Amnesty International and the Human Rights Industry

November 08, 2012 Who Will Watch the Watchmen? Amnesty International and the Human Rights Industry by DANIEL KOVALICK When I studied law at Columbia in the early 1990s, I had the fortune of studying under Louis Henkin, probably the world’s most famous human rights theoretician.   Upon his passing in 2010, Elisa Massimino at Human Rights First stated in Professor Henkin’s New York Times obituary that he “literally and figuratively wrote the book on human rights” and that “[i]t is no exaggeration to say that no American was more instrumental in the development of human rights law than Lou.” Professor Henkin, rest his soul, while a human rights legend, was not always good on the question of war and peace.  I know this from my own experience when I had a vigorous debate with him during and continuing after class about the jailing of anti-war protestors, including Eugene V. Debs, during World War I.  In short, Professor Henkin, agreeing with Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, believed that these protestors were properly jailed because their activities, though peaceful, constituted a “clear and present danger” to the security of the nation during war time.  I strongly disagreed. That Professor Henkin  would side with the state against these war protestors is indicative of the entire problem with the field of human rights which is at best neutral or indifferent to war, if not supportive of it as an instrument of defending human rights.   This, of course, is a huge blind spot.   In the case of World War I, for example, had the protestors been successful in stopping the war, untold millions would have been saved from the murderous cruelty of a conflict for which, to this day, few can adequately even explain the reasons.   And yet, this does not seem to present a moral dilemma for today’s human rights advocates.  (I will note, on the plus side, that Professor Henkin did become increasingly uneasy with the Vietnam War as that conflict unfolded, and specifically with the President’s increasing usurpation of Congress’s war authority). In the end, it was not from Professor Henkin, but from other, dissident intellectuals who I learned the most about human rights and international law.  The list of these intellectuals, none of whom actually practice human rights in their day job, includes Noam Chomsky, Edward S. Herman, Jean Bricmont and Diana Johnstone.  And of course, I have read a lot of what they have to say on this subject on these very pages of CounterPunch. And, what all of these individuals have emphasized time and time again is that international law, as first codified in the aftermath of World War II in such instruments as the UN Charter and the Nuremberg Charter, was created for the primary purpose of preserving and maintaining peace by outlawing aggressive war.   And, why is this so?  Because the nations which had just gone through the most destructive war in human history, with its attendant crimes of genocide and the holocaust, realized full well that those crimes were made possible by the paramount crime of war itself.  As Jean Bricmont, then, in his wonderful book Humanitarian Imperialism, explains, the first crime for which the Nazis “were condemned at Nuremberg was initiating a war of aggression, which, according to the 1945 Nuremberg Charter, ‘is the supreme international crime, differing only from other war crimes is that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.’” In other words, the logic of the very founders of international law, including international human rights law, was that, to preserve human rights, the primary task of nations is to ensure peace and to prevent war which inevitably leads to the massive violation of human rights.  As Noam Chomsky has noted for years, quite notably in his 1971 Yale Law Review article entitled, “The Rule of Force in International Affairs,” 80 Yale L.J. 1456, one of the very first substantive norms established by the UN Charter is prohibition against aggressive war.   Such a norm is contained, as Chomsky relates, in Article 2(4) which provides that all UN members “shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force . . . .”   And, contrary to the position of the new humanitarian interventionists, Article 2(7) of the Charter specifically states that “[nothing in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state . . . .” Sadly, as Chomsky noted even back in 1971, these norms, the paramount ones of the entire UN system, have sadly been read out of international law.   And, they have been read out by, among others, such chief human rights groups as Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW).   As Jean Bricmont, citing international law scholar Michael Mandel, explains in Humanitarian Imperialism, while AI and HRW urged all “’beligerents’” (without distinguishing between the attackers and the attacked) at the outset of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq to respect the rules of war, neither group said a word about the illegality of the war itself.  As Bricmont quite correctly stated, “[t]hese organizations are in the position of those who recommend that rapists use condoms,” ignoring the fact that once the intervention they failed to oppose  “takes place on a large scale, human rights and the Geneva Conventions are massively violated.” This brings us to the present time.   Just last week, Amnesty International issued a long statement in opposition to an article I penned for Counterpunch on “Libya and the West’s Human Rights Hypocricy.”   AI, in its counter-blog, entitled, “A Critic Gets it Wrong on Amnesty International and Libya” (see, owl.li/eYmTb), AI claims that I was wrong in stating that it had supported  the NATO intervention in Libya.  AI, affirming the critiques of Bricmont and Mandel, claims in this blog, that “Amnesty International generally takes no position on the use of armed force or on military interventions in armed conflict, other than to demand that all parties respect international human rights and humanitarian law.”  AI then goes on to try to clarify that, in advance of the NATO intervention in Libya, AI, in a February 23, 2011, release, merely called on the Security Council to take immediate measures against Libya and Gaddafi, including [but not limited to] freezing the assets of Gaddafi and his senior military advisers, and investigating the possibility of a referral to the International Criminal Court. In its blog contra my article, AI claims that it called for such action based upon Gaddafi’s  verbal “threat to ‘cleanse Libya house by house’” to end the resistance.  While this is true, this is not the whole truth.   Thus, in AI’s Feburary 23, 2011 release, it also based this call upon “persistent reports of mercenaries being brought in from African countries by the Libyan leader to violently suppress the protests against him.”   