The Anonymous Electronic Spring

 

We are supposed to have learned our lesson by now and not to rejoice over things that we do not fully understand or with which we cannot cope directly and fully for lack of adequate means or because the cards of the party involved have not been fully uncovered. We got as a present a Horse of Troy .The electronic massive attacks on the Israeli internet have not been… fully understood . Who are the hackers and what is their goal and what are their motives ? The mask of the Anonymous does not predict anything good view their role in the fake Arab Spring lately that caused great instability in Arab societies and lots of bloodshed .There is a feeling that we are navigating in foreign land .

Are we facing an electronic Spring like the revolutionary Arab Spring ? Does this campaign say that we can destroy Israel by Electronic attacks so there is no need for weapons that the Resistance is keeping ? Is the slogan : Hack, Hack Tel Aviv to replace Shell, Shell Tel Aviv that spread around year 2000 after the Resistance defeated Israel in Lebanon ?

The correspondent of ” al Mayadeen” in Palestine said it clearly that the attack had for effect to raise greatly the morals in Palestine . Was this the goal of the cyber attack ? And why the morals needed to be raised in Palestine and what caused them to drop in the first place?? Is it because the prisoner al ‘Issawi is in critical condition ? Is the west fearing the repercussions of such a condition and why is this attack happening at the time when the Syrian army is achieving great success in dislodging the thugs of the opposition whether in Homs or around Damascus ? If the real battle of Palestine is happening on the Syrian ground, how is this hacking an Arab and Palestinian victory that does not acknowledge the real victory achieved by the pro Resistance forces?

One thing for sure : Anonymous is not to be trusted ; they are the ones behind the Green movement in Iran who sought to meddle with the outcome of the presidential elections in 2009 . They are also behind the destabilization of Tunisia in what is called : Operation Tunisia and played a significant role in the stepping down of Mubarak in Egypt. They coordinate with Wikileaks and are probably an International army of hackers that work for Intelligence and whose services are hired by this or that party, not to forget that North Korea -which is challenging USA nowadays- has been subject also to similar cyber attacks . Does this say enough?

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Added by Alex

The Anonymous attacking Syrian Electronic Army

الجيش السوري الإلكتروني يتهم أنونيموس بمهاجمة موقعه الخاص وقال: نهاجم المواقع الإسرائيلية على مدار السنة

دام برس:متابعة:خلدون خيربك: أعلنت صفحة “الجيش السوري الإلكتروني” على موقع فيسبوك عن رأيها فيما يتعلق بالهجمة الإلكترونية الأخيرة على المواقع الإسرائيلية بقيادة مجموعة “أنونيموس”، واتهمت المجموعة بتعطيل عمل موقعها الخاص على شبكة الإنترنت. وأشارت الصفحة الرسمية “للجيش السوري الإلكتروني”؛ والتي تعمل بمجال الحرب الإلكترونية لصالح النظام السوري الحالي، “بأنها قد وقفت موقف الراصد والمتابع لمجرى هجمات “أنونيموس” مع ظهور علامات استفهام كبيرة وغموض حول كيفية تحقيق نتائج الهجمة وأين تم تحقيقها وماهية أهدافها”. وحسب الصفحة، فإن “مجموعة الأنونيموس من إنشاء الـ CIA، وهذا أمر يدعو للتساؤل عن هذه العملية خصوصًا بعد انتشار خبر قيام اسرائيل بحملة اعتقالات، والذريعة هي هذه الحرب الإلكترونية وقد تكون سوريا هي الهدف الثاني للمنظمة الأمريكية، وذلك بعد فشلها في الهجمة السابقة على سوريا، وذلك عبر تسلق القضية ثم العبث بالحقائق وتوجيه العرب باتجاه آخر”. وأوضحت الصفحة إلى أن هجمات “أنونيموس” لم تنجح إلا في إصابة مواقع لشركات تجارية، ولم تنجح في إيقاف المواقع الحكومية الإسرائيلية حيث زعمت في رسالتها بأن “الكثير من المواقع الحكومية الإسرائيلية التي نشر عنها أنها توقفت عن العمل وتعطلت، كانت تعمل بمجرد الدخول إليها لحظة نزول الخبر على الشاشات”. ونبّهت الصفحة بأن هذا الهجوم قد يكون لكسب المزيد من الثقة لهذه المنظمة “المشبوهة”؛ على حد تعبيرها، أو عبارة عن اختبار مدى فاعلية التفاعل العربي مع هذه الهجمات. وختمت الصفحة بيانها بأن “الجيش السوري الإلكتروني يقوم يوميًا بالهجوم على مواقع اسرائيلية ومواقع معادية لسوريا، وهو من سيحدد متى سيقوم الهجوم ومتى يقوم بالأختراق، وليس منظمة لطالما عرفت بالعداء له”. وكانت إسرائيل قد أعلنت مساء السبت إصابة عشرات المواقع الحكومية والمحلية بالشلل التام جراء هجمة عنيفة شنتها مجموعة من قراصنة “أنونيموس” تحت اسم عملية اسرائيل (OpIsrael#)، وذلك دعماً للقضية الفلسطينية. يُذكر أن “الجيش السوري الإلكتروني” كان قد شن هجمات اختراق عديدة طالت جهات ووسائل إعلام عربية وأجنبية، كان آخرها اختراق حساب وكالة الأنباء الفرنسية على تويتر، وكذلك حساب قناة سكاي نيوز عربية على تويتر. إلى ذلك وفي ضوء الهجمة الإلكترونية الأخيرة على المواقع الإسرائيلية وبقيادة منظمة " الأنونيموس " يوضح الجيش السوري الإلكتروني أن الكيان الصهيوني هو العدو الأول وتحت دائرة التهديف اليومي وقد سبق لنا أن هاجمنا المواقع الأسرائيلية مراراً وتكراراً واستهدفت هجماتنا أكثر المواقع حساسية الجيش السوري الإلكتروني لم يشارك مع الأنونيموس الذي يحاول في كل لحظة إيقاف موقع الجيش السوري الإلكتروني في هجمة يوم الأحد ونوضح أن الجيش السوري الإلكتروني يهاجم المواقع الإسرائيلية على مدار السنة دون تحديد يوم واحد فقط للهجوم وقد وقفنا موقف الراصد والمتابع لمجرى الهجمة مع ظهور علامات استفهام كبيرة وغموض حول كيفية تحقيق نتائج الهجمة وأين تم تحقيقها وماهية أهدافها فإنها في نظرنا تحركات أجنبية تبدو وكأنها تخدم القضية والمقصود بها زعيم الحملة الأساسي والمعلن عنها " الأنونيموس " مع كامل التقدير والإحترام للعمل العربي الجماعي والمعروف عن منظمة الأنونيموس انها من انشاء ال CIA وهذا أمر يدعو للتساؤل عن هذه العملية خصوصاً بعد انتشار خبر قيام اسرائيل بحملة اعتقالات والذريعة هي هذه الحرب الإلكترونية وقد تكون سوريا هي الهدف الثاني للمنظمة الأمريكية " الأنونيموس " بعد فشلها في الهجمة السابقة على سوريا متبعة اسلوب الجزيرة في كسب المصداقية عبر تسلق القضية ثم العبث بالحقائق وتوجيه العرب باتجاه آخر الكثير من المواقع الحكومية الإسرائيلية نشر عنها أنها توقفت عن العمل وتعطلت ولكن بمجرد الدخول الى المواقع لحظة نزول الخبر على الشاشات كانت المواقع الحكومية أغلبها يعمل ولكن نستطيع أن نؤكد انه كان هناك اختراق لمواقع شركات تجارية صغيرة منها وكبيرة وهو أمر يحدث كل يوم ولكن لماذا هذا التضخيم الإعلامي العربي فقط وغياب التغطية الأجنبية على هذه الحملة التي هي بالأساس من انشاء منظمة أجنبية اتجاهاتها السياسية معروفة ! مع العلم أن التضخيم الإعلامي الكبير جعل من القراصنة العرب المشاركة وذلك عبر الإستهداف العشوائي للمواقع الأسرائيلية وهذا ما جعل لهذا الهجوم إيجابا ولكن لابد أن لا نغفل السبب الرئيسي لهذا الهجوم وهو قد يكون كسب المزيد من الثقة لهذه المنظمة المشبوهة أو عبارة عن اختبار مدى فاعلية التفاعل العربي مع هذه الهجمات (( المؤمن لا يلدغ من الجحر مرتين )) للتنويه :نحن نقوم يوميا بالهجوم على مواقع اسرائيلية ومواقع معادية لسوريا و نحن من نحدد متى سنقوم الهجوم ومتى نقوم بالأختراق وليس منظمة لطالما عرفت بالعداء لنا. للإطلاع على اختراقات وانجازات الجيش السوري الإلكتروني ضد العدو الصهيوني الدول العملية له يرجى الدخول الى الموقع الرسمي www.syrian-es.org https://www.facebook.com/SEA.P.202?fref=ts

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian  
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Interview of Vladimir Putin to the German TV station ARD

 

This interview touches upon various important topics but it is particularly valuable because it set the record strait about the Western propaganda about the Russian government's "crackdown" on NGOs such as these from the BBC:

• Angela Merkel tells Vladimir Putin - Russia needs NGOs
• Russia NGOs decry 'intimidation' raids
• Fears for NGOs in Russia as tax raids multiply
• Russian police raid rights group Memorial and other NGOs

Needless to say, the Western media will not change its tune. Still, for those few who will see/listen/read this interview it will become apparent that this is really a non-story.

