VICE - Argentina Prosecutor Who Accused Kirchner Had Steady Contact With US Embassy, Leaked Cables Show

Argentina Prosecutor Who Accused Kirchner Had Steady Contact With US Embassy, Leaked Cables Show By Gaston Cavanagh January 31, 2015 | 7:40 am Alberto Nisman, the prosecutor who accused Argentina's president of a cover-up plot over the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center before being found shot to death, met repeatedly with the US embassy in Buenos Aires during his investigation, leaked diplomatic cables show. Nisman gave US officials advanced notice on his procedural moves and was apparently coached by the embassy in "improving" his requests for arrest warrants for Iranians that Nisman suspected of carrying out the deadly attack against the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association, or AIMA, according to cables published by Wikileaks. "Embassy can now more logically approach the [government of Argentina] about [its] anticipated next steps and ways we might be able to coordinate outreach to other governments [...] to bring attention to the warrants and pressure to bear on Iran and Hezbollah," says one US cable dated November 1, 2006, after a meeting with Nisman. The revelations are adding fodder to the entangled scandal over the AIMA center bombing, Nisman's mysterious death, and the reactions of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her government loyalists. The president and her supporters have piled doubt on Nisman's investigation, suggesting he didn't himself write the inquiry accusing Kirchner of a cover-up deal with Iran, and that he was influenced by foreign agents in his claims. Kirchner said this week that Nisman was manipulated and double-crossed by government spies plotting against her.     'We know this was not your decision. We are sure that this was made by others.' Nisman on January 16 told VICE News he had proof that Kirchner sought a back-channel deal with Iran — swapping Iranian oil for Argentine grain — in exchange for abandoning efforts to prosecute former Iranian diplomats in connection to the Jewish center bombing. Eight-five people were killed in the terror attack, which remains unsolved. Survivors and opposition forces are now blaming Kirchner's government for Nisman's death. Nisman was buried at a Jewish cemetery in Buenos Aires on Thursday. His ex-wife, the judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado, directed herself to Nisman during the funeral, saying: "We know this was not your decision. We are sure that this was made by others." Days before dying, prosecutor accusing Argentina's president of cover-up told us his 'proof is strong.' Read more here. The prosecutor, who was found dead the night before making his blockbuster claim against Kirchner and her foreign minister in Argentina's Congress, is mentioned in 46 leaked US cables. In the cable from November 2006, Nisman informed US officials of the likelihood that a judge would follow his recommendations to seek charges against Iranian suspects for the bombing. American embassy officials discussed plans to inform "other governments" ahead of time, in an apparent push to make the case against the Iranians an international matter. Another cable, dated January 19, 2007, suggests the US embassy had a hand in shaping Nisman's warrant requests with Interpol, the international diplomatic police force. The cable shows US officials thought Nisman's work was shoddy and needed help. Before the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs intervened in the warrant applications, the cable says, Nisman's paperwork contained "statements that were presumptuous conclusions of guilt." Nisman took on the case of the AIMA center bombing in 2004, at the request of the then-President Nestor Kirchner, Cristina Fernandez's late husband. In his interview with VICE News — perhaps his last with a foreign news organization — Nisman denied connections with any foreign spy agencies. "You won't find reports from the CIA, Mossad, or the MI5 in my files. I have no doubt that there is a link between them and the Argentine intelligence agency, but I never dealt with any foreign intelligence agencies," Nisman said, two days before he was found dead. The US embassy in Buenos Aires declined to discuss its officers' interactions with Nisman. "We will not comment on the contents of these alleged cables that purport to include classified information," an embassy spokesman told VICE News. The relationship was apparently so involved that Nisman apologized for not letting then-ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne know that he would call for the arrest of former president Carlos Menem in relation to the case. "AMIA Special Prosecutor Alberto Nisman called the Ambassador on May 23 to apologize for not giving the Embassy advance notice of his request for the arrest of former President Menem and other [government of Argentina] officials for their alleged roles in the cover up of the 'local connection' in the 1994 terrorist bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center," says a cable from May 2008. The prosecutor also apologized that the judicial order coincided with a visit to Argentina from the former deputy director of the FBI, John Pistole, adding it was "completely unintentional," the cable shows. "He noted that he was very sorry and that he sincerely appreciates all of the [US government's] help and support and in no way meant to undermine that," the cable continues. The cable also notes that US officials "have for the past two years recommended to Nisman that he focus on the perpetrators of the terrorist attack and not on the possible mishandling of the first investigation." Santiago O'Donnell, author of two books based on the cables released by Julian Assange, said in an interview that the leaked cables show the US influenced Nisman throughout his work on the AIMA bombing investigation. "The embassy gave instructions to the prosecutor Nisman for him to follow the Iranian lead, and not follow other leads, like the Syrian lead, or the local connection, because that would detract from the terrorist image that the US was trying to impose on Iran," O'Donnell said. President Kirchner this week proposed in a nationally televised address to disband and reform the government's intelligence agency. In doing so, she said rogue government spies were responsible for Nisman's death. Opposition voices, meanwhile, said the reform plan for the Secretaría de Inteligencia, or SI, would further politicize the work of the embattled spy agency and make it more responsive to the president's political whims. https://news.vice.com/article/argentina-prosecutor-who-accused-kirchner-had-steady-contact-with-us-embassy-leaked-cables-show COMMENT I'm all Googled out right now, but I thought I'd quickly post this. Not quite sure what to make of it.