And, as we learned from our own Patrick Cockburn in an Independent article from June 24, 2011, entitled, “Amnesty questions claim that Gaddafi ordered rape as a weapon of war,” Amnesty ended up debunking the reports (though well after NATO’s attack against Libya had begun)  that Gaddafi was bringing in foreign mercenaries to fight. As Cockburn, citing Donatella Rovera, senior crisis response adviser for Amnesty International, explains:     “Rebels have repeatedly charged that mercenary troops from Central and West Africa have been used against them. The Amnesty investigation found there was no evidence for this. “Those shown to journalists as foreign mercenaries were later quietly released,” says Ms Rovera. “Most were sub-Saharan migrants working in Libya without documents.” In other words, AI, on Feburary 23, 2011, was calling for Security Council action against Libya based upon reports about foreign mercenaries which it would later conclude were false, and upon verbal threats Gaddafi had made  — very weak bases indeed for Security Council action. And what about the calls for such action themselves?  As we all know, the Security Council did act, authorizing a NATO attack upon Libya which began on March 19, 2011.  The ordering of such an attack was a possible and indeed likely action which the Security Council would take, especially given that countries like the U.S. and France were aggressively pushing for such action at the time.  And, AI full well knew this, and its calls for Security Council action worked in tandem with the efforts of the U.S. and France to obtain authorization for such an intervention. In other words, AI, based at least in part on false reports, was pushing for Security Council action which it knew could, and most likely would, result in the authorization of force against Libya.  And indeed, AI’s other call for possible referral of sitting Libyan officials to the International Criminal Court was tantamount to a call for armed intervention, including regime change, because only such intervention could bring about the hauling of sitting government officials to The Hague.   AI’s current professions of neutrality on the issue of intervention notwithstanding, it can truly be stated that AI supported the intervention that took place in March of 2011 as an objective matter. And sadly, this objective support was based in part on false reports of foreign, black mercenaries being brought into Libya.   These false reports of mercenaries, in addition to feeding the calls for intervention, had another terrible effect – they helped lead to the massive reprisals against black Libyans and foreign guest workers during the conflict in Libya and continuing after the time that Gaddafi was toppled.   The most notable of such reprisals was the utter destruction of the town of Tawarga, a town largely populated by black Libyans, by anti-Gaddafi rebels.  To its great discredit, AI, in its rush to push for Security Council intervention, spread the very false reports which fueled such acts of vengeance. And, what about AI’s response to crimes committed by NATO’s intervention in and bombing of Libya?  AI, in its response to my article, cites to its criticism of NATO as evidence of its even-handedness in responding to the conduct of all sides of the Libyan conflict.  Specifically, AI cites to the following criticism it made as such evidence:     Although NATO appears to have made significant efforts to minimize the risk of causing civilian casualties, scores of Libyan civilians were killed and many more injured. Amnesty International is concerned that no information has been made available to the families of civilians killed and those injured in NATO strikes about any investigations which may have been carried out into the incidents which resulted in death and injury. Of course, this mere criticism demonstrates AI’s utter lack of even-handedness.   First of all, in order to please its NATO patron, AI obviously felt compelled to lead its criticism with a compliment – patting NATO on the back for allegedly trying to “minimize the risk of causing civilian casualties,” as if aerial bombardment of major cities can ever constitute the minimization of such risks. Then, AI complains that “no information has been made available” to the families of civilians killed or injured “about any investigations which may have been carried out into the incidents which resulted in death and injury.”   What “investigations” is AI referring to here?  Clearly, AI is complaining that NATO, left to police itself, has not shared the results of its own investigations into its own crimes. The truth is that AI, which called for Security Council and possible ICC action against Libya as NATO was sharpening its knives to invade, has not called for a body outside NATO (e.g., the ICC) to investigate and possibly prosecute NATO officials for their crimes.  What is good for the goose then, is not good for the gander in AI’s view.  Of course, the ICC does not exist to prosecute those from the paler, Western countries.   No, the ICC (which the U.S. is not even a signatory to and is therefore exempt from) is, in practice, for the darker races of the poorer countries; for those from Africa, Asia, and from time to time, the lesser Slavic nations.  And, therein lies the problem inherent in the entire international human rights system of which AI is an integral part. As we learn from Diana Johnstone in a CounterPunch article entitled, “How Amnesty International Became the Servant of U.S. Warmongering Foreign Policy,”  AI’s journey to becoming an appendage of the U.S. and NATO recently became complete with its appointment of Suzanne Nossel as the new Director of Amnesty International USA.  Diana Johnstone explains that Suzanne Nossel openly advocated, and indeed coined the term, “soft power” projection by the U.S. when she served in her last job as Assistant Secretary for International Organizations at none other than the U.S. State Department.  And, as Jean Bricmont notes in Humanitarian Intervention, and as Ms. Nossel herself and AI fully understand, “soft power” only works because it has the very real threat of “hard power” (including economic sanctions and military intervention) behind it.  AI has sadly forgotten that the wielding of such power by the rich countries to bully the weak is forbidden by the UN Charter which prohibits both the actual use and threat of force.   It is those prohibitions which must be enforced first and foremost to truly protect human rights. What’s more, as Diana Johnstone further explained in her CounterPunch article, Suzanne Nossel, just before being hired by AI, played a direct role while at the U.S. State Department in ginning up the pretexts for the NATO intervention in Libya.   Ms. Johnstone explains that,  “As Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, Ms. Nossel played a role in drafting the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on Libya. That resolution, based on exaggeratedly alarmist reports, served to justify the UN resolution which led to the NATO bombing campaign that overthrew the Gaddafi regime. “  In other words, Ms. Nossel’s role in pushing the NATO intervention was similar to that of AI’s at the time, with both pushing exaggerated, and indeed false, claims to justify stepped up action against Libya. AI’s current attempts to distance itself from the very NATO intervention which AI and Ms. Nossel worked together to help bring about simply do not ring true.  