The Saker
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JÖRG SCHÖNENBORN (retranslated): Good evening, Mr President,

Germany and Russia enjoy special relationship and, economically speaking, they are a good match. However, there exist certain difficulties from the political viewpoint. Quite a number of Germans keep track of the raids in the Russian offices of German funds with great concern. The Russian public must be frightened. Why do you act like this?

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: It is you who are scaring the German public instead. There is nothing like this going on here, do not scare the public, please. The media should cover the events objectively. And what does it mean, objectively? The new law adopted late last year in Russia stipulates that non-governmental organisations engaged in Russia's internal political processes and sponsored from abroad must be registered as foreign agents, that is organisations which participate in our country's political life at the expense of foreign countries. This is not an innovation in international politics. A similar law has been in force in the United States since 1938.

If you have any additional questions, I would be pleased to answer them in order to clarify the situation to you and your or, in this case, our viewers.

JÖRG SCHÖNENBORN: Mr President, I am not aware of any similar confiscations or raids carried out in the United States. In our opinion, the term ‘foreign agent’, as these organisations are to be called, sounds something like cold war.

VLADIMIR PUTIN: Then let me explain. First of all, the United States adopted a similar law, which has been in effect ever since. And our, Russian, organisations have followed the same practice that was established in that country decades ago.

I am going to show you a paper in which, not long ago, the United States Department of Justice requested a non-governmental organisation to submit documents confirming that its activities were to be financed from abroad; the list is very long.

We have adopted a similar law that prohibits nothing; let me stress it, the law does not prohibit anything, nor does it limit or close down anything. Organisations financed from abroad are not forbidden to carry out any type of activities, including internal political activity. The only thing we want to know is who receives the money and where it goes. I repeat: the law is not some sort of innovation of our own.

Why do we consider it so important today? What do you think is the number of Russia-sponsored non-governmental organisations functioning in Europe? Any ideas?

JÖRG SCHÖNENBORN: I am afraid I cannot assess the situation, Mr President.

VLADIMIR PUTIN: Let me tell you. One such organisation operates in Paris, another one – in North America, it is registered in the USA. And this is it. There are only two of them – one in the United States and another one in Europe.

There are 654 non-governmental organisations operating in the Russian Federation, which are funded, as it has turned out, from abroad. 654 organisations make quite a network nationwide, the Russian regions included.

Over the four months alone that followed the adoption of the law in question, the accounts of these organisations augmented by… How much money do you think they received? You can hardly imagine; I did not know the figure myself: 28.3 billion rubles, which is almost $1 billion. 855 million rubles via diplomatic missions.

These organisations are engaged in internal political activity. Should not our society be informed of who gets the money and for what purposes?

I would also like to stress – and I want you to know this, I want people in Europe, including Germany, to know this – that nobody bans these organisations from carrying out their activities. We only ask them to admit: “Yes, we are engaged in political activities, and we are funded from abroad.” The public has the right to know this.

There is no need to scare anyone saying that people here get rounded up, arrested, have their property confiscated, although confiscations could be a reasonable thing if those people break the law. Some administrative sanctions are envisaged in these cases, but I think all this falls under rules commonly accepted in a civilised society.

Now let us look at the documents that our organisations in the US are required to provide. Note who asks for these documents, signed at the bottom of the page. The Counterespionage Section. Not the Office of Attorney General, but the Counterespionage Section of the US Department of Justice. This is an official document that the organisation received. And note the number of questions they pose. Is this democratic?

JÖRG SCHÖNENBORN: Mr President, we will examine this document. I do not know if any such searches took place in the US.

I would like to ask you once again: we understand democracy as the coexistence of the state and opposition. Political competition is an integral part of it. Does Russia need a strong opposition?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: Certainly. We do need it to say the least. I believe that without competition no development in either economy, or in politics is possible today, and we want to ensure this development for our country and our people. Without this competition we would not be able to make effective, sound and justified decisions. Which is why we will undoubtedly strive to make the competition a cornerstone of every sphere of our society's life, including politics.

But this does not mean that opposition should be financed from abroad, don’t you think? Or do you have a different opinion?

JÖRG SCHÖNENBORN: Does this imply that the opposition can freely participate in demonstrations?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: Absolutely, as long as they abide by the law. There are certain rules that provide for various forms of political activity. Voting means publicly expressing your opinion, as does participating in demonstrations. There is law. Good or bad, it can be changed democratically, but it must be abided by. Ordnung muss sein. It is a well-known rule. It is universal and applicable in any country. There must be order, and there must be no chaos. Northern Africa is a vivid example of what chaos leads to. Does anybody want that?

As for the activities of the opposition, I would like to draw your attention to the following fact. Just recently, a political party was required to have at least 50 thousand members to be registered. We have radically reduced this number: now one only needs 500 members to register a party and engage in legal political activities. 37 parties have already been registered, and, I think, several dozen more have filed their applications. This is how it is going to be, we will encourage this political competition.

We have changed the procedure for the election of members of the upper chamber of the Russian Parliament, the Federation Council; now they are elected by secret ballot by citizens of corresponding regions. By the way, I do not think that the upper chamber of the German Parliament is elected this way: if I am not mistaken, its members are elected by their respective landtags.

In this regard, we have gone further; I refer to the election of heads of the Russian regions that I reintroduced. We have returned to direct voting by secret ballot. Germany elects heads of its regions through landtags. Many of our political actors thought that we should go back to forming the Parliament through a mixed election system with simple majority rule nominations and strict party-list nominations. We have arrived at this mixed system, so we are moving, we are looking for those forms of our society’s political organisation that would be most suitable for us at this stage and would satisfy the requirements and aspirations of our people. This, of course, concerns political parties as well. Naturally, we want competition.

JÖRG SCHÖNENBORN: You are going to Germany for a major trade fair. The economic relations between our countries are important for you, I believe. Are you worried that the issues we have just discussed may cast a shadow over your visit?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: No, on the contrary, I am very glad about it. And I am glad about our today's interview too because this gives us an opportunity to clarify the situation, to explain what is actually happening and what guides us. Now, what was your first question? About searches and arrests. What searches? What arrests? Who has been arrested? Can you give me at least one name? This is not true. Don’t make anything up.

JÖRG SCHÖNENBORN: I didn't say anything about arrests. I spoke about searches.

VLADIMIR PUTIN: It sounds alarmist: "Hey everyone! Look! Terrible things are happening here!" Well, yes, there is the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation that is obliged to ensure that the laws adopted in the Russian Federation are respected. And all the citizens, all organisations, all individuals and legal entities operating in Russia must take this into account and have due respect for Russian law.

JÖRG SCHÖNENBORN: What are you expecting from your visit to Germany in terms of economy? I assume you are going to encourage the Germans to invest. What exactly are you expecting?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: Russia and Germany are very important partners for each other. This is really so. The EU countries and the EU itself are our major commercial partners. They account for over 50 percent of our turnover. Well, the figure can fluctuate a bit: a little over 50, a little under 50 percent due to the economic difficulties faced by the Eurozone and the EU. It is under 50 at the moment, I believe, but it is still a lot. In absolute numbers it amounts to over $430‑450 billion. We are EU's third major commercial partner after the US and China, and the difference is not very big. If our total turnover with Europe amounts to some $430-450 billion, the turnover for the US is a little over $600 billion and $550 billion for China. So as you can see, not that big of a difference.

Germany is our primary European partner. Our turnover amounts to $74 billion and it continues to grow no matter what difficulties there might be. To make it clear for both Russian and German citizens, I need to say that these are not just numbers; there are jobs behind these numbers, there are cutting edge technology behind them, moving in both directions.

