Sunday, 10 July 2016

Chilcot Inquiry: the Evidence of the Collapse of the American Empire

In the UK, the official report of the government commission headed by Sir John Chilcot on the Iraq war was published. The Chilcot inquiry demonstrated officially that the UK’s invasion of Iraq was conducted under US pressure and was contrary to the national interests of the country.
Chilcot Inquiry-Evidence Collapse American Empire
By Katehon

There was no reason to invade Iraq

The Chilcot inqury notes that there was no real reason for the invasion in Iraq.
It clearly says:
The decision to use force – a very serious decision for any government to take -provoked profound controversy in relation to Iraq and became even more controversial when it was subsequently found that Iraq’s programmes to develop and produce chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons had been dismantled
In the inquiry’s view, diplomatic options had not at that stage been exhausted.
Iraq was not linked with international terrorist networks. The country did not possess weapons of mass destruction that could be used in terrorist acts and posed no threat to the UK. Such was the view of the UK intelligence community:
Sir David Omand, the Security and Intelligence Co ordinator in the Cabinet Office from 2002 to 2005, told the Inquiry that, in March 2002, the Security Service judged that the “threat from terrorism from Saddam’s own intelligence apparatus in the event of an intervention in Iraq … was judged to be limited and containable “.
Saddam’s “capability to conduct effective terrorist attacks” was “very limited”. Iraq’s “terrorism capability” was “inadequate to carry out chemical or biological attacks beyond individual assassination attempts using poisons”.
Britain did not consider Iraq as a threat to its national security.

The UK’s leadership knew all about the consequences

The report confirms that the UK intelligence community presented the Prime Minister with all the necessary analytics about the consequences of the decision to invade Iraq.
In particular, it was noted that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein could lead to a sharp increase in Islamic extremists, transforming the kingdom into a priority for their purpose, mass casualties, and the fragmentation of Iraq.
Mr Blair had been advised that an invasion of Iraq was expected to increase the threat to the UK and the UK’s interests from Al Qaeda and its affiliates:
Addressing the prospects for the future, the JIC Assessment concluded:
“… Al Qaeda and associated groups will continue to represent by far the greatest terrorist threat to Western interests, and that threat will be heightened by military action against Iraq. The broader threat from Islamist terrorists will also increase in the event of war, reflecting intensified anti US / anti Western sentiment in
the Muslim world, including among Muslim communities in the West. And there is a risk that the transfer of CB [chemical and biological] material or expertise, during or in the aftermath of conflict, will enhance Al Qaeda’s capabilities. “

The invasion was an act of aggression based on deliberately lies

The invasion was based on deliberate lies and manipulation of public opinion. Sir John Chilcot declared while presenting the results of inquiry that the UK’s policy was based on “flawed intelligence and assessments,” they were not challenged and they should have been. “
The UK deliberately distorted facts about the alleged threat posed by Iraq. In particular, Jack Straw, British Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, insisted on the distortion of information in official documents, in order to convince other policy-makers and the public of the need for action in Iraq:
When he saw the draft paper on WMD countries of concern on March 8, Mr Straw commented:
“Good, but should not Iraq be first and also have more text? The paper has to show why there is an exceptional threat from Iraq. It does not quite do this yet. “
On 18 March, Mr Straw decided that a paper on Iraq should be issued before one addressing other countries of concern.
On March 22, Mr Straw was advised that the evidence would not convince public opinion that there was an imminent threat from Iraq. Publication was postponed.

The US’ puppets

The only reason to invade Iraq was the strong commitment to the US to do so. The report clearly shows how the rhetoric and the view of the British leadership on Iraq changed – the strategy called for smart sanctions before the invasion under the influence of the American side. At the same time, British Intelligence reported that Iraq poses no real danger or supports terrorists. Blair’s decision to invade Iraq was influenced by his interest in protecting the UK’s relationship with the United States, Chilcot said. The unconditional support was justified by:
Concern that vital areas of co operation between the UK and the US could be damaged if the UK did not give the US its full support over Iraq.
The belief that the best way to influence US policy towards the direction preferred by the UK was to commit full and unqualified support, and seek to persuade from the inside.
Thus, officially the main reason for the British invasion of Iraq was the dependence on the United States by the United Kingdom. The Commission does not oppose a pro-American orientation, but contrary declaratively supports it. However, it noted that relations with the US “do not require unconditional support where our interests and judgments differ,” said Chilcot.

The winds of change

Formally, the Chilcot inquiry should have been made public seven years ago. Its publication was postponed several times because of the position of the United States. And now it became public. Thus, it reflects the decline of US hegemony: the most loyal ally – the UK – the last two years shows that the collapse of the US-based system is a question of time and prepares for a new world.
The publication of the official report, the commission established by the initiative of Gordon Brown’s government, in which the argument of the opponents of the invasion of Iraq 13 years ago (primarily Russia) is openly repeated, became only possible in one case – if a part of the British elite is eager to distance themselves from the United States, their policies, and those inside the elite who have too close ties with the United States. The fact that in the UK there are those who look towards a post-American future demonstrates the tight integration of the owners of the British Rothschild finance with China, and Britain’s decision to participate in the Chinese project of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, contrary to the will of the United States.
This is also evidenced by the results of the referendum on EU membership. Brexit and the honest counting of votes would not have taken place without the support of the elites. At the same time, the US openly opposed Brexit. Now the UK referendum and the uncertainty after it freezes the establishment’s Transatlantic Free Trade Area. At the same time the United Kingdom is excluded from the negotiations on the agreement the entire time it is still in a state of transition. Paradoxically, the United Kingdom has consistently implemented steps to turn it away from the US-centric world. However this does not reflect the whole picture, officially it is the biggest American ally, but it seems to be an important trend. The most plausible explanation is the desire to be buried under the rubble of the American empire.
It should be recalled that the United Kingdom voluntarily became a satellite of the United States, handing to the Americans the role of the Sea Power. So nothing will prevent it from leaving the US when it deems it necessary. The weakening of the United States is the introduction of new rules of the game. And these rules are best created when the process only becomes irreversible. And changes in Britain demonstrate this irreversibility. Brexit, and the very course of the discussion around it, the ambiguous position of London in relations between Washington and Beijing, and now the report on the Iraq war, which may be followed by the trial of Tony Blair, gives London an array of new opportunities to influence policies in Europe and globally.