I would submit that it is time for AI to do some real soul-searching on the issue of whether it wants to serve the interests of human rights or to serve the interests of NATO and Western military intervention, for it truly cannot serve both masters. Daniel Kovalik is a labor and human rights lawyer living in Pittsburgh.  He currently teaches International Human Rights at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/11/08/amnesty-international-and-the-human-rights-industry/ COMMENT HILLARY CLINTON WE CAME, WE SAW, HE DIED .... HAHAHHAHHAAAA ***** International law and humanitarian organisations are a bad joke. How many acts of aggression has the US committed since the post WWII UN charter? The US 'defender' of the world's humanity, freedom, democracy, and all that manipulative pretext baloney, isn't even a signatory to the ICC and is exempt from being tried for war crimes, while the human rights brigade work in tandem with Western warmongers (serving corporate interests) to push the US-NATO imperialist war agenda. Note also, backing intervention based on false reports & massive reprisals against black Libyans as a result. Given that UN charter prohibits intervention, why are these people even backing intervention in the first place, and why aren't they all being tried somewhere? Gaddafi - Zenga Zenga Song (Noy Alooshe Extended Version) Source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kygc0PzaQGY

Stand by for: Killer Robots

Killer robots must be banned, warns Amnesty International By WMNDavidWells  |  Posted: April 16, 2015 DRONE-POLICE-1 Not a ‘killer robot’ – but a surveillance drone being tested by Merseyside Police in 2007 Killer robots must be banned before their “insidious creep into policing” puts lives at risk and “poses a serious threat to human rights”, Amnesty International has said as it launched a new briefing in Geneva. Amnesty said that governments must ban any further development of killer robots as there is a “likelihood that they will be used in police operations” in an address to the UN’s Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). The organisation is calling for a pre-emptive ban on the development, stockpiling, transfer, deployment and use of fully autonomous weapons systems (AWS or killer robots), including drones. The call comes months after a report highlighted how police in Wiltshire, Merseyside, Staffordshire, Essex, and the West Midlands have already acquired or used drones for surveillance and other operations. That report, published last year by the University of Birmingham Policy Commission, in research led by Sir David Omand, a former director at the Government’s listening post at GCHQ, warned that authorities must look at governing how and when drones can be used. Last year, the Royal Navy also launched its first-ever squadron comprised entirely of unmanned aircraft in Cornwall. The new squadron, based at RNAS Culdrose in Helston, is also responsible for trialling the next generation of pilotless aircraft. The pilotless drones of 700X Naval Air Squadron act as 'eyes in the sky' on reconnaissance missions and and counter-piracy patrols. The fleet includes three high tech Boeing Insitu ScanEagle devices, which are launched from aircraft carriers with a giant catapult. Each plane can spend up to 18 hours in the air beaming back live footage of targets to a three-man Royal Navy operating team. The drones have previously been used to locate mines in the Gulf but will now be assigned to Lieutenant Commander Alan Rogers, whose new squadron is one of the Navy's smallest in terms of human personnel. Amnesty today said that precursors to fully autonomous weapons – including drones and other unmanned weapons systems which are currently operated by humans –are already used to commit violations and present serious challenges to ensuring accountability. But, the organisation said, rapid advances in technology could mean the next generation of robotic weapons would be able to select and attack targets, potentially killing or injuring people, without effective human control – a chilling prospect which carries a new set of concerns. “The second round of talks in Geneva this week are a clear sign that governments are waking up to the wide range of serious concerns posed by killer robots, whose development and deployment in the near future seem all but inevitable if we don’t act now,” said Rasha Abdul Rahim, Campaigner on Arms Control, Security Trade & Human Rights at Amnesty International, who is currently at the CCW talks in Geneva. “The legal, ethical, and moral quandaries of using these systems in warfare are rightly beginning to receive the attention they deserve. But what’s still being widely overlooked is the likelihood that they will also be used in police operations, and it is urgent that this is addressed now. “Relying solely on machines to maintain law and order is not just a hypothetical scenario explored in countless sci-fi films. It is a chilling idea which may actually be realized if current developments are left unchecked. Now is the time for states to ban killer robots both on the battlefield and in policing, before we reach the point of no return.” Amnesty International’s new briefing, Autonomous Weapons Systems: Five key human rights issues for consideration, focuses on the implications of police use of killer robots in law enforcement. It argues that police use of robotic weapons would be fundamentally incompatible with international human rights law, resulting in unlawful killings, excessive use of force causing injuries, and undermining the right to human dignity. Unlike highly trained law enforcement officers, robots could not by themselves peacefully diffuse confrontations, distinguish between lawful and unlawful orders, make decisions about graduated response with a view to minimising harm, or be held accountable for mistakes or malfunctions that result in death or serious injuries, Amnesty said. Fully autonomous weapons without some level of human oversight have not yet been deployed, but rapid advances in technology are bringing them closer to reality, the organisation suggested. Amnesty’s address suggested there is just a “small leap” from products that are already on the market to fully fledged killer robots. It said companies in the UK, USA, Jordan, Israel, Spain and elsewhere are already developing “less lethal” robotic weapons for policing that are remotely operated or which fire automatically when touched. These include unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, and ground vehicles that can apparently shoot electric-shock darts, tear gas and other less-lethal projectiles, resulting in the risk of death or serious injuries. One example is the ShadowHawk drone being developed by US-based Vanguard Defense Industries. The ShadowHawk is designed to carry out operations similar to those of a surveillance helicopter, but it can also be weaponised. A media report hailed these capabilities when a Texas Sheriff’s office purchased one in 2011: “Although its initial role will be limited to surveillance, the ShadowHawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, previously used against suspected terrorists in Afghanistan and East Africa, has the ability to tase suspects from above as well as carrying 12-gauge shotguns and grenade launchers”. Amnesty