Lebanon & Israel - International Concern vs Business as Usual

LEBANON International Community Greatly Concerned after Nasrallah's Speech, Warns of 'Catastrophic' Outcomes by Naharnet Newsdesk 6 hours ago Lebanese officials received warnings from foreign countries over attempts to drag Lebanon into a new confrontation with Israel despite Prime Minister Tammam Salam's moderate stance from the latest developments along the border. According to An Nahar newspaper published on Saturday, U.S. and French officials contacted several ministers to stand on the cabinet's stance from Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's speech. Nasrallah declared on Friday that the party no longer recognizes the rules of engagement with Israel, saying that it has the right to respond to an Israeli attack in any way or time it deems fit. Ministerial sources said that Salam's moderate position from Hizbullah attack on Israeli troops in the occupied Shebaa Farms on Wednesday should have been met with the same tone by Nasrallah. The sources considered that Nasrallah's speech could further deteriorate the situation. Concerned sources reportedly received warnings from foreign countries on attempts to drag Lebanon into a catastrophic confrontation that will impact its security and economy. Salam had stressed that Lebanon is committed to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 after the Shebaa operation, urging the international community to rein in the hostile intentions of Israel, which is gambling with the security and stability of the region. The prime minister also stressed that “Lebanon stands united behind the legitimate armed forces that are tasked with defending its land, security, and people.” Two Israeli soldiers were killed and seven wounded on Wednesday in a Hizbullah attack on a military convoy in the occupied Shebaa Farms. [This followed Israeli attack on Hezbollah, that killed several - ie Quneitra, mentioned below.] The attack prompted Israel to shell areas in southern Lebanon in a significant escalation along the volatile border. Hizbullah said in its claim of responsibility that it targeted several vehicles transporting officers and soldiers with missiles to avenge the Israeli raid on Syria's Quneitra that killed six of its fighters and a top Iranian general. Meanwhile, al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Saturday Salam will head to Germany next week to take party in Munich Security Conference. The premier's visit to Germany compelled the cabinet to hold its session on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. instead of Thursday. http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/165552-international-community-greatly-concerned-after-nasrallah-s-speech-warns-of-catastrophic-outcomes ISRAEL Liberman calls for 'harsh and disproportionate' response to Hezbollah attack Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman called Wednesday for a "harsh and disproportionate response" to a multi-pronged Hezbollah attack that injured several IDF soldiers on Wednesday. Speaking during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing, Liberman said that China or the US would respond in such a disproportionate manner to an attack against its sovereign territory. http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Liberman-calls-for-harsh-and-disproportionate-response-to-Hezbollah-attack-389278 COMMENT Liberman says 'sovereign territory', while Lebanon says 'occupied Shebaa Farms'. Lebanon gets international pressure (including USA & France) regarding Hezbollah Secretary General's speech. Taking a guess, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman's call for a "harsh and DISPROPORTIONATE response" from Israel (who initiated the latest hostilities, as I understand), has gone unnoticed.

