition to fomenting murderous rioting over such trivial slights as the publication of unflattering cartoon images of the prophet Mohammed, have called for the killing of American military and support personnel in Iraq, as well as suicide bombings against Israel. Crucially for current purposes, Qaradawi has been the powerhouse behind the Brotherhood’s Syrian enterprise — drumming up international political and financial support for the “rebels.” It is no coincidence that shortly after Qaradawi’s fatwa, Egypt’s Islamic-supremacist government — then led by the Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi — cut off diplomatic ties with Assad, called for a no-fly zone over Syria, and declaimed that “Hezbollah must leave Syria.”
Qaradawi, it is worth emphasizing, is not al-Qaeda. Like all Islamic supremacists, he and the Brotherhood share al-Qaeda’s dream of installing sharia in every Islamic country and, ultimately, establishing a global caliphate. As a result, they work with al-Qaeda on common goals, such as vanquishing Assad. But knowing he has the ear of the Obama administration — which, shockingly, just rolled out the White House red carpet for his deputy, Sheikh Abdallah bin Bayyah (who also endorsed terror attacks on Americans in Iraq) — Qaradawi is now laboring to relegate al-Qaeda to the rebel sidelines, playing into the Washington fiction that al-Qaeda is America’s only enemy.
There are two major al-Qaeda affiliates operating in Syria: the aforementioned Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and the group cited by Senator Paul, Jabhat al Nusra. The latter, which employs all the savage tactics for which al-Qaeda is infamous, is among the most able of the anti-Assad militias. Consistent with the Obama/McCain approach of blinking at reality, the administration formally declared Nusra a terrorist organization back in December, as if that would deter the FSA militias — many of which publicly scoffed at the maneuver. Despite what Zarate and Moore assert, Nusra continues to work closely with the FSA.
Among those lavishing praise on Nusra for doing “very well in its jihad against the tyrant regime of Damascus” is Qaradawi. Through his International Union of Muslim Scholars, he has urged Nusra to reconsider its pledge of fealty to al-Qaeda, reasoning that “this pledge causes internal and external dangers, and its impact on the revolution is dangerous because it breaks the ranks of the mujahideen.” Translation: “Hey Nusra, go right ahead with your savage methods, but could you pipe down about the al-Qaeda connection? That way, the morons in Washington will pretend you’re a ‘moderate’ and keep giving us the money and weapons we need.”
The Brothers have decided they need Nusra, so Nusra will remain a key force regardless of Obama’s paper terrorist designations and Idriss’s dreamy vision. Nusra’s vision, like the Brotherhood’s, is that Syria will become an anti-Western sharia state in the Sunni mold.
As for ISIL, it is true enough that FSA leaders are squabbling with that al-Qaeda affiliate. ISIL has killed a couple of FSA commanders and is imposing its sharia dictates on territories the “rebels” have captured. But more than anything else, the disputes illustrate the impotence of the FSA. Idriss & Co. can huff and puff, but they cannot enforce ultimatums against al-Qaeda, and they cannot stop their component militias from fighting side-by-side with al-Qaeda.
The stubborn fact of the matter is that Islamic supremacism pervades Assad’s opposition. Al-Qaeda is only a small slice of the problem. There are legions of Islamic supremacists, both indigenous and foreign, in Syria. Even if al-Qaeda were to vacate the scene, arming the “rebels” means arming what Qaradawi more accurately calls the “mujahideen.”

Plus a good summary why Saudi Arabia does not like the US Muslim Brotherhood strategy.

Posted by: somebody | Jul 28 2013 7:09 utc | 23

Somebody, that “good summary” contains one line of argument that I do not accept:

When the Brotherhood called for Islamic unity before it came to power in Egypt, thus softening the Sunni-Shiite divide, the Saudi regime felt undermined by such slogans. When Morsi visited Iran in 2012, Saudi attacks on the rapprochement reached a high tone. He tried to redeem himself when he denounced Alawite President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, but the damage had already been done. Saudi Arabia feared that Morsi would make Egypt drift toward Iran, with whom Saudi Arabia competes for hegemony at the regional level.