war-criminals-rid
~ WHEN THEY’LL PUT ON TRIAL AS A WAR CRIMINAL CAMERON AND ALL THE ROYAL FAMILY?
~ AND WHEN BUSH (FATHER AND SON), OBAMA AND THEIR ADMINISTRATIONS, AND THE ZIONIST MASS MURDERERS?
~ 20 YEARS FROM NOW? WHEN THE WORLD WILL BE ALREADY PERMANENTLY DESTROYED?
(questions by SFP-WP)
war-criminals-rid-2
bibi-war-criminal

SOURCES:
By Katehon
Submitted by SyrianPatriots 
War Press Info Network at:
https://syrianfreepress.wordpress.com/2016/07/09/chilcot-inquiry/
~

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

Will Americans elect a 'congenital liar' president?

Dauthor-imageoes Hillary Clinton possess the integrity and honesty to be president of the United States? Or are those quaint and irrelevant considerations in electing a head of state in 21st-century America?
These are the questions put on the table by the report from FBI Director James Comey on what his agents unearthed in their criminal investigation of the Clinton email scandal.
Clinton dodged an FBI recommendation that she be indicted for gross negligence in handling U.S. security secrets, a recommendation that would have aborted her campaign. But Director Comey dynamited the defense she has been offering the country.
Comey all but declared that Clinton lied when she said she had State Department approval for the email server in her home.
He all but declared that she lied when she said she had only one server, and that no classified or secret material was transmitted. He also implied that she lied when she said she had used only one device and had turned over all of her work-related emails to State. The FBI found “several thousand” more.
Clinton said her emails were stored in a secure area. This, too, was false. Hostile actors and hostile regimes, said Comey, had access to email systems of those with whom she communicated.
Comey said he found no criminal “intent” in what Clinton did.
Yet, he charged her with having been “extremely careless” with U.S. national security secrets, a phrase that seems synonymous with the gross negligence needed to indict and convict.
While recommending against prosecution, Comey added,
“This is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequence. To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions.”
Translation: Were Clinton still the secretary of state and were such recklessness with secrets to be discovered, she could have been forced to resign and stripped of her security clearance forever.
Yet if Clinton is elected president, our commander in chief for the next four years, and her confidantes Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills, will all be individuals the FBI has found to be reckless and unreliable in the handling of national security secrets.
We will have security risks running the armed forces of the USA.
Nor is this the first time Clinton’s truthfulness has been called into question. Twenty years ago, she fabricated a tale about crossing a tarmac in Bosnia “under sniper fire,” and running with “our heads down.” Photos showed a peaceful arrival featuring a smiling little girl.
Family members of the dead heroes of Benghazi’s “13 Hours” say Clinton told them she would see to it that the creator of the anti-Islamic video that incited the mob that killed their sons would be run down, all the while knowing it had been a planned terrorist attack.
In 1996, the New York Times’ William Safire went over all of the statements Clinton had made in Whitewater and related scandals of Bill Clinton’s first term, compared them with subsequently revealed truth, and pronounced Hillary Clinton a “congenital liar.”
She has claimed she tried to join the Marines in 1975, and long contended she was named for famed mountaineer Edmund Hillary, who conquered Mount Everest. Only Sir Edmund climbed Everest when Hillary was 6 years old. The perfect running mate for this serial fabricator would be the Cherokee lass Elizabeth Warren.
Still, a question arises as to Comey’s motives in airing the findings of an FBI investigation. Normally, the bureau passes on the evidence it has found, along with its recommendation, to the Justice Department. And Justice decides whether to prosecute.
Instead, Comey called a press conference, documented the charge that Clinton was “extremely careless,” contradicted, point by point, the story she has told the public, then announced he was recommending against prosecution.
What was behind this extraordinary performance?
By urging no prosecution, but providing evidence for a verdict of criminal negligence in handing classified material, Comey was saying:
I am not recommending prosecution, because, to do that, would be to force Hillary Clinton out of the race, and virtually decide the election of 2016. And that is not my decision. That is your decision.
You, the American people, should decide, given all this evidence, if Clinton should be commander in chief. You decide if a public figure with a record of such recklessness and duplicity belongs in the Oval Office.
Comey was making the case against Clinton as the custodian of national security secrets with a credibility the GOP cannot match, while refusing to determine her fate by urging an indictment, and instead leaving her future in our hands.
And, ultimately, should not this decision rest with the people, and not the FBI?
If, knowing what we know of the congenital mendacity of Hillary Clinton, the nation chooses her as head of state and commander in chief, then that will tell us something about the America of 2016.
And it will tell us something about the supposed superiority of democracy over other forms of government.
Read more 
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The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant: A genocidal campaign – part 1: The origins of sectarianism in Islam

