Sic Semper Tyrannis

VOA interview with Peter Eisner on "The Italian Letter"

http://www.voanews.com/audio/audio/440477.html

pl

Habakkuk on 'truth and honor', the MH17 shootdown, and the centenary of World War I

Congratulating Colonel Lang on the 10,000,000 page views this blog has attained, Ishmael Zecariah described it as 'one of the few venues where "truth and honor" still have meaning.'

When, more than nine years ago now, the Colonel initiated this blog, he wrote that he would 'tell the truth as it is given to me to know the truth.' As one of the 'old lags' who has been reading and commenting on SST since those early days, I have always hoped that among its audience would be people in the U.S. intelligence community – and perhaps indeed the British – for whom the concepts of 'truth and honor' do still have a great deal of meaning.

The presence of honest and competent analysts in the U.S. intelligence community was readily apparent at the time when both our countries were lied into the catastrophic invasion of Iraq – in part because such people were 'stabbed in the back' by MI6 and the British Joint Intelligence Committee's endorsement of the claim that Saddam Hussein had sought uranium from Niger.

Subsequently, however, such analysts succeeded in frustrating attempts to misrepresent the Iranian nuclear programme so as inveigle us into another disastrous war. And while the JIC were quite happy to collaborate in attempts to lure both our countries into an attack on Syria, honest and competent analysts at the British defence science laboratory at Porton Down, if Seymour Hersh's account is to be believed, supplied their colleagues in the Defense Intelligence Agency with the evidence which enabled General Dempsey to frustrate the attempt.

For some time, the veteran journalist Robert Parry has been suggesting that what U.S. intelligence analysts know about the shooting down of the Malaysian flight MH17 on 17 July does not mesh with official claims that there is unambiguous evidence that the insurgent forces were responsible.

Yesterday, he claimed that U.S. intelligence analysts now believe that the atrocity was likely to have been the result of a deliberate attempt by extremists in the new regime in Kiev to shoot down a Russian plane.

It was at 7 pm (GMT) on this day one hundred years ago, a little after the time at which I am posting this, that, following the German invasion of Belgium, the British Government delivered the ultimatum which led to its declaration of war four hours later. Some reflections on 'truth and honor', on the claims and counter-claims about MH17, and on Europe's rush to catastrophic war a century ago may be timely.

IS takes three Kurdish towns and threatens the Mosul dam

 

"In the face of stiff resistance from Shiite militias aligned with Iran that have stalled their march on Baghdad, the ISIS fighters who captured Mosul in June pushed north during the weekend. By Sunday afternoon, they were in control of two other towns after fierce battles with Kurdish security forces, known as the pesh merga, who have been thrust into combat to defend the border of their autonomous region in northern Iraq from encroachments by ISIS.

In a statement, ISIS boasted of conquering “more important areas which were controlled by the pesh merga and the secular militias.” With the new territory, which the group described as “the border triangle of Iraq, Syria and Turkey,” ISIS strengthened its hold on territory that traverses the frontiers of Iraq and Syria, giving it an even greater ability to move fighters and weapons between the front lines of the civil wars in both countries."  NY Times

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IMO IS is systematically "cleaning up" its strategic "rear' in Iraq and Syria before continuing "march on Baghdad."  I don't think this pause in the campaign against the Iraqi government has anything to do with Shia militia resistance.  When IS finishes this phase of its campaign plan it will move to the next phase.

In this instance the Kurds lost important locations and populations to IS.  Like the Iraqi government after the IS capture of Beiji and Tikrit, the Kurdish Authority will have one opportunity to demonstrate its ability to recover lost ground from IS.  If that fails then the Kurdish Authority will be at the mercy of future IS "attention," and its fate will probably depend on Turkish, Iranian or US intervention.

With its program of Salafi renewal of supposed early Islamic practices, IS treats heterogeneous Islamic groups like all the Shia factions, Yazidis, Druze, etc. even worse that it does Christians or Jews (if there are any to be found in the "caliphate." ) These non-Sunni groups are simply considered to be murtadoon (apostates) and they are killed.  Christians are offered the choice of payment of jizya (the dhimmi tax on second class people), conversion or the sword.  pl 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/04/world/middleeast/iraq.html?action=click&contentCollection=Middle%20East&region=Footer&module=MoreInSection&pgtype=article

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-04/iraq-s-biggest-dam-at-risk-as-militants-battle-kurds-for-control.html

Ten million lifetime page views for SST

Here we are are folks.  This is not bad for a small time committee.  pl

 

Leetle pitchurs nex' tuh yer commentos.