By the way, as far as Germany is concerned, the trade pattern is not only in line with its economic capabilities but also in line with its interests since the emphasis in trade and economic cooperation with Germany is put on the industrial production. And behind this – let me stress this once again – there are thousands if not tens of thousands of jobs, and the incomes of Russian and German families. Besides, Russia supplies 40 percent of all natural gas and 30 percent of all oil consumption in Germany.

We are expanding our cooperation in high technology sectors, aviation, engineering, including transport engineering, nanotechnologies, and next-generation physics engineering. This is a very diverse, interesting and promising cooperation.

Germany is one of our major investors with $25 billion in accumulated investments. Last year alone their amount increased by as much as $7.2 billion. This means that Germany invests rather actively in the Russian economy. I would like to stress again that all this is important, interesting and promising.

We are going to have six pavilions [at the trade fair], large ones. They are all united by a single slogan – the industrial production, in which Germany has always been strong, and which is of interest to us. Over a hundred large Russian companies will be exhibiting in those pavilions.

I invite you and all our friends in Germany to visit the 2013 Hannover Messe and Russia’s pavilions there.

JÖRG SCHÖNENBORN: You've spoken about 27 billion of German direct investment in Russia. I would now like to touch upon the Cyprus issue. A lot of Germans realised for the first time how much Russian money is there in Cypriot banks and are now wondering why German businesses have to make investments while you pull your money out of Russia?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: Don't you see all the absurdity of your question? Just please don't get me wrong. What does Russia have to do with Russian investors in one of the EU countries? The more you "pinch" foreign investors in the financial institutions of your countries, the better for us because the affected, offended and frightened (not all of them but many) should, so we hope, come to our financial institutions and keep their money in our banks.

Why, at some point, many Russian investors moved their funds to zones such as Cyprus? Because, frankly speaking, they did not feel they could rely on the Russian financial system. And, indeed, it was not reliable. Just recall the year 1998 – an economic collapse, or the year 2000 (and that was already our common problem) – again there were widespread fears regarding the future of the financial system. But in 2008, when the new crisis hit, we not only managed to preserve the integrity of our financial system, we strengthened it without letting a single financial institution collapse. There were problems, of course, but we did not allow any of the financial institutions to abandon their customers. Of course, people went through a lot of hardships during the crisis but we arranged the work of our banking system in a way that made it possible not only to support but also to strengthen it while taking some measures to carefully restructure it, again in order to strengthen it. And I hope that people today will understand that.

Forfeiture of investors' funds, including of Russian origin, wherever it happens, in Cyprus or in other places, undermines credibility of the banking system of the entire Eurozone.

Now regarding the issue of whether to provide support or not and who is to blame. Is that fair, that people invested their funds, merely deposited their money with banks without breaking any laws, whether the laws of Cyprus or those of the European Union, just to see 60 percent of their deposits forfeited? They did not violate any rules. As to the allegations that Cyprus was, as they say in the financial community, a laundry for dirty money, they have to be supported with hard facts. One of the basic rules that we all are supposed to know and observe is the rule of the presumption of innocence. A person is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. How can we ignore that? How can we accuse all people concerned of being crooks? Then anybody can be declared a crook.

Did we create that offshore zone? No, we didn’t. It was the European Union that created it. Or, rather, it was created by the Cyprus authorities with the connivance of the European Union. And is it the only such zone created by countries of the European Union? Are we not aware of offshore island zones in Great Britain or of other such zones? They do exist. If you consider such zones a bad thing, then close them. Why do you shift responsibility for all problems that have arisen in Cyprus to investors irrespective of their nationality (British, Russian, French or whatever else).

I have met with senior officials of the European Commission. We have very good personal relations, though we disagree on many issues. Is it Russia's fault that Cyprus is now facing problems? Indeed, incoming investors are a positive factor as they support the banking system and the entire economy of the host country with their funds and their trust.

JÖRG SCHÖNENBORN: You are angry that the European Union did not ask you for help and that many Russian nationals were affected, are you?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: Of course, not. On the contrary I am even glad, to some extent, because the events have shown how risky and insecure investments in Western financial institutions can be. By the way, our tax regime in that context is also more favourable than yours. The income tax rate for individuals in Russia is only 13 percent. What about Germany? How much do you pay?

JÖRG SCHÖNENBORN: It would be great if we paid only 13 percent. Of course, it would be great. Fight against tax increases is a hot topic during the election campaign.

VLADIMIR PUTIN: So, fight for tax cuts.

JÖRG SCHÖNENBORN: Mr President, I would like to touch upon the issue of euro. You spoke about the European financial system. Russia holds more than 40 percent of its currency reserves in euro, which makes you keenly interested in euro. Do you still trust euro?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: First, I would like to say it outright: yes, we trust euro. We also trust the economic policy of major European countries, including, in the first place, the economic policy of the government of the Federal Republic of Germany. We are fully aware of various opinions on that issue, including on aspects, such as economic development, maintenance of economic growth and ensuring monetary stability. I agree with the opinion that, before pumping liquidity, it is necessary to address the root causes of crises.

But I wouldn't like to go into detail now and discuss the issue that has no direct bearing on us as that is the prerogative of the leaders of the European countries themselves.

However, judging by what we hear and see, what our colleagues are doing in the leading economies of the Eurozone, what the European Commission itself is doing, – and I would like to repeat that we do not agree on many issues and we do argue – we believe that fundamentally they are moving in the right direction. It gives us confidence that we have made the right choice having decided to keep such a large share of our gold and currency reserves, of our reserves in general in the European currency. I am confident that if the situation continues to develop the same way, our colleagues and friends in Europe will overcome the difficulties they are facing today.

And our reserves are rather substantial: the Central Bank reserves worth $534 billion, another $89 billion representing one of the Russian Government’s reserve funds, another $87 billion (a third fund) representing the second government fund, the National Welfare Fund. So, this is a rather substantial amount of money.

JÖRG SCHÖNENBORN: Mr President, our time is almost up, but I would like to draw your attention to another crisis area that raises great concerns in Germany – that is Syria. Hundreds of people die there every day. Your stance and the stance of the West in the UN Security Council obviously differed.

I would like to ask you the following. How do you see the opportunities for stopping the bloodshed? What are the Russian authorities doing, what is the Russian Government doing to finally put an end to this bloodshed?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: I think that we should seek an immediate cessation of hostilities, of shelling from both sides, and a cessation of arms supplies.

We often hear: "Russia is supplying arms to Assad." First of all, there are no bans on arms supplies to incumbent legitimate governments. Secondly, only recently the opposition has received 3.5 tons of arms and munitions through the airports near Syria. This is the information published by the American media, I believe, by The New York Times. It has to be stopped.

However, – I would like to stress once again and I believe it is extremely important, – there is international law. There are international legal norms stating that it is inadmissible to supply arms to the armed groups that strive to destabilise the situation in a certain country with the use of arms. Such norms exist and they remain in force; nobody abolished them. So, when they say that Assad is fighting against his own people, we need to remember that this is the armed part of the opposition. What is going on is a massacre, this is a disaster, a catastrophe. It has to be stopped. It is necessary to bring all the warring parties to the negotiation table. I believe that this is the first step that has to be done, and then it is necessary to elaborate further steps during a discussion, which is important in our view.

I have already said it in public and I would like to tell you this, so that your viewers also know about our real position. We do not think that Assad should leave today, as our partners suggest. In this case, tomorrow we will have to decide what to do and where to go. We have done it in many countries. To be precise, our Western partners have. And it is unclear where Libya will go. In fact, it has already split into three parts. We do not want to have the situation of the same difficulty as we still have in Iraq. We do not want to have the situation of the same difficulty as in Yemen, and so on.

Therefore, we believe that it is necessary to bring everyone to the negotiation table so that all warring parties could reach an agreement on how their interests will be protected and in which way they will participate in the future governance of the country. And then they will work together on the implementation of this plan with due guarantees of the international community.

By the way, at the recent forum in Geneva (a few months ago) an agreement was reached on this issue, but later our Western partners unfortunately went back on these agreements. We believe that it is necessary to work hard and search for mutually acceptable solutions.

Recently, we have received Mr Hollande, President of the French Republic. I think he has some interesting ideas that can be implemented, but it requires some diplomatic work. We are ready to support these ideas. We need to try and put them into practice.

JÖRG SCHÖNENBORN: Mr President, at the end of our interview I would like to go back to the topic that we have started with. Democracy is a very controversial issue. I would like to quote your Prime Minister. Mr Medvedev said that the democratic changes in Russia can be assessed only in 100 years. In our view, this is not very ambitious.

VLADIMIR PUTIN: It may be a translation issue. Could you tell me again what he said exactly?

JÖRG SCHÖNENBORN: In essence, Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that "development of democracy in Russia can be assessed no earlier than in 100 years." My question is whether there are truly no ambitions about it.