Argentina - Alberto Nisman - Laboratory Analysis - Nisman DNA Only

LAHT Article Argentine Probe Finds Only Prosecutor’s DNA on Gun BUENOS AIRES – The only DNA found on the gun that killed Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman belonged to the deceased, the person directing the investigation said Friday. Nisman was found fatally shot on Jan. 18, hours before he was supposed to brief Argentina’s Congress about his accusations that President Cristina Fernandez and other officials sought to conceal the involvement of Iran in a deadly 1994 terrorist attack targeting a Jewish organization in Buenos Aires. The prosecutor died of a single shot to the temple, fired at point-blank range from a .22-caliber pistol that was found under his body in the bathroom of his apartment. Nisman, who had a 10-person police security detail, borrowed the gun from a colleague. Laboratory analysis determined “categorically” that all of the DNA found on the gun, ammunition cartridge, bullets and shell-casings belonged to Nisman, prosecutor Viviana Fein said Friday in a statement. At the time of his death, Nisman was seeking to indict Fernandez, Foreign Minister Hector Timerman and five other people in connection with his probe of the car-bomb attack that left 85 dead at the offices of the Jewish organization AMIA. Investigators have labeled the case a “suspicious death.” Fein said her office’s technical staff have informed her that the stairways of Nisman’s apartment building do not have security cameras, while the camera mounted in the elevator was out of service the day of the prosecutor’s death.  [Gee, that was handy.] She said she took statements on Friday from the people who manage the computer network in the office of the special prosecutor for the AMIA case. Nisman, 51, was laid to rest Thursday at a Jewish cemetery on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. The Argentine government rejected on Friday a U.S. lawmaker’s call for an international enquiry into Nisman’s death.   [International inquiry?  US lawmaker call?  Something's going on here.] Argentina “is an autonomous and independent country,” Cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich said during his daily press briefing, calling Sen. Marco Rubio’s proposal the expression of an “imperial vision” that “ignores the principal of national self-determination.” Rubio, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs, sent a letter Thursday to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, saying that he was “deeply concerned about the ability of the government of Argentina to conduct a fair and impartial investigation.” The senator’s call for an international investigation is an “unwarranted intrusion appropriate to an imperial attitude that represents the most recalcitrant Republican right,” Capitanich said. The charges against Fernandez and Timerman were based on intercepts of telephone conversations about efforts “to erase Iran from the AMIA case,” Nisman’s office said Jan. 14 in a statement. The government wanted to eliminate any obstacle to forging closer trade and economic ties with Tehran, the prosecutor said. Timerman – himself a member of Argentina’s Jewish community – reacted angrily to the accusations, labeling Nisman a liar and saying that the prosecutor allowed himself to be unduly influenced by Jaime Stiuso, recently fired as chief of operations for the intelligence service. Many in the Argentine Jewish community believe the AMIA bombing was ordered by Iran and carried out by Tehran’s Hezbollah allies. Both the Iranian government and the Lebanese militia group deny any involvement and some have pointed out that the accusation relies heavily on information provided by the CIA and Israel’s Mossad spy agency, both with an interest in blackening the reputation of Tehran. [Note:  CIA & Mossad assassination of Imad Mugniyah claim.] [ . . . ] EXTRACT ONLY - FULL @ SOURCE http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2371997&CategoryId=14093 SENATOR MARCO RUBIO Marco Rubio Roman Catholicism Parents = Cubans who had immigrated to USA 1956 Pedro Victor Garcia (maternal grandfather) immigrated legally to the US in 1956 returned to Cuba to find work in 1959 On returning to USA in 1962 without a visa, US embassies in Cuba being closed, an immigration judge ordered him deported. US immigration authorities = used discretion to allow him to remain in the US without a visa. "In 2012, The Associated Press concluded that Garcia might have been undocumented for four years, from 1962 to 1966." "His parents left Cuba in 1956, during the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista." "Rubio's previous statements that his parents were forced to leave Cuba in 1959, after Fidel Castro came to power, were incorrect." "The real essence of my family's story is not about the date my parents first entered the United States. Or whether they traveled back and forth between the two nations. Or even the date they left Fidel Castro's Cuba forever and permanently settled here. The essence of my family story is why they came to America in the first place; and why they had to stay." "According to The Washington Post, Rubio's "embellishments" resonated with many voters in Florida, who would not be as impressed by his family being economic migrants seeking a better life in the U.S. instead of political refugees from a communist regime." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Rubio While studying law, Rubio interned for US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Ileana Ros y Adato was born in Havana, Cuba. Ros-Lehtinen was raised Catholic and is now an Episcopalian. Ros-Lehtinen's maternal grandparents were Sephardic Jews, originally from the Ottoman Empire, who had been active in Cuba's Jewish community. Ros-Lehtinen supported President George W. Bush's surge policy in Iraq, a supporter of Israel and supports continued sanctions against Cuba. Ros-Lehtinen opposes US support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and the Palestinian Authority. She describes herself as a "strong supporter of Israel" and regards the US relationship with Israel as "critical to the national security interests of both nations". Ros-Lehtinen has stirred controversy by calling for the assassination of Cuban Leader Fidel Castro. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ileana_Ros-Lehtinen In 2014 Rubio asked Pope Francis "to take up the cause of freedom and democracy" in Cuba after helping negotiate the release of Alan Gross. COMMENT Didn't expect investigations to come up with anything. How's the elevator camera being conveniently out of order? Washington Post, Newsweek and others are running a story on the CIA and Mossad assassination of Imad Mugniyah: Newsweek story re: Imad Mugniyah http://www.newsweek.com/imad-mugniyah-cia-mossad-303483 Mugniyah is allegedly the Hezbollah criminal 'super-villain' who is accused of committing the AMIA bombing and a host of other attacks, including attacks on US military and the 1992 Israeli Embassy bombing in Argentina. The Newsweek story is based on US intelligence sources: "according to former U.S. intelligence officials interviewed by Newsweek" While this is interesting and topical, in that (a) Imad Mugniyah's son was killed in a recent Israeli attack and (b) AMIA bombing Prosecutor Alberto Nisman has mysteriously been bumped off in Argentina, it is also interesting from the perspective that CIA and Mossad cooperation is in the media now, coming from former US intelligence sources.  The current media spotlight on this may serve to reinforce the alleged Hezbollah and AMIA link  and, under the circumstances (father and son side-by-side burial, both killed), could perhaps also be seen as waving a red flag to a bull, trying to maybe provoke a Hezbollah reaction -- ie baiting Hezbollah.  Either that, or I'm reading way too much into these affairs. It's also interesting that USA's Marco Rubio is simultaneously trying to get some mileage out of the Nisman development in Argentina, by taking the Nisman affair out of Argentina.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah - Right to Repel Aggression