International believes that in policing operations, autonomous weapons systems would not be able to properly assess complex policing situations and comply with relevant standards. “Under international standards, police may use force only when strictly necessary and to the extent required for the performance of their duty. They prohibit the use of firearms except in defence against an imminent threat of death or serious injury. It’s very difficult to imagine a machine substituting for human judgment, which is critically important to decisions on the use of potentially lethal force,” said Rasha Abdul Rahim. Amnesty International and its partners on the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots are calling for a global pre-emptive ban on the development, transfer, deployment and use of autonomous weapons systems, for either armed conflict or law enforcement. In the absence of such a prohibition, Amnesty said that states must publicly support and implement a call by the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions to impose a moratorium on the development, transfer, deployment and use of such systems. The organisation said that, in the meantime, “it is imperative that due consideration be given to the human rights implications of autonomous weapons systems”. http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Killer-robots-banned-warns-Amnesty-International/story-26342813-detail/story.html COMMENT Thought this was an interesting article.  Militarised police is already an issue in USA and it looks like UK is heading that way. Check out what the Texas police have got!  Bet the Chicago PD's envious. Killer robots don't sound too good to me, so I'm all for stopping development etc. But Amnesty International sounds like it's another tool in the imperialist arsenal:  SYRIA: “Human Rights” Warriors for Empire Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have chosen the side of Empire in the Washington-backed belligerency http://www.globalresearch.ca/syria-human-rights-warriors-for-empire/29422 EXTRACT Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are swigging the ale with their fellow buccaneers. These “human rights” warriors, headquartered in the bellies of empires past and present, their chests shiny with medals of propagandistic service to superpower aggression in Libya, contribute “left” legitimacy to the imperial project. London-based Amnesty International held a global “day of action” to rail against Syria for “crimes against humanity” and to accuse Russia and China of using their Security Council vetoes to “betray” the Syrian people – echoing the war hysteria out of Washington, Paris, London and ... Riyadh and Doha. New York-based Human Rights Watch denounced Moscow and Beijing’s actions as “incendiary” – as if it were not the empire and its allies who were setting the Middle East and Africa on fire, arming and financing jihadis – including hundreds of veteran Libyan Salafists now operating in Syria.   http://www.globalresearch.ca/syria-human-rights-warriors-for-empire/29422 So the Amnesty International call for a moratorium or ban on autonomous weapons systems (killer robots), would just be what:  performance?

Foreign Service Updates

Iran Hundreds protest outside Saudi embassy in Tehran  /alleged sexual harassment Iran youths by Saudi police http://www.dawn.com/news/1175390/hundreds-protest-outside-saudi-embassy-in-tehran -- Somalia “White Widow” reportedly escapes from Somalia to Aden WANTED by US + UK intel, Interpol & Kenya low-level recruiter with Al Qaeda DarkNet promotion & recruiting of young girls {sounds like bull to me} http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/569861/White-Widow-Samantha-Lewthwaite-alive-recruiting-female-suicide-bombers -- Egypt court confirms death sentence for Brotherhood head, Mohamed Badie & 11 others  / life terms to 23 detained http://www.brecorder.com/top-stories/0/1172542/ Accused of plotting unrest after:  military overthrow Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. -- US Nominates Ex-Envoy,  Glyn Davies , For North Korea Policy As Ambassador To Thailand  http://www.ibtimes.com/us-nominates-ex-envoy-north-korea-policy-ambassador-thailand-after-6-month-hiatus-1880728 -- First secretary of North Korea's Embassy in Bangladesh 27kg gold bars update / no security lapse http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/no-lapse-screening-envoy-gold-bars -- Saudi Arabia Iraq appoints ambassador to Baghdad after 25 years / ending stand-off b/w the two http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/732866 -- Cuba Obama Endorses Removing Cuba From Terrorism List US targets also on list = Iran, Sudan & Syria http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/world/americas/obama-cuba-remove-from-state-terror-list.html_r=0 -- Germany = 4th largest economy and Europe's largest PM Modi in Berlin India wants FTA, investment, business http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150415/jsp/nation/story_14682.jsp -- South Korea moves embassy staff from Libya to Tunisia after attack 2 guards killed / 32 SK nationals remain Libya http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfmmethod=home.regcon&contentid=20150415240454 -- USA officials twice denied refuge to one of the girls who escaped Chibok mass abduction Nigeria   http://www.worldmag.com/2015/04/u_s_reportedly_denies_visa_to_chibok_schoolgirl -- HILARIOUS BULLSH*T "With tension high in the Baltic States over possibility of a Russian invasion ..." Estonia asks 4 perma. NATO force. Estonia - German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen visiting Estonia, has assured Estonia of quick response. Looks like  Ursula used to be:  Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth  / Ursula a one-time Junior Doctor at the Gynaecological Clinic  -- Estonia President Toomas Hendrik Ilves doing the rounds of propaganda / doubts even NATO could fend off attack. Estonia Embassy in WA:  “There was no question whether the U.S. & NATO troops were necessary.” http://townhall.com/tipsheet/vivianhughbanks/2015/04/14/germany-assures-estonia-of-nato-support-against-russians-n1985130 --- Norway Govt Ordered to pay $270K plus $2.1M in attorney's fees, federal judge rules | Minneapolis consulate employee http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/employer_who_nixed_400k_settlement_now_owes_270k_plus_2.1m_in_attorneys_fee -- UKraine Porkkky dismisses UKR ambassador to US:  Oleksandr Motsyk {career diplomat /served under Yanukovych}  No reason given [RFE/RL] -- US embassy Amman, Jordan provided Jordan w. Mobile Vehicle & Cargo Inspection System (Mobile VACIS) to boost security @ border crossings article: http://www.petra.gov.jo/Public_News/Nws_NewsDetails.aspxSite_Id=1&lang=2&NewsID=191327&CatID=13&Type=Home&GType=1 VACIS http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/media/facts-faits/038-eng.html -- Myanmar survivors of a Russia trawler sinking awaiting embassy Moscow to process passports 4 repatriation Illegal fishing allegations loom 117 people were lifted from the water / 54 of them dead and 63 alive http://www.undercurrentnews.com/2015/04/14/survivors-of-sunken-trawler-face-illegal-work-charges-in-russia/ -- Thought police calling on Dutch foreign min. to fire Diplomat Bregje Wijsenbeek / Emb. Pretoria re comments on Iran http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/71178 -- Hollande stand-off Pope Francis accused of nixing France’s ambassadorial candidate to the Holy See b/c he is gay http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/14/remember-who-am-i-to-judge-vatican-silent-on-france-s-gay-appointee.html -- Palestine College in occupied East Jerusalem is top Israel recipient of EU science grants http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/david-cronin/top-israeli-recipient-eu-grants-based-occupied-east-jerusalem -- Russia WWII Photo Exhibition, London War Museum, Brit. Emb. promo in Yekaterinburg - CANCELLED ... blame FSB when not blaming Putin. Good job, Kremlin.  