The MBs don’t have any more sympathy for Shi’ism than the Sauds do. Morsi’s visit to Tehran didn’t have any concrete results, nor I suppose did Morsi expect it to. It was the case that Iran subsidised Hamas, though no longer. Iran is always ready to try to coopt any MB branch that shows interest in being coopted. I personally have never comsidered Hamas to be a real “resistance” to Israel, anyway. What in fact has Hamas ever done for the “resistance”, apart from talk? Nothing, really. It provides Israel with regular pretexts to ignore the needs of the Gazans, that’s all. Anyway, here another Al-Monitor article on exactly the same subject: Iran’s ambiguous interest in the MBs.

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Jul 28 2013 8:06 utc | 25

24) sorry, what you are saying is not true
The Muslim Brotherhood is pan-Islamic

His (Hassan al Banna’s) approach aimed at neutralizing local nationalism by considering all are inhabited by Muslims to be one Islamic fatherland (wathan).[13] If not in one Islamic state, then in an association of Muslim nations (Hayatu Ummam Islamiyya). This attitude was paralleled by Banna’s striving to play down the significance of differences among Islamic groups and schools. He even devised a prayer for the use of his follower, combining the sentiment of Egyptian-Nationalism and Islamic solidarity.

Posted by: somebody | Jul 28 2013 10:02 utc | 27

Rowan
Its not the first time US chose to support the “wrong” side. Just past weeks Israel have pressured west to support the military regime in Egypt so MB seems more than right in their assessment that the military are tied to US and Israel interests.

Posted by: Anonymous | Jul 28 2013 10:18 utc | 29

@somebody, 26: It’s absurd to claim that the MBs are accepting towards Shi’ism. Especially now, when they’re up to their necks in sectarian killing all over Asia. Israel could be said to have pressured the West to support the military regime in Egypt, because Israel as I argued a month ago draw a thick red line when it comes to Jihadis in the Sinai, even if in reality the target of the Jihadis in the Sinai was Egypt itself, not Israel. You may remember I wrote a comment saying General Sisi might have rung up the Israeli equivalent of the National Security Council and said, “How do you really feel about the Jihadis in the Sinai? Because I don’t like them.” And the Israelis said, “You’re right, good and faithful General Sisi, why don’t you deal with them.” But by doing this they were bypassing the US, which in its mad, CIA-driven way, was still encouraging Morsi, because he wanted to join the Sunni Jihad against Syria, and the US were probably thinking this was all “good for the Jews,” whereas the Israelis wanted to put a limit on this global Sunni Jihad rampage thang.

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Jul 28 2013 10:59 utc | 31

plus 30 It’s absurd to claim that the MBs are accepting towards Shi’ism. Especially now, when they’re up to their necks in sectarian killing all over Asia.
It makes me wonder what they need Al Nusra for.

Posted by: somebody | Jul 28 2013 11:41 utc | 33

Hmmm. I traced that back from defense.pk forums to al-Alam.ir, but looking at the latter, I see things I frankly don’t believe, such as that Israel is selling heavy artillery and tanks to the Syrian rebels:
http://en.alalam.ir/news/1498344

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Jul 28 2013 12:06 utc | 35

It’s perhaps significant that this story was originally headlined “Egypt’s New Nasser?” but the headline has now been changed. You can see a link to the old headline at the bottom of this story, in the “Read more on this issue” section, right above the comments.

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Jul 28 2013 12:32 utc | 37

Check this photo:
http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/eba7766c1ec4c919380f6a70670041b6.jpg

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Jul 28 2013 13:32 utc | 39

39) That is what I meant. Gates was blatantly lying whilst saying frankly, truth and honest.
It is what people should expect when politicians use these words.