VLADIMIR PUTIN: To be honest, I have not seen or heard of Prime Minister saying that, and it is always necessary to consider the context which I am lacking now.

It is obvious that we have made a decisive choice for democracy and we cannot imagine any other way of development. It is also obvious that certain standards used in some countries are difficult to implement or apply elsewhere. I think it is quite clear. We need to develop tools based on the fundamental principles of democracy that would allow for the vast majority of people in our country to influence domestic and foreign policy. It is the majority that must have such an influence, but the majority should also respect the opinion of the minority and consider it. If our domestic policy and public institutions are fully based on such fundamental principles, then it seems to me, we will be able to talk about the success of democracy in Russia. Nevertheless, it is obviously the path that Russia has chosen, the path that it follows. Just compare the situation in the Soviet Union and in modern Russia in terms of development of economy, political sphere, and all other areas associated with democracy. There is a very significant difference. It took other countries 200, 300, 400 years to achieve this goal. Do you expect us to cover this distance within two decades? Of course, we are gradually taking all the necessary steps. We know our destination, and will not abandon this path.

JÖRG SCHÖNENBORN: In conclusion, I shall try to ask you a personal question.

You were President for eight years, and then you became Prime Minister. You will be President for the next six years. Do you have a personal plan? Do you want to be President as long as you are elected? Or may be you have some plans about your life afterwards?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: Every normal person tries to look some distance ahead. Moreover, I am far from being the longest serving politician. There are people in leading positions in European politics who have worked there much longer than me, both in Europe and in North America, Canada actually. However, I do expect that after my retirement from political life and public service I will have an opportunity to busy myself with other things and challenges. I like jurisprudence and literature, and I do hope I will have a chance to occupy myself with these without any link to my public service duties. May be, I will look into other issues. It can be social life, sports, etc.

JÖRG SCHÖNENBORN: Thank you very much for the interview, Mr President.

source: http://eng.kremlin.ru/news/5216

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Libya: Which Fate for Gaddafi’s Henchmen?

An empty bullet shell is seen outside the entrance of the al-Ghani oil field, belonging to Libya's Harouge Oil Operations company, near the city of Waddan in the central Al-Jufrah province on 23 March 2013. (Photo: AFP - Abdullah Doma)

 

By: Abdullah Elmaazi

Published Sunday, April 7, 2013

 

Libya is at a crossroads. It has a choice between the politics of vindictiveness and exclusion, or of reconciliation and inclusion.

On 24 March 2013, about 200 former rebel fighters in Libya besieged the prime minister's office, demanding that he resign in accordance with a political isolation law banning members of the former regime from political life. Ali Zeidan, the current prime minister of Libya, served as a diplomat under Gaddafi.

The draft political isolation law being debated applies to anybody who held an official position during the final two decades of Gaddafi’s rule, which includes many who have played a prominent post-revolutionary role in Libya. However, there are calls for this draft law to be expanded to include anybody who held an official post over the entire period of Gaddafi’s 42-year rule. This would exclude the majority of governmental and parliamentary figures.
The proposed law bears a striking resemblance to the disastrous de-Baathification in Iraq. After the collapse of the Baath regime following the 2003 American invasion of Iraq, the Baath party was outlawed and all Baathists lost their jobs. As a result, hundreds of thousands of bureaucrats, civil servants, police officers, and members of the armed forces became unemployed, fuelling the insurgency which continues to this day.

As Miranda Sissons, former head of the Iraq program at the International Centre for Transitional Justice, pointed out, many countries in the Middle East are now struggling to find a way to effectively dismantle the political structures of former regimes. The expansion of the proposed political isolation law in Libya will be a recipe for the alienation of thousands of people who could make valuable contributions to the development of the country.

On 6 March 2013, hundreds of armed gunmen threatened lawmakers and held them hostage in an attempt to force approval of the controversial law. The will of the electorate and the independence of the judiciary must waver in the face of those who resort to violence to impose their will. A fait accompli imposed by the force of arms in such circumstances will never be legitimate.

The Roots of Justice

It has been said that in post-Gaddafi Libya the men who slept in the desert, not the men who slept in five-star hotels, should rule. While no one can deny that the revolutionaries who toppled the regime must be assured of their rightful place in government, the victor’s justice must be fair or else we will have merely replaced one form of tyranny for another.

The English philosopher John Locke highlighted the consequence of people taking the law into their own hands when he wrote of, "those evils, which necessarily follow from men being judges in their own cases" which is to “magnify the wrong suffered, if any, and to exact a punitive revenge rather than a dispassionate retribution.”

In Libya, because of a prevalent tribal culture and sentiments of regional bias, the judicial application of all laws is essential. It is incumbent on Libyans, who exercised their free will and chose the path of democracy, to reject extremism and dogmatism.

When a 42-year-old regime ends as a result of a violent revolution, anomie is inescapable. But it is the duty of the successor regime to come up with a strategy that ensures justice is dispensed fairly.

The present and the past are always entwined and the burden of the past will continue to be an albatross around our present and future. The only way we can ensure that this albatross does not bring us down is if we find ways by which we can deal with our past and move on, rather than remain forever captive to our past.

One avenue to take is to allow the truth to set us free. In a number of post-conflict societies airing grievances in public forums had a cathartic effect and was nationally therapeutic. These public forums brought perpetrators and their victims face to face. Publicly acknowledging the pain and grief of victims can reduce the likelihood of continuing a vicious cycle of revenge.

A truth-telling process, including full disclosure of human rights abuses, ensures that "the facts" remain alive in the national memory. The records of these proceedings should be incorporated in the curriculum of law enforcement training academies as well as law schools. Educational curricula should incorporate human rights, and the history of its abuse in Libya. This is how we should teach future generations of the mistakes and the crimes of the past in order to learn from them and to prevent their repetition.

For some, general knowledge of the truth is not enough. An official recognition of the injustices that have been suffered is necessary. This can only be achieved through a uniformly and judicially applied law, specific to this transition period to close the chapter of the past in order to usher in the far more important future chapter.

If we are to put in place a transitional justice process the essence of the process will need to be the establishment of accountability for past crimes of human rights abuses and to address allegations of participation in systematic abusive practices in a court of law, in a transparent and fair manner. It is in the proceedings of this transitional justice process, perhaps more than anywhere else, that the concept that “justice must be seen to be done” is of paramount importance, in particular in helping speed up the national reconciliation process. Seeing their tormentors brought to justice is a moral obligation owed to all victims. It can have a tremendously important cathartic effect both on the individual and national level.

It should go without saying that in the long term, a fairly administered justice system is fundamental to reconstructing a morally just society. Not only will it combat and ultimately stem the rise of vigilantism; but justice served and seen to be done will also be an important deterrent against future abuses of human rights.

A Haunted Revolution

If Libyans fail in cleansing themselves of their heinous past, they will forever be beset by incessant ruminating. The worst investment we make in the future is to allow the present atmosphere of vindictiveness revenge seeking to prevail. Unfortunately this is what is taking place at present and the political exclusion law is fuelling the fires of revenge and the blood lust which feeds it.

Life under a totalitarian regime with its lawlessness should have taught us Libyans the importance of legal security in its most elementary sense of freedom from arbitrary, selective and collective punitive measures, including those of political exclusion.
In building a democratic Libya we should be cognizant of the fact that the notion of equality in justice could not be more important. In practice this means just laws shall be applied without discrimination.

The emphasis on a central role for the rule of law and equality before the law cannot be meaningfully discussed in the absence of a robust and independent judiciary not susceptible to pressures emanating from transient popular whims and prejudice nor one which conforms to executive pressure for the sake of political expediency.

It is broadly accepted that an independent and empowered judiciary is central to the rule of law. An independent judiciary is equally central to the maintenance of horizontal accountability, without which democratic development is impossible.

A national consensus must be reached on whether a small number of individuals should be expected to forfeit their right to participate directly in government, for a limited period of time, as a result of them being proven to have been an integral part of the Gaddafi regime.

If this is done, it must not be as the result of armed gangs threatening members of the public or parliament to introduce such a law. If such a law is to be introduced it must be limited in scope, subject to judicial review, and must not contradict every person’s right to a fair trial.

Legitimacy cannot stem from the barrel of a gun but from the will of the people exercised freely through the ballot box.

One cannot but feel grief at the sight and sound of swathes of Libyans "politicians" who are increasingly spewing hatred and foaming malevolence in pursuit of the same nationally divisive and at times tyrannical politics of the former regime. There is no moral or legal distinction between the violence, malevolence and tyranny when practiced by the onetime exploited and oppressed and that of their exploiters and oppressors.