July 07, 2016
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant: A genocidal campaign – part 1: The origins of sectarianism in IslamA plague upon the world, a terrorist group who hates humanity. Many are the words describing the Daesh phenomenon which has been unleashed upon humanity. The terrorist group who allegedly originated out of Iraq as a result of the US- led invasion in 2003 has now become a worldwide known phenomenon which few people have never heard of. Their atrocities are reported daily, and mainstream media have several times reported about this death cult’s genocidal campaigns in the Middle East, ranging from ethnic cleansing to attempts to wipe out the region’s culture and history. The highlighted targets have been Christians and the Yezidis of Iraq.
What the mainstream media however rarely mentions is their campaign against their true enemy, the Shia community of Iraq and Syria. This three-part article series will analyse and explain the motivational drive behind this terrorist group and its funders, and why they attack other Muslims who they deem to be “infidels”.
The practice of excommunication where one Muslim declares another one to be a “Kafir” or infidel, is called Takfir, a practice which is almost as old as Islam itself. One who practices this excommunication is called a Takfiri.
The first part of this article series will focus on the history of the concept and where it once originated from. The second part will focus on the imperial European powers and their relationship with Takfiris in the 18th century. The last part will focus on the modern Takfirism and its aims in the region amid the Syrian and Iraqi wars.
The historical background and the concept of Takfir
The Daesh terrorists are known by the Shia community mainly as Takfiris because they deem the entire Shia community and all other branches of Islam to be infidels who deserve death. There is a very wide range of ideas surrounding what could justify declaring someone to be an infidel (Kafir). Some Muslims consider this to be a prerogative of divine revelation, while others consider it to be the prerogative of the state (Caliphate) which represents the Muslim community as a whole. There is no consensus among the Muslim community as to what actually constitutes sufficient justification for declaring Takfir, as such, there are disputes among different scholars surrounding this topic.
In order to truly understand what the concept of Takfir means, and how it has formed the Islamic community, we need to go back in time to the early days of Islam, and study the predecessors of the Daesh terror group, a group known as the Khawarij.
The Khawarij
The Khawarij (the outsiders) were notorious Takfiris who appeared in the first century of Islam during what is today known as the First Fitna, the first Islamic civil war caused by disunity regarding the leadership after the death of Prophet Muhammad. The First Fitna, 656–661, followed the assassination of Uthman (Osman), the third Caliph of Islam, continued during the caliphate of Ali, and was ended by Muawiyah’s assumption of the caliphate. This civil war is often referred to as the end of the Islamic unity, also known as the Ummah.
Divisions began to grow as disagreement began to rise considering the capital of the newly established Islamic Caliphate. This was a result of a deep rooted rivalry between Syria, formerly under the rule of the Byzantine Empire and Iraq, part of the Persian Sassanid Empire. Ali was convinced to move his capital to Kufa, in Iraq.
Later Muawiyah I, the governor of Levant and the cousin of Uthman, refused Ali’s demands for allegiance. Ali opened negotiations hoping to regain his allegiance, but Muawiyah insisted on
Levant autonomy under his rule. Muawiyah began mobilising his Levantine supporters and refusing to pay homage to Ali on the pretext that his contingent had not participated in Ali’s election.
Ali then moved his armies north and the two armies encamped themselves at Siffin for more than one hundred days, most of the time being spent in negotiations. Although Ali exchanged several letters with Muawiyah, he was unable to dismiss the latter, nor persuade him to pledge allegiance.
When Muawiyah’s forces met with Ali’s forces in the battle of Siffin in 657 A.D, Muawiyah’s forces were on the brink of defeat. Muawiyah wanted to put the dispute aside and called for the two sides to arbitration according to the Quran.
The two armies finally agreed to settle the matter of who should be Caliph by arbitration.The refusal of the largest bloc (the Kufans) in Ali’s army to fight anymore was the decisive factor in his acceptance of the arbitration. Ali’s army suffered from mutiny led by the Kufans. The question as to whether the arbiter would represent Ali or the Kufans (Qurra) caused a further split in Ali’s army. Ali presented his representative for arbitration, the mutineers on their part, presented Abu Musa Ashaari, against Ali’s wishes while Muawiyah presented his representative Amr ibn Al-As.
Seven months later the two arbitrators met at Adhruh about 10 miles north west of Maan in Jordan in February 658. Amr ibn Al-As convinced Abu Musa Ashaari thatboth Ali and Muawiyah should step down and a new caliph be elected. Ali and his supporters were stunned by the decision which had lowered the caliph to the status of the rebellious Muawiyah. Ali had been betrayed. Rallying under the slogan “arbitration belongs to God alone”, the Qurra had turned on both Ali and Muawiyah.
Ali refused to accept the verdict of him stepping down and for an election to be held and found himself technically in breach of his pledge to abide by the arbitration. This put Ali in a weak position even amongst his own supporters. The most vociferous opponents of Ali in his camp were the very same people who had forced Ali to appoint their arbitrator. Feeling that Ali could no longer look after their interests. Also fearing that if there was peace, they could be arrested for the murder of Uthman they broke away from Ali’s force.
So the Qurra then became known as the Khawarij (the outsiders, referring to those who left Ali’s side). It is important to note that the Khawarij were not simply dissatisfied with a particular man or family or economics, rather their dissatisfaction was with the whole social structure which was represented by both Uthman and Ali. Before, they had freedom in the affairs of the tribe. Now they were in the “super-tribe” of Islam and could not behave as they had behaved previously. They wanted to go back to their old tribal structure where they could glory and boast about their tribe. Thus, it can be argued that the Khawarij were more motivated by their own selfish reasons to rebel, rather than of ideological reasons.
The fact that he was Muhammad’s nephew only confirmed them in their militancy of their perceived egalitarianism; that the true aristocracy was one of piety and not blood.This view fundamentally goes against the Shia view of the leadership being bound to the bloodline of the Prophet.
In time, the Khawarij began to develop twisted views. Early reports would speak of Khawarijs going out with their swords into markets and randomly stab people while shouting” no judgement except God’s”. In 659 Ali’s forces finally moved against the Khawarij and they finally met in the Battle of Nahrawan. Although Ali won the battle, the constant conflict had begun to affect his standing.
Ali won a pyrrhic victory but could not crush this group. Two years later, on the 19th of Ramadan 661 Ali was assassinated by the Khawarij while praying in the Great Mosque of Kufa. Legend has it that Khawarij Abd-Al-Rahmad ibn Muljam attacked him with a poison coated sword that struck Ali’s head. When Ali was killed, Muawiyah was the one who had the largest army in the Muslim Empire, thus he could easily ascend to the throne and so began the rise of the Ummayad Caliphate.
The Ummayad caliphate, although strong, could never assume the same authority over its vast territory as the first Caliphate could. In Iran, the caliphate was several times challenged, which lead to forced mass-conversion of Zoroastrians in Iran. As the empire grew, the number of qualified Arab workers was too small to keep up with the rapid expansion of the empire. Therefore, Muawiya allowed many of the local government workers in conquered provinces to keep their jobs under the new Umayyad government. Thus, much of the local government’s work was recorded in Greek, Coptic and Persian. This rapid expansion has also been argued to be one of the main reason for the decline of the Ummayad Caliphate.
Plagued by continued Khawarij uprisings both in Iran and Iraq, the Khawarij outlived the declining Ummayad Caliphate as continued uprisings during the Abbasid Caliphate were still a problem.
Perhaps the greatest challenge to the authority of the caliphate occurred between 866 and 896 when the Khawarij rebelled in the districts of Mosul in the Al-Jazira province (Mesopotamia). This rebellion lasted for thirty years despite several attempts to quell it. It was not until the Caliph Al-Muatadid launched major campaigns to restore the Caliphate’s authority that the rebellion finally was defeated.
In the next part of this article series, we will examine the second wave of Takfirism, originating in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula during the 18th century.

