Article - "The Only "Lowlife Scum" in the McCain Hearing Was Henry Kissinger" | John McCain

The Only "Lowlife Scum" in the McCain Hearing Was Henry Kissinger By Gregory Krieg January 31, 2015 "Arrest Henry Kissinger for war crimes!" The strained, sing-song chant that sent Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) into a twitching fit of rage on Thursday afternoon had died out by the time security escorted one last graying activist from the hearing room. For McCain, though, the quarrel never ends. This was no ordinary disruption, and the man seated before the panel, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, was no ordinary guest. That goes to explain McCain's jarring choice of words when he finally, and now infamously, called the departing protesters "lowlife scum." YouTube VIDEO  https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-ts=1422579428&v=OYMtEGLmD_Y&x-yt-cl=85114404&feature=player_embedded If McCain was the pit bull in this setting, then Kissinger was the decaying clapboard chop-shop he was intent on defending. The intruders, in their defiance, were mauled for having attempted to carry out a "citizen's arrest" of the 91-year-old Nobel Prize winner for atrocities committed by the U.S. government during the 1970s in countries including Vietnam, Laos, East Timor and Chile. The senator's resulting outburst, in its wild-eyed wonder, had the unfortunate effect of overshadowing the substance of the their charges: namely, that the bloated figure wheeled out before them had, in the course of an eight-year run as the chief U.S. foreign policy strategist, masterminded a series of violent overt and covert campaigns against civilians and democratic governments across Southeast Asia and Latin America. Kissinger spent a little more than two of those years — beginning officially on Jan. 20, 1969, and ending on that same date in 1977 — serving concurrently as secretary of state and national security adviser to President Richard Nixon and, after his resignation, Gerald Ford. His power, and the seemingly counterintuitive respect he inspires, cannot be overstated, nor can it be rationally explained. There are hundreds of thousands of deaths on his crooked shoulders. Millions more were physically or psychologically wounded.  The secret bombing of Cambodia: The German-born "president whisperer" made his first dark mark on the planet in early 1969, when, confronted with continued advances by North Vietnamese fighters from bases in neighboring Cambodia, he and Nixon conspired to order a top-secret bombing campaign called Operation Breakfast, which turned into the longer-running Operation Menu. It might seem quaint today, given the mind-bending frequency of executive power overreaches, but Nixon's authorization to strike inside eastern Cambodia and Laos would come to represent a then-unprecedented scale of wartime deceit and illegality. Over the next four years, the U.S. would drop millions of tons of explosives on the neutral countries, all the while denying the program's existence at every turn. "Estimates of the number of people killed begin in the low hundreds of thousands and range up from there," Henry Grabar wrote in the Atlantic, "but the truth is that no one has any idea." World Without Genocide, a watchdog organization, estimates that 750,000 Cambodians were killed between 1970 and 1974, most of them by "American B-52 bombers, using napalm and dart cluster-bombs to destroy suspected Viet Cong targets." No one in the U.S. had anything more than a suspicion it was happening until May 9, 1969, when the New York Times published a story titled "Raids in Cambodia by U.S. Unprotested." Kissinger responded swiftly, telling aides and the president, "We must crush these [leakers and journalists]. We must destroy them." Infamous FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover was more than happy to oblige and, as told in Robert Weiner's Enemies: A History of the FBI, the two quickly set up wiretaps on the aides Kissinger suspected had leaked the story. Kissinger denied it all until 1992, when he conceded his part in the process of settling a related lawsuit. Backing Indonesia's invasion of East Timor: Kissinger's role in Vietnam fills volumes, but it's his and America's ostensible absence in East Timor on Dec. 7, 1975, that speaks more directly to his malignant diplomatic tactics. Traveling alongside President Gerald Ford, Kissinger led a Dec. 6 meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, with