Libya is currently at a crossroads. History is filled with revolutions that begin with much hope and promise, but end with variants of the same form of tyranny that they ostensibly sought to end. Libyans must eschew the nihilistic politics of revenge and adopt policies of reconciliation and inclusion. This is the only road to national salvation.

Abdullah Elmaazi is founder and CEO of Trakon Consulting & Training. He is a regular contributor to The Tripoli Post.

The views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect Al-Akhbar's editorial policy.

Want to publish a (thoughtful) response to one of our opinion pieces? Send your contribution to our Submissions editor.

 

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US Postpones Missile Test to “Avoid Misperception” with North Korea

Local Editor

The United States delayed intercontinental ballistic missile test to avoid stoking tensions with North Korea after Pyongyang repeatedly threatened an all-out war against Washington and its ally, Seoul. The Pentagon said it would reschedule the intercontinental missile test due in California next week. A US defense official said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel postponed the Minuteman 3 test at Vandenberg Air Force Base until next month due to concerns it "might be misconstrued by some as suggesting that we were intending to exacerbate the current crisis with North Korea". "We wanted to avoid that misperception or manipulation," the US official told AFP. "We are committed to testing our ICBMs to ensure a safe, secure, effective nuclear arsenal." North Korea, incensed by UN sanctions following its nuclear and missile tests and by South Korean-US military drills, has issued a series of apocalyptic threats of nuclear war in recent weeks. FOREIGN DIPLOMATS’ SAFETY Foreign diplomats in Pyongyang huddled at the weekend to discuss a warning from the North's authorities that their safety could not be guaranteed after April 10 if a conflict broke out. Most of their governments have made it clear they have no immediate plans to withdraw personnel, and some suggested the advisory was a ruse to fuel growing global anxiety over the crisis on the Korean peninsula. The top national security adviser to South Korea's President Park Geun-Hye said Sunday the warning was another ploy to force the South and the United States to reach out to the North with face-saving concessions. "We believe the North is trying to turn the situation around by making the US send a special envoy, the South to offer dialogue and China or Russia to act as a mediator," Kim Jang-Soo said. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China opposes "provocative words and actions" from any party in the region and would "not allow troublemaking on China's doorstep", in sharply worded comments Saturday to UN chief Ban Ki-moon. For its part, Britain urged calm over the issue, saying that Pyongyang had shown no signs of repositioning its armed forces despite its "paranoid rhetoric". "We haven't seen the repositioning of forces or the redeployment of ground forces that one might see in a period prior to a military assault or to an all-out conflict,” Hague told BBC television. "That's why I say it's important to keep calm as well as to be firm and united about this,” he added.

Source: AFP 07-04-2013 - 13:23 Last updated 07-04-2013 - 13:23

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Jordan Madness and Syria

الأردن... الجنون و سوريا

 

 

الأحد‏، 07‏ نيسان‏، 2013

أوقات الشام

ناهض حتر

لم تعد خطط إنشاء منطقة عازلة أو أكثر في الأراضي السورية المحاذية للحدود الأردنية، مجرد تسريبات، بل ربما إنها قيد الإعداد، أو حتى على شفا التنفيذ. الفكرة تبدو بريئة وبسيطة ومسالمة: لن نتدخّل عسكريا، فقط تدريب مقاتلين سوريين معتدلين وتسلّيحهم بأسلحة نوعية، وهكذا يتمكنون من الحفاظ على مناطق سيطرتهم التي ستشتمل على معسكرات للاجئين ومراكز صحية وتموينية. وبالنتيجة، سوف تحصل النتائج التالية: (أ) وقف موجة اللجوء السوري إلى الأردن، (ب) تأمين الحدود الأردنية من تسلل السلفيين الجهاديين من مقاتلي جبهة النصرة وسواها من المنظمات الإرهابية، (ج) وذلك من دون أن نفقد الحياد إزاء الأزمة السورية!

يمكننا أن نحسد أنفسنا على هذه الخطة العبقرية للتدخل الجراحي في سورية، لكن يظل ينقصها للأسف شيء من الواقعية والصدقية.

في باب الواقعية، هناك أسئلة منها (1) هل ننتظر، بالفعل، أن يضمن بضعة آلاف من المقاتلين السوريين ـ حتى لو كانوا مدربين على أيدي الأميركان ومسلحين بأسلحة نوعية ـ أمن المناطق العازلة الإنسانية في مواجهة الجيش العربي السوري؟

(2) ألا يخلط هذا التصور بين قدرة المعارضين المسلحين على المناورة والاشتباك والسيطرة على مناطق في إطار معركة كر وفر، وبين قدرتهم على تأمين منطقة آمنة للاجئين والعمليات الإنسانية؟

(3) وحتى لو افترضنا ذلك، فمن الواضح أن تلك المناطق الآمنة، ستظل عرضة للقصف الجوي السوري، فهل يمكن إدامتها من دون غطاء جوي؟ ومَن سيقدم هذا الغطاء؟ وما دورنا فيه؟ ومن أين سينطلق؟

(4) هل يعتقد مدبرو الخطة حقا أنه يمكن لكتائب المعارضة المعتدلة ، أن تخوض معركتين، في الآن نفسه، مع قوتين أكبر وأشرس منها، هما الجيش العربي السوري وجبهة النصرة معا؟ ثم مَن الذي يجزم بأن الجماعات المسلحة على الأرض ليست متداخلة؟ ومن يضمن ألا يستفيد الإرهابيون من الدعم اللوجستي والعسكري ؟

بالمحصلة، أولا، لن تكون هناك مناطق آمنة وإنسانية في الأراضي السورية على حدودنا، من دون تدخل عسكري أردني أو منطلقا من الأردن. وهذا يعني ليس فقط تورّط الأردن في الحرب السورية، بل يشكّل إعلان حرب على دمشق، والدخول في صراع مسلح سوف يؤدي إلى المزيد من اللجوء السوري والأردني نحو الوسط والجنوب، (2) وعندها، سوف نجد أنفسنا، شئنا أم أبينا، في مواجهة انحلال الأمن في المناطق الحدودية على الجانبين، وسوف تغدو جبهة النصرة بين ظهرانينا.

إنها خطة مقامرة ـ لا مغامرة ـ سوف تكلّف الأمن الوطني فاتورة باهظة فوق احتمال البلد، وتضعنا مباشرة في صدام مع سورية وحلفائها والعراق وروسيا، وتضرب مصالحنا الوطنية الحالية والمستقبلية.

لا تقولوا لي إننا مضطرون للمغامرة ـ المقامرة تحت ضغط اللاجئين ، عندها نأتي إلى الصدقية؛

(1) فمنذ ثلاثة أشهر يلاحظ المراقبون وجود تسهيلات استثنائية لتشجيع اللجوء السوري إلى الأردن. وقد فهمنا الآن أن تلك التسهيلات لم تكن سوى مقدمة للتورّط،

و(2) بالموازاة، اتضح أن تدريب وتسليح ” المعتدلين” ليس موجها ضد ” النصرة”. فهذا غير واقعي ميدانيا، وإنما القصد منه هو، كما كتب زميل مطلع، “فتح الطريق نحو دمشق” ! فهل ما نزال محايدين؟

العرب اليوم

• Jordan rushes towards the Syrian adventure
• Sudden Syrian military warning for Jordan: You got 14 days to clean up your borders from strangers and terrorists, otherwise...
• On Abbas statehood, Hamastan, Jordan Option and the War on Syria
• Why Israel wants Muslim Brotherhood to replace the king of Jordan?

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The Syrian Red card

الكرت الأحمر السوري

 

‏الأحد‏، 07‏ نيسان‏، 2013

أوقات الشام

ابراهيم الحمدان
لا خطورة من بحر هائج يرعد ويزبد , وأنت ترقبه وتعرف ما يملكه وتقدر حجم قواه قبل أن تلجه ، الخطورة أن تٌستدرج الى وسط بحر هاديء دون معرفة ما يخبئه من تيارات في أعماقه, ويثور عليك ويحاصرك بأمواجه العاتية وأنت فيعرضه فتكون بحكم المنتهي ويبتلعك في أعماقه .
سوريا ومنذ بداية الحرب عليها ، امتصّت غضبها وتراجعت كعملية تشبه عملية الجزر لمياه البحر, مما جعل العالم يعتقد أن هدوء أمواجها بين مد موجاتها العسكرية لإستئصال مراكز المسلحين وأوكارهم ( بانياس ) ( باب عمر ) ( ريف دمشق ) ( ريف حلب ) وبين جزر التعاطي الدبلوماسي وعدم التعامل بردود الفعل الاعلامي والعسكري , أو نشر ما تمتلكه القيادة السورية من معلومات، عبارة عن ضعف عسكري وسياسي ، مما جعل بواخرالغرب وبوارج الغطرسة وسفن الاعداء , وحتى قوارب الخيانة للمشيخيات العربية وقراصنة البحار وحتى هواة الصيد بالسنارة يستهينون بنا ويتحدون موجات بحرنا .... ويقعون فريسة غبائهم .