Posted by: somebody | Jul 28 2013 14:34 utc | 41

@somebody #40
That is what I meant.
I guess you forgot to say what you meant.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jul 28 2013 14:41 utc | 43

Good rant from a new player on Acronynym TV. Worth a listen.
http://therealnews.com/t2/component/hwdvideoshare/viewvideo/76670

Posted by: ben | Jul 28 2013 15:20 utc | 45

@heath #37
Barry has just declared that the US won the Korean war ‘for 50 million koreans living in freedom’
And “winning the war” meant bombing the bejesus out of Koreans in their cities, north and south. The first wave of B-29 bombers dropped HE – high explosive, to blow their mostly wooden structures apart. Then the incendiary bombs in the next wave, then the fragmentation bombs to get the little people scurrying around below the bombers. Thus the stage was set for the coming dictatorship in a “liberated” South Korea.

The US attacks by, air, sea and land, aiming at the southward invading army of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North), which nevertheless unifies the peninsula in five short weeks (except for the US defended port city of Pusan); with little resistance from South Korea’s ROK military as most of its soldiers either defect or go home; over the next three years US will commit dozens of high death toll documented atrocities (some recently apologized for) as American planes level to the ground almost every city and town of any appreciable size in the entire peninsula, north and south, in the end threatening to drop the atomic bomb, and be charged with germ warfare by some not easily dismissed sources.
The US may have killed 20% of the population of Korea, said General Curtis Lemay, who was involved in the US air war on Korea. If so, that is a higher rate of genocidal slaughter than what the Nazis inflicted on Poland or the Soviet Union. The Korean War may be unknown ancient history to us, but it is no more ancient history to Koreans than the Nakba is to Palestinians.

The war has not ended, although there was an armistice sixty years ago. There are 28,500 U.S. troops stationed on more than 100 bases stretching from the DMZ south to the port city of Busan. Plans call for consolidating the troops onto fewer than 50 bases, with the majority stationed in regional hubs in the areas around Pyeongtaek/Osan and Daegu.
Politically for the U.S. military-industrial complex, Korea is the gift that keeps on giving, particularly as a result of U.S. military provocations. The U.S. is in violation of the Armistice Agreement in this regard.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jul 28 2013 15:42 utc | 47

Afghans are mostly illiterate, but they’re not mostly stupid. On U.S. aims, they get it.
khaama, Jul 28

One of the most perplexing issues I encountered time and again in my travels between Afghanistan and the United States is the sense of disconnect between America’s Afghan policies and Afghans’ perceptions of those policies.
During my recent trip to Kabul last month, almost every person I spoke to – everyone from taxi drivers and shopkeepers to politicians and government officials – expressed extreme suspicion about America’s objectives in Afghanistan.
Most of them delved into conspiracy theories, believing that the US has some “hidden” agenda, seeking to expand its military reach into Iran, China, and the oil-rich Central Asia, using Afghanistan as a jumping board. A natural conclusion, therefore, was that America deliberately keeps Afghanistan unstable as an excuse to maintain its military presence in the region.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jul 28 2013 15:53 utc | 49

There was an actual meaningful (if not sensible) discussion on teevee today, it appears.
CBS news

There are “zero privacy violations” in the National Security Agency’s collection of phone records, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said Sunday on “Face the Nation,”
There are no recordings of phone calls; there are no dossiers. They do not record your e-mails. None of that was happening, none of it, zero,” Rogers said.
[snip]
“That’s a pretty impressive record – zero privacy violations, 54 terrorist attacks that saved real American lives and our allies as well – that’s real success,” Rogers said, making the case that without the program, the United States could not as effectively thwart another 9/11-type attack.
Not necessarily, countered Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo, who said: “If you look at section 259 of the Patriot Act, if you define it broadly, you can collect people’s medical records, financial records, credit card records – you name it – anything is on the table. …We don’t need to do this to fight an effective war against terrorism.”
With Rep. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Udall introduced legislation that would require the NSA to show to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court a link between a person and a terror or espionage threat on the executive branch. Udall said the bill is “the way in which to protect not just our people, but the bill of rights. The bill of rights is the biggest, baddest weapon we have.
“…The N.S.A. Is literally collecting every phone record of every American, every day,” Udall said. “And, look – the content of those phone calls is not available, but I think knowing when I call somebody from where I call somebody and for how long I call somebody is a violation of your privacy. There are apps that you can get on your smart phone or your smart tablet or your computer… that can take that phone data and give a pretty good impression of what you do during your daily activities.”