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

Torture, Imprisonment & Killing in Bahrain

JULY 8, 2016
What Would It Take for Bahrain to be Criticised by Philip Hammond?
Bahrainis are calling their government’s intensified repression of all opposition “the Egyptian strategy”, believing that it is modelled on the ruthless campaign by the Egyptian security forces to crush even the smallest signs of dissent.
In recent weeks leading advocates of human rights in Bahrain have been jailed in conditions directed at breaking them physically and mentally, while others, already in prison, have been given longer sentences. The Bahraini citizenship of Sheikh Isa Qasim, the spiritual leader of the Shia majority in Bahrain, was revoked and the headquarters of the main opposition party, al-Wifaq, closed and its activities suspended.
Bahrain, once considered one of the more liberal Arab monarchies, is turning into a police state as vicious and arbitrary as anywhere else in the region. Mass protests demanding an end to the Sunni al-Khalifa dynasty’s monopoly of power during the Arab Spring period in 2011 were violently suppressed with Saudi military and financial help. The authorities agreed to an international investigation into what had happened that revealed widespread use of torture, unjust imprisonment and killings of protesters. Repression continued over the following five years but failed to eliminate entirely the protest movement, despite imprisoning at least 3,500 Bahrainis.
Brutalisation of these detainees has markedly increased in the past few months, a prominent example being the arrest of Nabeel Rajab, Bahrain’s leading human rights advocate. He was arrested on the 13 June on the grounds that he had made comments in the social media alleging torture in Jau prison and criticising air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. Rajab had been imprisoned for expressing dissent in the past, but this time he was placed in solitary confinement for 15 days.
Conditions in East Riffa police station, and later in West Riffa police station, to which he was transferred, appear to have been deliberately geared to break his morale, forcing him to use lavatories so filthy and infested with insects that he tried to eat very little so he would not have to visit them.
He lost 8kg in weight over 15 days in solitary confinement before he was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed as having an irregular heartbeat. His wife, Sumaya Rajaab, says the police did not allow the doctor to complete his examination before taking her husband back to same police station where he had previously been confined. “The authorities clearly intend to punish Nabeel Rajab by isolating him as if he were a dangerous criminal,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director of Human Rights Watch. Rajab faces a 13-year prison sentence when he comes to trial on Tuesday.
He is not the only victim of enhanced mistreatment by the Bahraini security forces. Dr Abdul Jalil al-Singace, another human rights activist in Bahrain, has been in Jau prison since 2011 after he was sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government in the Arab Spring protests demanding greater democracy. A polio victim who can only stand on one leg, he was nevertheless tortured at the time of his detention by beatings, sexual assault and being forced to stand upright for long periods despite his disability.
The Bahrain authorities promised improved conditions for prisoners at the time of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry in 2011, but recently his family have become worried that the Bahrain security forces are depriving him of his medications that he needs to treat his many disabilities, including post-polio syndrome. What is striking about the Bahrain government’s new campaign to suppress dissent is not only its cruelty but its pettiness such as, say Dr al-Singace’s family, depriving him of the rubber pads for his crutches.
Bahraini opposition leaders in exile say that the final decision by the authorities to systematically stamp out any remaining opposition in Bahrain was taken about two months ago. The security forces were influenced by the example of Egypt, where there are an estimated 60,000 political prisoners. Ali al-Aswad, a former opposition MP, says: “We have been told by a source that the heads of the security services have wanted to take a tougher line based on that being followed in Egypt for a year.
But the switch in Bahraini policy appears to have been triggered by a trip King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa took to Saudi Arabia. Saudi considers Bahrain to be very much within its sphere of influence and sent troops across the causeway to Bahrain in March 2011 to help end the Arab Spring protests.
The event indicating that the Egyptian model had been adopted came at the end of May when Sheikh Ali Salman, the leader of al-Wifaq opposition party, who had previously been sentenced for inciting hatred, disobedience and insulting public institutions, had his sentence increased from four to nine years. This was significant because the US and UK had been lobbying King Hamad to reduce the sentence or issue a pardon. US Secretary of State John Kerry had visited Bahrain in April and had raised the matter with the King.