في قراءة وتقدير مايخبئه البحر السوري ....... نقول لكل من تجرأ ودخل البحر السوري إن كان راكباً بارجة عسكرية أو كان راكباً قارب خيانة أوكان سابحاً أنكم لم تقرأوا جيداً عالم البحار ....فهدوء سطح البحر لا يدلل على مما يخبئه عمقه .

في مقال سابق أشرت الى أن القيادة السوررية تأخرت نصف عام على الأقل لإظهار قوتها الحقيقية ،وأشرت أيضاً الى أن الشريك الروسي داعم ولن يسمح بإسقاط سوريا ولا بسيطرة ذوي اللحى عليها, لأنه يعرف أنهم جنود حقيقيون للأمريكي والاسرائيلي ويشكلون خطورة على أمنه ومصالحه ، لكني أكدت بالمقال أن الروسي غير معني بالحفاظ على سوريا قوية , بل أكثر من ذلك ،من مصلحته أن تكون سوريا ضعيفه ومحتاجه إليه وإلى وجوده ودعمه ,,, أكثرمن سوريا قوية وسليمة ومعافاة ، وكلامي هذا ليس طلباً لفك الإرتباط مع الشريك الروسي كما يشتهي العدو .. بل هو عبارة عن لفت نظر للمعنيين لتقييم الشراكة مع روسيا , وعدم المبالغة بالرهان عليها بل الاستفادة من الشراكة معها بموضوعية ، وعدم الإستماع لكل نصائحها , خاصة بما يخص التعامل مع التمرد العسكري في الداخل المدني وارتكاب المجازر بحق المواطنين ونهب المعامل والأثار وتدمير البنية التحتية التي سيستفيد من إعادة بنائها الروسي قبل غيره !!!!!!!

أعتقد أن الرئيس السوري مدرك الى ما ذهبت اليه, فشهدنا تكتيك جديد بإدارةالمعركة والتعاطي بحزم عسكري مع الارهابيين في الأيام الخمسة الاخيرة فيريف دمشق ومكامنهم في كل من حمص وحلب, ولم يقتصر التكتيك الجديد على العمل العسكري بل ترافق مع التصعيد السياسي بالهجوم الأسدي على الأزعرالعثماني أردوغان, وحمار الوحش أوغلو , وكما ترافق مع تهديد واضح وصريح لدول الجوار الاردن ولبنان وتحذيرهم من اللعب في المياه السورية حتى وإن كان على الشواطيء ,,,,, والأهم من هذا وذاك هو إخراج الكرت الأحمر الكوري لكل من أمريكا أولاً وروسيا ثانياً ..... و أعتقد أن الروس سيحاولون إستعادة ثقة الرئيس السوري, بعد رفع الكرت الأحمر الكوري ، قبل أن يتزلزل عمق البحر السوري وينتج عنه تسونامي يهدر ويطيح ويجرف دول المنطقة شمالاً وجنوباً ..غرباً وشرقاً .

الرئيس السوري أخرج الكرت الكوري الأحمر عبر لقائه مع الوفد العسكري الذي زار كوريا , ومع قادة الأسلحة الاستراتيجية في سوريا ، ليرسل رسالة واضحة المعالم الى كل من أمريكا وإسرائيل أن كوريا الشمالية باتت جزء من التيارالمقاوم ( سوريا ايران كوريا الشمالية ) وكانت رسالة من عمق البحرالسورري ( تقال للجارة العدوة اسرائيل و حليفتها أمريكا , ولتسمعها الكنة الروسية !!!) لتدلل على نوع العواصف االتي ستبتلع بوارج بجلالة قدرها ،كيف لا والقيادة السورية وإن تأخرت وهذا مأخذي عليها بسبب ( أنها تمشي وراء الكذاب الى باب الدار ) لكنها ما أن تتلاطم تياراتها في عمق بحرها حتى تعصف وتغرق كل من تجرأ على ركوب بحرها ويكفي أن نتحدث عن ( القنبله الكهرو مغناطيسية التي لا تقتل روح كائن حي لكنها ستدمر كل تكنولوجيا المعامل والمفاعلات النووية والصواريخ العابرة للقارات وتعيد الحضارة والمدنية الحديثة مائتى عام إلى الوراء .. ويصبح البعير في الصحراء أجدى من طائرة الشبح الامريكية .

إن إمتلاك ( كوريا الشمالية ) لهذه القنبلة ووضعها ضمن مخزون تيارالمقاومة ( سوريا إيران كوريا ) سيغير منطق الحرب ويصيب العالم بالشلل ويفسر ما قاله الرئيس الأسد اذ قال (( : معركتنا طويلة ومعركة الانتصار بدأت وما نخبئه للأعداء كاف ليجعلهم يفكرون بالهزيمة قبل أي شيء. نحن صامدون ونحن قادمون لتحقيق النصر

 

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian  
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

Playing the North Korea Card

by Stephen Lendman

For decades, North Korea’s wanted normalized relations with Washington. It’s been repeatedly rebuffed. Promises made were broken. America needs enemies.

North Korea’s straight from central casting. Media scoundrels take full advantage. On April 2, Washington Post editors headlined “Answer North Korea with financial sanctions,” saying:
Kim Jong Un “managed to concoct a fresh provocative announcement aimed at Washington.” He declared both Koreas “were back to a ‘state of war.’ ”

“Could this untested, 30-year-old dictator be preparing to start a war with the United States or South Korea? The worrying reality is that it is virtually impossible for outsiders to know for sure.”
Most likely he’s “rally(ing) support behind the regime and to pressure the United States and its allies into opening negotiations.”

“As previous US administrations have learned the hard way, answering provocations with diplomacy will not lead to concessions by North Korea – only to another round of provocations.”

Hit ‘em again harder, urge Post editors. Pile new sanctions on current ones. Escalate tensions higher. Play the blame game. Denounce Pyongyang for Washington’s bellicosity and provocations. Point fingers the wrong way.

Wall Street Journal editors headlined “Calling Kim’s Bluff,” saying:

He’s “manufacturing a crisis to secure high-level talks with the US, as his father and grandfather did.”

“The wonder is that the North’s bluster-for-cash strategy still gets taken seriously.”

“The Obama Administration has so far avoided the Bush-Clinton negotiations trap, and we hope that continues. While an accident or miscalculation could restart the Korean War, there are also reasons to think the North’s acting up is all a bluff.”

Washington “efforts pressure Kim into better behavior will come to nothing if it caves now and grants formal talks. (It’s) no time to go wobbly.”

Journal editors omitted demands for more sanctions. Otherwise, they marched in lockstep with Post ones. Blame North Korea for Washington’s imperial aims.

Hold it responsible for acting in response to justifiable fears. Increase America’s regional presence. Prioritize gunboat diplomacy. Intensify saber rattling. Escalate tensions. Avoid dialogue. Show Pyongyang Washington won’t be bullied. It’s standard media scoundrel policy.

North Korea poses no threat. It wants normalized relations. America needs enemies. Pyongyang’s used for that purpose.

“It’s North Korea, Again,” headlined The New York Times.

“Recent weeks of saber-rattling and military escalation have affirmed a harsh truth: North Korea – which is much closer to putting a nuclear warhead on a missile than Iran and has threatened to strike the United States and its allies – is the more urgent challenge. The major powers still haven’t figured out how to solve it.”

“The Obama administration was prudent to bolster its forces in the region.”

“….Washington has an obligation (to) defend the homeland (and) reassure South Korea and Japan that America’s defense commitments remain firm.”

As usual, Times editors twisted truth. North Korea threatens no one. It wants peace, not war. It wants its sovereign rights respected. It wants US provocations to stop.

It opposes Obama’s Asia pivot. It does so for good reason. America’s greater military presence threatens its security. It compromises regional peace.

Gunboat diplomacy escalates tensions. It’s done for that purpose. It causes instability. It creates problems. It doesn’t solve them.

North Korea’s justifiably concerned. America’s military presence is menacing. Its exercises are provocative. Key Resolve began in February. It’s now completed. Eagle Fold runs through April 30.
Overall, around 13,000 US forces and 200,000 South Korean ones are involved. So are nuclear capable B-2 stealth bombers, F-22 stealth fighters, and B-52s. San Diego-based USS Decatur was heading home. It was re-missioned. It’s on alert in western Pacific waters.

