Glenn Greenwald - The real definition of Terrorism

SALON.COM   SATURDAY, DEC 10, 2011 6:30 AM EST

VIDEO

BY GLENN GREENWALD

The FBI yesterday announced it has secured an indictment against Faruq Khalil Muhammad ‘Isa, a 38-year-old citizen of Iraq currently in Canada, from which the U.S. is seeking his extradition. The headline on the FBI’s Press Release tells the basic story: “Alleged Terrorist Indicted in New York for the Murder of Five American Soldiers.” The criminal complaint previously filed under seal provides the details: ‘Isa is charged with “providing material support to a terrorist conspiracy” because he allegedly supported a 2008 attack on a U.S. military base in Mosul that killed 5 American soldiers. In other words, if the U.S. invades and occupies your country, and you respond by fighting back against the invading army — the ultimate definition of a “military, not civilian target” — then you are a . . . Terrorist.

Here is how the complaint, in the first paragraph, summarizes the Terrorism charge against ‘Isa:

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David Enders - Huge numbers of Iraqis still adrift within the country

McClatchy Washington Bureau

Posted on Sun, Dec. 11, 2011

David Enders | McClatchy Newspapers

last updated: December 11, 2011 

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/12/11/132550/huge-numbers-of-iraqis-still-adrift.html

MOSUL, Iraq — Of all the problems that the U.S. troop withdrawal won't affect in Iraq, what to do about the number of internally displaced people looms the largest.

As many as 2 million Iraqis — nearly 6 percent of the country's estimated more than 31 million population — are thought to have been forced from the cities and towns where they once lived and are housed in circumstances that feel temporary and makeshift.

More than 500,000 of those are "squatters in slum areas with no assistance or legal right to the properties they occupy," according to Refugees International, a Washington-based advocacy group. Most can't go home: Either their homes have been destroyed or hostile ethnic and sectarian groups now control their neighborhoods.

Those who are displaced internally say the Iraqi government has done little or nothing to help them, and in some cases has even prevented them from returning to their homes.

Iraqi officials concede that the problem is formidable but they challenge the numbers, saying that the issue is getting better.

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Chris Marsden - US Covert Operations Threaten War with Iran

Redrawing the Political Map of the entire Middle East. By Chris Marsden

Global Research, December 10, 2011

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=28137

The United States is waging a sustained covert campaign of destabilisation against Iran, focusing on efforts to disrupt its nuclear program. Among a growing list of incidents are: • Two nuclear physicists were killed by bombs and the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, was wounded after bombs were attached to their cars or detonated near them in 2010. • The Stuxnet computer worm infected Iranian nuclear facilities in 2010, damaging computers used in industrial machinery; numerous reports suggest this was a US-Israeli attack to cripple Iranian nuclear centrifuges. • On November 12 this year, an explosion destroyed the Revolutionary Guard base at Bid Kaneh, killing 17, including a founder of Iran's missile programme. • On November 28, an explosion in the western Iranian city of Isfahan badly damaged a uranium enrichment facility. • On December 4, Iran shot down a US RQ-170 Sentinel drone after it illegally crossed the eastern border. The “Beast of Kandahar,” which has a wingspan of about 65 feet and can fly at around 50,000 feet, was, according to the New York Times and the Washington Post, part of an increased US surveillance effort monitoring suspect nuclear sites. The Wall Street Journal stated that the US had considered sending in covert missions to Iran to recover a drone or to blow it up with an air strike, but decided that this would be considered an act of war. • On December 5, the State Department’s arms adviser Robert Einhorn said: “Iran is violating international obligations and norms. It is becoming a pariah state… The timeline for its nuclear programme is beginning to get shorter, so it is important we take these strong steps on an urgent basis.”

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William Astore - Fighting 1% Wars

Posted on December 8, 2011, Printed on December 8, 2011
http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175477/

Why Our Wars of Choice May Prove Fatal 
By William J. Astore

America’s wars are remote.  They’re remote from us geographically, remote from us emotionally (unless you’re serving in the military or have a close relative or friend who serves), and remote from our major media outlets, which have given us no compelling narrative about them, except that they’re being fought by “America’s heroes” against foreign terrorists and evil-doers.  They’re even being fought, in significant part, by remote control -- by robotic drones “piloted” by ground-based operators from a secret network of bases located hundreds, if not thousands, of miles from the danger of the battlefield.

Their remoteness, which breeds detachment if not complacency at home, is no accident.  Indeed, it’s a product of the fact that Afghanistan and Iraq were wars of choice, not wars of necessity.  It’s a product of the fact that we’ve chosen to create a “warrior” or “war fighter” caste in this country, which we send with few concerns and fewer qualms to prosecute Washington’s foreign wars of choice.

The results have been predictable, as in predictably bad.  The troops suffer.  Iraqi and Afghan innocents suffer even more.  And yet we don’t suffer, at least not in ways that are easily noticeable, because of that very remoteness.  We’ve chosen -- or let others do the choosing -- to remove ourselves from all the pain and horror of the wars being waged in our name.  And that’s a choice we’ve made at our peril, since a state of permanent remote war has weakened our military, drained our treasury, and eroded our rights and freedoms.

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Michael Hirsh - Has a War with Iran Already Begun?

Published on Monday, December 5, 2011 by The Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/12/has-a-war-with-iran-already-begun/249467/

by Michael Hirsh

Two incidents that occurred on Sunday--Iran's claim of a shoot-down of a U.S. drone, and an explosion outside the British embassy in Bahrain--may have been unrelated. But they appear to add to growing evidence that an escalating covert war by the West is under way against Iran, and that Tehran is retaliating with greater intensity than ever.

