Berto Jongman: UN Report – USA Tops in Torture & Police Violence

07 Other Atrocities, 09 Terrorism, Corruption, Government, Military, Officers Call
Berto Jongman
Berto Jongman

Being read in Europe.

UN Report Documents Torture, Police Violence in US

EXTRACT

While this remains a closed book to the American political establishment, the report underscores the seamless connection between military violence overseas and militarized police violence at home — though its criticisms are couched largely in racial terms.

 

 

Chuck Spinney: Crusaders and Zionists — Ending State Terrorism?

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Terrorism, 10 Transnational Crime, Officers Call
Chuck Spinney
Chuck Spinney

Crusaders and Zionists 

Yuri Avnery, 11/10/14

[The author is Israel’s leading peace advocate.  He has been a member of the Irgun, a hero of the 1948 war, a member of Knesset, has worked with leaders of the Palestinian national movement, and is a prolific writer. His amazing biography can be found here.]

LATELY, THE words “Crusaders” and “Zionists” have been appearing more and more often as twins. In a documentary about ISIS I just saw, they appeared together in almost every sentence uttered by the Islamist fighters, including teenagers.

Some sixty years ago I wrote an article whose title was just that: “Crusaders and Zionists”. Perhaps it was the first on that subject.

Continue reading “Chuck Spinney: Crusaders and Zionists — Ending State Terrorism?”

Yoda: Argentine President to UN – 1% Practicing Economic Terrorism on Global Scale

01 Poverty, 02 Infectious Disease, 03 Economy, 03 Environmental Degradation, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 06 Genocide, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Proliferation, 09 Terrorism, 10 Transnational Crime, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corruption, Officers Call, Peace Intelligence
Got Crowd? BE the Force!
Got Crowd? BE the Force!

Truth, this is….

Speech to the United Nations of Argentine President Cristina Fernandez: 1% Practicing Economic Terrorism on a Global Scale

“The dead cannot repay debts.”

Published on Sep 27, 2014

The speech is delivered in Spanish with professional English sub-titling.

Phi Beta Iota: There is no doubt at all that the crimes against humanity by the Western powers vastly exceed the combination of false flag terrorism and insurgent violence mis-labeled as terrorism.  Terrorism is a tactic long-used, to include by the USA against the British and by Israel against the British and now against Palestine. The good news is that the elite are now breaking ranks, as the more intelligent among them (inherited wealth tends to have a dumbing down effect but there are some *very* intelligent and ethical “black sheep” as well as a few, such as Lady Rothschilds and the Mars Family, that “get it” from a practical sustainability of wealth point of view).

See Especially:

Anthony Judge: Beheading versus Befooting — Lesser Evils, Anyone?

See Also:

1% @ Phi Beta Iota

Inclusive Capitalism @ Phi Beta Iota

Mutuality Economics @ Phi Beta Iota

Berto Jongman: Clint Watts on Seven Flaws in US Strategy to Counter ISIS

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 05 Iran, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Terrorism, Government, Ineptitude, Military, Strategy
Berto Jongman
Berto Jongman

Seven Flaws In the U.S. Strategy to Counter ISIS

(Editor's Note: This blog post is derived from Clint Watts' Ginsburg Lecture delivered at the National Liberty Museum on September 16, 2014.)

The past week’s debate on how to counter ISIS has proven just how effective terrorism is as a tactic for extremist groups.  Two videos showing the beheading of American hostages have provoked the largest U.S. response since the attacks of 9/11, compelling President Obama to hastily gather up a strategy to counter ISIS. Aside from the general confusion over what to call the group, there is even greater disagreement over what to do.  Overall, I don’t disagree with most of the actions the U.S. is taking to counter ISIS, but I am baffled why ISIS, America’s third or fourth most pressing national security concern right now, requires such a reaction.  The lesson for other extremist groups scattered from Morocco to Malaysia is clear – fly a black flag, film an atrocity and post it on the Internet and you too can capture the American media cycle and provoke a U.S. response.

LIST ONLY

1. Syrian Civil War
2. Turkish Border
3. Double-Edged Sword of Saudi Arabia
4. Arab Partner Nations
5. Iran is a bigger adversary to the US than ISIS
6. Sunni partners in Iraq
7. Shi'a dominated Iraqi Government

Read full article.

