http://www.liveleak.com/browse?q=Iraq Mon, 20 May 2013 16:51:50 -0400 Liveleak http://edge.liveleak.com/80281E/u/u/ll2/logo.gif http://www.liveleak.com/browse?q=Iraq Mon, 20 May 2013 13:14:02 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=41d_1369069926 EMiNEM_iq Civilians inspect the aftermath of a car bomb attack while Baghdad municipality workers clean up in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, May 16, 2013. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=41d_1369069926 EMiNEM_iq Aftermath of a car bomb attack in <span class="highlight">Iraq</span> Iraq, Car bomb, Aftermath Sun, 19 May 2013 19:38:45 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9d0_1369006539 Master of Logic George Bush is a POS. Saudi Arabia needs to go. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9d0_1369006539 Master of Logic Losing Power <span class="highlight">Iraq</span>i oil flows while locals lack electricity, water Iraq, water,poverty,problems, Mon, 20 May 2013 14:23:01 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=649_1369073929 Jihad2IRQ Islamic State of Iraq and Alsham http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=649_1369073929 Jihad2IRQ Alnusra killed more than 100 shabeeha Alnusra killed more than 100 shabeeha Mon, 20 May 2013 11:25:54 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b73_1369063013 helle "Early in 2007 Seymour Hersh in his report "The Redirection" published in the New Yorker that the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia and others were gathering, funding, arming, and deploying a front of violent sectarian extremists, many with ties to Al Qaeda, to undermine, destabilize, and eventually lead to the overthrow of the governments of Lebanon, Syria, and Iran. The violent campaign was rolled out publicly in the wake of a similarly premeditated geopolitical ploy, the so-called "Arab Spring," By: Seymour M. Hersh March 5, 2007 The New Yorker In the past few months, as the situation in Iraq has deteriorated, the Bush Administration, in both its public diplomacy and its covert operations, has significantly shifted its Middle East strategy. The "redirection," as some inside the White House have called the new strategy, has brought the United States closer to an open confrontation with Iran and, in parts of the region, propelled it into a widening sectarian conflict between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. To undermine Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, the Bush Administration has decided, in effect, to reconfigure its priorities in the Middle East. In Lebanon, the Administration has co"operated with Saudi Arabia's government, which is Sunni, in clandestine operations that are intended to weaken Hezbollah, the Shiite organization that is backed by Iran. The U.S. has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda. One contradictory aspect of the new strategy is that, in Iraq, most of the insurgent violence directed at the American military has come from Sunni forces, and not from Shiites. But, from the Administration's perspective, the most profound-and unintended-strategic consequence of the Iraq war is the empowerment of Iran. Its President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has made defiant pronouncements about the destruction of Israel and his country's right to pursue its nuclear program, and last week its supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on state television that "realities in the region show that the arrogant front, headed by the U.S. and its allies, will be the principal loser in the region." After the revolution of 1979 brought a religious government to power, the United States broke with Iran and cultivated closer relations with the leaders of Sunni Arab states such as Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. That calculation became more complex after the September 11th attacks, especially with regard to the Saudis. Al Qaeda is Sunni, and many of its operatives came from extremist religious circles inside Saudi Arabia. Before the invasion of Iraq, in 2003, Administration officials, influenced by neoconservative ideologues, assumed that a Shiite government there could provide a pro-American balance to Sunni extremists, since Iraq's Shiite majority had been oppressed under Saddam Hussein. They ignored warnings from the intelligence community about the ties between Iraqi Shiite leaders and Iran, where some had lived in exile for years. Now, to the distress of the White House, Iran has forged a close relationship with the Shiite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. The new American policy, in its broad outlines, has been discussed publicly. In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that there is "a new strategic alignment in the Middle East," separating "reformers" and "extremists"; she pointed to the Sunni states as centers of moderation, and said that Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah were "on the other side of that divide." (Syria's Sunni majority is dominated by the Alawi sect.) Iran and Syria, she