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jul 28 2013 16:44 utc | 51

Syrian army ‘makes key gains in Homs’

Syrian government forces have taken most of the Khalidiya neighbourhood in the central city of Homs, one of the few remaining districts there under rebel control, activists and media say.
…
The pan-Arab television station al-Mayadeen said 80% of Khalidiya was now under the control of government forces.
…
Activists said that only the Old City of Homs and a few other districts remained under rebel control.

Kalidiya was their lifeline. Cut off they will soon give up.
Brave Syrian soldier drops his weapon and has a chat with the rebels explaining to them that they are all Syrians: video

Posted by: b | Jul 28 2013 17:10 utc | 53

Catholics outraged over the death of a hermit and sisters of their faith by US and Israeli backed rebels in Syria It’s believed that Maroud a hermit was shot to death while defending many of the religious sisters from the US backed rebels. The monastery that gave them shelter was attacked and pillaged on June 23. The situation is unclear or what exactly being done to the sisters, as you know these men are guilty of rape, mutilation, eating hearts and other heinous crimes on innocent people. I do not even want to think or imagine what harm is being done to them. The world has gone mad and american politicians look like the worst people on earth for supporting the terror in Syria. http://rt.com/news/syrian-priest-rebel-attack-320/

Posted by: brian | Jul 28 2013 17:37 utc | 55

Don keeps saying religion is not a factor in real politics, but I think he’s wrong. It’s a mass psychological factor of incalculable importance. And in its arch-hypocritical way, the US is going to launch a global crusade for religious freedom, except it won’t really be global, it will be highly selective, naturally. “Today, when religious freedom in many parts of the world is under siege, one of the aims of US foreign policy should be to combat such intolerance.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324783204578624510558738282.html

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Jul 28 2013 18:26 utc | 57

@RB #57
My point is that “it’s a mass psychological factor” which is used by political operators to advance their political and economic objectives, so delving into religious differences ad nauseum is about as interesting as focusing on the sex lives of bees, which would be interesting to beekeepers but that’s about all.
The most dynamic example is the Samarra Iraq mosque destruction in Feb 2006 which ignited religious differences in Iraq and changed everything, not only in Iraq. That incident was abetted (if not conducted) by the U.S. So good luck on a worldwide campaign to combat religious intolerance, under those conditions (government promotion of religious intolerance).
Now about those ecclesiastical differences between Free Will Baptists, Seventh Day Baptists and Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists . . .

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jul 28 2013 19:01 utc | 59

“–In 2008 there were 234 million working age Americans and 145 million of them were employed. Today there are 243 million working age Americans and 142 million of them are employed.
–In 2008 there were 28 million Americans in the food stamp program. Today there are 46 million Americans collecting food stamps. ”
These are telling indications of a crisis which is deep rooted- real wages have been falling since the mid seventies.
To put them into perspective, the increasing poverty and unemployment both occur in an era of unprecedentedly low interest rates and, as the deficit figures indicate, enormous subventions to banks and corporations trillions in debt drawn against the future earnings of working class (aka middle class) taxpayers.
The government has been splurging money while the economy gets worse. And, contrary to intuition, it has not been spending on social services, job creation or infrastructure but on a welfare programme for the stock market. The bubble economy of 2008 is ready to burst again.
And none of this is “economics.” The entire thing is politics, nothing has happened without being anticipated: there are no new jobs because there is no job creation. There are no public programmes and there is no incentive for corporations to use the subsidies they get from the state to create employment. Or even demand.
Which is where sequestration comes in: current indications are that further contraction in the real economy is coming. For example as the demand for Food Stamps rises, the supply is being contracted by Congress. The poor are getting much poorer. States and municipal governments are laying off staff and cutting wage bills, services are being cut. All this means less public employment and less demand to fuel private investment.
The economy is in a death spiral, skilfully piloted by the Federal government. No wonder they are monitoring the internet, social media, public spaces, telephone calls and even the snail mail. They are looking for, not a fight, but lots of little outbursts of anger to be suppressed, in an exemplary fashion.

