Communities of Practice – Page 571 – Public Intelligence Blog

Should the West Partition Iraq?

Some people still cling to the belief that a formal partition of Iraq into three states — sometimes referred to as Shiastan, Sunnistan, and Kurdistan — would cure the chaos the United States created when it invaded Iraq in the Spring of 2003. Partition is a simple idea that grabs the imagination. But the nation-building wannabes inside the beltway have a poor track record when it comes to creating designer nations in the Middle East.

Attached herewith is an exchange between Ambassador Edward Peck and the historian William R. Polk. Together, they explain succinctly why the principle of parsimony does not hold when it comes to Iraq: there is no Occam’s Razor to cut through the mess we created in Iraq. Moreover, as Polk suggests, the destructive effects accompanying partition will continue the spillover into Syria and Turkey. And while Lebanon is not mentioned, what affects Syria affects Lebanon and the Palestinian question.

Continue reading “Chuck Spinney: Divide Iraq? Get a Brain….”

2015/09/052015/09/05

Mongoose: One Million Pending Veteran Applications for Health Care — One Third of Them Dead?

07 Health, 07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, Corruption, Government, Ineptitude, Military

Nearly 1 million veterans have pending applications for health care at VA — and a third may already be dead

34,000 men and women who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are losing their guaranteed five-year eligibility for VA service due to “systematic obstacles.”

Tip of the Hat to Mark Patrick at LinkedIn.

2015/09/032015/09/03

Owl: Seeding Fear – The Monsanto Story

01 Agriculture, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Transnational Crime, Commerce, Corruption, Government

2015/09/022015/09/10

Gareth Porter: Framing Iran for Khobar Towers — Who Benefits? Saudi Arabia & Zionist Israel UPDATE 1

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Terrorism, Corruption, Government, IO Deeds of War, Peace Intelligence

Who Bombed Khobar Towers? Anatomy of a Crooked Terrorism Investigation

The official Khobar Towers investigation led by FBI Director Louis Freeh was precooked to arrive at the outcome that had been politically determined by the White House.
The only evidence of Saudi Shi'a involvement in the bombing was from confessions obtained by torture by Saudi secret police.
The investigation ignored compelling evidence that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda – not Iran-supported Saudi Hezbollah” – planned and executed the bombing.

UPDATE 1: With Khobar Bomber's Arrest, Saudi Arabia Deals Blow to Iran

Phi Beta Iota: Asked about this, Gareth Porter responded: It doesn't change in the least any of the analysis in my article about the politicized investigation and conclusion by Louis Freeh and the FBI. Will the Saudis now seek to revive their accusations against the Saudi Shi'a in the Khobar Towers bombing? Perhaps so, but it is difficult to see how it would have any more credibility than it did in 1996-2001.

Continue reading “Gareth Porter: Framing Iran for Khobar Towers — Who Benefits? Saudi Arabia & Zionist Israel UPDATE 1”

2015/09/022015/09/01

Antechinus: GMO Are Twice Evil

01 Agriculture, 03 Environmental Degradation, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Transnational Crime, Commerce, Corruption, Government, Liberation Technology

Growing Doubt: a Scientist’s Experience of GMOs

GMO crops still run far ahead of our understanding of their risks. Risk assessment of GMOs has been short-circuited and public concerns about them are growing. Until the damaged scientific ethos is rectified, both scientists and the public are correct to doubt that GMOs should ever have been let out of any lab. Science is not the only grounds on which GMOs should be judged. The commercial purpose of GMOs is not to feed the world or improve farming. Rather, they exist to gain intellectual property (i.e. patent rights) over seeds and plant breeding and to drive agriculture in directions that benefit agribusiness.

2015/09/012015/09/01

Baroness Shirley Williams: American Democracy for Sale — A Warning to Us All …

Access, Civil Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government

American democracy is up for sale, and it’s a warning to us all

By the end of June this year, $388m had been contributed to the campaigns of presidential candidates in 2016

It is imperative in a democracy that those opposed to the government of the day can cherish the prospect of peacefully changing its leaders and its policies. Otherwise the alternatives are some form of violent action, a revolution or a coup.

Continue reading “Baroness Shirley Williams: American Democracy for Sale — A Warning to Us All …”

2015/09/012015/09/01

CounterPunch: How US and WTO Screwed India Over Domestic Production of Solar Energy

05 Energy, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Transnational Crime, Civil Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corruption, Government

How the US and the WTO Crushed India’s Subsidies for Solar Energy

The subsidies which provoked the ire of the United States are in the form of Domestic Content Requirements (DCRs). These mandate that a set proportion of specified materials used in the NSM must be manufactured in India. . . . The US attack on India’s energy subsidies represents breathtaking hypocrisy. The US itself provides subsidizes for renewables.

Continue reading “CounterPunch: How US and WTO Screwed India Over Domestic Production of Solar Energy”