said, "have made their choice and their choice is to destabilize." Some of the core tactics of the redirection are not public, however. The clandestine operations have been kept secret, in some cases, by leaving the execution or the funding to the Saudis, or by finding other ways to work around the normal congressional appropriations process, current and former officials close to the Administration said. A senior member of the House Appropriations Committee told me that he had heard about the new strategy, but felt that he and his colleagues had not been adequately briefed. "We haven't got any of this," he said. "We ask for anything going on, and they say there's nothing. And when we ask specific questions they say, 'We're going to get back to you.' It's so frustrating." The key players behind the redirection are Vice-President Dick Cheney, the deputy national-security adviser Elliott Abrams, the departing Ambassador to Iraq (and nominee for United Nations Ambassador), Zalmay Khalilzad, and Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi national-security adviser. While Rice has been deeply involved in shaping the public policy, former and current officials said that the clandestine side has been guided by Cheney. (Cheney's office and the White House declined to comment for this story; the Pentagon did not respond to specific queries but said, "The United States is not planning to go to war with Iran.") The policy shift has brought Saudi Arabia and Israel into a new strategic embrace, largely because both countries see Iran as an existential threat. They have been involved in direct talks, and the Saudis, who believe that greater stability in Israel and Palestine will give Iran less leverage in the region, have become more involved in Arab-Israeli negotiations. The new strategy "is a major shift in American policy-it's a sea change," a U.S. government consultant with close ties to Israel said. The Sunni states "were petrified of a Shiite resurgence, and there was growing resentment with our gambling on the moderate Shiites in Iraq," he said. "We cannot reverse the Shiite gain in Iraq, but we can contain it." "It seems there has been a debate inside the government over what's the biggest danger-Iran or Sunni radicals," Vali Nasr, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, who has written widely on Shiites, Iran, and Iraq, told me. "The Saudis and some in the Administration have been arguing that the biggest threat is Iran and the Sunni radicals are the lesser enemies. This is a victory for the Saudi line." Source: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/03/05/070305fa_fact_hersh http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b73_1369063013 helle &quot;Arab Spring&quot; A game that has been planned for years by many countries Syria, Arab Spring, Al-qaeda Mon, 20 May 2013 11:21:16 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1d3_1369062524 omniradar Obama-Backed FSA Rebels Name Their Brigade "Osama Bin Laden" White House openly seeking to arm terrorists in Syria Underlining once again how the White House is openly seeking to arm terrorists in Syria, video has emerged of one of the FSA rebel groups referring to their unit as the "Osama Bin Laden" brigade. The clip shows one of the militants proclaim how he is part of "The Osama bin Laden brigade of the Souqour Dimashq (Hawks of Damascus) Battalion.....Allahu Akbar!" as the insurgents prepare to attack a Syrian Army checkpoint. "Western countries have been claiming that the FSA is comprised of somewhat "secular" people and that jihadists have only joined the fight but they are not part of the FSA. Well, you cannot get more al-Qaeda'ish than calling a brigade "Osama bin Laden," states the description accompanying the video. Indeed, while the media narrative has attempted to frame the presence of Al-Qaeda terrorists in Syria under the banner of Jabhat Al-Nusra as a separate entity to FSA fighters, whom the White House is now preparing to arm with heavy weaponry, 29 FSA groups pledged allegiance to Al-Nusra, which was responsible for killing U.S. troops in Iraq, immediately after the group was declared a terrorist organization by the State Department back in December. A May 8 London Guardian report noted how Jabhat al-Nusra is "emerging as the best-equipped, financed and motivated force fighting Bashar al-Assad's regime," and how droves of FSA fighters are now joining its ranks. This is by no means the first time western-backed FSA rebels have proudly proclaimed their affinity with Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. As we reported earlier this year, video footage emerged showing Syrian rebels singing songs in praise of Osama Bin Laden while celebrating the "sweet memory" of the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11. "They (Twin Towers) have gone with the blink of an eye, oh how sweet is the memory," the crowd sings in Arabic. "Our leader Osama Bin Laden, America's worst nightmare," the song continues as the crowd cheers, "If they call me a terrorist I will consider it an honor, our terror is blessed, a