Indonesian dictator Suharto. The focus was on East Timor, at the time a small Southeast Asian territory recently abandoned by the colonial Portuguese. With Ford concerned about regional Communists filling the vacuum and Suharto, an ally, with his eyes set on an invasion and occupation, Kissinger asked the Indonesians to wait until the U.S. delegation left to begin their assault. Additionally, he promised to supply Suharto with American arms, over the inevitable objections of Congress. "We will understand and will not press you on the issue. We understand the problem and the intentions you have," Kissinger told Suharto, the details emerging via transcripts released in 2001. "We would be able to influence the reaction in America if whatever happens, happens after we return. If you have made plans, we will do our best to keep everyone quiet until the president returns home."  The transcripts also reveal Kissinger asking Suharto if he anticipated a "long guerrilla war." Suharto responded that it would be "small." And so the Americans left. The invasion of East Timor, carried out with a steady flow of American support, was swift. They waited one day. The fight lasted much longer, carrying on for nearly a quarter-century. The estimated death toll: 200,000. Suharto died in 2008 after stepping down a decade earlier, following the deaths of 500 student protesters. Taking down the Chilean government: Sept. 11 means something very different, but just as painful, for the people of Chile. On that date in 1973, a CIA-backed coup ousted and assassinated the country's democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The socialist was replaced with Gen. Augusto Pinochet, a right-wing thug who would rule the country as a dictator for 17 brutal years. After Allende was elected on Sept. 4, 1970, Kissinger declared in a memo to Nixon that the vote "poses for us one of the most serious challenges ever faced in this hemisphere." "Your decision as to what to do about it may be the most historic and difficult foreign affairs decision you will make this year," he wrote. U.S. businesses had hundreds of millions tied up in Latin America, which has been and remains a target for strategic American enemies. Kissinger decided that allowing Allende to remain in power would create an "insidious model effect." That is to say: Other countries under the American hemispheric umbrella might see that they could democratically elect a government and make decisions without the U.S. Soon after the Sept. 11, 1973, coup, Kissinger was quick to order his man in Santiago to deliver to Pinochet "our strongest desires to cooperate closely and establish firm basis for cordial and most constructive relationship." He did, and Kissinger's shop in Washington, D.C., working with the CIA began a long relationship with the regime. Chile's murderous National Intelligence Directorate was built by American agents.  [Looks like 'Kissinger's shop' is the National Security Council, going by entry in Aaron Wildavsky's book] Pinochet's military dictatorship, one of a number of right-wing juntas that dominated, degraded and bled Latin America in the 1970s and '80s, killed thousands and tortured an estimated 29,000, according to a survey conducted by a government commission. The great majority of those crimes happened in 1973, with Kissinger in close contact the whole way. After he left, his Reaganite disciples supported the regime through its demise in 1990. So what the fuck was Henry Kissinger doing in Washington, D.C., last Thursday? On the face of it, Kissinger had been summoned to discuss foreign policy matters with the Senate Armed Services Committee. The hearing, called "Global Challenges and the U.S. National Security Strategy," was as inscrutable as the title suggests. In reality, Kissinger was on Capitol Hill because he, like so much "scum" before him, sticks to and feeds off all innocent life around him. He was invited because, to people like McCain, he represents the brand of blunt hegemonic history that Americans are (or at least should be) desperate to reclaim. But Henry Kissinger's time is in the past. There are new "challenges." Many of them, like President Barack Obama's drone killing program, probably make the old man smile. Some day soon, Kissinger will die. If only his legacy could be buried with him. http://mic.com/articles/109508/the-only-low-life-scum-in-the-mc-cain-hearing-was-henry-kissinger COMMENT Another great article.   Good for me as a learning aid. Really enjoyed this.