 

Someone wrote to ask how he/she/it might customize the little colored square thingies that appear next to your comments.  I asked Typepad.  They say that if you have a Typepad account then the picture you have on your Typepad page will automatically appear chez nous.  Other than that, no chance.  Some hilarious possibilities exist.  pl

 

"Israel, Not Hamas, Started the Latest War in Gaza" by Larry Johnson

 

By Larry Johnson on August 3, 2014 at 4:48 PM in Current Affairs | Edit

If you think the current Israeli invasion of Gaza is a response to the discovery of the bodies of three kidnapped Israeli teenagers in late June, think again. Israel’s invasion was a pre-planned action and, if you simply go back and examine the news reports since April, you will realize that the missing teens became a convenient, tragic symbol that Israel disgracefully used as a pre-text for trying to destroy Hamas. Let me walk you thru some of the relevant press clippings.

Let’s start on 25 April 2014 with an article by John Lyons of the Australian entitled, Fatah, Hamas Unity Hurts:

After a bitter seven-year split, Fatah, which governs the West Bank, and Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, announced yesterday that they had agreed on reunification.

The US expressed “disappointment” and Israel reacted angrily, immediately cancelling a round of peace talks with the Palestinians. . . .

Periodically, Hamas fires rockets from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel. However, more often than not the rockets are fired by Islamic Jihad or one of the five Salafist groups who do not acknowledge Hamas’s right to rule Gaza.

Israel’s policy is to respond to any rockets from Gaza, regardless of who fires them. Within hours of the latest ­announcement, Is­raeli jets launched an air strike on Gaza. Israel said this was in response to rockets fired from Gaza.

On 2 June 2014, Israel was still miffed at the apparent unity forged between Fatah and Hamas. Agence France reported:

Early on Monday, Israeli warplanes staged two bombing raids on targets in central and southern Gaza following rocket fire on southern Israel, a spokesman said.
“After two rockets were fired at Israeli territory over the last two days, the Israeli airforce attacked two terrorist sites in central and southern Gaza,” he said, noting the raids were successful.

 

Gaza Score Card - 3 August, 2014

Summing up at this point in time:

- Lieutenant Gordin is declared dead by the IDF.  The government faced a wave of public hysteria that would have tied their hands.  This declaration restores some of their freedom of action.

- Marc Regev, Bibi's spokesman told Blitzer today that Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza have been "greatly exagerated" by "forces hostile to Israel."  Frank Luntz should be very proud of such disciples.

-  The IDF says it has "nearly finished the job" in destroying "teghor (terror) tunnels."  Why is it that they can find these infiltration routes into "Isghael" (Israel) now and could not before?  Simple.  The US started giving them Ground Penetrating Radar imagery a week or so ago.  Before that they were blind mice searching for holes in the ground.  they are understandably annoyed that they did not have their hands in this US cookie bowl before.

 

"Netanyahu to US: 'Don't ever second-guess me again'" Ynet news

"According to the Associated Press, the two spoke on the phone Friday amid growing tensions between the US and Israel over the Gaza conflict, that has in the meantime further detirorated after a UN and US backed ceasefire collapsed Friday morning. 

Obama and other US officials did not directly blame Hamas for the abduction of 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin, but they made clear they hold Hamas responsible for the actions of all factions in the Gaza Strip. The language was a distinct change from Thursday when Washington was focused on the deaths of Palestinian civilians. 

Netanyahu told Shapiro the Obama administration was “not to ever second-guess me again” and that Washington should trust his judgment on how to deal with Hamas, according to people familiar with the conversation."   Ynet News

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IMO Dan Shapiro is a fervent Zionist and should not be US Ambassador in Israel. His religion is not the issue.  His political philosophy should be the focus.   pl  

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4553575,00.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Shapiro

 

 

Should Obama be registered under FARA?

 

"Q    Thanks.  I want to ask about the situation in the Middle East.  And why do you think Israel should embrace a cease-fire in Gaza when one of its soldiers appears to have been abducted and when Hamas continues to use its network of tunnels to launch attacks?  And also, have you seen Israel act at all on your call to do more to protect civilians?

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, first of all, I think it's important to note that we have -- and I have -- unequivocally condemned Hamas and the Palestinian factions that were responsible for killing two Israeli soldiers and abducting a third almost minutes after a cease-fire had been announced.  And the U.N. has condemned them as well.

