We Are Change
Friday, September 21, 2007
We Are Change and Infowars confront former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan during a recent book signing event. Greenspan is called out for his traitorous bad-mouthing of the dollar and his crimes against working and middle class Americans.
JASON RYAN
ABC
Friday September 21, 2007
Despite concerns voiced by the U.S. head of intelligence operations that revealing details of wiretapping programs would result in American deaths, the White House's push for reform of the rules that govern the programs has opened the door for details to spill out during congressional hearings.
Such was the case Thursday in a hearing before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell discussed details about U.S. officials being required to get a court order to intercept communications of Iraqi insurgents who had captured four U.S. soldiers in Iraq May 12. The soldiers were part of the 10th Mountain Division.
"We have to abide by the law," McConnell told the committee.
According to officials briefed on the incident and McConnell's testimony, it took more than 12 hours for officials to approve the wiretap. A secret court order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in February required that a FISA warrant be obtained for any communications on U.S.-based circuits or fiber optic cables.
The ruling now requires that a warrant be obtained for intercepting foreign-to-foreign communications outside the United States if the targets of surveillance are communicating via U.S.-based fiber cable or circuit such as the Internet.
Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., asked McConnell, "So we had U.S. soldiers who were captured in Iraq by insurgents, and for the 12 hours immediately following their captures, you weren't able to listen to their communications."
McConnell said, "The reason I've tried to be as straightforward and open on this subject as I have [is] because it is so important that we get this right. Now, many are going to accuse me of declassifying information -- a warmonger, a fearmonger, whatever. We've got to get this right because sometimes those timelines are so tight."
Some committee members questioned McConnell's credibility, especially comments he made to the El Paso Times last month that Americans would die because of open testimony in Congress. In that interview, McConnell was asked by the reporter, "So you're saying that the reporting and the debate in Congress mean that some Americans are going to die?"
McConnell responded by saying, "That's what I mean -- because we have made it so public. We used to do these things very differently, but for whatever reason it's a democratic process and sunshine's a good thing."
Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., told McConnell, "You're saying and standing by that, your previous statement, that when we debate these issues in the Congress of the United States, which is our system, that Americans -- some Americans -- are going to die. And I really think that's a stretch. And I think because of some of these things, it has done damage to what you bring forward. It puts a dent in the credibility."
The order requiring court supervision of foreign communications that transit the United States came after the secret court authorized by FISA began oversight of the National Security Agency's Terrorist Surveillance Program, although officials say the two events are separate.
Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, "The situation was because global communications move on wire, you can have a situation where information would pass on a wire through this country. So for us to specifically target the individuals that were involved in that kidnap, we had to go through a court order process. ... We are extending Fourth Amendment rights to a terrorist foreigner ... who's captured U.S. soldiers."
According to U.S. officials, the government began intercepting the insurgent communications and had to obtain an emergency FISA warrant when it was discovered that the insurgents were communicating on a circuit connected to the United States.
The emergency FISA warrant allows immediate surveillance with a phone call to either the attorney general, the deputy attorney general or the assistant attorney general of the National Security Division. It is after receiving a request for emergency wiretapping that the government has 72 hours to establish probable cause required by the court.
At the hearing, Assistant Attorney General for National Security Ken Wainstein said, "We have to find that there is probable cause that the person we want to surveil overseas is an agent of a foreign power. And if we don't find that, we're not allowed, under the statute, to go ahead and authorize emergency authority. And within 72 hours, we have to make that showing to the satisfaction of the FISA court. So it's a very important responsibility, a weighty responsibility, and it's nothing that we take lightly."
The FISA legislation passed by Congress in August, the Protect America Act, provided a temporary modification to the government's ability to intercept communications between foreign parties. McConnell said that the current legislation "allows us to do our overseas foreign intelligence mission."
Testifying about the impediment before the August legislation, Wainstein said, "There are a number of instances where we cannot make that showing, and we could therefore not do that surveillance."
Passed into law in 1978, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act provides protections of U.S. persons from unauthorized government surveillance, an issue that has come under scrutiny after the NSA's eavesdropping program was revealed.Iraqi Prime Minister has no authority over U.S. contractor mercenaries, witnesses and experts provide scathing testimony | |
| Steve Watson |
Despite having their license revoked by the Iraqi government, and being banned from operating in the country all together, The private contractor company Blackwater USA is continuing operations in Baghdad and has refused to pull its operatives out of Iraq.