Al Masdar News Article Nasrallah: Resistance has right to repel any aggression By Leith Fadel on January 31, 2015 Middle East Beirut, SANA-The Israeli enemy must understand that resistance will no longer heed the “rules of engagement” as it is its ethical and legal right to repel any aggression, Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said. Nasrallah’s strident message came during a festival held Friday in honor of the resistance martyrs in Quneitra. “From now on, when a fighter from resistance is assassinated, the Israeli enemy will be held responsible and thus resistance will have the right to respond wherever and whenever it sees fit, and it whichever way it deems appropriate,” he added. Nasrallah indicated that resistance “had not had second thoughts about the necessity of retaliation, even if things went to extremes.” Nasrallah pointed to a state of confusion in Israel following the assassination of resistance fighters which, he said, prompted it to declare a state of emergency and to send threats via different countries. “The resistance operation happened in broad daylight and came at the height of the Israeli alert, leaving Israel at a loss as to what really happened,” he said. “Unlike Israel,” Nasrallah went on to say,” resistance claimed responsibility for the retaliatory operation soon after it was carried out.” Hezbollah’s Secretary-General considered that Israel is manipulating the situation in Syria in the worst possible way to suit its own interests, highlighting the support it provides for takfiri terrorist organizations. http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/nasrallah-resistance-right-repel-aggression/ COMMENT Sounds like Hezbollah are still angry and they intend to respond with aggression to any Israeli aggression.

