Berto Jongman: Afghan Massacre 2 Helos 15 Ground Troops?

07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, Corruption, DoD, IO Deeds of War, Military
Berto Jongman

Afghan parliament delegation claims 15 US troops were involved in Kandahar massacre

Bill Roggio

Threat Matrix, 17 March 2012

One day after Afghan President Hamid Karzai lashed out at the US and implied that more than one US soldier was involved in the mass murder of 16 Afghans in Kandahar's Panjwai district last weekend, a delegation from the Afghan parliament is claiming that at least 15 US soldiers “accompanied by 2 helicopters” were involved in the massacre. From Khaama Press:

A delegation of the Afghan parliament members who visited Kandahar province said at least 15 US troops were behind the assassination of 16 Afghan villagers at Panjwai district in this province.The delegation included 5 Afghan parliament members who were sent by the Afghan House of Representatives to find out the facts behind the massacre of 16 Afghan civilians at Panjwai district.

The delegation presented its findings report to the Afghan House of Representative which states that the civilians massacre was plotted where at least 15 US troops were involved.
A member of the Afghan parliament Shakila Hashimi who presented the report to the Afghan House of Representatives said false statements were given to the Afghan people by provincial governor Toryalai Weesa and US commander saying that the shooting was carried out by a single US soldier.

She also added, the assassination was carried out by 2 groups of US soldiers consisting of 15 to 20 soldiers and were accompanied by 2 helicopters.

See Also:

Owl: ChemTrails, Martial Law, Oil Derivatives…

07 Other Atrocities

Chemtrails Against US General Public?

This article explains how to distinguish ordinary contrails from what is a by-definition hazardous chemtrail in the sky. The reason it is hazardous is the two chemicals researchers were able to identify from chemtrails residues: “Several sky watchers throughout the world have had residue samples analyzed after collecting them in water containers, air traps, and on shrubbery twigs. They have all come up with two common elements: barium and aluminum. Barium is very toxic. Reportedly, it was sprayed from aircraft during Gulf War I to weaken the enemy on the ground. Some consider barium salts more toxic than lead. It affects the lungs directly. Aluminum is a toxin that leads to dementia and neurological diseases. The nasal passages and lungs enable aluminum to have easy entry into our blood streams and affect tissues, including the heart and brain.” Given that lung diseases such as COPD and asthma have increased by large degrees in the last few decades, which is during the same time period, according to this article, when chemtrail spraying has been occurring, is this more than just a coincidence? Is chemtrail spraying another corporate-government initiative, along with others ongoing (vaccines, a deeply corrupt and ineffective medical industrial system) and planned (more vaccines, neutron bombs, selective gas attacks, starvation due to economic collapse) in order to reduce population?

Denying chemtrails is dangerous for your health

Martial Law and Resource Control Preamble to War on Iran?

See key excerpts below (my emphasis in underlined items):

 “The National Defense Resources Preparedness order gives the Executive Branch the power to control and allocate energy, production, transportation, food, and even water resources by decree under the auspices of national defense and national security.  The order is not limited to wartime implementation, as one of the order's functions includes the command and control of resources in peacetime determinations.”

“The economy of the United States is based on the free flow of resources, energy, and the rights of consumers to buy and sell as they see fit.  Any interference in this economic process quickly leads to shortages, rising prices, and civil unrest.  The purpose of President Obama signing this new Executive Order is yet unclear, however, it may coincide with information coming out of Israel yesterday that plans for a tactical or strategic strike on Iran are accelerating.  Oil prices in Europe rose over $3 a barrel for Brent crude after the Israeli actions, and US oil prices rose $2 for WTI.

The Obama administration appears to be preparing for a long drawn out war in the Middle East, or at the very least, an expected crisis that will require the need to override Constitutional authority and claim dominion over all resources in the United States under the guise of national defense.  With the rise in Disaster Preparedness growing for both individuals and states leading up to yesterday's Executive Order, the mood of the nation points strongly towards some event or disaster that will require massive preparations on a national as well as local scale.”