After being blamed for a Sunday gunbattle in Baghdad that left eight civilians dead, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki officially stated that Blackwater had been grounded and that its operatives were not welcome in Iraq. However, after just four days Blackwater personnel have resumed operations in the green zone.
A US spokeswoman, Mirembe Nantongo, told AFP:
"We have resumed limited movement today. It is very limited and all missions need to be pre-approved. The decision was taken by us in consultation with the Iraqi government. All convoys will be protected by PSDs (private security details). Yes, it is Blackwater."
The issue is expected to be on the agenda when Maliki holds talks in New York next week at the United Nations General Assembly.
Proof if ever it was needed that the Iraqi government really has no authority over its own country which has been effectively sold into the hands of private mercenary armies that are literally running riot.
Blackwater still maintains that its employees came under attack and were defending themselves. However Iraqi civilians at the scene have provided damning testimony indicating that there was absolutely no provocation and it was Blackwater who instigated the violence. One witness who is in hospital with four shot wounds described the incident to CNN:
Hasan Jaber Salman lies in Yarmouk Hospital, bandages covering gunshot wounds in his back.Salman says he is a lawyer who was headed from a courthouse to the Ministry of Justice when he found his route blocked by four armored Blackwater SUVs.
The roadblock soon caused a traffic snarl, so armed Blackwater guards began waving at the drivers, telling them to turn around and leave the area.
"So we turned back, and as we turned back they opened fire at all cars from behind," Salman said. "All my injuries, the bullets are in my back.
"Within two minutes the security force arrived in planes -- part of the security company Blackwater. They started firing randomly at all citizens."
Everyday Iraqis have dubbed the mercenaries "Mossad" and many have gone on record to state that at separate times they have witnessed Blackwater contractors killing innocent people in the street without a care.
The U.S. State Department is to investigate the incident. The chairman of Blackwater USA, billionaire Erik Prince, a long time GOP donor and former Navy SEAL, has been asked to testify before Congress about the security company's activities in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Meanwhile Jeremy Scahill, investigative reporter for The Nation magazine and the author of the book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, today gave testimony before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. Scahill blasted Blackwater in a scathing testimony, referring to the contractors as "Hired Guns" and "above the law".
Scahill exposed the fact that Blackwater, funded by hundreds of millions of dollars in US taxpayer funds, has been involved in scores of incidents that have led to untold amounts of death and destruction and that their actions have been utterly criminal and reprehensible, yet the company remains completely unaccountable and is subject to no oversight whatsoever.
The Nation -- Editor's Note: This is an edited transcript of the prepared testimony of Jeremy Scahill before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, September 21, 2007.
My name is Jeremy Scahill. I am an investigative reporter for The Nation magazine and the author of the book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. I have spent the better part of the past several years researching the phenomenon of privatized warfare and the increasing involvement of the private sector in the support and waging of US wars. During the course of my investigations, I have interviewed scores of sources, filed many Freedom of Information Act requests, obtained government contracts and private company documents of firms operating in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. When asked, I have attempted to share the results of my investigations, including documents obtained through FOIA and other processes, with members of Congress and other journalists.
I would like to thank this committee for the opportunity to be here today and for taking on this very serious issue. Over the past six days, we have all been following very closely the developments out of Baghdad in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of as many as 20 Iraqis by operatives working for the private military company Blackwater USA. The Iraqi government is alleging that among the dead are a small child and her parents and the prime minister has labeled Blackwater's conduct as "criminal" and spoke of "the killing of our citizens in cold blood." While details remain murky and subject to conflicting versions of what exactly happened, this situation cuts much deeper than this horrifying incident. The stakes are very high for the Bush administration because the company involved, Blackwater USA, is not just any company. It is the premiere firm protecting senior State Department officials in Iraq, including Ambassador Ryan Crocker. This company has been active in Iraq since the early days of the occupation when it was awarded an initial $27 million no-bid contract to guard Ambassador Paul Bremer. During its time in Iraq, Blackwater has regularly engaged in firefights and other deadly incidents. About 30 of its operatives have been killed in Iraq and these deaths are not included in the official American death toll.
