The Secret Meeting of 11 June 1965 on European Monetary Union

The Secret Meeting of 11 June 1965 on European Monetary Union

by François Asselineau, François-Xavier Grison


The European Union at present doesn’t correspond to the ambitions of Europeans between the Wars, but to those of Washington in Cold War mode. It does not aim to pool resources, but to create a grand market linked to the Anglo-American empire, removed from any influence from Moscow. Moreover, the objective is not to ensure peace in Europe (as has been seen in Yugoslavia and one sees today in Ukraine) but, on the contrary, to divide Europe between West and East. The publication of a document dating from 1965 shows how the then Vice President of the European Economic Community discussed with the US the means to ‘con’ the European population.

In a significant article, 19 September 2000, the journalist of the establishment British Daily Telegraph, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, has shown that American authorities have underpinned the process of the European project, but have also initiated, during the 1960s, a monetary union [1].

Relying on analysis of the archives of the US State Department for the 1950s and 1960s, made public in the summer of 2000, this article, although sensational in its implications, has been totally ignored by the French media and the Party machines.
Nevertheless, the odd rare article has brought to public attention a detailed and serious analysis of the subject [2].

Who was at the meeting?
The note in question is the summary of a discussion (‘Memorandum of conversation’) of a meeting held on 11 June 1965 at the State Department in Washington, D.C., involving 6 persons [3].

(a) On the one hand, the Frenchman Robert Marjolin, then Vice-President of the European Economic Community.

Robert Marjolin, born in 1911 to a modest family, was noticed during a university examination period by the philosopher Célestin Bouglé, founder of the Centre de documentation sociale and a representative of the Rockefeller Foundation in France. With the help of Charles Rist (founder of IRES – Institut de recherché économiques et sociales – also financed by the Rockefeller Foundation), Célestin Bouglé decides to send the young Marjolin to continue his training overseas: in July 1931 to London and then to the US (grace of a Rockefeller scholarship) at Yale, where he will enjoy a marvellous year during 1932-33.

Returning to France, Marjolin engages on the Left then officiates, at 25 years, in the Popular Front of Léon Blum, meanwhile defining himself glibly as being ‘at the time socialist and liberal’. Becoming very ‘pro-European’ and friend of Raymond Aron [4], Robert Marjolin joins Jean Monnet in London in 1940, by whose side he will remain. He follows Monnet to Washington in 1943 where Monnet busies himself in serving American interests in North Africa, then in organising supplies to France after the Liberation. Marjolin accompanies Monnet to Paris in 1946 when Monnet is named Commissioner-General of the Planning Board; Marjolin becomes the Assistant Commissioner.

In 1947, Robert Marjolin was named French negotiator at the Paris Conference, as President of the work group for the Marshall Plan. From 1948 to 1955, he occupied the post of Secretary-General of the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation, supposedly to distribute Marshall Plan aid, but charged at the same time to implement liberalising measures on which receipt of Marshall Plan aid was conditioned. From 1958 to 1967, he was Vice-President of the European Commission under Walter Hallstein, responsible for ‘economy and finance’.

In 1962, with Robert Triffin, Belgian-American economist and member of the influential Council on Foreign Relations [5] largely financed by the Rockefeller Foundation, and economic adviser to the Action Committee for the United States of Europe of Jean Monnet, Robert Marjolin devised a programme of action for the second stage of the European Economic Community. Conforming with the wishes of Walter Hallstein, the programme proposed to refashion the Treaty of Rome in a more federalist direction, opening the road to the realisation of economic and monetary union. Naturally, Robert Marjolin detested Charles de Gaulle, who returned the compliment.