Joint Mossad & CIA operation Killed Imad Mughniyeh

TIMES OF ISRAEL ARTICLE ‘Imad Mughniyeh killed in joint Mossad, CIA operation’ US operatives were on the ground, but the bomb was triggered in Tel Aviv, according to The Washington Post By Times of Israel staff January 31, 2015, 8:27 am Imad Mughniyeh, the senior Hezbollah commander who died in a bomb blast in Damascus on February 12, 2008, was reportedly assassinated in a joint Mossad-CIA operation that required approval from former president George W. Bush. The US built the bomb and had CIA spotters on the ground in the Syrian capital tailing Mughniyeh, but the explosion that killed him was triggered remotely from Israel, according to a report in The Washington Post late Friday. [Find that hard to believe.] “The way it was set up, the US could object and call it off, but it could not execute,” a former US intelligence official told the newspaper, adding that the CIA tested the bomb to ensure a contained blast that would cause no collateral damage. The US official said it was important for Israel to be the one to pull the trigger that killed Mughniyeh. “It was revenge,” he said. Mughniyeh, Hezbollah’s international operations chief, was implicated in some of the terror group’s major attacks including the 1992 bombing at the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, and the 1994 bombing of the AMIA building in the Argentinian capital, in which 85 were killed. The senior Hezbollah official was also involved in the 1983 bombing at the US embassy in Beirut, the killing in 1994 of the CIA’s Lebanon chief William F. Buckly and the 1996 bombing at the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. In the years after the US invasion if Iraq, Mughniyeh was responsible for the arming and training of Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq who carried out deadly attacks on American troops — all of which put him at the top of the US’s wanted list. The Bush administration regarded Hezbollah, and Mughniyeh, as a top threat to the US, according to the report. “There was an open license to find, fix and finish Mughniyeh and anybody affiliated with him,” a former US official who was stationed in Baghdad told The Washington Post. In a 2007 speech, Bush singled out Syria and Iran, Hezbollah’s backers and closest allies “These two regimes are allowing terrorists and insurgents to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq. Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops. We will disrupt the attacks on our forces. We will interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria. And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq,” he vowed. Nevertheless, the CIA had get to special approval from Bush to carry out the operation to kill Mughniyeh with the US attorney general, the director of national intelligence, the national security adviser and the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department all signing off on the plan. One former intelligence official said getting the authorization was a “rigorous and tedious” process. Intelligence officials had to show that he, and Hezbollah were a continuing threat to the US. “The decision was we had to have absolute confirmation that it was self-defense,” was former US intelligence official was quoted as saying. “All I can say is that as long as he drew breath, he was a threat, whether in Lebanon, Iraq or anywhere else. He was a very intelligent, dedicated, effective operator on the black side,” former US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan C. Crocker, told the paper. http://www.timesofisrael.com/imad-mughniyeh-killed-in-joint-mossad-cia-operation/ COMMENT Getting various US departments to sign off on an assassination still makes it an assassination by USA, which is an extra-judicial killing, I believe. Find it hard to believe that guy was responsible for everything they claim he was responsible for, like he's some Middle Eastern super-villain. Assassinated at the flick of a switch from Tel Aviv just doesn't sound credible.  Whoever flicked that switch was there, I reckon.

What went down in 1956?