While the company's operatives are indeed soldiers of fortune, their salaries are paid through hundreds of millions of dollars in US taxpayer funds allocated to Blackwater. What they do in Iraq is done in the name of the American people and yet there has been no effective oversight of Blackwater's activities and actions. And there has been absolutely no prosecution of its forces for any crimes committed against Iraqis. If indeed Iraqi civilians were killed by Blackwater USA last Sunday, as appears to be the case, culpability for these actions does not only lie with the individuals who committed the killings or with Blackwater as a company, but also with the entity that hired them and allowed them to operate heavily-armed inside Iraq--in this case, the US State Department.
While the headlines of the past week have been focused on the fatal shootings last Sunday, this was by no means an isolated incident. Nor is this is simply about a rogue company or rogue operators. This is about a system of unaccountable and out of control private forces that have turned Iraq into a wild west from the very beginning of the occupation, often with the stamp of legitimacy of the US government.
What happened Sunday is part of a deadly pattern, not just of Blackwater USA's conduct, but of the army of mercenaries that have descended on Iraq over the past four years. They have acted like cowboys, running Iraqis off the road, firing indiscriminately at vehicles and, in some cases, private forces have appeared on tape seemingly using Iraqis for target practice. They have shown little regard for Iraqi lives and have fueled the violence in that country, not just against the people of Iraq but also against the official soldiers of the United States military in the form of blowback and revenge attacks stemming from contractor misconduct. These private forces have operated in a climate where impunity and immunity have gone hand in hand.
Active duty soldiers who commit crimes or acts of misconduct are prosecuted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the court martial system. There have been scores of prosecutions of soldiers-- some 64 courts martial on murder-related charges in Iraq alone. That has not been the case with these private forces. Despite many reports--some from US military commanders--of private contractors firing indiscriminately at Iraqis and vehicles and killing civilians, not a single armed contractor has been charged with any crime. They have not been prosecuted under US civilian law; US military law and the Bush administration banned the Iraqi government from prosecuting them in Iraqi courts beginning with the passage of Coalition Provisional Authority Order 17 in 2004. The message this sends to the Iraqi people is that these hired guns are above any law.
US contractors in Iraq reportedly have their own motto: "What happens here today, stays here today." That should be chilling to everyone who believes in transparency and accountability of US operations and taxpayer funded activities-- not to mention the human rights of the Iraqis who have fallen victim to these incidents and have been robbed of any semblance of justice.
The Iraqi government says it has evidence of seven deadly incidents involving Blackwater. It is essential that the Congress request information on these incidents from the Iraqi authorities. What we do know is that in just the past nine months, Blackwater forces have been involved with several fatal actions. Last Christmas Eve, as Katy mentioned, an off-duty Blackwater contractor allegedly killed a bodyguard for the Iraqi Vice President. Blackwater whisked that individual out of the country. Iraqi officials labeled the killing a "murder" and have questioned privately as to why there has apparently been no consequences for that individual. Blackwater says it fired the individual and is cooperating with the US Justice Department. To my knowledge no charges have yet been brought in that case.
This past May, Blackwater operatives engaged in a gun battle in Baghdad, lasting an hour, that drew in both US military and Iraqi forces, in which at least four Iraqis are said to have died. The very next day in almost the same neighborhood, the company's operatives reportedly shot and killed an Iraqi driver near the Interior Ministry. In the ensuing chaos, the Blackwater guards reportedly refused to give their names or details of the incident to Iraqi officials, sparking a tense standoff between American and Iraqi forces, both of which were armed with assault rifles.
The actions of this one company, perhaps more than any other private actor in the occupation, have consistently resulted in escalated tension and more death and destruction in Iraq--from the siege of Fallujah, sparked by the ambush of its men there in March of 2004, to Blackwater forces shooting at Iraqis in Najaf with one Blackwater operative filmed on tape saying it was like a "turkey shoot" to the deadly events of the past week.
Colonel Thomas Hammes, the US military official once overseeing the creation of a new Iraqi military, has described driving around Iraq with Iraqis and encountering Blackwater operatives. "[They] were running me off the road. We were threatened and intimidated," Hammes said. But, he added, "they were doing their job, exactly what they were paid to do in the way they were paid to do it, and they were making enemies on every single pass out of town." Hammes concluded the contractors were " hurting our counterinsurgency effort."