Pentagon spokesman George Little said a second guided missile destroyer, the USS John McCain, was deployed. It arrived at a “pre-determined location.” It’s positioned off the Korean peninsula.
Both ships are prepared “to perform a missile defense operations as assigned by our combatant commander. (They’re) poised to respond to any missile threats to our allies or our territory.”

Missile defense systems will be installed in Guam. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said it’s to defend it from a “real and clear danger” from North Korea. Others were installed in Alaska and America’s west coast.

Pyongyang raised concerns. It said “North-South relations will be entering a state of war and all issues raised between the North and the South will be handled accordingly.”

“The long-standing situation of the Korean Peninsula being neither at peace nor at war is finally over.”

If Washington and/or Seoul attack, conflict “will not be limited to a local war. (It will) develop into an all-out war, a nuclear war.”

It bears repeating. North Korea wants peace, not war. Conflict assures losers, not winners. Heated rhetoric hopes to get America’s attention.

It bears full responsibility for rising tensions. According to Russian former chief of staff General Yuri Baluyevsky, Washington and NATO may preemptively attack Russia and China.

Nuclear weapons may be used. NATO’s missile shield intends to protect against retaliatory strikes.
“They expect that their opponents will respond with up to 100 missiles, not with 1,500 or 2,000. They are dreaming of being able to intercept the whole bulk of a hundred missiles and make themselves invulnerable after their first strike,” he added.

Little wonder North Korea expresses concerns. Normalized relations could have been restored decades ago. Instead, Pyongyang’s used as Washington’s regional punching bag.

At issue is justifying Obama’s Asia pivot. It involves advancing America’s military footprint. It targets China and Russia.

North Korea’s a convenient pretext. If it didn’t exist, it’d be invented. Claiming it threatens South Korea and Japan doesn’t wash. Washington’s the sole regional menace. It’s greater presence bodes ill.

Last June, then Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said around 60% of US naval forces will be based in the Pacific by 2020.

Strengthening America’s presence is part of its new imperial strategy. Challenging China is prioritized. At issue is isolating Beijing regionally and undermining its influence. It’s a recipe for heightened tensions and potential confrontation.

Comparable Chinese or Russian presence in US waters would be pretext for war. So would their bases in neighboring regional countries.

America believes global territories and waters are its own. It works because other nations don’t object. Japan and South Korea go along. They accept what they should reject.

Last May, Obama met with then Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in Washington. Strengthening strategic ties and boosting military activities were discussed.

A joint statement pledged to “further enhance our bilateral security and defense cooperation.” A commitment was affirmed to “US strategic rebalancing to the Asia Pacific.”
Plans are to establish “a more geographically distributed and operationally resilient force posture in the region.”

Washington has been “rebalancing” in East Asia for years. Strategy calls for strengthening military, economic, and political ties with Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam.

China and Russia are targeted. Doing so risks potential confrontation. Beating up on North Korea increases the possibility. Conflict isn’t likely now. Ahead, anything is possible.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian  
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

The Druze sheikhs in Syria condemn the murder fatwa issued by the "fickle chameleon of politics" Jumblatt " Video"

Druze Sheikhs: State and Its Establishment Are Only Guarantee for Syria Apr 07, 2013

SWIEDA, (SANA) – Druze sheikhs in Syria affirmed that the state and its establishment are the only guarantee for Syria in the face of the crimes of foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists, asserting that the Druze will remain firm in their defense of their homeland. The Druze sheikhs denounced the instigation and incitement for murder issued by the "fickle chameleon of politics" Walid Jumblatt, asserting that murder is against the values and teachings of the Druze. Sheikh Aqel of the Druze, Hikmat al-Hajri, told the Syrian TV that no man who considers himself a politician may issue "fatwas" or poltical directives outside the borders of his own country, and that Syria's Druze do not allow anyone to view them at their personal property to instruct as they please. Al-Hajri said that the Druze are firm in their adherence to their national stances and that they rather die than leave their lands and homes no matter what happens. In turn, sheikh Ayman Zahreddin said that the statements of the mercurial Jumblatt in which he called for the Druze to abandon the Army and join the conspirators against Syria were not surprising, saying that Jumblatt's statements call for shedding the blood of the people of Jabal al-Arab area, the descendants of Sultan Basha al-Atrash. H. Sabbagh

شيوخ طائفة المسلمين الموحدين يستنكرون فتوى القتل التي أصدرها حرباء السياسة المتقلبة جنبلاط "فيديو"



أكد شيوخ عقل طائفة المسلمين الموحدين في سورية أن الدولة ومؤسساتها هما الضمان الوحيد لسورية في مواجهة إجرام وعبث الإرهابيين التكفيريين المدعومين من الخارج وأن الطائفة ستبقى ثابتة على مواقفها المدافعة عن وطنها.

واستنكر شيوخ عقل طائفة المسلمين الموحدين فتاوى القتل والتحريض التي أصدرها حرباء السياسة المتقلبة وليد جنبلاط مؤكدين أن القتل ليس من شيمهم ولا من تعاليمهم الدينية وأن حرصهم على الدولة كحرصهم على بيوتهم.

وقال الشيخ حكمت الهجري شيخ عقل طائفة المسلمين الموحدين في حديث للتلفزيون العربي السوري: لا يحق لأي رجل يعتبر نفسه سياسيا أن يصدر أي فتوى أو توجيه سياسي خارج حدود بلده ونحن طائفة المسلمين الموحدين في سورية لا نقبل أن ينظر إلينا أحد على أننا مزرعة له ويتصرف بها كما يريد ويصدر الفتاوى لها وفق ما يشتهي.

وأضاف الشيخ الهجري إن طائفة المسلمين الموحدين ثابتة على مواقفها الوطنية وأبناؤها سيبقون كما كان آباؤهم وأجدادهم يفضلون الموت على الخروج من أرضهم وبيوتهم تحت أي ضغط أو لأي سبب كان.

وقال الشيخ الهجري إننا نعتبر كل من يخرج عن احترام الدولة والقانون ذاهبا باتجاه الفراغ ولا يخدم مصالحنا التي هي بالدرجة الأولى أمن واستقرار أبناء شعبنا وطمأنينتهم في بيوتهم ومناطقهم.

بدوره قال الشيخ أيمن زهر الدين إننا لم نفاجأ رغم كل الجراح والمؤامرات التي تتعرض لها سورية وشعبها من العربان المستعربين ومن آلة الغرب اللئيمة بتصريح حرباء السياسة المتقلبة وزئبق المواقف المتخاذلة وليد جنبلاط الذي طالما نعق علينا بأفكار سامة فتارة يطلب من أبناء الجبل الأشم الصامد المضحي الجزء الذي لا يتجزأ من القطر العربي السوري الانشقاق عن الجيش وتارة يطلب منهم الانضمام إلى المتآمرين على سورية وشعبها.

وأضاف الشيخ زهر الدين إن جنبلاط عندما فشل في طلباته الماضية تعلم فتوى جديدة من أسياده في الغرب و"جبهة النصرة" ودويلة قطر فأفتى بهدر دماء أبناء جبل العرب أبناء وأحفاد سلطان باشا الأطرش وعائلات الجبل المناضلة التي تقف مع وطنها سورية.

وخاطب الشيخ زهر الدين جنبلاط بالقول:

أيها المسخ المتقلب الذي لا دين لك في السياسة ولا في الحقيقة أتهدر دماء أبطال بني معروف.. الأولى بك أن تهدر دماء المتآمرين على سورية والصعاليك الذين يأتون من كل حدب وصوب إليها لقتل أبناء شعبها.. "يا للعار وألف عار عليك فلو أن أمك ما زالت على قيد الحياة لقطعت الثدي الذي رضعت منه أيها المسخ السياسي المتقلب".

وأوضح الشيخ زهر الدين أن جريمة الشعب السوري الوحيدة برأيهم هو أنه مناضل ومقاوم لا يغير مواقفه.

من جهة أخرى أكد الشيخ سلمان عنتير رئيس الفعاليات الوطنية والقومية في الأراضي الفلسطينية المحتلة عام 1948 أن من يخف على طائفة المسلمين الموحدين لا يدع إلى قتل أبنائها لأنهم لا يخضعون لإملاءاته ولا يسيرون خلف رغبات قطر والسعودية والصهيونية ومرتزقتهم الإرهابيين المتآمرين على وطنهم سورية.