Mulshine - "Menendez blames everyone but himself for the mess he helped make in the Mideast" - Syria

PAUL MULSHINE ARTICLE Menendez blames everyone but himself for the mess he helped make in the Mideast: Mulshine Paul Mulshine | The Star Ledger By Paul Mulshine | The Star Ledger on January 31, 2015 at 3:28 PM, updated January 31, 2015 at 4:07 PM When I was a lad my mother would on occasion ask me why I did something. "Because Johnny told me to," I would reply. "If Johnny told you to jump in the lake, would you jump in the lake?" she'd reply. In the case of Bob Menendez, apparently so. He not only jumped in the lake, but he pulled a lot of people in with him. That's the only logical conclusion after reading that op-ed piece he wrote attacking me for pointing out that his advocacy of a rebellion in Syria led directly to the rise of ISIS in that country and Iraq. Menendez doesn't deny that it was his goal to have Syrian strongman Bashar Assad deposed. He doesn't deny that the rebellion he and others advocated permitted ISIS to move into the parts of Syria formerly controlled by Assad. Instead he complains that:     Mulshine criticizes me for pushing the U.S. "to take an active role in supporting the rebels fighting to oust Syrian dictator Bashar Assad."     But that exact position is the administration's policy, arguing that "Assad must go" and supporting the training and equipping of the Syrian opposition. President Barack Obama over Labor Day 2013 even came within minutes of approving air strikes against Assad for gassing Syrians and crossing his self-imposed red line.     It is also the position of Senators from liberal Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to conservative Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) who voted with me in September 2013 to provide lethal and non-lethal assistance to vetted Syrian opposition groups.     Mulshine is free to disagree, but if he wants to cast blame, it should be distributed evenly amongst nearly all officials in power from President Obama, to Secretary Kerry, to former Secretary Clinton, on down who understand that the Assad regime has lost its legitimacy. Or in other words, "They told me to jump in the lake and I jumped." At the time he and the rest were deciding that "Assad must go" as they put it, Menendez was the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. If he had dug in and pointed out that the U.S. would be better off propping up Assad as a bulwark against the Muslim Brotherhood, he might have had some influence in heading off this fiasco. But how could he have known the effort to depose Assad would go so horribly wrong and lead to the rise of ISIS? Uh, by reading my columns. When it comes to foreign policy, I seek out the people who understand the Mideast. See my prior columns warning of the folly of "liberating" our enemies here. These are not politicians. I've yet to meet one who had even the vaguest notion of who's fighting whom in that neck of the woods. Instead I seek out ex-CIA agents like Bob Baer or ex-Green Berets like Pat Lang. These guys saw this fiasco coming from the very beginning. An example from a column critical of GOP presidential contender and leading "neo" conservative Rick Santorum's foreign policy stance in which I cited Baer (italics mine):     Thanks to the insistence by the neoconservatives -- which is the polite way of saying "knucklehead" -- that everyone should be freed from dictatorial rule, Islamic fundamentalists are now in a position to control much of the Mideast.     Once freed from the horrible Hosni Mubarak, Baer noted, the Egyptians promptly sacked the Israeli embassy in Cairo. If the dictatorship in Syria falls, he said, Israel will be surrounded on all sides by angry Muslims. All of them will have the freedom and opportunity Santorum and his fellow neocons wanted them to have.     "We really do have to wake up," Baer said. "We do not have the money to play out our fantasies." Baer said that in my column way back in 2011. If Menendez had been talking to Mideast experts instead of Beltway insiders back then, he would have known that deposing Assad would lead to the rise of Islamic fundamentalists. Then there was this advice from Baer in May of 2013 concerning the disaster in Benghazi that followed the fall of Moammar Gadhafi:     Gadhafi had his faults, but at least he kept our embassy staff safe. The same wasn't true for the unsteady coalition that succeeded him. The task of embassy security has to be entrusted to the locals, said Bob Baer, a former CIA agent with years of experience in the Mideast.     "Were we going to put a Marine division in Benghazi to protect it?" asks former CIA agent Bob Baer. "The Salafis were everywhere."     