Brigadier General Karl Horst, deputy commander of the 3rd Infantry Division said of private security contractors, "These guys run loose in this country and do stupid stuff. There's no authority over them, so you can't come down on them hard when they escalate force.... They shoot people, and someone else has to deal with the aftermath. It happens all over the place." Horst tracked contractor conduct for a two month period in Baghdad and documented at least a dozen shootings of Iraqi civilians by contractors, resulting in six Iraqi deaths and the wounding of three others. That is just one General in one area of Iraq in just 60 days.
The conduct of these private forces sends a clear message to the Iraqi people: American lives are worth infinitely more than theirs, even if their only crime is driving their vehicle in the wrong place at the wrong time. One could say that Blackwater has been very successful at fulfilling its mission--to keep alive senior US officials. But at what price?
It is long past due for the actions of Blackwater USA and the other private military firms operating in Iraq--actions carried out in the names of the American people and with US tax dollars--to be carefully and thoroughly investigated by the US Congress. For the Iraqi people, this is a matter of life, and far too often, death. In the bigger picture, this body should seriously question whether the linking of corporate profits to war making is in the best interests of this nation and the world. I would humbly submit that the chairs of relevant committees in both the House and Senate use their power of subpoena to compel the heads of the major war contracting companies operating on the US payroll in Iraq to appear publicly before the American people and answer for the actions of their forces. I am prepared to answer any questions. Raw Story
Friday, September 21, 2007
| |
When Rather appeared on Larry King's program Thursday, King began by showing him a 2005 clip of himself saying, "I'm not a victim of anything except my own shortcomings."
But he added, "Somebody, sometime has got to take a stand and say democracy cannot survive, much less thrive with the level of big corporate and big government interference and intimidation in news."
"I've learned a good deal since that time," said Rather. "It's reported that Sumner Redstone [president of Viacom] ... was described as being enraged that the news division, this story, had cost Viacom and CBS in Washington, and he wanted Dan Rather and everybody connected with it out."
"They sacrificed support for independent journalism for corporate financial gain, and in so doing, I think they undermined a lot at CBS News," he said.
Rather said he still believes the 60 Minutes report was correct. "[CBS] sacrificed support for independent journalism for corporate financial gain," he stated, "and in so doing I think they undermined a lot at CBS News."
"Nobody to this day has shown that these documents were fraudulent," continued Rather, referring to the disputed memos featured in the 60 Minutes story. "Nobody has proved that they were fraudulent, much less a forgery. ... The truth of this story stands up to this day." Rather added that he believed somebody with subpoena power could get to the bottom of the matter pretty quickly.
Epidemic Of Police Brutality
Sweeps America
An epidemic of violence is sweeping the country. Police are being trained that the general public are the enemy and that they can engage in outright brutality without recourse. Taser deaths are skyrocketing because the police have been ordered to use "pain compliance", otherwise known as torture, to subdue and oppress the citizenry. It is time for police to remember that their duty is to protect the general public from criminals and not act as enforcers for a tyrannical police state.
Americans To Be Tortured For Refusing To Show ID?
A horror video that wouldn't look out of place in Maoist China or Nazi Germany shows a student being repeatedly shot with a stun gun by UCLA police for the crime of not showing his ID. As similar cases begin to pile up how long will it be before Americans are routinely tortured for noncompliance and refusing to have their 4th amendment violated?
Student Tasered For Asking A Question
Andrew Meyer was grabbed by cops after he asked the former presidential candidate why he didn't challenge the rigged election of 2004 and about his membership of the skull and bones secret society. Meyer asked police what he was being arrested for as they dragged him to the back of the University Auditorium before manhandling him to the ground.
Only when Meyer was immobile and had five officers on top of him did the police decide to send 50,000 volts of electricity coursing through his prostrate body, seemingly waiting until Meyer begged them not to do it so as to enjoy the maximum power trip from administrating the torture.
Police Beat Town Councilman Then Arrest Him For Assault
Roseland town council member David Snyder is calling for the resignation of a town marshal after a fight at Friday night's meeting. Snyder says while he was being arrested, he became a victim of police brutality.