Asked whether the United States, in cooperation with Israel, was now engaged in a covert war against Iran's nuclear program that may include the Stuxnet virus, the blowing-up of facilities and the assassination or kidnapping of scientists, one recently retired U.S. official privy to up-to-date intelligence would not deny it. 

"It's safe to say the Israelis are very active," the official said, adding about U.S. efforts:  "Everything that [GOP presidential candidate] Mitt Romney said we should be doing--tough sanctions, covert action and pressuring the international community  -- are all of the things we are actually doing." Though the activities are classified, a senior Obama administration official also would not deny that such a program was under way. He indicated that the U.S. was not involved in every action, referring to recent alleged explosions at Isfahan and elsewhere. But, he added: "I wouldn't assume that everything we do is coordinated."

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Paul Craig Roberts - The Roads To War And Economic Collapse

http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Roads-To-War-And-Econo-by-paul-craig-roberts-111123-233.html

November 23, 2011 By paul craig roberts The day before the Thanksgiving holiday brought three extraordinary news items. One was the report on the Republican presidential campaign debate. One was the Russian President's statement about his country's response to Washington's missile bases surrounding his country. And one was the failure of a German government bond auction. Comments on Today's News November 23, 2011: The day before the Thanksgiving holiday brought three extraordinary news items. One was the report on the Republican presidential campaign debate. One was the Russian President's statement about his country's response to Washington's missile bases surrounding his country. And one was the failure of a German government bond auction. As the presstitute media will not inform us of what any of this means, let me try.

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NEW ORIGINAL SERIES: American Veterans: Forgotten and Discarded - Episode 1: "Afflicted"

This Thanksgiving, remember our vets who have returned to a country that so easily forgets them. 

In a follow-up to the heart-wrenching series, "Who Is Killing Our American Veterans?", Dr. Gary Null exposes the continued epidemic of homelessness affecting our American Veterans today. Thousands of Veterans are mired in poverty, suffering with physical and psychological illnesses and are living on the streets and in the woods throughout America. See the tragic story of these forgotten men and women and the few dedicated people who are committed to helping them in their plight. 

Senior Executive Producer/Writer/Director: Gary Null Ph.D.

Executive Producer/Co-Director: Richard Polonetsky   

Producer: Shannon Burnett   

Editor: Michael Palmerio   

Camera: Florian Boehm

A Progressive Radio Network Original Series

We would like to give a very special thanks to the organizations listed below.  Please visit their websites to see how they are helping homeless Veterans and how you can help support their efforts.

National Veterans Homeless Support [http://www.nvhs.us/]

Veterans Transitional Facility

Vietnam and All Veterans of Brevard Inc. [http://www.vietnamandallveteransofbrevard.com/]

Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida, Inc. [http://www.clsmf.org/index.php/services/vlap]

Daily Bread Inc. [http://www.dailybreadinc.org/]

"Eric Walberg" - US Envoys from Hell

http://www.opednews.com/articles/US-Envoys-from-Hell-by-Eric-Walberg-111006-16.html

October 7, 2011 By Eric Walberg The choice of US ambassadors to Central Asia and the Middle East gives one pause for thought. The 711 coalition deaths in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan last year made 2010 the deadliest one for foreign troops since the US invasion in 2001, continuing the upward trend since 2003. 2011 promises to be even more deadly, and already includes the most spectacular event in this gruesome body count, when insurgents shot down a helicopter in eastern Afghanistan, killing 30 Americans.  Civilian deaths -- about 5-10 times higher -- have followed the same relentless climb, as have purported Taliban deaths which are about 10-20 times higher than the occupiers' deaths. Deaths of all kinds in Pakistan have sharply increased in the last few years as well, with United States President Barack Obama's policy of using drones to fight US wars around the world.

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"Robert Burns" - Poll: 1 in 3 vets sees Iraq, Afghan wars as wastes

By ROBERT BURNS - AP National Security Writer | AP – 32 mins ago

http://news.yahoo.com/poll-1-3-vets-sees-iraq-afghan-wars-040253311.html

One in three U.S. veterans of the post-9/11 military believes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not worth fighting, and a majority think that after 10 years of combat America should be focusing less on foreign affairs and more on its own problems, according to an opinion survey released Wednesday.

The findings highlight a dilemma for the Obama administration and Congress as they struggle to shrink the government's huge budget deficits and reconsider defense priorities while trying to keep public support for remaining involved in Iraq and Afghanistan for the longer term.

Nearly 4,500 U.S. troops have died in Iraq and about 1,700 in Afghanistan. Combined war costs since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have topped $1 trillion.

The poll results presented by the Pew Research Center portray post-9/11 veterans as proud of their work, scarred by warfare and convinced that the American public has little understanding of the problems that wartime service has created for military members and their families.

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"Richard Wolff"- The Truth About "Class War" in America

Republicans and conservatives have done us a service by describing federal policies in terms of "class war." But by applying the term only to Obama's latest proposals to raise taxes on the rich, they have it all backward and upside down. The last 50 years have indeed seen continuous class warfare in and over federal economic policies.

But it was a war waged chiefly by business and conservatives. They won, as we show below, and the mass of middle-income and poor Americans lost. Obama's modest proposal for tax increases on the rich does not begin a class war. On the contrary, it is a small, modest effort to reduce the other side's class war victories.

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