And I want to make sure that they are listening:  If they are serious about trying to resolve this situation, that soldier needs to be unconditionally released as soon as possible. 

 

The inconvenient wog – Settlement in a land devoid of people -- Origin

 

     The fundamental principal of the Justification Meme is that no land inhabited by people is allowed to be taken.  So, if you want to steal the land from a native population, you must first de-people it.  This is an easy task; all that is necessary is that you give the inhabitants a good nickname such as redskin or wog and a few negative adjectival and verbal associations.  It helps if you are far richer and technologically advanced than the targeted population and if a large lot of them can be terrorized to death.  After that the land is devoid of people and all is copacetic.  The theft is now moral and the use and conquering of the land is now a noble act done in fulfillment of the obligations of good stewardship of the earth and duty to God.

     It is not easy for a normal person to steal from one’s family and neighbors because one can experience empathy and guilt for the act.  Stealing from a dog engenders little regret.  Thus, if a people seek to oppress another people and steal their birthright land, they first must dehumanize them to the equivalence of dogs or monsters; hence, nicknames are assigned.  Secondly, some adjectival tag must be attached that further minimizes the victim’s worth, like being lazy, dirty, cowardly, or the favorites, evil and savage.  Thirdly, the adjectival tag must be paired with some worthy characteristic of the oppressor for comparison such as civilized, skilled, or heroic.  Similarly, the land of the native needs a characterization such as untamed wilderness or barren land.  Finally, an oppressor’s act with respect to the native’s land must be described in some positive way like tamed, swamp drained, or desert made to bloom.  Together, these adjectival and verbal tools can be assembled to create a myth or meme that justifies the theft and grants the oppressor a warm and satisfied feeling of accomplishment and religious fulfillment.

 

"A Culture of Misinformation" Senator Wyden

Three crooks, three liars, three men who have betrayed the trust of the American people; what should be done with them?

- DNI Clapper perjured himself before the US Senate and was allowed to apologize and stay on.

- General Keith Alexander has gone into business in retirement for the purpose of selling cyberwarfare knowledge that rightly belongs to the American people.

- John Brennan is now revealed as yet another liar.  He told everyone who would listen that CIA had not hacked its way into computers belonging to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI).  Now the CIA IG has produced a report that states the opposite.  Brennan has apologized to the senate.  That is not enough.  The SSCI's role is oversight of the CIA.  Under Brennan's command CIA tried to escape that oversight.

Obama will probably not allow prosecution of these traitors to the spirit of American democracy.  They know too much.  pl  

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/08/does-john-brennan-know-too-much-to-be-fired-by-barack-obama/375431/

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/07/29/the_crypto_king_of_the_NSA_goes_corporate_keith_alexander_patents

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greta-van-susteren/the-country-has-big-troub_b_5641281.html?utm_hp_ref=politics 

 

Gaza Cease Fire Diary - 1 August 2014

Frank Luntz wrote a paper for his fellow Zionists a few years back.  In this paper he specified the kind of language to be used in public utterance for the purpose of eliciting a conditioned response from the American public.  For example Israeli PWs should always be described as having been "kidnapped,"  "abducted," or as being held "hostage."  This trickiness is intended to create a mental image of innocent, indeed childlike IDF soldiers who have been victimized by criminals. This is clever.  Today Martin Fletcher and Blinken from the NSC were all over Morning Joe using this language to describe an IDF soldier taken prisoner.  Blinken demanded that Hamas release this "hostage. " At the same time the point is made that this "abduction" was perpetrated against a group of IDF engineers who were demolishing tunnels inside Gaza DURING THE CEASE FIRE.  Lordy! Lordy!  How dare the Hamasniks do such a thing!  Have they never heard of the rules of Israeli Warfare?

Rule 1 - We do what we please but you must not imitate us, because we are "special" and we want to WIN!! 

Ariel Sharon once infamously conducted a major armored offensive operation during a cease fire that Israel had accepted.  This was during the Battle of the Chinese Farm in 1973.  He defeated the Egyptian Army who stupidly were abiding by the UN sponsored cease fire, and Sharon WON! He won because he was "SPECIAL," but don't you think for a minute you Palestinian terrorists that you can do the same.  NO, NO NO!  You are not "special."  pl

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/israelgaza-conflict-the-secret-report-that-helps-israelis-to-hide-facts-9630765.html 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resolution_338