WATCH THE VIDEO
Epidemic Of Police Brutality
Sweeps America
An epidemic of violence is sweeping the country. Police are being trained that the general public are the enemy and that they can engage in outright brutality without recourse. Taser deaths are skyrocketing because the police have been ordered to use "pain compliance", otherwise known as torture, to subdue and oppress the citizenry. It is time for police to remember that their duty is to protect the general public from criminals and not act as enforcers for a tyrannical police state.
Americans To Be Tortured For Refusing To Show ID?
A horror video that wouldn't look out of place in Maoist China or Nazi Germany shows a student being repeatedly shot with a stun gun by UCLA police for the crime of not showing his ID. As similar cases begin to pile up how long will it be before Americans are routinely tortured for noncompliance and refusing to have their 4th amendment violated?
Student Tasered For Asking A Question
Andrew Meyer was grabbed by cops after he asked the former presidential candidate why he didn't challenge the rigged election of 2004 and about his membership of the skull and bones secret society. Meyer asked police what he was being arrested for as they dragged him to the back of the University Auditorium before manhandling him to the ground.
Only when Meyer was immobile and had five officers on top of him did the police decide to send 50,000 volts of electricity coursing through his prostrate body, seemingly waiting until Meyer begged them not to do it so as to enjoy the maximum power trip from administrating the torture.
Police Beat Town Councilman Then Arrest Him For Assault
Roseland town council member David Snyder is calling for the resignation of a town marshal after a fight at Friday night's meeting. Snyder says while he was being arrested, he became a victim of police brutality.
WATCH THE VIDEO
| Remember that cop who shot the Air Force veteran three times for obeying his order? He was acquitted on all counts.
|
Officer On Leave After Woman Tasered
The Warren Police Department is under fire for another accusation of abuse of force. The latest incident happened during a September second arrest in the parking lot of a popular nightclub.
WATCH THE VIDEO
Police Repeatedly Beat Old Man
NYPD thugs repeatedly beat an old man in the head for the crime of "intoxication".
Militarized Police Storm Utah Rave, Beat Partygoers
Armed with assault rifles and tear gas, the police used dogs to sweep the crowd for narcotics. At least one helicopter was used in the operation. The scale of the police response was apparently due to the ineffectiveness of a smaller force used in the previous "Sequence Five" rave. Prior to dispersing the partiers, several police informants had reportedly infiltrated the rave and observed widespread illegal activities.
Police Attack Video Journalist, Steal His Camera
I was attacked by the New York Police Department, who broke my camera AND stole it... as well as my footage.
Cops Choke Kids For Skateboarding
Cop flips on kids for skating downtown in Hot Springs Arkansas. Jarad Graham, Drew Irwin, Skylar Nalls, Matt McCormack, Robbie Brindley, & Casey Canterbury get arrested.
28 seconds : The Killing of Fouad Kaady
In the early afternoon of September 8, 2005, police encountered Fouad Kaady shortly after he was in an accident that left him in shock and bleeding, burned over much of his body. Rather than calling for medical help, the police commanded him to lie on the pavement, even though they could see the burned flesh hanging from his body, and even though they said he appeared to be "in a catatonic state." When he did not comply with their orders, but instead continued to sit on the ground in a daze, they tasered him repeatedly. And then, they shot him to death.
In a report that was typical of the corporate media's response to this killing, Channel 8's ever-mealy-mouthed Kyle Iboshi held up a wad of papers left over from the "investigation" into the death, saying, "you can see how extensive this investigation was." He then commenced to highlight (literally, with a yellow highlighter pen) what he claimed to be the relevant details of the case. Not surprisingly, Iboshi was very selective in what he chose to focus on. He accepted, without question, everything that the PIO had told him to say. He never asked a single question about why two officers might have shot an obviously unarmed man to death. And, he concluded his report by implying that Kaady must have been "on drugs" at the time of the killing, as if that might excuse the officers' behavior.
And so, in a pattern of violence that is repeated almost every day in this country, the police got away with murder. So far, anyway. They did so because they have the power and the authority to carry guns and to use them, and to avoid facing the consequences of their actions. And, they got away with it because the complicit corporate media helped them to weave a story that would lull the public into silence. As in so many incidents like this one, they told a story that was engineered to cause people to blame the victim, and accept the violence. No questions asked.