Posted by: bevin | Jul 28 2013 19:14 utc | 61

Homs is secure, aided by the Qusayr victory, Aleppo is next. Israel, ever helpful, has announced a 50 million dollar arms deal to supply Saudi Arabia with weapons and equipment for the insurgency in Syria.
Press TV

Homs is almost clear and clean now. I think it’s a matter of days before the government of Syria will announce that Homs is a free and safe city. And what only remains after that is the city of Aleppo from being freed from the rebels, from the gang’s hands.
So they are putting in extra effort. The Saudis are trying to hang on after having lost their cards in Qusayr. They have lost their cards also in Lebanon, let’s look at that from a different point of view. And now its their last final battle.
I think the Israelis were involved all along, all the time before, since the crisis. Now the Saudis are stepping strongly announcing they have reached a certain agreement with the Israelis in order to support and supply the arms for arming the gang groups on the ground of Syria.
So now it’s clear that they are taking a new step, a new form I think in order for them to hold Aleppo because they know, or as I know, that after the holy month of Ramadan the army is preparing for a major attack to liberate the whole city of Aleppo.

Ramadan: Jul 8 – Aug 7

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jul 28 2013 19:33 utc | 63

@23 “Qaradawi declared that the jihad in Syria against Assad and his Shiite backers — primarily, Iran-backed Hezbollah — is a duty for every able-bodied Muslim who is trained to fight.”
This goes a long way in explaining Israel’s strategy. Israel cannot afford to appear pro-jihad and, among hasbara bloggers, one hears denials of supporting terrorists by Israel: “Show me the proof!” So, they make a show of only bombing Hezbollah assets. Like the pro-rassler who plays the proverbial “bad-guy”, Israel pleads innocent to the ref who’s just caught him gouging his opponent.

Posted by: ruralito | Jul 28 2013 19:50 utc | 65

. . .there are no new jobs because there is no job creation.
Those jobs didn’t just disappear, of course. American businesses sent them overseas under the prodding of consultants and private equity businesses. The US government plays a key role in this process.
First come the “free trade” laws which eliminate tariffs on goods manufactures overseas, including those destined to be components of goods assembled domestically.
Outsourcing corporate investment and jobs is one of the primary obligations of US ambassadors and their commerce desks. Embassies use taxpayer money from USAID to train foreign workers to take US jobs.
All of this foreign investment and job outsourcing is done with the entusiastic assistance of the American Chamber of Commerce office located in each country — a virtual arm of the embassy. These American Chambers are sclosely affiliated with the US Chamber of Commerce.
In this country, there are a myriad of outsourcing firms — it’s an industry, and this industry has annual conferences. One of the speakers at the conferences has been Robert Reich, an ex-labor secretary (under Clinton) who has been an early and persistent proponent of outsourcing US jobs. – Robert Reich, April 22, 2004:

“Outsourcing isn’t to blame for the slow recovery. The jobs recovery has been anemic because there hasn’t been enough demand to restart the jobs machine. . .Despite the long-term trend toward outsourcing IT jobs, there will continue to be plenty of IT work in the United States in years to come. In the next five years, outsourcing won’t amount to much. At most, we’re talking about a few hundred thousand jobs subtracted from an American labor market that is likely to generate 10 million new jobs.”