Obama Issues Executive Order Declaring Peacetime Martial Law, Bypasses Congress, Takes Over All Resources

No Attack on Iran, Just a Massive Oil Futures Scam

This article from William Engdahl is persuasive in arguing there will be no Israeli/American attack on Iran, and I have seen other writers make similar points about how this is only intended to enrich the coffers of bankster derivative fund speculator-friends of Obama. However, what weakens his arguments is not only Obama's new executive order to control all resources, but many reports of another Naval carrier and mind sweepers heading to the area. Would Obama send such resources to the Gulf just to solidify an impression of imminent war to help insure his bankster friends make tons of more money on oil speculation? Others more cynical than me may know the answer to that question.

‘The Key Oil Derivatives Insiders are Laughing All the Way to the Bank’

Chuck Spinney: Obama & Netanyabua — Scorpions in a Bottle

08 Wild Cards, Corruption, Government
Chuck Spinney

How two scorpions trapped in a bottle weaken each other while they strengthen Hamas and Iran and increase the risks of nuclear proliferation throughout the Middle East.

Attached is an excellent explanation of this.  Not addressed specifically, but nevertheless implicit in the discussion is the universal influence of domestic politics in the shaping or a nation's foreign policy.

Israel: Its Fantasies and Its Realities

by Immanuel Wallerstein, Agence Global, 15 Mar 2012

EXTRACT:

Were either Israel or the United States to bomb Iran preemptively, there would be enormous political consequences immediately. First of all, it would almost certainly be relatively inefficacious in terms of stopping the Iranian project. Secondly, it would weaken politically the position of both Israel and the United States in the whole world. The two reasons together explain why there is so much opposition by the military and intelligence services of both Israel and the United States to the whole military discourse. What they fear is that the discourse would catch on and permit some political leaders not presently controlling the Israeli or U.S. governments to be foolish enough to start the war.

Read full article.

or are they engaged in a mutual backscratching operation?

My good friend Pierre Sprey took exception to Wallerstein's analysis, which I distributed in my last blaster (and is repeated below for convenience of reference). Readers may recall that I noted Wallerstein did not address the universal influence of domestic politics in shaping a nation's foreign policy. Pierre addresses the implications of that oversight in the attached comment:

Chuck,

Wallerstein's heart is in the right place and he is certainly right that neither Netanyahu nor Obama have the slightest illusions about the ridiculous uselessness of bombing Iran.

Continue reading “Chuck Spinney: Obama & Netanyabua — Scorpions in a Bottle”

Various Contributors: Continuing Insanity – Potpourri

07 Other Atrocities, Cultural Intelligence

The Enigma of Israel (CounterPunch)

Fukushima Roulette (CounterPunch)

Will Corporations Prevent the Singularity? (IEET)

The Death of Investigative Journalism (CounterPunch)

Corps, Army to restart ‘forcible entry’ drills (Army Times)

The NSA Is Building the Country’s Biggest Spy Center (WIRED)

Guantanamo Prison's True Secret: Jason Leopold in Conversation With Andy Worthington (OpEd News)

US and Iranian Strategic Competition: The Proxy Cold War in the Levant, Egypt and Jordon (CSIS)

 

IVN Steele on Electoral Reform Part 6: Cabinet

Access
Robert David STEELE Vivas
Robert David STEELE Vivas

Steele on Electoral Reform – Part 6: Cabinet

Independent Voter Network, 17 March 2012

Presidential candidates must name prospective individuals to all Cabinet positions at least 90 days prior to Election Day, and those individuals must participate in such debates as the states might organize, and at least one national debate for each of the positions.

Continue reading “IVN Steele on Electoral Reform Part 6: Cabinet”

John Robb: When Elites Foresake, Countries Die

Civil Society, Corruption
John Robb

When Elites Depart

One of the benefits of having a son that is a scholar of ancient warfare, from Alexander the Great to the Byzantine Empire to the Mongols, is that we can have wide ranging discussions on very deep topics.  Of perennial interest to us:  why do complex societies/civilizations collapse?