The truth about what happened to Fouad Kaady is important. It's important to bear witness when a member of our community is cut down like this. It's important to stand up for the person he might have been, rather than accepting the media's portrayal of him as merely some drug-crazed monster who "had it coming." It's important to know just how deep the culture of police violence runs through our cities and towns, and just how fist-in-glove the corporate media has been with the police state. And that's why this video is important. Even if you think you know the story, you're not going to believe this. Over the course of a year and a half, Videoistas painfully and meticulously gathered evidence, combed through records and reports, spoke with witnesses, and pieced together the real story. It's much more disturbing than what you might have seen on KATU, but it's the truth. And the least we can do for a fallen comrade is to take the time to learn the truth about what really happened to him.
Believe it or not, this story is told in the officers' own words. And you won't even believe what you hear.
This video is of The Portland Indymedia video Collective and does not represent or speak for the kaady family.
A big overhang of property will bring U.S. house prices down further, but it is too early to say if the economy will plunge into recession, former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan was quoted as saying on Friday.
Greenspan said in an interview with Austrian magazine Format that low interest rates in the past 15 years were to blame for the house price bubble, but that central banks were powerless when they tried to bring it under control.
"It's a difficult situation, there is an enormous overhang on the real estate market," Greenspan was quoted as saying. "Many buildings which just have been finished can't be sold ..."
"So far, prices have dropped only slightly. But it was enough to cause alarm around the world," he said. "Prices are going to fall much lower yet."
"However, it is too early to answer the question about a recession. We simply don't know yet. It depends on how flexibly the economy can react," he said.
Greenspan said deregulation and the introduction of market economies in the former Communist bloc after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 had caused a global boom and a worldwide reduction of interest rates, which both helped fuel the property bubble.
"There is no doubt about the fact that low interest rates for long-term government bonds have caused the real estate bubble in the United States," he said.
"The Federal Reserve began a series of interest rate increases in 2004. We were hoping to bring the speculative excesses in the real estate sector under control. We failed. We tried it again in 2005. Failure," he said.
"Nobody could do anything about it, neither us nor the European Central Bank. We were powerless," he said.
JBS | September 21, 2007
Dennis Behreandt
For most of the last many years that he served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the public heard very little from Alan Greenspan. His public utterances were usually short and devoid of content that might cause unintended consequences in the financial markets. Clearly, freed from the his role at the Fed as one of the most powerful men in the world, Greenspan no longer feels the same inhibitions. With the release of his new book, the former Fed Chair is even making the rounds on a publicity campaign. In one recent appearance he sat down with the Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's spoof news broadcast, The Daily Show.
| The irreverent Stewart suffers none of the nervous ticks that prevent the cowardly cadre of so-called real "journalists" that staff America's news rooms from asking important questions during interviews. For instance, while talking with Greenspan, Stewart brought up the idea that America, supposedly, has a free market economy. "So, why do we have a Fed?" Stuart asked. "Wouldn't the market take care of interest rates and all that? Why would we have someone adjusting the rates if we are a free market society?" Greenspan's answer: "You didn't need a central bank when you were on a gold standard." Bingo! Somebody give that man a cookie! It's worth watching the rest of Stewart's interview with Greenspan, but this is really the most important admission a central banker has ever made. A truly free market would be based on a standard of value that can not easily be manipulated for political or other purposes. Since the move away from the gold standard and the creation of the Fed, that is exactly what has happened with the dollar. As Greenspan admits in the interview, we no longer have a free market where the currency is concerned, we have regulation. We also have severe inflation through the "miracle" of fractional reserve banking and the inflationary monetary policies that the Fed has followed ever since it's creation. For more on that, see economist Murray Rothbard's The Mystery of Banking or get a copy of The Creature from Jekyll Island. Or, just wait around for a few days or weeks here at the beginning of the 21st century. The consequences of the massively inflationary policies the Fed has followed for the last few years are sure to come home to roost sooner or later. |
Prison Planet | September 21, 2007
Paul Joseph Watson
In a new op-ed, Bilderberg luminary Henry Kissinger admits that U.S. hostility against Iran is not about the threat of nuclear proliferation, but as part of a larger agenda to seize Iranian oil supplies. But the true meaning behind this is lost on Neo-Cons, who are still deluded into thinking that Americans benefit from the imperial looting of natural resources in the middle east.