Weren't there for Victory Parade.  Tell them to f*ck right off.  -- Egypt sends aid to Syria refugees in Lebanon medical, tents, blankets http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/Templates/Articles/tmpArticleNews.aspxArtID=92028 -- Benin vs Gabon  Africa Unrest re announcement Gabonese opposition leader died. Benin Embassy torched in Gabon .. Benin wants answers. Gabon protesters accused Gabon's govt of casting "spells" on Mba Obame, who died on Sunday. http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Benin-demands-answers-after-embassy-gets-torched-in-Gabon-20150414 -- South Korea's foreign ministry came under criticism for allegedly lying re whereabouts of its ambassador to Libya South Korea said ambassador was in Tunisia er, ... nope:  in SKor. But, hey, it was a 'mistake'. http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2015/04/14/63/0200000000AEN20150414005151315F.html -- Notebook belonging to gay codebreaker Alan Turing sells for $1 million >chemically castrated, barred fm working for GCHQ /suicide Enigma machine also sold: $269k http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/04/14/notebook-belonging-to-gay-codebreaker-alan-turing-sells-for-1-million/ -- India Jawaharlal Nehru, former PM from India independence in 1947-1964 Cambridge graduate *wanted to model India as secular country* Jawaharlal Nehru on religion: blind belief & reaction dogma & bigotry superstition exploitation & preservation of vested interests -- COMMENT Sounds like India's Jawaharlal Nehru was a sensible man.

ECB President Mario Draghi Dodges Femen Protester

'SUPER MARIO' MARIO DRAGHI President  European Central Bank (ECB)  DIRECT  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAC3EGnr9hg Normally, I detest girly protests, but this one was quite funny. Mario looks like a cute puppet and he seems a good sport about the surprise sprung on him. Don't know anything about him other than that he's an economist. Judging solely on appearances:  I like him.

The Ford Foundation and the CIA - Financing and Manufacturing "Dissent"

Financing and Manufacturing "Dissent" in America:  The Ford Foundation and the CIA by James Petras Rebelión, 5 December / decembre 2001. Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG),  Centre de recherche sur la mondialisation (CRM),  globalresearch.ca ,  18  September/ septembre 2002 Introduction The CIA uses philanthropic foundations as the most effective conduit to channel large sums of money to Agency projects without alerting the recipients to their source. From the early 1950s to the present the CIA's intrusion into the foundation field was and is huge. A U.S. Congressional investigation in 1976 revealed that nearly 50% of the 700 grants in the field of international activities by the principal foundations were funded by the CIA (Who Paid the Piper? The CIA and the Cultural Cold War, Frances Stonor Saunders, Granta Books, 1999, pp. 134-135). The CIA considers foundations such as Ford "The best and most plausible kind of funding cover" (Ibid, p. 135). The collaboration of respectable and prestigious foundations, according to one former CIA operative, allowed the Agency to fund "a seemingly limitless range of covert action programs affecting youth groups, labor unions, universities, publishing houses and other private institutions" (p. 135). The latter included "human rights" groups beginning in the 1950s to the present. One of the most important "private foundations" collaborating with the CIA over a significant span of time in major projects in the cultural Cold War is the Ford Foundation. This essay will demonstrate that the Ford Foundation-CIA connection was a deliberate, conscious joint effort to strengthen U.S. imperial cultural hegemony and to undermine left-wing political and cultural influence. We will proceed by examining the historical links between the Ford Foundation and the CIA during the Cold War, by examining the Presidents of the Foundation, their joint projects and goals as well as their common efforts in various cultural areas. Background: Ford Foundation and the CIA By the late 1950s the Ford Foundation possessed over $3 billion in assets. The leaders of the Foundation were in total agreement with Washington's post-WWII projection of world power. A noted scholar of the period writes: "At times it seemed as if the Ford Foundation was simply an extension of government in the area of international cultural propaganda. The foundation had a record of close involvement in covert actions in Europe, working closely with Marshall Plan and CIA officials on specific projects" (Ibid, p.139). This is graphically illustrated by the naming of Richard Bissell as President of the Foundation in 1952. In his two years in office Bissell met often with the head of the CIA, Allen Dulles, and other CIA officials in a "mutual search" for new ideas. In 1954 Bissell left Ford to become a special assistant to Allen Dulles in January 1954 (Ibid, p. 139). Under Bissell, the Ford Foundation (FF) was the "vanguard of Cold War thinking". One of the FF first Cold War projects was the establishment of a publishing house, Inter-cultural Publications, and the publication of a magazine Perspectives in Europe in four languages. The FF purpose according to Bissell was not "so much to defeat the leftist intellectuals in dialectical combat (sic) as to lure them away from their positions" (Ibid, p. 140). The board of directors of the publishing house was completely dominated by cultural Cold Warriors. Given the strong leftist culture in Europe in the post-war period, Perspectives failed to attract readers and went bankrupt. Another journal Der Monat funded by the Confidential Fund of the U.S. military and run by Melvin Lasky was taken over by the FF, to provide it with the appearance of independence (Ibid, p. 140). In 1954 the new president of the FF was John McCloy. He epitomized imperial power. Prior to becoming president of the FF he had been Assistant Secretary of War, president of the World Bank, High Commissioner of occupied Germany, chairman of Rockefeller's Chase Manhattan Bank, Wall Street attorney for the big seven oil companies and director of numerous corporations. As High Commissioner in Germany, McCloy had provided cover for scores of CIA agents (Ibid, p. 141). McCloy integrated the FF with CIA operations. He created an administrative unit within the FF specifically to deal with the CIA. McCloy headed a three