divine call, Allah is our goal we strive to reach him." FSA fighters have also displayed the black Al-Qaeda flag on innumerable occasions, including recently during a series of grisly public executions. A Syrian rebel quoted by McClatchy Newspapers last year was overheard to remark, "When we finish with Assad, we will fight the U.S.!" Other militants have appeared in You Tube videos speaking of their desire to see the Al-Qaeda flag fly over the White House and impose Sharia law once the rebels are victorious across the region. Rebels have also been caught on camera burning U.S. flags and chanting anti-American slogans. The fact that Syrian opposition fighters are increasingly being exposed as sectarian jihadists loyal to Al-Qaeda, in addition to their innumerable atrocities, has derailed the now flimsy narrative that the FSA is comprised of freedom fighters who merely want to topple the dictatorship of Bashar Al-Assad to restore liberty in Syria. With the Syrian Army winning major battles and reclaiming key areas of the country, the White House and other NATO powers are rapidly running out of time in their bid to oversee a repeat of what happened in Libya, where Al-Qaeda insurgents were also armed as part of the effort to depose Colonel Gaddafi, a process that led to the country being overtaken by brutal warlords and terrorist gangs who later took part in the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi last September. Despite the fact that FSA rebels are being led and taught how to build bombs by Al-Qaeda militants, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs panel Rep. Eliot Engel has introduced legislation urging the Obama administration to send $150 million in "lethal and non-lethal security assistance" to the insurgents. Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that the Obama administration was "rethinking" its opposition to arming the rebels. However, as the New York Times reported, the CIA has already been involved in "a secret airlift of arms and equipment for the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad" since early 2012. Watch a video clip of western-backed rebels singing the praises of Osama bin Laden while glorifying the 9/11 attacks below. ********************* http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1d3_1369062524 omniradar Obama-Backed FSA Rebels Name Their Brigade &quot;Osama Bin Laden&quot; Arming &amp; Training The Future Enemy Again ! Mon, 20 May 2013 11:12:51 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d13_1369061584 m16carbine How do you say 'Quagmire' in Farsi? By THANASSIS CAMBANIS, May 2013, Foreign Policy Magazine ARSAL, Lebanon - For more than a year, leaders in Lebanon have anxiously eyed the murderous civil war in Syria, wondering whether it would leap across the border and engulf the small, fractious country. And yet, it is Lebanon that now has jumped decisively into the fray, with Hezbollah's help apparently crucial to the Syrian regime 's strategy and survival. Uniformed Hezbollah fighters openly patrol the northern reaches of Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, fighting on either side of the increasingly porous border with Syria. Rocket and mortar teams target Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters a few miles away, and Lebanese Hezbollah infantry fighters crisscross the "Shiite villages" surrounding the city of Qusayr just across the border in Syria, which now forms one of the pivot points of the conflict. The fighting around Qusayr has brought into the open the parlor game over whether Iran and Hezbollah are active combatants in Syria's war. In an April 30 speech, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah hinted at greater involvement from the Lebanese paramilitary group in Syria, warning that the regime had "real friends" who would prevent Syria from "fall into the hands" of the United States and Israel. The thunder of artillery fire in the mountains flanking the Beqaa Valley, like the spate of no-longer-hidden Hezbollah funerals , make clear that Hezbollah and its Iranian sponsors have crossed a Rubicon. They are now fully vested factions in the Syrian civil war, and they're committed to an open and escalating fight. Not 20 miles from Hezbollah's position as the crow flies, FSA fighters flee across the border to the Sunni village of Arsal, nestled north in the Beqaa Valley in the mountains separating Lebanon and Syria. They make no distinction between the Syrian army, Hezbollah, and Iran -- because, they say, they get shot at by all three. "We could have common interests with Hezbollah, but they're attacking us. Now there are grudges, which we will have to settle after the war," said Shehadeh Ahmed Sheikh, 24, a self-described mortar man in the FSA. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor of an unfinished home in Arsal. Sheikh had brought with him 16 members of his extended family after their house in Qusayr had been destroyed earlier that week; as we talked, they squatted around him in the dwelling, which they had been assigned to by Arsal's mayor. Like many Sunnis in the area, he referred to Hezbollah, whose name means "the Party of God" in Arabic, as Hezb al-Shaitan -- "the Party of Satan." By supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to the hilt, Hezbollah and Iran are risking their hard-won reputation as stewards of an anti-Israel and anti-U.S. alliance that transcends sect and nationality. Syrian combatants increasingly understand the war in sectarian terms: On one side there is the Sunni majority; on the other side, other sects and a small group of Sunnis that have made common cause with the Alawite regime. Western diplomats estimate that a few thousand Hezbollah fighters are involved in the Syrian fighting. Close observers of the group, which carefully guards its operational structure, say that they mistrust any precise numbers. But if Hezbollah has sent hundreds, or even a few thousand, of its best-trained fighters to Syria, that deployment certainly represents a significant percentage of its fighting force. During its 2006 war with Israel, the highest estimate of Hezbollah fighters killed was about 700, with the group's own official death toll closer to 300. Sunnis are increasingly framing the conflict as a sectarian jihad. The influential Lebanese Salafi cleric Ahmad Al-Assir has set up his own militia , suggesting his fighters would be just as willing to confront Hezbollah in Lebanon as they already are to travel to Syria to fight alongside the rebels there. Supporters of the regime and Hezbollah point out that the rebellion tolerates Sunni fundamentalist extremists whereas Assad and Hezbollah rely on a time-tested alliance of minorities, including Alawites, Christians, Druze, and Shiite Muslims. The propaganda of both sides has sharpened a narrative of the Syrian conflict as a struggle between Sunni extremists and old-style authoritarians, who at least protect the minorities they exploit. Deadly identity politics have taken root, and people on both sides of the conflict see it more and more as a matter of survival. Sheikh, the young Sunni fighter, planned to return to battle as soon as he settled his family: "We cannot go back to the way things were before" On the eve of the uprisings just three short years ago, many Arab analysts observed half-jokingly that the most influential state in the Arab world wasn't Arab at all -- it was Iran, awash in oil revenues and ready to lavish cash on a region in the throes of an increasingly hot Sunni-Shiite cold war. Sunni monarchs and dictators fretted about a "Shiite Crescent" linking Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Hezbollah. Tehran, for its part, strutted triumphantly across the Arab stage, bragging about an unstoppable "Axis of Resistance" oiled with ideological fervor and the supreme leader's bank account. What a difference a few uprisings can make. Today, Iran's involvement in Syria has all the makings of a quagmire, and certainly represents the Islamic Republic's biggest strategic setback in the region since its war with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ended in 1988. Syria's conflict has begun to attract so much attention and resources that it threatens to end the era when Iran could nimbly outmaneuver the slow-moving American behemoth in the Middle East. Iran -- already reeling from sanctions -- is spending hundreds of millions of dollars propping up Bashar al-Assad's regime. In the murky arena of sub rosa foreign intervention, it's impossible to keep a detailed count of the dollars, guns, and operatives the Islamic Republic has dispatched to Syria. Westerners and Arab officials who have met in recent months with Syrian government ministers say that Iranian advisers are retooling key ministries to provide copious military training, including to the newly established citizen militias in regime-controlled areas of Syria. "We back Syria," Iranian General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan reiterated on May 5. "If there is need for training we will provide them with the training." In private meetings, Iranian diplomats in the region project insouciance, suggesting that the Islamic Republic can indefinitely sustain its military and financial aid to the Assad regime. To be sure, its burden today is probably bearable. But as sanctions squeeze Iran and it comes under increasing pressure over its nuclear program, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) might find the investment harder to sustain. The conflict shows no signs of ending, and as foreign aid to the rebels escalates, Iran will have to pour in more and more resources simply to maintain a stalemate. If this is Iran's Vietnam, we're only beginning year three. The cost of Tehran's support of Assad can't entirely be measured in dollars. Iran has had to sacrifice most of its other Arab allies on the Syrian altar. As the violence worsened, Hamas gave up its home in Damascus and its warm relationship with Tehran. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government has also adopted a scolding tone toward Iran on Syria. On Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy's first visit to Tehran, he took the opportunity to blast the "oppressive regime" in Damascus, saying it was an "ethical duty" to support the opposition. Gone are the days when Iran held the mantle of popular resistance. Popular Arab movements, including Syria's own rebels, now have the momentum and air of authenticity. Iran's mullahs finally look to the Arab near-abroad as they long have appeared at home -- repressive, authoritarian, and fierce defenders of the status quo." Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Iran's commitment to Assad has put the crown jewel of its assets in the Arab world, Hezbollah, in danger. Just a few years ago, a survey found that Nasrallah was the most popular leader in the Arab world. Along with other members of the "resistance axis," Hezbollah mocked the rest of the Arab world's political movements as toadies and collaborators, happy to submit to American-Israeli hegemony. Today, however, it has sacrificed this popular support and enraged Sunnis across the Arab world by siding with a merciless dictator. Hezbollah used to try to cultivate allies from all sects, so that it wouldn't seem to be pursuing a purely Shiite agenda, but it now appears in the eyes of the Arab world to have cast its lot -- hook, line, and sinker -- with a brutal minority regime in Syria over a popular, largely Islamist movement. A Pew survey last year found that the group's popularity was declining in predominantly Sunni countries such as Egypt and Jordan, while Lebanese Sunnis and Christians also increasingly soured on the party. In the border town of Hermel, usually secretive Hezbollah fighters have openly mobilized. They fight on both sides of the border, protecting a ring of Shiite villages in Syria that connect Damascus to the Alawite heartland. An untold number of Hezbollah fighters have been killed in Syria -- so many that the movement has stopped keeping the funerals secret and has even released videos of some of the martyrs. "We bury our martyrs in the open," Nasrallah said in his recent speech. "We are not ashamed of them." Hezbollah positions in Hermel were shelled on May 12, and the Sunni jihadist Nusra Front reportedly claimed responsibility . In their rhetoric, Lebanese politicians have sought to downplay the sectarian nature of the fight in Syria, and there are plenty of individuals who say they have chosen sides out of interest or ideology, rather than sect. Yet to most of its participants, the conflict has taken on an undeniably sectarian hue: an almost entirely Sunni rebellion, against a regime supported by the majority of Syria's other sects. "There's no difference between Hezbollah, the army, and the Syrian regime," scoffed Mustafa Ezzedine, a driver in Arsal who was recently dragged into the conflict as a literal hostage, kidnapped because he was a Sunni Muslim by a Shiite clan that wanted one of its own kidnapped members released. It doesn't matter that among his guests at a recent, lazy hashish-fueled afternoon tea was a member of that same rival clan: sectarian politics have little regard for personal views. For residents of the Beqaa Valley, the war in Syria has already drifted across the border, and they fear it could get worse quickly. The regional stakes are high as well. On at least one occasion, the Syrian conflict has cost an Iranian military commander his life. In mid-February, a shadowy IRGC officer responsible for overseeing Iranian reconstruction projects in Lebanon who went by the names Hessam Khoshnevis and Hassan Shateri was killed on the road from Damascus to Beirut. Iran put out the story that Israel assassinated their man, but Western and Arab officials told me they had seen reliable intelligence reports that it was a Syrian rebel ambush. A who's who of Lebanese politicians paid condolences at the Iranian embassy, and Hezbollah's number two, Naim Qassem, delivered a long tribute to the fallen IRGC offer at a memorial service in an underground theater in Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs. It was the latest sign that Hezbollah is willing to risk everything in supporting the Syrian dictator -- and that Iran just may ask its Lebanese ally to fight to the end, or go down with the ship. "We would be nothing without Iran!" Qassem thundered in his tribute. "Others hide the foreign funds they receive. We proudly open our hands to Iran's gifts. What the resistance needs, they provide." http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d13_1369061584 m16carbine How Do You Say 'Quagmire' in Farsi? hezbollah, fsa, saa, syria, syria civil war, iran Mon, 20 May 2013 10:47:43 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=736_1369060342 omniradar Looting of Syrian oil by European Union! By Johannes Stern Global Research, May 20, 2013 According to a report yesterday in Britain's Guardian newspaper, the European Union (EU) is directly funding US-backed Sunni Islamist terrorist groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime. These groups are looting oil in parts of eastern Syria that they control and then re-selling it to EU countries at rock-bottom