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.

What's happening?

What's happening? Discovered that a couple of my images got removed or blocked on one of my pages. Don't know which.  Images just weren't showing. Whatever happened to 'fair use'?  Replaced the images, but it's a pain to have to reconstruct something that was like a stream of consciousness at the time (rather than a plotted out and carefully recorded project).  It's also a pain to have to keep checking that the links all do their thing. Had deserters on Twitter.  It was quite funny. Compared to some of the stuff I've seen on there, my occasional outbursts are on the lame end of the spectrum of 'radical', so those followers must have been buttoned-up ultra conservative types. What's happening? There was a 'ceasefire' that wasn't a ceasefire because the Ukraine government are a pack of liars. The Frenchies are untrustworthy:  Mistral delivery up in the air.  One minute it's on & the next the French are bailing.  One minute it's a case of Hollande's 'personal opinion' the next it's a case of Russians have held up their end of the contract.  Remains to be seen, I guess. Obama had his Estonia visit & everybody's at the NATO summit.  Russia excluded, of course.  Not like they'd be welcome when they're the target. Putin's been to Altai Republic making post flood arrangements, I think. NATO's sent war ships to the Black Sea.  Done that before, so it's just more of the same. McCain and Lindsey Graham - Republican senators - are lobbying for war and pressuring Obama, I guess.  Typical republican.  Also McCain's state (Arizona) is home to military producers and Graham is Republican, Baptist, lawyer, military (rank Colonel under George W Bush), so their agenda is hardly surprising. Looks like John Kerry and other secretaries of state are at the NATO summit. Hollande's ex has put out her kiss-and-tell.  But it's dead boring.  Maybe it's those crappy French privacy laws.  The juiciest bit of info is that he represents the working classes but calls them toothless.  Geez, where's all the sleaze I was expecting? Tony Abbott's not going to export uranium to the Russians and is sending troops to Ukraine (& anywhere else the US wants), the last I heard.  Total ass-kisser. Radicals have kidnapped a heap of people.  Think that was Iraq. Truck bomb went off there as well.  Outside the secret service and military base, I think it was.  Recent car bombing there, I think.  So they're real keen on targeting that spot. Hackers are intent on targeting the Pakistan government.  There's been demonstrations and there's civil rights abuses, I think.  So it's politically motivated. UK's GCHQ are on some kind of recruiting drive - for cyber-security types.  Sounds more like they just want to identify a bunch of people who are handy with a computer.  Didn't know that hacking involved gadgetry.  Thought it was just a matter of keying crap in to get access to things.  Anyway, there's a bunch of stuff that's sold quite readily (in China, I think it was).  The more expensive stuff was for phone hacks.  The phone hacking thing is big, apparently.  It's money motivated. The Serbs anticipate more EU pressure on them to abide by anti-Russian sanctions if things hot up some more in Ukraine -- or if EU and crew decide they're revving up the sanctions. The creepiest thing I came across was black people being killed in Libya.  Didn't even know there were black people in Libya.  That probably explains the boatloads of people trying to get across to Italy. Despite my awe of ancient civilisations in the region and love of falafel, humus humous, belly-dancers, camels, Bedouin attire, Bedouin drums etc, I find the Middle East that's in the news rather scary and surprisingly alien. The religious aspects are curious.  Is it about religion really or is it more about some form of identification that's merged with religion? Even though I've taken to pointing the finger at the imperialist West or the totalitarian West, I am sooooo happy being a Westerner. The worst thing that happens to me is maybe getting stuck in a traffic jam or the annoyance of crowded parking lots. Hard to reconcile.

SYRIA, JOHN McCAIN & ISLAMIC EMIRATE

John McCain, Conductor of the "Arab Spring" and the Caliph by Thierry Meyssan Everyone has noticed the contradiction of those who recently characterized the Islamic Emirate as "freedom fighters" in Syria and who are indignant today faced with its abuses in Iraq. But if that speech is incoherent in itself, it makes perfect sense in the strategic plan: the same individuals were to be presented as allies yesterday and must be as enemies today, even if they are still on orders from Washington. Thierry Meyssan reveals below US policy through the particular case of Senator John McCain, conductor of the "Arab Spring" and longtime partner of Caliph Ibrahim. Voltaire Network | Damascus (Syria) | 18 August 2014 John McCain is known as the leader of the Republicans and unhappy 2008 US presidential candidate. This is, we will see, only the real part of his biography, which serves as a cover to conduct covert actions on behalf of his government. When I was in Libya during the "Western"attack, I was able to view a report of the foreign intelligence services. It stated that, on February 4, 2011 in Cairo, NATO organized a meeting to launch the "Arab Spring" in Libya and Syria. According to this document, the meeting was chaired by John McCain. The report detailed the list of Libyan participants, whose delegation was led by the No. 2 man of the government of the day, Mahmoud Jibril, who abruptly switched sides at the entrance of the meeting to become the opposition leader in exile. I remember that, among the French delegates present, the report quoted Bernard-Henry Lévy, although officially he had never exercised functions within the French government. Many other personalities attended the symposium, including a large delegation of Syrians living abroad. Emerging from the meeting, the mysterious Syrian Revolution 2011 Facebook account called for demonstrations outside the People’s Council (National Assembly) in Damascus on February 11. Although this Facebook account at the time claimed to have more than 40,000 followers, only a dozen people responded to its call before the flashes of photographers and hundreds of police. The demonstration dispersed peacefully and clashes only began more than a month later in Deraa. [1] [...] CONTINUED @ SOURCE - AVAIL. DIFFERENT LANGUAGES http://www.voltairenet.org/article185085.html

This is a FANTASTIC article.