It is unsurprising that Saudi Arabia should look for more aggressive action against the Shia majority in Bahrain because the island neighbours Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province where the population is also largely Shia. With Deputy Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman wielding predominant political influence in Saudi Arabia, it has become more militant in repelling what it claims is an Iranian-backed Shia offensive against the Sunni.
The Bahrain government’s crackdown on dissent has proceeded swiftly and ruthlessly over the six weeks since Sheikh Ali Salman’s sentence was more than doubled. On 14 June the authorities issued an “expedited” instruction to close down the headquarters of al-Wifaq, seize its funds and end its activities. A day earlier, Nabeel Rajab had been arrested. On 20 June the citizenship of Sheikh Isa Qasim, the Shia spiritual leader, was revoked as has already happened to 300 other Bahraini citizens. Earlier in June another advocate of peaceful dissent, Zainab a-Khawaja, had fled abroad because she had heard she was about to be rearrested.
The Bahrain authorities probably calculate that the response of the US and UK to the effective ending of political and civil rights on the island will be mild. The US Fifth Fleet is based there and the UK is extending its naval facilities there with Bahrain footing the bill. The US lifted a prohibition on arms sales to Bahrain last year which had been in place since 2011. The British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has praised the Bahraini government’s “commitment to continuing reforms” and said it was “travelling in the right direction”.
Bahrain justifies repression by saying that civil rights and political activists are proxies for Iran but the 2011 inquiry debunked this. This week the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei went out of his way to say that “the Islamic Republic of Iran will not intervene in any way in the affairs of Bahrain”. The al-Khalifa dynasty is under no threat to its existence at home or abroad, but its shift towards the Egyptian model of total repression is adding more venom to the sectarian hatreds already engulfing the region.
(Reprinted from The Independent
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When Her Lips Are Moving…




 photo hillaclin_zpse57jsnyr.jpg
[ Ed. note – the old saying–“How do you know when so-and-so is lying?” (answer: “when his lips are moving”)–seems to apply to Hillary Clinton. Mainstream media are reporting today that Bernie Sanders plans to formally endorse Clinton at an event on Tuesday of next week–that is if he can squeeze a few more concessions out of her supporters on the Democratic Party Platform Committee, including opposition to the TPP.
I wish him luck on that, but of course the party platform is not a legally-binding document, and I’m not sure a pledge of support for it issued from the moving lips of Hillary Clinton is worth much.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting on Clinton’s recently-announced support for free college tuition.
In a bid to win over rival Bernie Sanders and his supporters, Democrat Hillary Clinton is expanding her plan to offer free college tuition to millions of families, a modified version of what Mr. Sanders pushed in his presidential campaign.
The new Clinton proposal would offer free tuition at public schools to students in families earning $85,000 a year or less, at first, with that threshold increasing to $125,000 by 2021.
Sounds wonderful! Too good to be true?
Clinton has also pledged her opposition to the BDS movement, which presumably means she will support legislation at the federal level similar to that already passed by a number of states–basically penalizing those who call for a boycott of Israel. Out of the two campaign promises–support for free tuition and opposition to BDS–which do you think Clinton is more likely to keep?
I suspect a day is coming when Americans are likely to have far more to worry about than who becomes the next the president.

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Senator Richard Black : “We Have Never Done Anything More Loathsome or Despicable Than What We’re Doing in Syria.”

By Ollie Richardson for Fort Russ
9th July, 2016
Senator Richard Black and Janice Kortkamp discuss the shameful situation in Syria, where the US government is actively arming and funding Al Nusra (Al Qaeda) and “conduits” (“moderates”), blending them together, and then using this model to exterminate the Syrian population.
It should be noted that the mass media machine is seemingly losing its effect, as more and more prominent and senior figures (e.g Robert Fisk) are calling a spade a spade, or a “moderate” a terrorist. It just goes to show that you can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but never all of the people all of the time
 Video Description (published 8th July 2016): “Virginia State Senator Richard Black and Janice Kortkamp Fearing recently returned from trips to Syria — reporting on a reality far different than the lies the American people are being fed by the media. EIR’s Jeffrey Steinberg interviews both on their meetings and experiences with top officials and everyday Syrians.”
Dr. Mohammad Abdo Al-Ibrahim
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قرارنا والقدر ونصرنا المنتظر...!