In an International Herald Tribune op-ed , Former US Secretary of State Kissinger comes clean on the true motives behind the planned military assault on Iran.
"An Iran that practices subversion and seeks regional hegemony - which appears to be the current trend - must be faced with lines it will not be permitted to cross. The industrial nations cannot accept radical forces dominating a region on which their economies depend," writes Kissinger.
"Iran has legitimate aspirations that need to be respected," he writes - but those legitimate aspirations do not include control over the oil that the United States and other industrial countries need," he concludes.
According to the CIA's world factbook, Iran has the world's second largest reserves of conventional crude oil at 133 gigabarrels. Adding non-conventional oil, Iran holds 10% of the global oil supply.
Kissinger's admission that U.S. control of Iranian oil supplies is the real agenda behind hostility towards Iran would raise eyebrows and bring condemnation from many, but there are a hard core of Neo-Con cheerleaders who would support such an agenda even if it is openly accepted that nuclear proliferation is just a smokescreen for looting more middle east oil.
That is because they are still deluded into thinking that foreign wars of aggression to monopolize natural resources make America, and as a consequence make them, richer and more prosperous - when nothing could be further from the truth.
The fact that the Iraq invasion was about oil is a familiar cliche that was even acknowledged by Alan Greenspan last week.
"So what? We need that oil," the Neo-Cons sneer.
Americans don't benefit from the Globalists' control of Iraqi oil because the agenda is to artificially restrict global oil supplies in order to jack up prices and reduce the living standards of industrial countries.
The oil flowing out of Iraq has never recovered to pre-invasion levels and still stands at a measly 0.5 gigabarrels a year , a huge chunk of which is piped directly to Israel .
This artificial scarcity is the stated goal of Bilderberg luminaries like Kissinger and José Manuel Barroso , who have sworn to inflate prices up to $200 dollars a barrel and spark the onset of a "post-industrial revolution", which translates as another economic depression and a wholesale "correction" of living standards that will all but obliterate the middle class.
Neo-Cons who trumpet the ethnic cleansing of the middle east using the twisted logic that it benefits Americans as their dollar sinks to peso level and gas prices explode while the cost of living becomes unaffordable are living in a complete fantasy world, but when the wake up call arrives the consequences of their ignorance are going to reap a hellish revenge.
The US Senate has decided not to consider a measure to give Guantanamo detainees and other foreigners the right to challenge their detention in the courts.
The draft legislation needed approval by 60 votes in order to be considered in the Senate, which is narrowly controlled by Democrats. It received only 56, with 43 voting against.
Congress last year eliminated the right to habeas corpus for non-US citizens labeled 'enemy combatants' by the government.
AdvertisementThe Bush administration said this was necessary to prevent them from being set free and attacking Americans.
The move affected about 340 suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban captives held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.
It could also affect millions of permanent legal residents of the US who are not US citizens, according to one of the sponsors of the bipartisan measure, Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
Senator Arlen Specter, another sponsor of the bill and a Pennsylvania Republican, noted that the right to habeas corpus was a protection against arbitrary arrest enshrined in the US Constitution and dating back to the English Magna Carta of 1215.
Later this year, the US Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments from lawyers for Guantanamo prisoners challenging the law that restricted the right to habeas corpus.
| Paul Joseph Watson | |
Ron Paul has slammed Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for deliberately depreciating the value of the dollar to artificially bail out Wall Street while poor and middle class people lose their homes and have their living standards lowered.
During a Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill today, the Texas Congressman confronted Bernanke and accused the Fed of trying to solve the problem of inflation with more inflation by creating artificially low interest rates that have no effect because of the dollar's weakness.
Watch the video.
Paul questioned how it could ever be morally justifiable to deliberately depreciate the dollar and pointed out the fact that the dollar collapse was a deliberate policy on behalf of the Fed.
Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Alan Greenspan have all been busy bad-mouthing the dollar over the past few weeks even as major players like China and Saudi Arabia consider dumping US treasuries, a move that would immediately trigger a dollar meltdown.
Ron Paul identifies the true culprits of the planned economic implosion while the establishment media and the yuppies celebrate the hollow "solution" of an interest rate cut that has no substantive benefit and only increases the risk of another depression by sinking the dollar to historic lows and ensuring foreign holders of US debt run for the door at breakneck speed.