Robert Marjolin ends his career on the board of the oil multinational Royal Dutch Shell [6]. In 1984, he was elected member of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques, filling the chair of Edmond Giscard d’Estaing, father of sometime President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and himself ardent promoter of a common European currency.

b) On the other hand, five Americans, as below:
1) Thomas Clifton Mann, Under-Secretary of State for Economic Affairs.
Thoms Clifton Mann (1912-99) joined the State Department in 1942 and rose rapidly in the ranks to become a senior government adviser. In particular he exerted a substantial influence on the American position vis-à-vis numerous Latin American countries. After Lyndon B. Johnson became President, 22 November 1963, Mann, near to Johnson, was considered as exercising de facto authority of the US on Latin America. In March 1964, he expounds a cynical strategy (the ‘Mann Doctrine’), breaking with the ‘Alliance for Progress’ launched by Kennedy. Mann advised support for pro-American dictatorships to facilitate regime change in the countries hostile to Washington, meanwhile promoting the economic interests of American business. As demonstrated, however, in this meeting of 11 June 1965, Mann also concerned himself with European questions. One imagines without difficulty that the cynicism and ‘balance of power’ mentality which guided his actions in Latin America also drove his approach to the states of the EEC. He left the State Department the following year, in 1966, to become spokesperson of the automobile manufacturers’ association.
2) John Robert Schaetzel, Assistant Secretary of State.

John Robert Schaetzel (1917-2003) [tr: graduated from Pomona College (1939),] studied at the University of Mexico (1940) and at Harvard (1940-42). He entered the public service at the Bureau of the Budget (1942-45), joined the State Department, then spent a year at the National War College (1954-55) doing research on atomic energy. On his return to the State Department, he was involved in atomic energy policy, later becoming Assistant Secretary of State.

Fifteen months after this meeting of 11 June 1965, and a little time after the ‘empty chair crisis’ he was named (16 September 1966) US ambassador to the European Community, where he remained until 1972.

After his retirement, Shaetzel continued his support of numerous organisations fostering links between the US and Europe and, notably, he became the President of the American Council for Jean Monnet Studies.
3) Deane Roesch Hinton, Bureau of European Affairs, Office of Atlantic Political-Economic Affairs (EUR/RPE), State Department.

Deane Roesch Hinton (born in 1923) was a career diplomat. Graduated from the University of Chicago in 1943 and having served as 2nd Lieutenant during World War II, he took courses at Harvard in 1951-52 and at the National War College in 1961-62. As diplomat, he was notably assigned to Kenya (1950-52) and in France (1954-55) before serving in the State Department’s Office of Atlantic Political-Economic Affairs during the 1960s. Assigned to Chile (1969-73) he was then named ambassador to Zaire in 1974, but was declared persona non grata by President Mobutu on 18 June 1975.

He was then made ambassador to the European Union at Brussels from 1976 to 1979, then successively ambassador to El Salvador, Pakistan, Costa Rica and Panama. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).
4) Andrew Fisher Ensor, Bureau of Economic Affairs, Office of Fuel and Energy, State Department (OR/FSE).

Andrew Fisher Ensor (1918-2008), British born, became a naturalised American in 1957 after his marriage to an American citizen. He joined the State Department, where he became – under the Kennedy and Johnson administrations – an oil industry specialist, particularly with respect to the Middle East.

His presence at the 11 June 1965 meeting is somewhat mysterious, given that the detail available makes no mention of his field of activities. This is a sign that implies that the meeting memo is only a synthesis, a filtered aide-memoire that does not reflect the range of subjects broached, nor the precise content of the exchanges.
5) Stephen C. Schott, assistant.
His role is as secretary, charged with note-taking then with writing the memorandum that is the object of the present article.

Graduate of Harvard and of Fordham, fluent in French, German, Spanish and Dutch, he worked for the Under-Secretary of State during three successive Presidencies. He then worked for 18 years at the World Bank before leaving public service to rejoin the private sector in 1987.