The Salafis are a militant branch of the Sunni brand of Islam. They're also active on the rebel side in the civil war in Syria. Yet the neocons want the United States to aid those rebels, as well. Almong those neocons were Menendez's committee comrades John McCain and Lindsey Graham. McCain was so crazy he actually traveled to Syria to give moral support to the rebels - something we're now prosecuting average citizens for doing, by the way. Yet Menendez listened to them instead of trying to get a more realistic point of view from people like Baer. In October of 2011, I quoted Baer about Santorum's pledge to support Syrian rebels:     "Who does he propose supporting in Syria?" Baer said. "Anyone with any common sense knows it's the Muslim Brotherhood that would take over. There are no white hats in Syria." By the way, it's been obvious for more than 30 years that there are no white hats in Syria. Back then, Assad's father had to blow up an entire town to halt the Muslim Brotherhood in its effort to take Syria. Yet there's Menendez, still looking for "vetted moderate rebels" to fight against Assad in Syria. And now his defense is that everyone else inside the Beltway was just as naïve? Pat Lang could have cured that naivete - if only the senator had sought him out. The former Vietnam Green Beret and longtime denizen of the Mideast was among the experts I quoted in a column I did on the "Assad must go" consensus last July:     Former Vietnam Green Beret and veteran Mideast operative Pat Lang recalled being ostracized at conferences for suggesting that Assad might not be going anywhere.     "It was an article of faith in the Washington think-tank policy establishment that Assad was going to go down," Lang said. "I asked these guys continually, 'How do you know that?' The answer usually was hostile sullenness." Hostile sullenness: That's a perfect description of our senior senator's attitude. He could simply admit he was wrong, but instead he attacks those who were right. By the way, among them was a guy who could be challenging our governor for the Republican nomination for president next year. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul is the leading genuine - as opposed to "neo" - conservative in Congress. He had this to say when I asked him in 2013 about the pressure being put on Obama to attack Syria:     As for Paul, he said there's something wrong when Republicans are on the same side of the issue as the Democratic chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. That's New Jersey's own Sen. Robert Menendez, who Paul termed "the leading proponent of getting us involved in war." The best I can say for Menendez is that at least he's a Democrat. I can't stand it when Republicans like McCain and Graham fall for this bleeding-heart nonsense about "liberating" the people of the Mideast at U.S. expense. But Democrats believe in wasting our money on social engineering. So at least he's consistent. But he's catching a lot of heat from his fellow Democrats for his attack on President Obama. Menendez accused Obama of repeating "talking points straight out of Tehran" in a speech about the need to negotiate with the Iranians over nuclear issues. But thanks to people like Menendez, Obama's got little choice but to be nice to the Iranians. Like it or not, the Iranians are our de facto ally in the effort to eliminate ISIS from Iraq and Syria. Once Menendez and the neocons kneecapped Assad, there was no one left to fight the Sunni madmen that rose to power in the vacuum. Now it's up to the Shia to beat back their ancient enemies the Sunni. And the Shia in Iran actually know how to fight, unlike the Shia that George W. Bush put in charge of Iraq. Menendez pats himself on the back for having voted against the Iraq War. But back then his vote had little meaning; it was one of 435 in the House. During the run-up to the Syria debacle, however, he held the single most powerful foreign-policy position in the Senate. And he said things like this:     Beyond arming the "moderate elements" of the rebels, the senator said he was open to considering options like tearing up Syrian airfields.     "If (Syrian President Bashar) Assad continues to have unlimited air power and artillery, that's a hard battle to win," Menendez said. "You can't just simply send them a pea shooter against a blunderbuss at the end of the day, or else . . . time is not on our side, and our vital national security interests will not be pursued." That air power is now being used to bomb ISIS. But if Menendez had had his way, those planes would be stuck on the ground. [ie Syrian planes.] As for "vital national security interests," we never had any concerning Syria. Assad was willing to work with us on any effort against Islamic fundamentalists, for the simple reason that they have always wanted to overthrow his secular regime. There's plenty more of this to be found, all of it equally shortsighted. That's bad enough. Worse, even at this late date Menendez doesn't seem to realize the dimensions of the debacle he helped create as chairman. What he helped create is nothing less than a Sunni-vs.-Shia war for control of the region. You've got to pick one. If you oppose Iran, then you support ISIS. If you oppose ISIS, then you support Iran. And it should be obvious to anyone taking the traditional America-first position, which side to take. The Shia make up less than a tenth of the world's Muslims and they are concentrated in a small area in the Mideast. Iran is a regional power with a defense budget one-hundredth the size of our own. The Sunni, by contrast, control major countries such as Pakistan and have colonies all over the world, including in such countries as France, Great Britain and the U.S. They have vast oil wealth and expansionist goals. And then of course there are secular leaders like Assad. Why anyone would believe it is in the U.S. interests to depose a secular leader in a Muslim land is a mystery to every true conservative in America. Menendez does not pretend to be a conservative of course. He's a flaming liberal and unlike McCain, Graham and the rest of the neocons, he admits it. But the sole job of a politicians is to make decisions. You have to take your pick which side you're on. There's no middle ground. Anyone who can say "vetted moderate rebels" without laughing should be disqualified from further comment on the Mideast. And it's no excuse to say that someone told you to say it. If they told you to jump in the Potomac, Senator, would you jump? I think we know the answer to that one. I'll lend you a wetsuit. The water's cold this time of year. http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/01/menendez_blames_everyone_but_himself_for_the_mess.html COMMENT Really enjoyed reading this article. Noticed Marco Rubio has popped up again.  