رغم تدافع الأطلسيين عند بوابات وارسو…!
وملامسة الشيطان الأكبر للأمن القومي الصيني على أسوار الكوريتين…!
ورغم التكاذب المشترك بين القوتين العظميين حول ما بات يُعرَف بالتفاهمات الأميركية الروسية حول سورية…!
فإنّ العارفين بخفايا الأمور في مطابخ صنع القرار المقاوم يجزمون القول:
لا مكان للضعف، لا مكان للهوان، لا مكان للتردّد، لا مكان للجدال، لا مكان للذلّ.
ونحن هم مَن سيرسم الطريق للفتح المبين ونحن هم من سيغيّر القدر.
لن ننتظر أحداً، ولن ننتظر إجماعاً، ولن ننتظر حتى وحدة الأمة، ولن ننتظر غطاء غير غطاء رب الأرض والسماء، قرارنا هو الحسم، والحسم في كلّ الملفات من إيران الثورة الى يمن الصمود الى عراق الحشد الى بحرين الشعب الى شام الأسد الى لبنان المقاومة الى فلسطين الانتفاضة…
من التحق بنا نجَ…
ومن لم يلتحق لم يبلغ الفتح…
هي السنن الكونية ومن لا يصدّق،
فليقرأ القرآن وسيرة الأنبياء والرسل.
متى انتصر أصحاب الحق وهم كثرة!؟
ومتى كانت الأغلبية معياراً للنصر أو العزة..!؟
أكثرهم لا يعقلون، أكثرهم لا يعلمون، أكثرهم فاسقون، أكثرهم يجهلون،
أكثرهم للحق كارهون….
أليست هذه هي لغة الوحي المنزل…؟
لن ننتظر «شيلكوت» عربي، حتى يُخبرنا عن حماقة وتآمر وتواطؤ حكام الوطن العربي ضدّ فلسطين ولبنان والعراق وليبيا واليمن أو لينصف البحرين…!
لكننا نقرأ جيداً كم هي بائسة أسوأ الأزمنة التي نمرّ بها وبجوارنا في كلّ مدينة وبلدة كثرة من أصحاب القلم من الكتبة المصفّقين والانتهازيين والوصوليين والمداحين والمرائين والمثبطين والمرجفين في المدينة وإلخ…
ومثلهم من رجال دين ومسؤولين وسياسيين وموظفين ومَن هم محسوبون من الناس أجمعين، إلا من رحم ربي…!
ومع ذلك وحتى في أحسن الأزمنة، يوم كانت البشرية على اتصال مباشر بالوحي، فقد حاولت هذه الكثرة صدّ الرسل عن اتخاذ القرار السليم بالترهيب أو بالترغيب:
ويوم حنين إذ أعجبتكم كثرتكم…!
الذين قال لهم الناس إنّ الناس قد جمعوا لكم فاخشوهم…!
ولولا أنّ ثبتناك لكدت تركن اليهم شيئاً قليلاً…!
وإن كادوا ليفتنونك عن الذي أوحينا اليك…!
مقابل ماذا..!؟
وما آمن معه إلا قليل..!
وقليل من عبادي الشكور..!
إنهم فتية آمنوا بربهم فزدناهم هدى…!
هؤلاء بالذات هم الذين قلبوا الموازين وغيّروا القدر:
كم من فئة قليلة غلبت فئة كثيرة بإذن الله..!
إن يكن منكم عشرون صابرون يغلبوا مئتين..!
ولكن معركة التثبيت والثبات تحتاج دوماً الى قرار الحسم والعزم الراسخ:
قالوا لا طاقة لنا اليوم بجالوت وجنوده…!
فأجابتهم السنن الكونية:
وقتل داوود جالوت…!
معنى ذلك أنّ رجلاً واحداً قد يكون هو الحلّ عندما يتخذ القرار السليم الذي بإمكانه أن يسقط امبراطورية ويطيح بعرشها ومَن عليه…!
إنه قرار القيادة العليا في محور المقاومة بالمضيّ قدماً في المضي، قدماً في محاربة الإرهاب والإرهابيين ومن يدعمهم بالسلاح والمال والرعاع، وأننا نحن مَن سيربح هذه الحرب لا محالة…
ولن يستطيع أحد، أيّ أحد، أن يلوي ذراعنا…
ولن تكون نهاية هذه المعركة الطويلة إلا بإعلان النصر الاستراتيجي الكبير…
إن ينصركم الله فلا غالب لكم…
اللهم ثبتنا على دينك ما أحييتنا…
اللهم اجعلنا من جندك فإنّ جندك هم الغالبون،
اللهم اجعلنا من حزبك، فإنّ حزبك هم المفلحون،
اللهم وابقنا مع سيّد المقاومة ناصرين صابرين محتسبين ولقدوم الأمل الآتي مستنفرين، على الزناد قابضين…!
بعدنا طيّبين قولوا الله.
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 the Blog!

Syrian Army Regains Maidaa in Eastern Gouta, Advances in Aleppo, Truce Extended for Another 72 Hours

Syrian Army Regains Maidaa in Eastern Gouta, Advances in Aleppo
Syrian ArmyThe Syrian army managed on Saturday to regain control over Maidaa town in Eastern Gouta in Damascus countryside, blocking a key support route used by the terrorist groups in the area.
The Syrian army also pressed the terrorist groups in Aleppo northern countryside, advancing in Lairamoun city which lies in the vicinity of the Castello highway.
A number of Nusra Front (Qaeda branch in the Levant) terrorists were killed by the Syrian army that ambushed them in Daraa northern countryside.