person consultation committee with the CIA to facilitate the use of the FF for a cover and conduit of funds. With these structural linkages the FF was one of those organizations the CIA was able to mobilize for political warfare against the anti-imperialist and pro-communist left. Numerous CIA "fronts" received major FF grants. Numerous supposedly "independent" CIA sponsored cultural organizations, human rights groups, artists and intellectuals received CIA/FF grants. One of the biggest donations of the FF was to the CIA organized Congress for Cultural Freedom which received $7 million by the early 1960s. Numerous CIA operatives secured employment in the FF and continued close collaboration with the Agency (Ibid, p. 143). From its very origins there was a close structural relation and interchange of personnel at the highest levels between the CIA and the FF. This structural tie was based on the common imperial interests which they shared. The result of their collaboration was the proliferation of a number of journals and access to the mass media which pro-U.S. intellectuals used to launch vituperative polemics against Marxists and other anti-imperialists. The FF funding of these anti-Marxists organizations and intellectuals provided a legal cover for their claims of being "independent" of government funding (CIA). The FF funding of CIA cultural fronts was important in recruiting non-communist intellectuals who were encouraged to attack the Marxist and communist left. Many of these non-communist leftists later claimed that they were "duped", that had they known that the FF was fronting for the CIA, they would not have lent their name and prestige. This disillusionment of the anti-communist left however took place after revelations of the FF-CIA collaboration were published in the press. Were these anti-communist social democrats really so naive as to believe that all the Congresses at luxury villas and five star hotels in Lake Como, Paris and Rome, all the expensive art exhibits and glossy magazines were simple acts of voluntary philanthropy? Perhaps. But even the most naive must have been aware that in all the Congresses and journals the target of criticism was "Soviet imperialism" and "Communist tyranny" and "leftist apologists of dictatorship" -- despite the fact that it was an open secret that the U.S. intervened to overthrow the democratic Arbenz government in Guatemala and the Mossadegh regime in Iran and human rights were massively violated by U.S. backed dictators in Cuba, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and elsewhere. The "indignation" and claims of "innocence" by many anti-communist left intellectuals after their membership in CIA cultural fronts was revealed must be taken with a large amount of cynical skepticism. One prominent journalist, Andrew Kopkind, wrote of a deep sense of moral disillusionment with the private foundation-funded CIA cultural fronts. Kopkind wrote "The distance between the rhetoric of the open society and the reality of control was greater than anyone thought. Everyone who went abroad for an American organization was, in one way or another, a witness to the theory that the world was torn between communism and democracy and anything in between was treason. The illusion of dissent was maintained: the CIA supported socialist cold warriors, fascist cold warriors, black and white cold warriors. The catholicity and flexibility of the CIA operations were major advantages. But it was a sham pluralism and it was utterly corrupting" (Ibid, pp. 408-409)." When a U.S. journalist Dwight Macdonald who was an editor of Encounter (a FF-CIA funded influential cultural journal) sent an article critical of U.S. culture and politics it was rejected by the editors, working closely with the CIA (Ibid, pp. 314-321). In the field of painting and theater the CIA worked with the FF to promote abstract expressionism against any artistic expression with a social content, providing funds and contacts for highly publicized exhibits in Europe and favorable reviews by "sponsored" journalists. The interlocking directorate between the CIA, the Ford Foundation and the New York Museum of Modern Art lead to a lavish promotion of "individualistic" art remote from the people -- and a vicious attack on European painters, writers and playwrights writing from a critical realist perspective. "Abstract Expressionism" whatever its artist's intention became a weapon in the Cold War (Ibid, p. 263). The Ford Foundation's history of collaboration and interlock with the CIA in pursuit of U.S. world hegemony is now a well-documented fact. The remaining issue is whether that relationship continues into the new Millenium after the exposures of the 1960s? The FF made some superficial changes. They are more flexible in providing small grants to human rights groups and academic researchers who occasionally dissent from U.S. policy. They are not as likely to recruit CIA operatives to head the organization. More significantly they are likely to collaborate more openly with the U.S. government in its cultural and educational projects, particularly with the Agency of International Development. The FF has in some ways refined their style of collaboration with Washington's attempt to produce world cultural domination, but retained the substance of that policy. For example the FF is very selective in the funding of educational institutions. Like the IMF, the FF imposes conditions such as the "professionalization" of academic personnel and "raising standards." In effect this translates into the promotion of social scientific work based on the assumptions, values and orientations of the U.S. empire; to have professionals de-linked from the class struggle and connected with pro-imperial U.S. academics and foundation functionaries supporting the neo-liberal model. As in the 1950s and 60s the Ford Foundation today selectively funds anti-leftist human rights groups which focus on attacking human rights violations of U.S. adversaries, and distancing themselves from anti-imperialist human rights organizations and leaders. The FF has developed a sophisticated strategy of funding human rights groups (HRGs) that appeal to Washington to change its policy while denouncing U.S. adversaries their "systematic" violations. The FF supports HRGs which equate massive state terror by the U.S. with individual excesses of anti-imperialist adversaries. The FF finances HRGs which do not participate in anti-globalization and anti-neoliberal mass actions and which defend the Ford Foundation as a legitimate and generous "non-governmental organization". History and contemporary experience tells us a different story. At a time when government over-funding of cultural activities by Washington is suspect, the FF fulfills a very important role in projecting U.S. cultural policies as an apparently "private" non-political philanthropic organization. The ties between the top officials of the FF and the U.S. government are explicit and continuing. A review of recently funded projects reveals that the FF has never funded any major project that contravenes U.S. policy. In the current period of a major U.S. military-political offensive, Washington has posed the issue as "terrorism or democracy," just as during the Cold War it posed the question as "Communism or Democracy." In both instances the Empire recruited and funded "front organizations, intellectuals and journalists to attack its anti-imperialist adversaries and neutralize its democratic critics. The Ford Foundation is well situated to replay its role as collaborator to cover for the New Cultural Cold War. James Petras is a Bartle Professor (Emeritus) of Sociology at Binghampton University, New York, and author of: Globalization Unmasked: Imperialism in the 21st Century with Henry Veltmeyer (Zed Books, 2001) James Petras is a frequent CRG contributor. His  web site in English is at: http://www.rebelion.org/petrasenglish.htm A superset list of his articles in Spanish is at: http://www.rebelion.org/petras.htm Copyright James Petras 2001,  For fair use only/ pour usage équitable seulement . http://globalresearch.ca/articles/PET209A.html COMMENT What a great article.  