Gee, fancy that. McCain would support corporate-military interests & 'liberation' is just a useful tool to further the agenda of interests he supports (including, most likely, the agenda of the pro-Israel lobbies, judging by information on McCain). Lindsey Graham would most likely also support those same interests, judging by these extracts from Wikipedia: Lindsey Graham Graham is a leading foreign policy hawk and interventionist.  He is known for his willingness to be bipartisan and work with Democrats ... Military Graham was commissioned as an officer and Judge Advocate in the United States Air Force in 1982. He was placed on active duty and in 1984, he was sent to Europe as a military prosecutor and defense attorney, serving at Rhein-Main Air Base in Frankfurt, Germany. After four years in Europe, he returned to South Carolina and then left active duty in 1989.  He subsequently entered private practice as a lawyer. ... joined the South Carolina Air National Guard in 1989, where he served until 1995, then joining the U.S. Air Force Reserve. During the Gulf War, he was recalled to active duty, serving as a Judge Advocate at McEntire Air National Guard Station in Eastover, South Carolina, where he helped brief departing pilots on the laws of war. In 2004, Graham received a promotion to Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve at a White House ceremony officiated by President George W. Bush. Graham served in Iraq as a reservist on active duty for short periods during April and two weeks in August 2007, where he worked on detainee and rule-of-law issues. He also served in Afghanistan during the August 2009 Senate recess. Since then, Graham has been assigned as a senior instructor for the U.S. Air Force JAG Corps. He also serves as an Air Force Reserve appellate judge. NSA In response to the 2013 disclosures about the United States National Security Agency and its international partners' global surveillance of foreign nationals and U.S. citizens, Graham said that he was "glad" the NSA was collecting phone records. Foreign Policy A leading foreign policy hawk, Graham supports an interventionist foreign policy.  Graham and his fellow Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman, who were frequently dubbed "the three amigos", travelled widely, pushing for American military intervention, particularly after the September 11 attacks. On November 6, 2010, at the Halifax International Security Forum, Graham called for a pre-emptive military strike to "neuter" the Iranian regime. He is an advisor to The Atlantic Bridge. Graham is an unabashed supporter of Israel. Graham threatened to derail the confirmation of President Obama's nomination for secretary of defense, Chuck Hagel, remarking that Hagel "would be the most antagonistic secretary of defense towards the state of Israel in our nation’s history." On February 28, 2013, Graham criticized President Obama and both political parties on the Senate floor for allowing the budget reduction to occur with "two-thirds of the budget" exempt from reductions and said the impact on the Department of Defense would create a "hollow military" that "invites aggression". Graham also said the U.S. should aim to "drive the Russian economy into the ground." Graham is close friends with Arizona Senator John McCain. He supported McCain's presidential bid in 2000 and served as national co-chairman of McCain's 2008 presidential bid. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsey_Graham Getting back to McCain, the conclusion that McCain is also a pro-Israel senator like his friend Lindsey Graham appears supported: John McCain During the 2008 presidential campaign, McCain's advisors stated that they were not in favor of the peace negotiations then ongoing between Israel and Syria. ... McCain has courted the support of individuals and groups that are opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state. In 2008, McCain's advisors stated that they did not favor continuing the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. John McCain has called the crisis with Iran "the most serious crisis we have faced – outside of the entire war on terror – since the end of the Cold War." "Nuclear capability in Iran is unacceptable," said McCain. McCain has cited Iran's stance towards Israel as justification for his aggressive policy towards Iran, saying, "Iran is dedicated to the destruction of Israel. That alone should concern us but now they are trying for nuclear capabilities. I totally support the president when he says we will not allow Iran to destroy Israel." McCain tried to persuade FIFA to ban Iran from the 2006 World Cup, referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denials as the reason since such denials in Germany, where the competition was held, are illegal. In June 2008, a group of congressional Democrats criticized McCain for voting against 2005 legislation that would have toughened sanctions against Iran. "McCain tries to give the impression that he's tough on Iran, but when it came time to stand up to party leaders and Big Oil, John McCain stood down," said senator Frank Lautenberg. [Big Oil won?] McCain supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the U.S. decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein. McCain was an advocate for strong military measures against those responsible for the September 11 attacks in 2001 and supported the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. On August 14, 2009, McCain, along with Senators Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham, met with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli "to talk... about a transfer of American military equipment."  