One of interesting working theories we have is that while complex societies can be in decay for a long period of time, they only collapse when its favored elites abandon it/betray it.

Here's an example from Roman history written by Joseph Tainter:

The Collapse of The [Western] Roman Empire

One outcome of diminishing returns to complexity is illustrated by the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. As a solar-energy based society which taxed heavily, the empire had little fiscal reserve. When confronted with military crises, Roman Emperors often had to respond by debasing the silver currency (Figure 4.2) and trying to raise new funds. In the third century A.D. constant crises forced the emperors to double the size of the army and increase both the size and complexity of the government. To pay for this, masses of worthless coins were produced, supplies were commandeered from peasants, and the level of taxation was made even more oppressive (up to two-thirds of the net yield after payment of rent). Inflation devastated the economy. Lands and population were surveyed across the empire and assessed for taxes. Communities were held corporately liable for any unpaid amounts. While peasants went hungry or sold their children into slavery, massive fortifications were built, the size of the bureaucracy doubled, provincial administration was made more complex, large subsidies in gold were paid to Germanic tribes, and new imperial cities and courts were established. With rising taxes, marginal lands were abandoned and population declined. Peasants could no longer support large families. To avoid oppressive civic obligations, the wealthy fled from cities to establish self-sufficient rural estates. Ultimately, to escape taxation, peasants voluntarily entered into feudal relationships with these land holders. A few wealthy families came to own much of the land in the western empire, and were able to defy the imperial government. The empire came to sustain itself by consuming its capital resources; producing lands and peasant population (Jones 1964, 1974; Wickham 1984; Tainter 1988, 1994b). The Roman Empire provides history's best-documented example of how increasing complexity to resolve problems leads to higher costs, diminishing returns, alienation of a support population, economic weakness, and collapse. In the end it could no longer afford to solve the problems of its own existence.

A more recent example of this is how the bureaucratic elites of the former Soviet Union, turned on the system and quickly gutted it through privatization, when their privileges were reduced.   An accelerant of the process was the availability of an external financial system to deposit the newly looted wealth.

The big question for those of us in the US/EU is whether we are seeing this process at work in our system.  Are the government/business elites turning against the system?

Veterans Today: Dick Cheney Accepts Home Arrest, Avoids Canada

07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, Blog Wisdom, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, IO Deeds of Peace, Law Enforcement
Click on Image to Enlarge

To Avoid Being Locked Up in Canada Cheney Stays Locked Up At Home

Dick Cheney Opts for House Arrest Rather Than Face the Ire of Canada’s Citizen Jurists Who Insist That Domestic and International Laws Prohibiting Torture, Genocide, Aggressive Warfare, and 9/11 Fraud Must be Enforced on One of the World’s Most Notorious Criminals

by Anthony J. Hall

Earlier this week former US Vice-President Dick Cheney, the dominant, hands-on operative in the two-term presidency of George W. Bush, cancelled a speaking engagement in Toronto on April 24. Through a spokesperson Cheney indicated he was frightened to return to Canada after his experience last September 26 at the Vancouver Club. After promoting his book to a small local audience Cheney spent several hours hiding out in the posh venue trying to outwait several hundred citizen jurists, some of whom were planning to attempt a citizens’ arrest of the credibly-accused war criminal right on the spot.

I am proud to have played an active role in the fascinating teach-in last September of those of us who deputized ourselves at the Vancouver Club. Our goal in assembling outside one of British Columbia’s oldest and most notorious sites of political cronyism was to attempt to defend Canadian sovereignty and the rule of law in Canada against the criminal contempt of government officials for the Canadian Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act (2000). This sneering contempt for a law passed in the name of preventing Canada from becoming a haven for war criminals finds its most ardent embodiment in Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the thoroughly politicized Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The RCMP’s leadership backed the Conservative Party in a previous successful election campaign.

Read long article with several embedded videos.