Glad I stumbled on this. Even though it dates back to 2001, an instrument of imperialism is hardly going to change its agenda.  LOL LINKS 1) James Petras website 2) Petras Articles @ voltairenet 3) Reviewing James Petras’ The Politics of Empire: The US, Israel and the Middle East No time to check out his other articles right now, but I'm sure to come back to him.  The Stephen Lendman review of the Petras book is contained in Part II of the article link (3) above.  Trouble finding it.  Good luck to those with more patience than I have.

USA - Presidential Elections

AMERICA HILLARY 2016 HELL NO Robby Mook heading Hillary Clinton presidential campaign 35-yo exp. political campaigner *muzzling Bill Clinton will be a priority* Surprise, Surprise: exploiting gay rights as centerpiece campaign /point of difference, for gay vote http://www.ibtimes.com/hillary-clinton-gay-vote-lgbt-activists-embrace-historic-2016-presidential-campaign-1879647 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ America’s libertarian freakshow: Inside the free-market fetish of Rand Paul & Ted Cruz Next year's GOP primary is shaping up to be a great one for small-government zealots. Here's what's at stake Conor Lynch [...] So how has our economy become this monstrous fusion of government and business? Paul and Cruz go after the usual enemy — the state. Libertarians believe that it is the government — which just can’t mind its own business — that caused crony-capitalism. If only the government got its hands out of the private industries, then a purer form of capitalist harmony would emerge. The idea of lemonade-stand capitalism suits their ideology perfectly — but it is a myth. In reality, the more “free” a market becomes, the more the competition gets rigged. In a capitalist system, the main goal is to grow and accumulate indefinitely. Competition is an effective way to drive innovation and efficiency in theory. But as businesses grow into large corporations and gain larger shares of the market, smaller producers can no longer compete, and must either work for the competition or exit the industry. We see this dynamic at work in the dominance of companies like Walmart and Amazon, who have managed to stack the deck overwhelmingly in their own favor and drive innumerable smaller competitors out of business. One thing about capitalism that free-market libertarians do not seem to understand is that it represents a constantly evolving social system. This also means that theories must also keep up with reality, and not reside in past centuries. In today’s world, corporations rule, and in America, as regulations have become laxer over the past few decades, they have grown even larger, especially in the finance industry, where the biggest corporations began merging after the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act into the too-big-to-fail behemoth’s that persist even today. The problems become even more pronounced when you consider the power available to the world’s largest companies. After the Citizens United ruling, which both Ted Cruz and Rand Paul have defended, corporations can contribute unlimited funds to political action committees. Enter the Koch brothers, who are planning to spend about $900 million on the 2016 election. The game is rigged, there is no doubt about it, and crony-capitalism exists — but it is not a perversion of “pure capitalism,” it is simply a natural evolution of it. Capitalists do not care about theory, as libertarians do; they care about getting ahead and increasing profit. Tilting the scales in one’s favor is simply an expedient way to achieve said profits. Competition on a level playing field isn’t a feature in such a system, but a bug, and one that’s increasingly been pushed to the margins. So the solution provided by libertarian leaning individuals like Paul and Cruz is based on this false notion of what capitalism actually is. They say that government is always the problem, and that it is the states fault for the crony-capitalism of today. But it is not the state who has corrupted the corporations, but the corporations who have corrupted the state. Getting rid of regulations and privatizing everything, as libertarians propose, would not create a pure form of capitalism where everyone has a fair shot — it would create a dystopia of abusive and uncaring corporations without any accountability to the public. The true answer to fighting the crony capitalism of today is to attack the nexus of corporations and their government sponsors. And Citizens United, contrary to what Cruz and Paul seem to believe, is one of the clearest examples. When politicians depend on millions upon millions of corporate campaign dollars, one cannot honestly expect them to be on the side of the common people. The game is rigged. If a politician attempts to do their job and refuses to court the wealthy and corporations, they will most likely cease to be a politician in the next election. This is especially true for presidential politics, where campaign spending has skyrocketed. During the 2008 election, eight donors gave more than $1 million to outside groups, like Super PACs. Fours short years later, and two years after the court decision, this number shot up to 126 for the 2012 election. The only way to truly fight crony capitalism is to stop the madness, and limit campaign spending, or more preferably make campaigns publicly financed. Get private money out of politics, and create a level playing field, where politicians can honestly say what they believe without having to worry about campaign donations. [...]    *EXTRACS ONLY* - FULL @ SOURCE http://www.salon.com/2015/04/14/americas_libertarian_freakshow_inside_the_free_market_fetish_of_rand_paul_ted_cruz/ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ COMMENT Watching the US election campaign could be very interesting.  Not sure I have it in me.  It's a massive amount of information. Enjoyed this guy's Salon article.  Don't know that reining in campaign contributions by the wealthy is the solution to America's problems.  But it would be a help, I guess.  The real solution would be a socialist system.  No chance in the home of the greedy few, exploiting the many. Not much interesting going on in the news, or maybe I'm having a news OD and just not that interested?