What went down in 1956? Image Source:  Google News On the very day this article was hinting at the West 'reluctantly' arming Israel: July 4 – The first Lockheed U-2 spy plane flight over the Soviet Union. [Wikipedia] Image Source:  projectswordtoys.blogspot.com July 30, some weeks ahead of 'The Ten Commandments' (October 5th) première, pious USA claims 'god' and godliness as their own: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a Congress resolution, authorizing "In God we trust" as the national motto. Judging by the American stockpile of nuclear weapons, the motto should be:  "In Nukes We Trust."  While trusting in this nukes 'god', the Americans were nonetheless spying on 'the Reds' and innocently batting their eyes, feigning disinterest in the supply of weapons to Israel or promoting an arms race in the Middle East.  Source - Wikipedia Yet the 1955 figure for nuclear weapons stockpiles shows that the Americans were already running a crazy nukes arms race of their own  . . .  so what do you suppose might have been the real the likelihood of the Yanks and their Western allies shying away from a Middle Eastern arms race, particularly when they considered their ruling elite's interests were threatened, as in 1956? The Herald-Journal article above, just doesn't ring true when you consider the events of the day. C'mon, the West would have been arming Israel without any qualms (and whoever else may have served the interests of Western elites in the region), yet the West is portrayed as 'reluctant', while the scare of 'Red weapons' in Egypt (and the spectre of the 'official enemy') is raised as the focal point, taking the glare off the real agenda:  preservation of Western imperialist interests. The following is a cool list of 1956 events pulled (selectively) from the Wikipedia entry: January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. Between 1899 & 1956 Egyptian-British rule, but in practice British rule. January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. missionaries Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming are killed for trespassing by the Waodani of Ecuador shortly after making contact with them. January 16 – Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser vows to reconquer Palestine. February 11 – British spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean resurface in the Soviet Union after being missing for 5 years. CAMBRIDGE FIVE February 24 – Doris Day records her most famous song: Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be) February 25 – Nikita Khrushchev attacks the veneration of Joseph Stalin as a "cult of personality". May 8 – The constitutional union between Indonesia and the Netherlands is dissolved. June 5 – Elvis Presley performs "Hound Dog", on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements. June 23 – Gamal Abdel Nasser becomes the 2nd president of Egypt. July 4 – The first Lockheed U-2 spy plane flight over the Soviet Union. July 10 – The British House of Lords defeats the abolition of the death penalty. July 26 – Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal sparking international condemnation. September 13 – The hard disk drive is invented by an IBM team led by Reynold B. Johnson. September 16 – Television broadcasting commences in Australia. September 25 – The submarine transatlantic telephone cable opens. October 5 – Cecil B. DeMille's epic film The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston as Moses, is released in the United States. It will be in the top ten of the worldwide list of highest-grossing films of all time adjusted for inflation. October 17 - The world's first commercial nuclear power plant is opened at Calder Hall in England. October 22 – Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom, France, and Israel secretly meet in and make plans to invade Egypt. October 23 – Hungarian Revolution breaks out against the pro-Soviet government, originating as a student demonstration in Budapest. Hungary attempts to leave the Warsaw Pact. October 26 – Red Army troops invade Hungary. October 29 – Suez Crisis: Israel invades the Sinai Peninsula and pushes Egyptian forces back toward the Suez Canal. October 31 – Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom and France begin bombing Egypt to force the reopening of the Suez Canal. November 4 – 1956 Hungarian Revolution: More Soviet troops invade Hungary to crush a revolt that started on October 23. Thousands are killed, more are wounded, and nearly a quarter million leave the country. November 7 – Suez Crisis: The United Nations General Assembly [UNGA] adopts a resolution calling for the United Kingdom, France, and Israel to withdraw their troops from Arab lands immediately. November 13 – The United States Supreme Court declares illegal the state and municipal laws requiring segregated buses in Montgomery, Alabama, thus ending the Montgomery Bus Boycott. November 14 – Fighting ends in Hungary. November 18 – At the reception of the Polish embassy in Moscow Nikita Khrushchev uttered his famous phrase "We will bury you". November 22 – The 1956 Summer Olympics begin in Melbourne, Australia. Dun Dun Dun! Here's the BIG ONE.  About 3 weeks after the Herald-Journal article is published, we have this, surely anticipated, bombshell: July 26 – Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal sparking international condemnation. [Wikipedia] Call me cynical, but I don't reckon this invasion of Egypt was a last minute surprise put upon an unprepared West. ....................................................................... Some lead-up to the Suez Crisis: Nasser's neutralist policies during the Cold War led to tense relations with Western powers, which withdrew funding for the planned Aswan Dam. Nasser's retaliatory move to nationalize the Suez Canal Company in 1956 was acclaimed within Egypt and the Arab world. Consequently the United Kingdom and France occupied the Suez Canal zone, while Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamal_Abdel_Nasser Initially, both the US and the USSR were interested in the development of the dam, but this occurred in the midst of the Cold War, as well as growing intra-Arab rivalries. In 1955 Nasser was trying to portray himself as the leader of Arab nationalism, in opposition to the traditional monarchies, especially Hashemite Iraq following its signing of the 1955 Baghdad Pact. At that time the US feared that communism would spread to the Middle East and saw Nasser as a natural leader of an anti-communist Arab league. The US and Britain offered to help finance construction of the high dam, with a loan of US$270 million, in return for Nasser's leadership in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. While opposed both to communism and imperialism, Nasser presented himself as a tactical neutralist, and sought to work with both the US and the USSR for Egyptian and Arab benefit.  After a particularly criticized raid by Israel against Egyptian forces in Gaza in 1955, Nasser realized that he could not legitimately portray himself as the leader of pan-Arab nationalism if he could not defend his country militarily against Israel. In addition to his development plans, he looked to quickly modernize his military, and turned first to the US. *ISRAEL -  Operation Black Arrow* US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and US President Dwight Eisenhower told Nasser that the US would supply him with weapons only if they were used for defensive purposes and accompanied by US military personnel for supervision and training. Nasser did not accept these conditions and then looked to the Soviet Union for support.  Although Dulles believed that Nasser was only bluffing and that the USSR would not aid Nasser, he was wrong—the USSR promised Nasser a quantity of arms in exchange for a deferred payment of Egyptian grain and cotton.  On 27 September 1955, Nasser announced an arms deal, with Czechoslovakia acting as a middleman for the Soviet support.  Instead of retaliating against Nasser for turning to the Soviets, Dulles sought to improve relations with him. This explains the later offer of December 1955, in which the US and UK pledged $56 and $14 million respectively towards the construction of the dam.   Though the Czech arms deal actually increased US willingness to invest in Aswan, the British cited the deal as a reason for withdrawing their funding. What angered Dulles much more was Nasser's recognition of communist China, which was in direct conflict with Dulles's policy of containment. There are several other reasons why the US decided to withdraw the offer of funding. Dulles believed that the Soviet Union would not fulfill its commitment to help the Egyptians. He was also irritated by Nasser's neutrality and attempts to play both sides of the Cold War. At the time, other western allies in the Middle East, including Turkey and Iraq, were irritated that Egypt, a persistently neutral country, was being offered so much aid. In June 1956 the Soviets offered Nasser $1.12 billion at 2% interest for the construction of the dam. On 19 July the US State Department announced that American financial assistance for the High Dam was "not feasible in present circumstances." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswan_Dam So ... this is just a bit of interesting background to the 1956 Herald-Journal article.