See Also:

ISIS @ Phi Beta Iota

Nafeez Ahmed: How the West Created the Islamic State (ISIS) — Jordan Hosts the Command Center — Chalabi and NeoCons Ride Again…

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Terrorism, 10 Transnational Crime, Corruption, Government, Idiocy, IO Deeds of War, Military, Peace Intelligence
Nafeez Ahmed
Nafeez Ahmed

How the West Created the Islamic State

Follow the Money, Follow the Oil

Nafeez Ahmed

Counter-Punch, 12-14 September 2014

EXTRACTS

Missing from the chorus of outrage, however, has been any acknowledgement of the integral role of covert US and British regional military intelligence strategy in empowering and even directly sponsoring the very same virulent Islamist militants in Iraq, Syria and beyond, that went on to break away from al-Qaeda and form ‘ISIS’, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or now simply, the Islamic State (IS).

. . . . . . .

In other words, US forces will pursue public legitimacy through conventional social welfare while simultaneously delegitimising local enemies by escalating intra-insurgent violence, knowing full-well that doing so will in turn escalate the number of innocent civilians “caught in the crossfire.” The idea is that violence covertly calibrated by US special operations will not only weaken enemies through in-fighting but turn the population against them.

Continue reading “Nafeez Ahmed: How the West Created the Islamic State (ISIS) — Jordan Hosts the Command Center — Chalabi and NeoCons Ride Again…”

Jan Oberg: Obama Hits a Moral and Intellectual Low — War on Terror a Predictable Fiasco Lacking in Intelligence or Integrity

04 Inter-State Conflict, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Terrorism

September 11:
The War on Terror is a – predictable – fiasco

By Jan Oberg, TFF co-founder

Lund, Sweden September 11, 2014.

President Obama's speech last night

This speech is a record low in terms of moral and intellectual analysis: What it boils down to is war – i.e. killing every single ISIS person anywhere, people who he compares to cancer cells. The war on terror has always been about killing terrorists but you can not kill an ism – terrorism. To do something about the causes that compel people to become terrorists would be much more efficient. The President has said repeatedly that a lasting solution is political, not military. The speech, however, is exclusively military – not a word of political, psychological or other insights: No, we kill people because we think it is wrong to kill people…

The speech can be seen as a proof of how utterly misguided the U.S. response to 9/11 was – had it been more intelligence and less revenge-oriented, there would neither have been a devastating Iraq war nor an ISIS.

Continue reading “Jan Oberg: Obama Hits a Moral and Intellectual Low — War on Terror a Predictable Fiasco Lacking in Intelligence or Integrity”

Steven Aftergood: US Intelligence Budget Data — PBI: Understated but on the Record

03 Economy, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Terrorism, 10 Security, 10 Transnational Crime, 11 Society, Corruption, Director of National Intelligence et al (IC), DoD, Government, Ineptitude, IO Deeds of War, IO Impotency, Military, Office of Management and Budget, Officers Call, Peace Intelligence
Steven Aftergood
Steven Aftergood

Intelligence Budget Data

On March 4, 2014, the Administration submitted its Fiscal Year 2015 budget request, including a base funding request of $45.6 billion for the National Intelligence Program (NIP), and a base funding request of $13.3 billion for the Military Intelligence Program (MIP). On June 30, the DNI submitted an updated FY2015 budget request of $49.4 billion for the NIP including funding for overseas contingency operations. An updated budget request figure for the MIP has not yet been disclosed.

Phi Beta Iota: We consider these figures to be severely deceptive and roughly 70% of the actual combined total budget for green and black intelligence capabilities that are secret, toxic, and a mix of benignly worthless (standing armies of ignorant analysts, collection that is not processed) and pathologically dangerous (drones, renditions, covert operations, subsidies to foreign intelligence services). Our best guess of the actual total US secret intelligence budget remains US$100 billion per year, inclusive of thousands of private sector “intelligence” capabilities (many of them “open source” and extremely mediocre) that are embedded within acquisition and other contracts, all out of control and of dubious value.

IC Budget Table Cropped
Click on Table to Enlarge

Click to access Office of the Director of National Intelligence Budget Justifications