Source: Al-Manar Website
09-07-2016 – 16:10 Last updated 09-07-2016 – 16:10

Truce Extended for Another 72 Hours: Syrian Army

General Command of the Syrian Army
The General Command of the Army and Armed Forces announced in a statement on Saturday that the truce enforced in the past two days has been extended for another 72 hours from 1:00 am on July 9 to midnight on July 12.
The truce applied on July 6, which covered all the Syrian territory, lasted from 1:00 am on Wednesday until Friday midnight.

هجمات تكتيكية في «الكاستيلو» تقلب المشهد السوري

حلب: هل تسقط معادلة اللاانتصار؟

خريطة تظهر التقاء القوات وقطع طريق الكاستيلو (الاعلام الحربي)

غزاة حلب الاتراك والسلفيون في قبضة الجيش السوري والمقاومة. الحرب من اجل حصار الخندق الشمالي للبر السوري، واختراق جداره الاول، فشلت، ومن حاول حصار حلب، سيكون محاصرا فيها خلال ساعات.
ساعات او ايام قليلة ربما كي تذهب المعركة السورية الكبرى، نحو منعطف «تاريخي» لم تشهد مثيلا له منذ الغزوة التركية الاخوانية والسلفية لحلب في ١٩ تموز العام 2012. وسيكون لكل خطوة من خطوات جنود وضباط الجيش السوري من قوات النمر سهيل الحسن نحو الكاستيلو معانٍ سياسية واستراتيجية، ستقلب المشهد السوري، اولها تعرض امتناع الانتصار او الحسم العسكري، الذي رافق الحرب السورية في كل منعطفاتها، الى الاهتزاز، خصوصا ان العملية اصابت بالشلل اميركيين واتراكا وسعوديين.

وعندما تبدأ قوات النمر سهيل الحسن بقطع الـ٢٥٠ مترا الاخيرة التي كانت لا تزال تفصل ليلا وحدات الاقتحام عن الكاستيلو، خلال الساعات المقبلة، سيكون الشمال السوري على موعد مع هزيمة مشروع محاصرة الاتراك والاميركيين والسعوديين لحلب، وسقوط ارتهان العاصمة الاقتصادية السورية، التي نهبها الاتراك، للخطوط الحمراء الاقليمية، التي يمكن القول، انها تسقط، مع وصول جنود النمر الى الضفة الجنوبية، للكاستيلو.

معركة حصار حلب بدأت. المعركة تستهدف ابعد من السيطرة بالنار، الى الامساك بالارض. السيطرة بالنار، لا يمكن مقايضتها سياسيا في اي مفاوضات، والهدنات، والضغوط السياسية المنتظرة، تفقد ورقة الحصار «بالنار» ميزتها والفائدة منها، الا خلال المعارك. وفي كل حالات الحصار بالنار، كانت الهدنة تتكفل بعودة المجموعات المسلحة الى تذخير قواتها، وفتح طرق الامداد سياسيا، اميركيا بشكل خاص او امميا. الاصرار على الحصار على الارض، واغلاق ابواب الكاستيلو، بريا، سيكون له مغزى استراتيجي حقيقي. وخلال الساعات المقبلة، تبدأ قوات سورية – لبنانية، هجوما من ثلاثة محاور، لحماية ظهير الوحدات التي ستمسك بالكاستيلو: من الملاح الجنوبية نحو ضهرة عبد ربه المشرفة على الكاستيلو، فيما تنطلق قوات من جمعية الزهراء جنوب غرب المزارع باتجاه معامل الليرمون، لمنع من فيها من قنص الوحدات الراجلة في طريق الكاستيلو، كما تنطلق مجموعات اخرى، الارجح ان تكون من «حزب الله»، من قلب المدينة في الغرب، نحو حي بني زيد، بمنع من فيه من مؤزارة مجموعات الليرمون.

عناصر عدة ساهمت في صنع الانتصار الحلبي، في توليفة من التكتيكات العسكرية، ووضوح القرار السياسي الروسي والعسكري وسقوط اوهام الهدنة واتضاح لا واقعية المطالبة بفصل «جبهة النصرة»، والتوقيت الذي تزامن مع التقارب التركي الروسي، وعودة التنسيق بين الحلفاء الى المستوى المناسب، ووصول الرهان على تسوية سياسية مع الولايات المتحدة الى نهاية المطاف، ودخول الادارة الاميركية في خدر دبلوماسي مع اقتراب الانتخابات في تشرين الثاني المقبل، وفشل تجربة الهدنة – الخديعة التي انتهزتها المجموعات المسلحة من اجل توجيه ضربات للمقاومة والايرانيين والجيش السوري في ارياف حلب، والذهاب الى حد التفكير بفرض حصار على الجيش السوري والمقاومة في حلب.
ويعود الفضل في انتصار حلب الى جنود وضباط سهيل الحسن، الضابط القادم من وحدات المشاة عندما فرض تكتيكاته صحيفة البناء اللبنانية ..... العقيد سهيل الحسن " النمر " هو رجل المهمات الصعبةالتي نجحت في الخريف، باختراق حصار كويرس، بسهم طولي في قلب منطقة تحاصرها على الميمنة والميسرة قوات «داعش»، للوصول الى المطار وتحرير ١٢٠٠ من القوات التي صمدت ما يقارب الاعوام الثلاثة، وهي حرب رجحت كفتها للجيش، بفضل خبرة الحسن، والاعتماد بشكل واسع على قوات الاقتحام الراجلة، والالتحام في معارك مباشرة، رجلا في مواجهة رجل في مواقع كثيرة. التكتيك ساهم بتحييد وتقييد صواريخ التاو، التي كانت تعطل هجمات المدرعات في المعارك الاخرى. اجبرت موجات الراجمات «يو ار ٨٣» الروسية، مقاتلي «الجبهة الشامية» و«النصرة» و «الزنكي» و «استقم كما امرت»، على الخروج من تحصيناتهم وخنادقهم. فقد اطلقت الراجمات الاف الخراطيم والكابلات المحشوة بالمتفجرات في مدى الـ٣٠٠ الى ٥٠٠ متر التي تتيحها لتدمير خطوط التحصين والانفاق والخنادق التي امضوا الاعوام الماضية في اعدادها وتجهيزها، وسقطت بسرعة نسبيا في موجات هجوم المشاة، حيث اجبروا المتحصنين بها على الخروج للقتال وجها لوجه مع المهاجمين.