VIDEO - A little less conversation (Remix)

Souce - YouTube A little less conversation (Remix)

‘Espionage Den'

‘Espionage Den' Westerners can see a Hollywood re-enactment of the early days of the hostage-taking, “Argo”, the wildly popular but very inaccurate docudrama, winner of 2012 Best Picture Oscar ... In addition to Canada’s cloak-and-dagger role during the siege, the visit is made especially piquant because of the “conspiracy” surrounding the Stephen Harper’s decision to cut all diplomatic relations with Iran in 2012. Harper’s personal crusade to demonize Iran reached a bizarre high/low point when Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird announced the severing of relations with Iran in 2012 just hours before “Argo” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. “Life imitates art” takes on new meaning. The Tehran embassy had indeed been a ‘nest of spies’, as the Shah was the most reliable US ally in the Muslim world, along with Turkey’s Kemal Ataturk the only Muslim leader who recognized Israel, and it was only natural that the CIA made the US embassy in Tehran ‘mission control centre’ for all US espionage activity in the Muslim world. Officially, the US has since admitted that there were at least three bona fide CIA agents among the captives. The six diplomats rescued by Taylor were consular workers, so they probably were not CIA agents. No money changed hands as a result of the siege, and there were no American casualties, except for eight Marines who died when their helicopter crashed in the Iranian desert in Carter’s first bungled rescue attempt in April 1980. The 52 hostages were flown to Algeria January 20 1981, 20 minutes after Reagan concluded his inaugural address, the first move in what came to be known as the Iran-Contra affair. Reagan’s foreign policy team had secretly agreed to exchange arms-for-hostages with the Iranians, now at war with Iraq. Since 1979, the United States government has officially had no dealings with the Iranian government, and is represented in Iran by the United States Interests Section of the Embassy of Switzerland in Tehran. This is belied by the hostage crisis itself, as Reagan swore his oath of allegiance in 1980, resulting in their release, and by the subsequent Iran-Contra Affair, when Reagan authorized selling arms to Iran to fight Saddam Hussein (who of course also received US arms and much more to fight the Iranians), funneling the proceeds to the Nicaraguan contras in Reagan’s own personal jihad against the socialist Sandinista government. With reality this bizarre, who needs fiction? The visit to the embassy was bittersweet. Clearly Iranians are now of two minds about this time warp into their anguished past. The museum is generally closed, and visits require special arrangements for both foreigners and Iranians. Iranians uniformly want to restore relations with the US. Yes, in the siege, the US was reaping the fruits of decades of imperialist intrigues, notably its involvement in the overthrow of the Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953 and the reinstalling of the Shah, who kowtowed to the US and Israel, and presided over a ruthless and unpopular dictatorship, turning Iranians against the US. At the same time, Carter, who lost the 1980 election to the trigger-happy Reagan primarily due to the hostage crisis, was America’s most liberal president, now revered as a humanitarian. Reagan’s foreign policies were far more militaristic, leading to Bush and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, hardly policies that were favorable to Iran. RANDOM EXTRACTS ARTICLE BY:   Eric Walberg SOURCE  http://www.eurasiareview.com/03012015-espionage-den-american-ghosts-tehran-oped/ COMMENT Really enjoyed this article.   These are only random extracts.  Full article is on link above.