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jul 28 2013 20:05 utc | 67

To the economic comments: I thought this was an extremely poignant view of the changes that the United States has undergone in the last 30 years:
Especially heart wrenching is to see homes taken from families who had already paid in so much on them, only to have the bank take them and resell them for far less than the original owners had put in. What kind of evil is this? The same as always, I’m afraid.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/business-economy-financial-crisis/two-american-families/what-happened-to-the-american-dream/

Since 1992, Bill Moyers has been following the story of two ordinary, hard-working families in Milwaukee — one black, one white — as they battle to keep from sliding into poverty. A remarkable portrait of perseverance, Two American Families, which airs July 9, raises unsettling questions about the changing nature of the U.S. economy and the fate of a declining middle class. Check your local listings here.

Posted by: guest77 | Jul 29 2013 0:16 utc | 69

@ben
Interesting video, about economic collapse and revolution, curious as to what you think. I thought the one displayed just below in the comments called “how to start a revolution” was more interesting than the first.
It is interesting that it is pointed at Americans, and that it mentions an Obama action – the NDAA – and uses the Oath Keepers (an interesting group to say the least) as an example of a “revolutionary” group. More interesting that the creator has also made videos regarding the Trayvon Martin case, attempting – in my opinion – to play its importance down (I could go into at length the problems I see with his argument, and though he does make some obvious points he misses much).
The fact that it mentioned the book “from dictatorship to democracy” was also interesting. I thought that was a manual for colour revolutions.
I think it is really interesting that we’re seeing such things aimed at Americans. And with 100,000 views in less than 20 days, it is no joke. And it is interesting how focused it is on Obama and Democratic Party related transgressions (Fast and Furious, Trayvon, NDAA) while avoiding talking about the legacy of GWB.
I do wonder what this is all about. I do wonder what is being planned for the US by those who – even as milquetoast, corporate-friendly, emipire-oriented and weak as he is – Obama is still too much.
It’s a devilish video, if you ask me.

Posted by: guest77 | Jul 29 2013 2:03 utc | 71

It’s a given that “The American Dream” was a dream. For one thing, the US high-consumption high-refuse economy is unsustainable for the health of the earth. But the corresponding adjustments are, and will be, difficult. People who are used to living in large homes may have to accommodate to trailer living, and other down-scale changes. People who are used to taking a job will have to learn how to make a job for themselves, which is the case for most people in the world.
The are other blog-sites which are mainly composed to complainers and whiners about the situation, which does no good. People have to change their expectations and their lifestyles, is all.
I would hope that people could also get away from any fake culture they are following, and get closer to nature and other really important life factors. That’s important — get grounded in reality.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jul 29 2013 5:43 utc | 73

@74
Talk about ringing the wrong bell: when they used the term “monkey see, monkey do” to explain the process of building ideology.
@Don
It is true, but it seems to me “the dream” has been forced into that paradigm only lately. It wasn’t that long ago that a quality product meant something that worked for years that your countrymen produced, that you kept nice and had repaired or repaired yourself. This throwaway culture (in all respects, from material goods to art and music) is something new entirely.
There is no reason the average American, who never had too much they didn’t make to begin with, has to shed their living standards imho. The ultra wealthy, on the other hand, will have to give up their system of making money off of others consumption and degradation if regular people across the globe are to be able to return to something resembling a dignified lifestyle.

Posted by: guest77 | Jul 29 2013 10:52 utc | 75

Well, after browsing around from that video back to the makers, all I can say is, this is totally phony, Madison-Ave-type scripting:
http://benswann.com/what-investigative-journalism-is-all-about/

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Jul 29 2013 12:27 utc | 77

Jub, you told us earlier you were a member of AIPAC. What is it about Nostradamus you find so inspiring?

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Jul 29 2013 12:59 utc | 79

The slides, Kal. Many appeared in WaPo, some in Guardian, some in the Brazilian paper O Globo. All the slides are marked Top Secret. When the first batch appeared, some people remarked that they were very amateurishly made, which is true. But I don’t think that’s unusual, and I’ve seen lots of military briefing slides. Strictly speaking they aren’t slides, they’re PowerPoint images.