prices. The Guardian writes: "The EU decision to lift Syrian oil sanctions to aid the opposition has accelerated a scramble for control over wells and pipelines in rebel-held areas and helped consolidate the grip of jihadist groups over the country's key resources." According to the Guardian , the main beneficiaries of the EU's lifting of sanctions are the Al Nusra Front and similar Islamist terrorist groups. "Jabhat al-Nusra, affiliated with Al Qaeda and other extreme Islamist groups, control the majority of the oil wells in Deir Ezzor province, displacing local Sunni tribes, sometimes by force. They have also seized control of other fields from Kurdish groups further to the north-east, in al-Hasakah governorate." The EU's decision to resume trade with oil fields held by Al Nusra explodes the lie that the imperialist powers are waging war in Syria to change the repressive character of the Syrian regime. In fact, they are building up and backing deeply reactionary and oppressive forces. These events also expose the so-called "war on terror"-the claim that Washington and the EU are fighting Al Qaeda, which served as the justification for US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan-as a lie. Imperialism is arming and financing Al Qaeda-linked terrorist groups that commit terrible crimes against the Syrian population, handing over its wealth to the EU and Washington. Germany's Spiegel Online magazine recently reported how the Islamists dump Syrian oil on world markets at ultra-low prices: "Since February the Islamist rebel group Liwa al-Islam has controlled the al-Thaura oil-field in the ar-Raqqah governorate... The rebels in al-Thaura sell ten fuel truck cargos each day. They make good money and charge around $13 US for a barrel. On the world market, however, a barrel is traded for $100 US, but this is not of particular interest here." Abu Saif, an Islamist fighter of the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Ahrar Brigade, gives another account of how Islamists militias loot Syria: "Jabhat al-Nusra is investing in the Syrian economy to reinforce its position in Syria and Iraq. Al-Nusra fighters are selling everything that falls into their hands from wheat, archaeological relics, factory eq uipment, oil drilling and imaging machines, cars, spare parts and crude oil." To secure the oil, the terrorists murder everyone who gets in their way. In one widely reported case, Al Nusra fighters levelled the village of al-Musareb near Deir Ezzor, murdering 50 of its residents after a conflict with local tribesmen over an oil tanker. The mass killings through which terrorist groups control the territory needed to supply oil to European imperialism are documented in videos posted on YouTube. The imperialist powers rely on terrorist groups as part of their strategy to control the vast energy resources of the Middle East and Central Asia. This fundamental interest underlies the wars against Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, and on-going war preparations against Shiite Iran-to which the Alawite-dominated Assad regime has close ties. Like Syria, Iran has long been on imperialism's hit list," since Washington and its European and Middle Eastern allies see it as one of the main obstacles to controlling the oil trade of the Persian Gulf, and thus of the entire world. This rape of Syria exposes the cynical decision by middle class pseudo-left organizations-such as the International Socialist Organization (ISO), the German Left Party, the New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA) in France, and the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in Britain-to package the Syrian war as a "revolution." Their class position emerges clearly in this point: they hail the looting of Syrian oil to boost the oil corporations' profit margins as a "revolution," and the looters as "revolutionaries." Increasing foreign support for the Sunni Islamist forces is accompanied by new threats by US imperialism and its allies to oust Assad, and increasing preparations for direct military intervention. At a press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Reccep Tayyip Erdogan last Thursday in Washington, US President Barack Obama promised "to keep increasing the pressure on the Assad regime and working with the Syrian opposition. We both agree that Assad needs to go." On Friday, CIA chief John Brennan met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon, Israel Defence Forces Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, and Mossad head Tamir Pardo to discuss Syria. In a cabinet meeting the next day, Netanyahu threatened more Israeli air strikes against Syria, saying Israel would act "with determination... to ensure the supreme interest of the State of Israel prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah and to terrorist elements". Israel has already bombed Damascus two weeks ago, ostensibly to prevent arms being transferred from Syria to Hezbollah. The Lebanese Shia militia is a close ally of Syria and Iran and regarded as a main obstacle to Israeli military dominance in