War With Iran: History and Consequences

Source: Corbett Report and Global Research
James Corbett


TRANSCRIPT AND SOURCES:

This month’s release of a new International Atomic Energy Agency report into Iran’s nuclear energy program has caused a flurry of diplomatic activity, political posturing, and breathless news headlines about the supposed imminent threat of an alleged Iranian nuclear weapons program.

Goldman Sachs and Europe's 'Inside Job'

Source: Mediawatch France

Goldman Sachs has infiltrated senior positions of power across Europe, says Le Monde's London correspondent, Marc Roche. The Prime Ministers of Greece and Italy as well as the new head of the European Central Bank all have close ties to the bank.

U.S. Shifting Military Forces Closer to China

Source: AllGov

In an effort to counterbalance China’s growing military prowess, the U.S. is working to station naval and Marine forces in the Asia-Pacific region.

 

The most controversial move, as far as the Chinese are concerned, is the decision to base some of the U.S. Navy’s most modern combat ships, littoral combat ships, in Singapore, which possesses strategic importance for shipping.

 

Singapore sits along the Straits of Malacca, through which thousands of ships pass each year between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It’s also located on the southern edge of the South China Sea, over which Vietnam, the Philippines and other countries have ongoing territorial disputes.

 

The Department of Defense is still negotiating with Singapore officials to station Littoral Combat Ships at the seven-year-old Changi Naval Base. The vessels can handle missions ranging from anti-piracy to submarine tracking to special operations.

 

In addition to the naval plans, the U.S. is preparing to permanently base anywhere from 250 to 2,500 Marines in northern Australia. The decision will allow the U.S. to more quickly deploy front-line military forces in the region in the event of a crisis.

 

The U.S. has already deployed anti-missile systems in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

 

Navy’s Next Stop in Asia Will Set China on Edge (by Craig Whitlock, Washington Post)

U.S. Troops Headed to Australia, Irking China (by David Nakamura, Washington Post)

War Crimes Tribunal Tries Bush and Blair

Source: PressTV

A War Crimes Tribunal in the Malaysian capital has begun its hearing against George W. Bush and Tony Blair, charging the former officials for the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, Press TV reports.

The tribunal will determine whether the former US president and British prime minister committed war crimes and violated international law during the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Mossad vs Assad? 'CIA death squads behind Syria bloodbath'

Source: RT

Moscow has accused the west of stirring up tensions in the Arab world by calling for the overthrow of the Syrian regime. Russia says calls from certain states for the Syrian opposition to avoid dialogue with the government, are only provoking further violence. Author and journalist Webster Tarpley, who's in Damascus, says, it's very simple, western powers are behind the violence in Syria.

Syrian Baath Party Builiding 'Hit By Rockets'

Source: London Telegraph
Josie Ensor

Syrian Army defectors say they launched a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a Baath Party building in Damascus on Sunday, in the first insurgent attack inside the Syrian capital since the uprising began. 

Witnesses reported hearing two explosions before seeing smoke rising and fire trucks rushing to the scene early this morning.

It is thought the attack was carried out just before dawn when the building was mostly empty. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Thabet Salem, a journalist who lives close the party building, told Al Jazeera: "This is a clear-cut escalation of what's going on ... It will bring us into a dangerous phase."

The Free Syrian Army is a rag-tag group of defectors who have taken up arms against state security forces. Last week they claimed responsibility for an attack on an air force intelligence base on the outskirts of Damascus.

The Arab League today rejected amendments proposed by Syria to a peace plan to end the crisis in the country, which has so far claimed the lives of at least 3,500 people.

Flying in the face of the League's peace plan, a defiant President Bashar Assad said over the weekend he was prepared to fight and die for Syria if faced with foreign intervention, while calls for an end to the government crackdown seemed to have fallen on deaf ears, as violence overnight showed no sign of abating.

Among the dead from Saturday were four intelligence agents killed by gunmen who raked their car with gunfire, and two defecting soldiers who died in clashes with regular troops in the central town of Shayzar, human rights campaigners said.

With rebel troops inflicting mounting losses on the regular army, Turkey and the United States both raised the spectre of civil war and Russia called for restraint.

Corbett Report Episode 209 - Requiem for the Suicided: Danny Casolaro

Source: Corbett Report
James Corbett

Danny Casolaro was a freelance journalist who told his friends and family that he was close to cracking a story he called The Octopus, which he referred to as the political conspiracy of the century. In August of 1991 he packed his notes and headed to West Virginia to conduct some final interviews for his forthcoming book. On August 10, 1991, he was found dead in his hotel room. The death was immediately ruled a suicide. Join us this week on The Corbett Report as we go in search of the story behind the story of the mysterious death of Danny Casolaro.

Documentation

Curling Up In a Ball to Avoid Police Violence May Be Considered “Active Resistance”

Source: Washington's Blog

In a Police State Like Modern America, Even Peaceful Resistance Is Considered Violence and Cause for Even More Brutality.

As I’ve repeatedly documented, passive resistance is considered “violence” and aggression in today’s militarized police state.

For example, protesters peacefully linking arms is considered “violence” by the UC Berkeley police. And failing to get on the ground is grounds to beat a peaceful war hero so bad that his spleen is ruptured (and then denying him medical treatment for 18 hours).

Of course pregnant women, old ladies, judges, legal observers (and see this), reporters , veterans and skinny students are all scary and violent enemies who need to be beaten into submission.

And as AP reports today – in relation to the pepper spraying of peaceful UC Davis students:

Charles J. Kelly, a former Baltimore Police Department lieutenant who wrote the department’s use of force guidelines, said … After reviewing the video [of the pepper spraying of UC Davis students] he observed at least two cases of “active resistance” from protesters. In one instance, a woman pulls her arm back from an officer. In the second instance, a protester curls into a ball. Each of those actions could have warranted more force, including baton strikes and pressure-point techniques.

“What I’m looking at is fairly standard police procedure,” Kelly said.

So in today’s “standard” police state procedure, curling into a ball to avoid violence from police is considered “active resistance” which warrants more force, including baton strikes?

The real problem, of course, is that the criminal class that defrauded our country out of prosperity is now sending in the mercenaries to keep the peasants in line. See this, this and this.