At the meeting, Gaddafi's son Muatassim "emphasized Libya's interest in the purchase of U.S. lethal and non-lethal military equipment," and McCain "assured Muatassim that the United States wanted to provide Libya with the equipment it needs."   During the 2011 Libyan civil war, McCain called for the removal of Gaddafi from power, due to Gaddafi having "'American blood on his hands' from the 1988 Lockerbie bombing."  In April 2011, he became the 'highest-profile Western politician' to visit the rebels in Libya, urging Washington to consider a ground attack that aims for the absolute removal of Gaddafi.  He later said the airpower policy that Obama had pursued should be the model for American actions against other countries in the region. "It is time to bring Kosovo – and the Balkans with it – out of the 1990s and into the 21st century by recognizing Kosovo's independence. During the crisis in the Serbian breakaway province of Kosovo in 1999, McCain urged President Clinton to use all necessary force. McCain maintains a relatively moderate stance concerning Pakistan, although he has recognized the South Asian nation as an important part of US Foreign Policy. In the aftermath of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination (in December 2007) McCain appeared to rule out the option of US forces entering Pakistan, saying that it was not an appropriate time to "threaten" Pakistan.  [What's the deal here?] McCain was a fierce opponent of Putin's Invasion of Chechnya describing it as "a bloody war against Chechnya's civilian population." He stated "Yes, there are Chechen terrorists, but there are many Chechens who took up arms only after the atrocities committed by Russian forces serving first under Boris Yeltsin's and then Putin's orders." [Supports Chechnya extremists.] McCain is a strong supporter of ballistic national missile defenses.  Russia threatened to place short-range nuclear missiles on the Russia’s border with NATO if the United States refuses to abandon plans to deploy 10 interceptor missiles and a radar in Poland and the Czech Republic.  In April 2007, Putin warned of a new Cold War if the Americans deployed the shield in the former Eastern Bloc.  Putin also said that Russia is prepared to abandon its obligations under a Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987 with the United States. During the Syrian civil war that began in 2011, McCain was a vocal supporter of the U.S. intervening militarily in the conflict on the side of the anti-government forces. He called for arming the Free Syrian Army with heavy weapons and for the establishment of a no-fly zone over the country. McCain also stated his agreement with the belief that the U.S. is a "Christian nation." On September 30, 2007, he clarified his remarks by saying "What I do mean to say is the United States of America was founded on the values of Judeo-Christian values, which were translated by our founding fathers which is basically the rights of human dignity and human rights."  McCain also stated, “I would vote for a Muslim if he or she was the candidate best able to lead the country and defend our political values.” In February 2013, McCain reiterated his belief that America is "a Judeo-Christian nation." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_John_McCain What about this guy, Bob Menendez?  Here's a bit about Menendez: Bob Menendez Parents:  Cuban immigrants / 1953Menendez, who is described as very close to Republicans on foreign policy voted for the failed Kosovo Resolution, authorizing the use of military force against Yugoslavia in the Kosovo War.   He was an early advocate of preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear capabilities. Wikipedia .................................................... First Latino chair of the Foreign Relations Committee Menendez fiercely pro-embargo - Cuba Menendez represents the pro-Israel wing of the Democratic party — thanks in part to the large Jewish population in New Jersey — that has been pushing the President to get tougher on Iran. Menendez (with Republican Senator Mark Kirk) co-authored sweeping sanctions 2012 against Iran ... Menendez has voiced reservations about Chuck Hagel, Obama’s nominee to run the Pentagon, because of Hagel’s past statements on Iran. Menendez "chaired the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2010, outraising Republicans $130 million to $115 million in a big GOP year." http://swampland.time.com/2013/01/14/meet-bob-menendez-kerrys-successor-on-the-foreign-relations-committee/ In the Time article, Menendez is described as representing "the pro-Israel wing of the Democratic party." So, it looks as though there may be a common influence on US foreign policy:  pro-Israel senators.

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.