«عاصفة السوخوي» السياسية والعسكرية العائدة فعلا، لعبت دورها ايضا. عسكريا لم تتوقف «السوخوي» الروسية عن احراق الارض والسماء تحت وفوق المقاتلين. الحرب المتصلة وتكتيكاتها، والهجوم الذي لا ينقطع لانهاك الخصم، ادى الى خلخلة خطوط الدفاع في مزارع الملاح الشمالية والجنوبية. الهجوم بدأ بعمليات قصف جوي لم تنقطع منذ مطلع حزيران، شبيهة بـ «عاصفة السوخوي» في الخريف الماضي، حرمان الخصم من اي استراحة، تسمح له باستقدام تعزيرات او اعادة بناء قوته، او معداته، بمواصلة الضربات من دون توقف، ادت الى انهيار خطوط دفاع المقاتلين. الروس لجأوا الى غرفة عمليات في حلب، على ارض المعركة، القصف قادته بشكل مباشر طائرات الاستطلاع التي لاحقت المسلحين في تحركاتهم، لم تترك فاصلا زمنيا لتجمعاتهم لتغيير مواقعها، «السوخوي» شنت في الاسبوع الاخير اكثر من الفي غارة على خطوط الملاح الجنوبية، وحدها.

التوقيت والتزامن مع التقارب التركي – الروسي لعبا دورا نسبيا. ليس عادلا، والاهم انه ليس صحيحا قبول تفسير الانتصار «بغض نظر تركي» عن تقدم القوات السورية في المنطقة. اولا لان الاتراك لم يمتنعوا رغم التقارب والاعتذار من الروس، من ارسال مجموعات تتبع مباشرة لمخابراتهم، لمهاجمة المنطقة الاكثر حساسية وتحديا للروس في جبهات ريف اللاذقية، لا سيما كنسبا التي تعد خط الدفاع عن قاعدة حميميم.

الارجح ان التوقيت يوافق تراجعا تركيا سياسيا، وان لجوء الاتراك، بعد عملية اللاذقية، الى تصعيد اخر في جبهة حلب، وامداد المعارضة بمجموعات جديدة، قد يعد استفزازا للروس، يتناقض مع سياسة التقارب. لكن لا كثافة الغارات، ولا فتح جبهات في اكثر من منطقة، ولا قطع خطوط الامداد، والحرب المتصلة التي لم تتوقف غاراتها، كانت ستسمح للاتراك باي عملية امداد، فضلا عن خطر الاصطدام مجددا بالروس. كما ان المجموعات المسلحة كانت قد حصلت منذ اذار في هذه المنطقة على الفي طن من المساعدات الاميركية السعودية، تساعدها على خوض اطول المعارك. لذا لا فضل تركيا في الانتصار.

ويتزامن ذلك ايضا، مع ضيق هامش الادارة الاميركية للتدخل في الشمال السوري، بعد انخراطها في معركة كردية – داعشية حول منبج، واضافة جبهات اخرى الى هذه الجبهة التي تنزلق نحو استنزاف مفتوح، خصوصا ان الرئيس باراك اوباما غير راغب بالتورط في حرب في نهاية عهده. وفي هذا الاطار، لم تستطع محادثة بوتين – اوباما الهاتفية الاربعاء الماضي، ان تفرض اي هدنة لتعطيل الهجوم. ولكن المآل الاخير ان اي تفاهم لم يقع، واكتفى الطرفان بالحد الادنى من اعلان الاتفاق على عمليات مشتركة، لن ترى النور. اذ من المعروف ان وزير الدفاع اشتون كارتر، وقائد اركان الجيوش الاميركية الجنرال جوزف دانفورد، يعارضان اي تنسيق عسكري او تبادل معلومات مع الروس، وهو خط تم تعزيزه منذ بداية الازمة، والانخراط الروسي في سوريا.

وقتل ما لا يقل عن 25 شخصاً في قصف الجماعات المسلّحة لمناطق خاضعة لسيطرة الحكومة في مدينة حلب أمس، في اليوم الأخير من تهدئة أعلنها الجيش السوري لمدة ثلاثة أيام، بحسب ما أعلن «المرصد السوري».
ووفقاً لـ«المرصد»، قتل 23 شخصاً بغارات جوية على ضفة نهر في بلدة دركوش غرب إدلب قرب الحدود التركية.

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