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Jul 29 2013 13:23 utc | 81

I am sorry for asking such a question, but: Where are the actual written documents and evidences which back Snowdens allegations?
There is only a sealed (i.e. secret) complaint against Snowden, and a lot of BS.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jul 29 2013 13:34 utc | 83

Good news department-
DefenseNews, Jul 24, 2013

Pro-defense Bloc Crumbling in US Congress
WASHINGTON — Time and again, the US House last week considered amendments to a Pentagon spending bill. And each time, unlikely coalitions of Republicans and Democrats voted to divert funds from Afghanistan projects, slash war spending — and nearly kill a controversial anti-terrorism program.
An examination of vote records reveals a pattern that exposes fissures in what Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter dubbed Capitol Hill’s “solid center” that since 9/11 “always” supported defense issues.
Time and again, members of this once-solid pro-defense voting bloc rejected spending hundreds of billions of dollars on new Afghanistan infrastructure projects and even on the country’s security forces, which White House and Pentagon officials say is the key to keeping out the Taliban and al-Qaida after US troops leave.
Time and again, once pro-defense members joined other Republicans and Democrats to form a deficit-slashing voting bloc that reflects the priorities of many Americans and an increasing number of their representatives.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jul 29 2013 14:47 utc | 85

“It is the equality, solidarity part that is missing from the freedom part in the US.”
@86
“Liberty, Hierarchy, and the devil take the hindmost.” Is that what you mean?

Posted by: bevin | Jul 29 2013 17:59 utc | 87

They may not be shown on TV – I don’t have a TV, so I don’t know. But I have accepted for a long time that people who don’t take the trouble to look for things on the Internet just won’t find out about them. As it is, they are rather too scattered for my taste: When I wrote 81 I tried to find the collected slides (to go on calling them that) on WaPo and Guardian but they didn’t seem to have had the good sense to collect them all at one URL and mark it. But let me just show you some which I copied:
http://niqnaq.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/prism-slides-from-o-globo.jpg
http://niqnaq.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/upstream-chart-470.jpg
and here is the whole set of nine PRISM slides:
http://niqnaq.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/more-of-this-amazing-vacuum-cleaner-nonsense/

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Jul 29 2013 18:45 utc | 89

Al Jazeera, Mohammed Ayoob

Israel-Palestine negotiations: The road to nowhere
Settlements are rendering a two-state solution an impossibility and upcoming negotiations are little more than a sham.
Why is it then that US Secretary of State John Kerry is so eager to push both parties into another set of negotiations that are highly likely to be not only unproductive but counterproductive, by fuelling Palestinian anger by their failure and thus bringing us a step closer to the inevitable third intifada? The answer is simple. The United States needs Israel and the Palestinian Authority to start negotiations for the sake of negotiations well before the UN General Assembly convenes in September so that it can be spared another major embarrassment on the issue of Palestinian statehood when the General Assembly convenes. If Kerry can demonstrate that an American-sponsored peace process is underway he can forestall criticism both of Israel and of the United States in the General Assembly for lack of progress toward Palestinian statehood.
The primary reason for the Kerry initiative is to deflect international criticism of the United States for its failure to stop Israeli colonisation of the West Bank which is rendering Palestinian statehood impossible. It has become increasingly clear to seasoned observers of the Middle East that Washington’s inability to make a dent in Israel’s settlement policy is not only a question of the tail wagging the dog; it demonstrates that on the Palestine issue the dog and the tail have switched roles.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jul 30 2013 0:51 utc | 91

@ guest77 #92
It isn’t black and white, there’s always a need for balance.
I can assure you that I’ve devoted time and treasure to fighting the system, marching, anti-war website, etc but still I recognize that I haven’t changed a thing, and that’s okay because I will survive and be happy with the one life that I have, which is mainly the one I’ve created between my ears.
Thoreau:

Thus the state never intentionally confronts a man’s sense, intellectual or moral, but only his body, his senses. It is not armed with superior wit or honesty, but with superior physical strength. I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest. . .
However, the government does not concern me much, and I shall bestow the fewest possible thoughts on it. It is not many moments that I live under a government, even in this world. If a man is thought-free, fancy-free, imagination-free, that which is not never for a long time appearing to be to him, unwise rulers or reformers cannot fatally interrupt him. . .
I came into this world, not chiefly to make this a good place to live in, but to live in it, be it good or bad. A man has not everything to do, but something; and because he cannot do everything, it is not necessary that he should be petitioning the Governor or the Legislature any more than it is theirs to petition me; and if they should not hear my petition, what should I do then?

I could quote Thoreau forever. Have you read Walden recently? That’s the way I live, in my trailer, and I recommend it. (I was living in a VW bus for 5 years when I met my woman, and she upscaled me.) I’ve been on this orb for 76 years, so I think I’m qualified to give advice. No doubt you will too, when you’re “elderly” also. Hah.
Anyhow, I’m going to Washington state this week. Do some hiking, including 104 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail with the Sierra Club. Just got back from a 74 mile backpack in the Sierras, 11,000 feet altitude plus. I’m mentioning this because out there is where the real truth is, and the real America too. You can’t BS a tree, and wish a hill with a 1600 foot gain away. They are what they are. Thoreau knew, in 1840. That’s where I’m at. I recommend it, on any level. Get as close to nature as you can, and don’t anguish over the BS and the bad times of the rich and famous. And read Thoreau.
I don’t like to get this personal, but you asked for it, and you’re worth it.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jul 30 2013 2:32 utc | 93

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jul 28, 2013 3:33:39 PM | 63
the zionist entity likes to call itself the ‘only democracy’ in a region of arab dictatorships..but without the alliance with those dictatorships, israel would have vanished from the pages of time ages ago

Posted by: brian | Jul 30 2013 5:00 utc | 95

@Kal: The slides are not sealed, Rowan was referring to the idicment against Snowden. The slides are widely available.

No, I was referring to the slides, because that’s what Kal asked about. S/he didn’t ask, “what is the evidence they’ve got against Snowden,” s/he asked:

Where are the actual written documents and evidences which back Snowdens allegations? Did he just “say the NSA does this and this” (guardian, greenwald interview) or has he released at least some kind of written document in which he specifies what exactly he witnessed and who exactly did it?

In other words, what evidence did Snowden offer? And the answer is, the slides, of which there are apparently 41 in total, and of which we have seen so far, I think, 10. This is the original story, from before Snowden even identified himself. It says “slides and supporting materials”:

Firsthand experience with these systems, and horror at their capabilities, is what drove a career intelligence officer to provide PowerPoint slides about PRISM and supporting materials to The Washington Post in order to expose what he believes to be a gross intrusion on privacy. “They quite literally can watch your ideas form as you type,” the officer said.

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Jul 30 2013 13:30 utc | 97

@somebody #96
Thoreau said that he came into the world not to change it but to live in it — and then he set about changing it. But, and my point is, he didn’t let nasty world conditions keep him from living live to the fullest, with self-development (not world change) being at the top of the list. Life didn’t rule him — he ruler his life.
The lesson he had learned, and which he tried to teach to others, can be summed up in one word: Simplify. That meant simplify the outward circumstances of your life, simplify your needs and your ambitions, and learn to delight in the simple pleasures afforded by nature. It meant also to scorn popular opinion, refuse to accept the common definitions of success, and refuse to be moved by the judgment of others. And don’t just think that they are good ideas, but practice them.
“Direct your eye right inward,
A thousand regions in your mind
Yet undiscovered. Travel them, and be
Expert in home-cosmography.”

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jul 30 2013 17:27 utc | 99