وقال الشيخ عنتير إن تاريخ أبناء طائفة المسلمين الموحدين يشهد لهم أنهم أحرار ويذودون عن شعبهم وأرضهم ووطنهم ودولتهم ويتصدون مع الشرفاء من أخوتهم لكل معتد ومتآمر على وطنهم.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian  
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Nasser Kandil: The Game is over

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian  
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Israel’s "Red" Night: “The Largest Internet Battle in Mankind History”

Local Editor

Hackers vowing to wipe Israel off the map of the Internet had staged dozens of cyberattacks on Israeli sites on Saturday night. The campaign by hackers around the world, has so far vandalized dozens of Israeli sites and released hundreds of e-mail addresses and passwords. Sites serving Israeli government agencies, including the Securities Authority, the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption and the Central Bureau of Statistics were brought down, according to a list posted on hackersnewsbulletin.com. Some 19,000 Israeli Facebook accounts were hacked by the group Anonymous in an "operation" called #OpIsrael. The virtual campaign was launched by hackers affiliated with the Anonymous group in order to protest Israeli policies in Palestine. The organizers threatened to wage "the largest Internet battle in the history of mankind" that would eventually "wipe Israel off the map of the Internet." "You have not stopped your endless human right violations," the group said in a post addressed to the Zionist entity’s government. "You have not stopped illegal settlements. You have not respected the ceasefire. You have shown that you do not respect international law." "This is why that on April 7, elite cyber-squadrons from around the world have decided to unite in solidarity with the Palestinian people against Israel as one entity to disrupt and erase Israel from cyberspace." Israeli sources said that the attack was launched from areas in south Africa. Later on, the group was followed by other hackers from Arab and Muslim countries, including Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. The sources said that groups of hackers from Iran and Indonesia joined the campaign, adding that around 5000 hackers took part in the operation. MEDIA OUTLETS DEPRECIATE ATTACK Meanwhile, some media outlets appeared to be downplaying the cyberattack, with both Agence France Press and Arab television, al-Jazeera, along with Israeli media, reported that the attack was “failed.” “Hackers have launched an assault on Israeli websites, but the damage has been minimal as the Jewish state is prepared to fend off such attacks,” AFP said in its report. “The hackers associated with the activist group Anonymous reportedly hit the websites of the premier's office, the defense ministry, the education ministry and the Central Bureau of Statistics, among others”, the agency said, noting that: “but all appeared to be running normally.” Meanwhile, al-Jazeera reported that “a weekend cyberattack campaign has targeted Israeli government websites but failed to cause serious disruption.” It quoted an official at the Israeli government's National Cyber Bureau, Yitzhak Ben Yisrael, as saying that the “hackers had mostly failed to shut down key sites.” Below is the link of the post adressed by Anonymous to the Israeli government: Anonymous Threat

Source: Agencies 07-04-2013 - 10:21 Last updated 07-04-2013 - 15:55 الشرطة الأردنية تلقي القبض على أحد أهم الهاكرز الأردنيين المعروف لدى أوساطه بـ «virus aser alrooh» لمشاركته بالهجوم الإلكتروني على الكيان الصهيوني إسرائيل تسقط في “حرب الانترنت”..التلفزيون الإسرائيلي : إختراق موقع الإستخبارت الإسرائيلية من قبل الهاكرز أعلن التلفزيون الإسرائيلي عن سقوط عشرات آلاف من الحسابات الإسرائيلية على موقع فايسبوك، بالإضافة إلى عشرات المواقع الحكومية الإسرائيلية، أعلن التلفزيون الإسرائيلي عن سقوط عشرات آلاف من الحسابات الإسرائيلية على موقع فايسبوك، بالإضافة إلى عشرات المواقع الحكومية الإسرائيلية، بعد هجوم شنته مجموعة هاكرز مناهضة لإسرائيل تدعى "اوب إسرائيل". وكانت مجموعة "اوب إسرائيل" المناهضة للإعتداءات الإسرائيلية على الفلسطينيين أعلنت أنها ستجعل من يوم السابع من نيسان/إبريل يوماً عالمياً للمقاومة الإلكترونية بهدف شطب إسرائيل عن الشبكة العنكبوتية. وقال مدير مكتب الميادين في إسرائيل إن عدداً كبيراً من المواقع الإلكترونية الإسرائيلية سقطت نتيجة هجوم الهاكرز، ومنها موقع دائرة الهجرة اليهودية ومواقع محاكم القضاء، وظهر على معظمها صور الأسير الفلسطيني سامر العيساوي. ونقل مدير مكتب الميادين عن مدير دائرة السايبر ومعلومات الانترنت في الكيان الإسرائيلي روني بكار قوله "نحن لا نستيطع أن نفعل شيء، سوى أن نشاهد الحرب"، مؤكداً أن إسرائيل استخدمت قراصنة للرد وبدأت بضرب مواقع في باكستان وهي تتهم الفلسطينيين واللبنانيين بالمشاركة بالهجوم. وقالت صحيفة هآرتس العبرية إن قرابة 19.000 حساب فيسبوك لإسرائيليين، تم تسجيل اختراقه من قبل قراصنة من حول العالم، يتبعون مجموعة مجهولة. وقالت الصحيفة عبر موقعها على الإنترنت، إن القراصنة هددوا بمحو خريطة اسرائيل من على شبكة الإنترنت، عبر شن هجمات واسعة النطاق مساء السبت، ضد عدد من الموقع الرسمية الاسرائيلية. و اعلنت القناة الاسرائيلية العاشرة عن بدء الهجوم الالكتروني على دولة الاحتلال، وان ارتفاع الهجمات، وأوجها سيكون غدا الأحد. واعلنت القناة العاشرة ان مساء السبت سقوط عدد من مواقع عده منها وزارة الاستيعاب وموقع سوق الأوراق المالية وموقع المحاكم الإسرائيلية ،كما تم اختراق بعض المواقع الشخصية الصغيرة . وكتب على المواقع التي تم السيطرة عليها من قبل الهكرز كتبت شعارات دعت لتحرير فلسطين ، مع العلم أن الهجوم المركزي للهكرز مخطط ليوم غد الأحد. وبحسب القناة العاشرة العبرية، فإن "المهاجمين نجحوا في اختراق وتدمير آلاف من حسابات الفيس بوك لإسرائيليين، وعشرات المواقع الالكترونية، منها مواقع بنوك ومؤسسات تعليمية". وكان خبراء إسرائيليون أكدوا أن الهجوم بدأ فعليا منذ أيام، فقد سجلت عمليات اختراق أنظمة الحواسيب الاسرائيلية مؤخرا ارتفاعا بنسبة 10 في المئة، وستصل مرحلة الذروة يوم غد الأحد. ووضع القراصنة الإلكترونيين رسالة على أحد المواقع الإسرائيلية المخترقة، وتقول: "نحن نسمع صراخ من غزة، نحن ندافع عن منطقتنا، بالسابق كانت الحروب بالطائرات والدبابات، أما ألان نحن ننتصر الكترونيا ونهزمكم في الفضاء الالكتروني، نجن ندمر، نحن نستطيع الوصول لصفحتك الشخصية، وجهازك الشخصي أينما تكون". ﻣﻦ أﻫﻢ اﻟﻤﻮاﻗﻊ اﻹﺳﺮاﺋﯿﻠﺔ اﻟﺘﻲ ﺳﻘﻄﺖ ﺗﻠﻘﺎﺋﯿﺎً ﺣﺘﻰ اﻟﻠﺤﻈﺔ ﻫﻲ 1 - ﻣﻮﻗﻊ اﻟﺒﻮرﺻﺔ اﻹﺳﺮاﺋﯿﻠﯿﺔ 2 - ﻣﻮﻗﻊ ﺣﺰب ﻛﺎدﯾﻤﺎ 3 - ﻣﻮﻗﻊ وزارة اﻷﻣﻦ اﻹﺳﺮاﺋﯿﻠﯿﺔ 4 - ﻣﻮﻗﻊ ﺻﺤﯿﻔﺔ ﯾﺪﯾﻌﻮت 5 - ﻣﻮﻗﻊ اﻹﺳﺘﺨﺒﺎرات اﻹﺳﺮاﺋﯿﻠﻲ 6 - ﻣﻮﻗﻊ اﻟﺘﺮﺑﯿﺔ و اﻟﺘﻌﻠﯿﻢ اﻹﺳﺮاﺋﯿﻠﻲ 7 - أﻛﺒﺮ ﻣﻮﻗﻊ ﻟﻠﺘﺮوﯾﺞ و دﻋﻢ اﻟﺼﻬﯿﻮﻧﯿﺔ ﻓﻲ أوروﺑﺎ 8 - ﻣﻮﻗﻊ رﺋﺎﺳﺔ اﻟﻮزراء اﻹﺳﺮاﺋﯿﻠﯿﺔ - - -

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian  
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