the Near East. On Saturday Syrian president Bashar al-Assad gave an interview to the Argentine newspaper Clarin and the Argentine state news agency Telam , from his palace in the Syrian capital, Damascus. He vowed to keep power, accusing Israel and other "foreign powers" of supporting the Islamist opposition. "Israel is directly supporting the terrorist groups in two ways, firstly it gives them logistical support, and it also tells them what sites to attack and how to attack them," he said. He denied that his government had used chemical weapons, saying that "the West" might orchestrate an intervention based on false accusations: "The West lies and falsifies evidence to engineer wars; it is a habit of theirs." He called intervention "a clear probability, especially after we've managed to beat back armed groups in many areas of Syria." However, he added that "we are willing to talk to anyone who wants to talk, without exception." Assad made clear that he hopes to keep power by convincing Washington that he is a stronger and more reliable custodian of US interests in the region than Al Qaeda: "America is pragmatic. If they found out they were defeated and the regime is the winner, the Americans will deal with the facts." This subservience to Washington exposes the bankruptcy of Arab nationalism. In fact, as the Guardian report makes clear, Washington and its European imperialist allies are funding and backing the Islamist opposition to break up the Syrian regime. The Obama administration is also increasing its efforts to reach an agreement with Moscow, Syria's main ally. Last weekend, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed with his American counterpart John Kerry to set up a so-called "peace conference" in June, supposedly to negotiate an end to the Syrian war. During such a conference, Washington would press for a "negotiated" ouster of Assad and his replacement with a more pliable stooge regime approved by Moscow. Lavrov is also trying to calm US and Israeli concerns about potential Russian missile sales to Syria. He stressed that these weapons would "not in any way alter the balance of forces in this region or give any advantage in the fight against the opposition." Russia is reportedly only supplying SS-N-26 coastal defense but not SA-21 air defense missiles, as part of a weapons deal already concluded in 2011. Lavrov also pledged that Russia would not sign any new deals with Syria. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=736_1369060342 omniradar European Union Directly Funds Al Qaeda Looting of Syrian oil ! Divide, Conquer &amp; Pillage ! Mon, 20 May 2013 02:46:30 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bff_1369032049 Abdul Ruff Colachal USA against Denuclearization and Disarmament By DR. ABDUL RUFF COLACHAL Affairs ,Former university Teacher; Editor:INTERNATIONAL OPINION; Editor: FOREIGN POLICY ISSUES; Palestine Times: RANDOM THOUGHTS; ( http://abdulrubb.wordpress.com ); website: http://abdulruff.wordpress.com / mail: abdulruff_jnu@yahoo.com ] __________________________________ Humanity seeks a secured world free from nukes and wars. But big powers and their traditonal military n and space rivalries dney the pople of globe real chances for safety and security. Although it criticizes Iran and North Korea on their legitimate nuke projects, USA is not at all serious about denuclearization and disarmament. Washington stalls al serious attempts by global nations to create a world free of nukes. American opposition and lack of commitment to various international disarmament conventions are obstacles to advancing the issue of global disarmament. To put it aptly, the US opposition to the protocol to the Biological Weapons Convention, its non-adherence to its commitments under the Chemical Weapons Convention to eliminate its arsenal by 2012, and efforts to prevent global denuclearization as well as a nuclear-free Middle East are all part of Washington's black record of non-compliance with international obligations and disrespect for international mechanisms on global disarmament and security. The USA has, for all practical purposes, taken the UN Disarmament Conference hostage and is hindering its effective performance in advancing international peace and security. For years now, the USA is opposed to bringing up the issue of disarmament in the UN Disarmament Conference Refusal by USA to denuclearize Israel clearly shows its own mindset to retain have nuke regime intact. But the efforts by USA-Israel twins to project Iran as a rogue state are motivated and hence do hold water. Iran is among the first founders of the UN Disarmament Conference and, Iran says, has always played an instrumental and constructive role in advancing the objectives of the conference, in particular that of nuclear disarmament. Iran has also played a key role in negotiations on international treaties, including the Chemical Weapons Convention. Iran proposed the idea of a nuke-free Middle East and is among the flag-bearers of nuclear disarmament. Describing Iran as a victim of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), the Iranian spokesman said the Islamic Republic of Iran along with other peace-loving nations of the world will continue to tap into all national and international potential to contribute to the creation of a WMD-free world. The recent remarks by US President B Obama and UK Premier David Cameron about continuing pressure on Iran are discouraging and indicate the lack of a realistic view and the right understanding of reality by those who advocate these pressures. Iran said the policy of pressure had never been effective, adding that purposeful negotiations made with goodwill were the only way to achieve a solution to the Western standoff over Tehran's nuclear energy program. Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned Canada regime for joining anti-Iran rogue states bandwagon led by USA-Israel twins and also condemned the recent remarks by Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird and the holding of an anti-Iran conference in Canada as flagrant interference in the Islamic Republic of Iran's internal affairs. Canada's blame-game in the foreign policy arena, particularly with respect to the Islamic Republic of Iran, will not be able to divert public attention either inside or outside Canada from issues such as the election fraud known as the Robocalls scandal, which brought the current Canadian government to power, or the blatant and systematic violation of human rights in Canada. People around the world have learned about the massive racial discrimination, child trafficking and sex abuse, biased regulations for aborigines and minorities, growing poverty and unemployment among immigrants, racism and xenophobia in Canada, which were all reported by the UN official sources as well as Canada's non-government organizations. The international community is concerned about democracy and the human rights situation in Canada The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman further welcomed Egypt's proposal on forming a quartet on Syria and voiced the Islamic Republic's readiness to help resolve the crisis in the Arab country. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bff_1369032049 Abdul Ruff Colachal USA against Denuclearization and Disarmament USA against De-Nuclearization and Disarmament Sun, 19 May 2013 10:12:13 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=175_1368969342 Mr-Creosote More than 60 people have been killed and dozens hurt in several bomb attacks apparently targeting Sunnis, in Iraq's worst day of violence for months. In the first attack, in Baquba, about 50km (30 miles) north of Baghdad, at least 41 people were killed when two bombs detonated outside a Sunni mosque. Later, police said at least eight died at a Sunni funeral in Madain, and 14 more in two blasts in western Baghdad. The attacks follows a sharp increase in sectarian violence in recent weeks. A series of bombings targeted Shia areas across Iraq on Wednesday and Thursday. More than 120 people in total have died over the three days. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=175_1368969342 Mr-Creosote <span class="highlight">Iraq</span> Bombing Kills Dozens Outside Sunni Mosque In Baquba *Graphic* Iraq, Sectarian War, Uprising, Sat, 18 May 2013 23:39:02 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=134_1368934646 volker_muller55 Iraq has been struck by violence for a fourth day, and fears are growing of growing sectarian divide. Suicide attacks have targeted places of worship, and 10 members of Iraq's security forces were kidnapped in Ramadi on Saturday. Al Jazeera's Bhanu Bhatnagar reports. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=134_1368934646 volker_muller55 Violence continues to sweep <span class="highlight">Iraq</span> Iraq, violence, riots, Arab Spring, unrest Sat, 18 May 2013 21:49:28 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3a0_1368928042 volker_muller55 Violence in Iraq has killed 12 people, including a police officer, his wife and two children, while gunmen kidnapped 10 policemen, officials said. Al Jazeera's Omar Al Saleh reports from Erbil. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3a0_1368928042 volker_muller55 Many killed in string of <span class="highlight">Iraq</span> Attacks Iraq, Arab Spring, riot Fri, 17 May 2013 20:48:40 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2d7_1368838010 chekmezz More than 60 people have been killed and dozens hurt in several bomb attacks apparently targeting Sunnis, in Iraq's worst day of violence for months. In the first attack, in Baquba, about 50 km (30 miles) north of Baghdad, at least 41 people were killed when two bombs detonated outside a Sunni mosque. Later, police said at least seven died at a Sunni funeral in Madain, and 14 in two blasts in western Baghdad. The attacks follows a sharp increase in sectarian violence in recent weeks, with more than 120 people killed over the three days. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2d7_1368838010 chekmezz <span class="highlight">Iraq</span> violence: Dozens killed in blasts targeting Sunnis Iraq violence,Sunnis,killed and dozens