Canada - Blasphemy

CANADA Why Is Blasphemy Still Illegal in Canada? January 20, 2015 By Shanifa Nasser Section 296 of the Criminal Code of Canada states: "Every one who publishes a blasphemous libel is guilty of an indictable offense and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years." True, no one has been prosecuted under the law in more than 70 years; charges against the Canadian distributor of the Monty Python film Life of Brian in 1980, for example, were later dropped. But secular advocacy groups say it's plainly hypocritical for Canada to keep an anti-blasphemy law on the books when it accuses other countries of using similar laws to justify human rights abuses. The United Kingdom abolished its blasphemy law in 2008; the United States has never had one at the federal level. Meanwhile, Canada's law has expanded in application beyond Christianity to religion in general. Last month, the heads of Humanist Canada and the Centre for Inquiry (CFI), a national organization that promotes "skeptical, secular, rational, and humanistic inquiry," met with Ambassador Andrew Bennett of Canada's Office of Religious Freedom to note the inconsistency of the law with his office's policy of supporting religious freedom abroad. But Bennett's mandate doesn't include domestic issues. So the two groups, with the support of lawyers, are now taking their case to the Department of Justice. "There are certain parts of the world where apostasy will get your head removed. We don't have that issue here but why would we even have this on our books?" said Eric Thomas, president of Humanist Canada. [ ... ]  Lawyer Derek James From of the Canadian Constitution Foundation argues that while it's unlikely anyone would be charged with blasphemy in Canada, the very existence of the law is a violation of our freedom of expression. He says the law was considered dead in the UK, too, until it resurfaced in 1977. It's therefore not dead, but dormant, he says. Willoughby agrees. "If it is truly a dead and unused law, then let us bury it." EXTRACT ONLY - FULL @ SOURCE http://www.vice.com/read/blasphemy-in-canada-217 COMMENT What kind of demented government would even have an 'Office of Religious Freedom'? The guy from Canadian Constitution Foundation has a point about that ridiculous blasphemy law.  LINKS Canadian Constitution Foundation

UAE-Funded Canada to train Egyptian police

Canada to train Egyptian police #EgyptTurmoil As part of new agreement, Canada will be directly supporting the same ministry detaining Egyptian-Canadian journalist Mohammed Fahmy Tom Stevenson Monday 26 January 2015 18:58 GMT Last update: Friday 30 January 2015 1:00 GMT CAIRO - On 14 and 15 January, Canada's Foreign Minister John Baird visited Egypt with the intention of securing the release of imprisoned Al Jazeera journalist Mohammed Fahmy, a dual Canadian-Egyptian national. The minister's team was unsure its effort would be successful, but remained cautiously optimistic, Baird's officials told Canadian journalists in the days leading up to the trip. In the end, they were unsuccessful: Baird sat down with Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry for talks he described as “fruitful”, but his planned meeting with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was cancelled and Fahmy remains in jail. While in Cairo, however, the minister announced a set of new co-operation agreements between Canada and the Egyptian government, which Baird's officials told journalists were designed to “support stability and prosperity in Egypt”. The plans ranged from training for Egyptian diplomats to funding for local small-to-medium sized businesses, but one of the agreements stood out. With funding from the United Arab Emirates, Canada has agreed to send a team of Canadian police officers to Egypt to train their Egyptian counterparts, and to receive Egyptian police officers for training at the Canadian Police College in the capital, Ottawa. This “trilateral initiative to support the professionalization and skills development of the Egyptian police”, as Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development described the project, means that Canada will be directly supporting staff from Egypt's Interior Ministry, the same ministry that is currently responsible for detaining Fahmy. Adam Hodge, Baird's press secretary, told Middle East Eye this week that initiatives like the Canada-UAE-Egypt police collaboration programmes "will help to encourage stability, security and economic growth in the country". [Ignore the cheer squad] "Minister Baird’s most recent visit to Egypt allowed him to advance Canadian foreign policy interests and support social and economic development, while providing the opportunity to again raise consular issues, particularly concerning the journalist Mohamed Fahmy," Hodge said. [Ignore the cheer squad] Fahmy has been held for over a year, alongside Al Jazeera colleagues Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed. He and Greste were sentenced to seven years' imprisonment while Mohamed was sentenced to 10 years. The three will face retrial later this year. In a statement released while Baird was in Cairo, Fahmy criticised the Canadian government's approach to securing his release. “I do believe that Prime Minister [Stephen] Harper could do more to obtain my release if he were to directly intervene in our case,” Fahmy said. Baird finally met with Sisi at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, where he “raised the topic [of Fahmy's detention] over dinner”, Canada's CTV reported.  [Placing considerable political pressure on Sisi?  LOL] Fahmy's family members had expressed hope that he might be included on the list of 584 prisoners expected to be pardoned on the four-year anniversary of Egypt's 25 January revolution. Those pardons have yet to be issued, however, and Fahmy remains behind bars. http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/canada-train-egyptian-police-1589938575 COMMENT Canadian politicians have to be the most brazenly disgusting of the whole bunch.  Completely shameless. Only dirtbags go to Davos, I've decided. Politicians don't care about journalists. Everything they do centres around the desires of corporate masters. UAE is certainly in the thick of things. The Sisi government must be a USA, Israeli, Saudi Arabian & UAE backed government. And Baird, he's selling his snake oil all over the Middle East.