LIB-LABOR Stasi State: Mandatory Mass Surveillance of Australians & TPP

Mandatory data retention passes Australian parliament Summary: The government and Labor have jointly ensured that the telecommunications data of all Australians will be retained for two years for warrantless access by law-enforcement agencies. By Josh Taylor | March 26, 2015 -- 07:40 GMT (18:40 AEDT) Follow @joshgnosis The Australian government has relied on the votes of the Labor opposition to pass legislation on Thursday that will force telecommunications companies to retain customer data for two years for warrantless access by law enforcement. The legislation -- which will see call records, assigned IP addresses, location information, billing information, and other customer data stored for two years -- passed the Senate on Thursday with the support of Labor senators. The government and Labor shot down over a dozen amendments from the Greens, and several amendments from crossbench senators including those from David Leyonhjelm, Dio Wang, and Nick Xenophon. The amendments would have forced the data to be held in Australia, would have required warrants for all accessing of the data, and would have limited the storage to three months -- bringing Australia closer into line with international standards. Instead, the government agreed to a number of amendments from Labor, including requiring a warrant for accessing the data of a journalist for the purpose of identifying a source. The government will appoint a "public interest advocate" to argue on behalf of journalists -- who won't be aware that their data has been sought by law enforcement. There was also intended to be an amendment limiting access to the data for the purposes of civil litigation, but Attorney-General George Brandis on Thursday admitted that through third-party access orders and subpoenas, data could be made available through the court for cases such as copyright infringement. In the end, the Bill was condemned by Leyonhjelm, and Greens Senator Scott Ludlam, but ultimately passed 43 to 16. The Bill will need to be returned to the House to agree to the amendments, but with a government majority this is a mere formality. The legislation passed without the Australian public knowing the cost of the scheme to telcos to build systems to store the data, nor how much the government intends to contribute to the set-up. Earlier in the week, Brandis revealed that the cost per customer per year for the operation of the scheme will be $4, but the cost of building the systems, contained in a confidential PricewaterhouseCoopers report, remains unknown. Brandis said the government's contribution will be detailed in the Budget in May. Telecommunications companies will be given 18 months after the legislation is passed into law to get systems in place in order to comply with the legislation. Armed with a degree in Computer Science and a Masters in Journalism, Josh keeps a close eye on the telecommunications industry, the National Broadband Network, and all the goings on in government IT. Follow @joshgnosis http://www.zdnet.com/article/mandatory-data-retention-passes-australian-parliament/ COMMENT This isn't what a democratic government is for; this is a totalitarian state in action. Note: (1) MASS surveillance; and (2) WARRANTLESS access to data.  The Liberals and the Labor party have sold out every single Australian with this data retention legislation. Data retention is not only a totalitarian violation of civil liberties; it also exposes all Australians to third-party legal action (based on evidence obtained from data retained by internet service provider Stasi deputies). Personal data of Australians will not even be retained on Australian soil and there is no provision for regulating the destruction of that data: WHAT HAPPENS TO DATA THAT IS STORED AFTER THE MANDATORY RETENTION PERIOD? The new laws do not prescribe any rules for the de-identification or destruction of the retained data after the expiry of the two-year retention period. [Lexology] Furthermore, Australian taxpayers will foot the bill twice over for the 'privilege' of having their civil liberties pissed trampled on by bent, corporate serving politicians, aiming to maintain an iron grip on the freedom of all Australians, as taxpayers shall pay for:  (a) the undisclosed federal government contribution to this totalitarian surveillance scheme; and (b) the service provider costs that shall pass onto consumers. The driving force imposing this totalitarian state in Australia, is the practical alliance between the Liberals and their Labor Party sidekicks. Imagine what politicians are hiding from the public when they're targeting journalists with surveillance and secret probes into forcibly collected data. This isn't about national security; this is about control:  control of the press and control of the people, by politicians who serve American and corporate interests, without regard for public welfare or standards of acceptable conduct - which is why whistleblowers, and whistleblower publishers such as WikiLeaks, are important.  Just look at the Trans-Pacific Partnership 'free trade' agreement ('TPP') that government has hidden from public view during several years of negotiations.  What a rort.  They're negotiating away Australia's rights and democracy, and on a course to assign national sovereignty to the very corporations that politicians serve. It's thanks to WikiLeaks - and NOT these corrupt government actors, who dodge transparency and accountability - that the public has even come to know the contents of the SECRET TPP document.  So what does that tell us about the political order in Western democracies, and what does that say about government witch-hunts, criticism and propaganda unleashed at the independent publisher, WikiLeaks, and Julian Assange? The Lib-Labor Stasi, corporate-serving practical political alliance, is about to sell out Australia by signing up ALL Australian as subjects of the TPP (unregulated trade) agreement, which is a vehicle for corporate management of federal, state and local policies.   Secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) Investment Chapter WikiLeaks Link - here ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ TPP a corporate-managed FTA Signs away democracy & sovereign rights [12:26]  https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qaY46i0ECw8  VOTE THE BASTARDS OUT NEXT ELECTION )))   BILL SHORTEN   (((  2009 audition to US Consul General * Criticises Union Movement * #WikiLeaks - here. VOTE THE BASTARDS OUT NEXT ELECTION Hmmmm ... think I might get a bit melodramatic when I come across news that particularly annoys me. I've come back to edit 'pissed on' to 'trampled on'.  LOL