Being new to politics and without a clue to the Middle East, this is a still a little too involved for me.
But it's a great article for anyone with an interest in the area.

The stuff the US does is unbelievable.


I find all of this mind-boggling.

John McCain's commie grudge

John McCain Vietnam War POW CIA - Department of Defense Files 73 pages of CIA and Department of Defense documents and transcriptions, of foreign broadcasts, from 1967 to 1973, relating to John McCain's captivity in North Vietnam. On October 26, 1967, John McCain was flying an A-4E Skyhawk on his twenty-third mission over North Vietnam. This mission was his first encounter with the heavy air defenses deployed by the North Vietnamese in and around Hanoi. His plane was hit by a Russian made surface to air missile. McCain ejected and landed badly injured in Truc Bach Lake. He was dragged from the lake and beaten by civilians along the shore. Thus began John McCain's 5 1/2 years of captivity in North Vietnam. He was taken to Hoa Lo Prison, also known as "Hanoi Hilton," where he was refused medical treatment, interrogated, and beaten. After his captors learned his father was Admiral McCain he was given medical treatment. Early on, this son and grandson of high-ranking naval officers was accorded relatively privileged status. Then he refused early release, which he says he saw as a public relations stunt by his captors, insisting that POWs held longer than him should be granted their freedom first. Thereafter, McCain was treated much more severely. In March 1968, McCain was put into solitary confinement, where he would remain for two years. In August 1968, a program of severe torture began on McCain. He was subjected to rope bindings and repeated beatings every two hours for four days. McCain attempted to commit suicide, but was caught by guards. He was then put under suicide watch. He signed a forced confession during the torture. When he resisted further attempts to be used for North Vietnamese propaganda, a regiment of beatings two or three times a week was established. In the later half of 1969 the North Vietnamese treatment of American POWs became less inhumane and the express torture ended. McCain was released on March 14, 1973. He returned home on crutches and began years of physical rehabilitation. McCain later regained flight status and commanded a Navy squadron before retiring from the Navy in 1981. Source - here.

It was all going swell until those North Vietnamese got themselves some heavy air defences.

Then McCain was brought from the skies ... to his knees. 

Looks like McCain's still mad at commies for the kinky rope and corporal punishment humiliations exacted, after he was shot down by an alleged Russian SAM.

McCain's now interfering in European affairs ... but it's the Ruskis who are the villains?

JOHN McCAIN'S BIG MOUTH

Republican Senator John McCain calls for Vladimir Putin to be banned from G20 July 24, 2014 - 7:48AM Nick O'Malley [...] Senator McCain has toed a consistently strong line against Russia for its support of rebels in Eastern Ukraine, calling for US President Barack Obama to arm the Ukrainian government. In response to the decision by European foreign ministers on Tuesday to broaden sanctions against but not increase their severity, Senator McCain said, “It's a joke and they will do nothing and I predicted they would do nothing". Describing President Putin as a “KGB thug”, he told London’s Telegraph newspaper, “[European leaders] will continue to do nothing until the day they become independent of Russian energy. Until then they will talk." Senator McCain is one of several American politicians growing increasingly frustrated at what they perceive to be lack of action against Russia. On the Senate floor, Republican Dan Coats said, “I suggest we do whatever is necessary to bring Russia’s economy to its knees," he said. "We need to see that [Russian] stock market plummet. We need to see confidence and support for anything Russia makes or exports denied.” Source - SMH - here.

McCain's a big mouth.  

Calling for Obama to arm the Ukraine government ... with McCain's buddies' weapons by any chance?

Send McCain over to Russia to sort it out with Putin.

As for SMH, what are they, a US propaganda sheet trumpeting what the likes of big-mouth McCain jerk off to in senate?

All the sheeple will read this and take it as gospel.  LOL

G20 - Who's pulling Abbott's strings?

Ban pariah Vladimir Putin from G20, says John McCain The Australian - ‎12 hours ago‎ Up until now, Mr Abbott has said that it is too early to make any decision about whether to invite Mr Putin to the G20. Mr McCain gave strong praise to the Abbott government in its response to the shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines plane, saying he was ... http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/ban-pariah-vladimir-putin-from-g20-says-john-mccain/story-e6frg6nf-1226999372624 404 ERROR - Sorry your page could not be found We could not find the page you requested. The cause may be one of the following: There's an error in the address or link you have entered in your browser; There's a technical issue and the page has not been properly published; The article was removed to comply with a legal order.

Ban pariah Vladimir Putin from G20, says John McCain The Australian-13 hours ago TONY Abbott should not invite Vladimir Putin to the November summit of the G20, senior US Republican senator and former presidential candidate John McCain ...  http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/ban-pariah-vladimir-putin-from-g20-says-john-mccain/story-e6frg6nf-1226999372624 404 ERROR Sorry your page could not be found. We could not find the page you requested. The cause may be one of the following: There's an error in the address or link you have entered in your browser; There's a technical issue and the page has not been properly published; The article was removed to comply with a legal order.

McCain's a US Republican senator representing Arizona:

Major Aerospace and Defence Operations Among the companies taking advantage of Arizona's favorable aerospace and defence climate are: Raytheon  Honeywell  General Dynamics C4 Systems  The Boeing Company  Northrop Grumman Orbital Sciences United Technologies – includes Goodrich, Hamilton Sundstrand L3 Communications Standard Aero (MRO) Bombardier Nammo Talley Source -AZ Commerce - here.

So where's the stories?

No surprise if McCain's patting little Tony Abbott's back and vilifying Putin.

Wonder if Tony Abbott makes any decisions based on Australian interests and initiatives -- or is Abbott and his Liberal government just an extension of corporate America and its politics?