Analysis of the Memorandum
In viewing the original of the memorandum of 11 June 1965, two irrefutable facts are readily apparent:
* First
a) The document obtained by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard and the basis for the aforesaid article is authentic. It is not a fake, contrary to insinuations by some of our detractors.
b) The memo, being ‘unclassified’ in origin, must be a filtered synthesis.
* Second, very important, is the fact that this document’s availability has been facilitated by its ‘unclassified’ status. It was not protected by a ‘Defense Secrets’ classification.
This status indicates that the memo certainly could not be given general circulation until it was declassified (which occurred in the summer of 2000), but nevertheless that it could readily circulate within the State Department and be read by numerous officials.

This issue is not without consequences. Since the editor of this memo of 11 June 1965 (namely Stephen C. Schott), was not to know in advance into whose hands it should fall and also knew that it will be made generally available in 30 years’ time, he has necessarily written it in a synthetic and cautious style, replete with insider insinuations and euphemisms – representative bureaucratic language.

This claim is confirmed by an interesting detail. At top left on the first page there appears the name of the memo’s author « SCSchott ۛ» (framed in green in the extract above) and, below it, the comment « Approved in M 6/17/65 » (framed in red below) [7]. The abbreviation ‘M’ signifies the Office of the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.

This comment indicates that the memo has been approved before its diffusion on 17 June 1965 (6 days after the meeting) by an authority, inside the State Department, different to whoever had organised the meeting itself (Political Affairs is separate from Economic Affairs). This form of control before diffusion is intended to ensure that the memo does not contain sensitive details relevant to Defense-Secrets.

Thus this memo has not been treated like Defense-Secret documents, for which only a small number of persons are given access after special clearance. It is noteworthy that the Defense-Secrets documents of the State Department for the 1950s and 1960s have not been made public in 2000. The transparence of American institutions has its limits …

Soon after having obtained the original document, we have of course compared it with the brief passage referred to by Evans-Pritchard in his September 2000 Daily Telegrapharticle. It is useful to reproduce the passage here: “A memo from the European section, dated June 11, 1965, advises the vice-president of the European Economic Community, Robert Marjolin, to pursue monetary union by stealth. It recommends suppressing debate until the point at which "adoption of such proposals would become virtually inescapable".’
A comparison between the memo (4 pages in length) and the brief summary made by Evans-Pritchard has two major implications:
1) Although truncating the original, the British journalist has, in several words, well captured the spirit and the content of the meeting of 11 June 1965.

Undoubtedly written with prudence, the tone of the memo is a little less explicit than that implied by Evans-Pritchard when he writes “recommends suppressing debate” on a monetary union.

The British journalist has in effect employed a short cut. Sticking to the exact text of the memo, it will be first the Frenchman Robert Marjolin who, questioned on the progress of monetary union by his American counterparts, could have expressed his “concern” given the “resistance” in the face of “monetary proposals”. He could have then indicated that “it would be best to wait until the point is reached that adoption of such proposals become virtually inescapable”, after other phases of the common programme are put in place, notably the Common Agricultural Policy.

The memo specifies however that John Robert Schaetzel, Assistant Secretary of State for economic affairs, would have immediately agreed with this drift, in congratulating themselves “that monetary union will come about as a result of the momentum inherent in the Rome Treaty. Therefore, in accord with that which seems to have been the policy of drafters of the Rome Treaty, such decisions could be postponed until they become inescapable.”

Thus, Evans-Pritchard exaggerates only slightly in writing that the State Department memo “recommends suppressing debate until the point at which adoption of such proposals [regarding monetary union] would become virtually inescapable”. Of course, he could have conformed to the precise text of the memo that “it would be best to wait until the point is reached when the adoption of such proposals [regarding monetary union] would become virtually inescapable”.

Nevertheless the nuance remains and the essential ideas exposed by Evans-Pritchard in his article correspond perfectly to the reality. The fact is that the State Department officials and the Vice-President of the EEC are in agreement, from 11 June 1965, to promote monetary union in Europe but are equally agreed to not make such monetary proposals public in order to not generate ‘resistance’, and are again agreed in estimating that it is smarter to let the course of events roll out and impose [unspoken: on the European population] this monetary union in a fashion ‘inevitable/inescapable’.

2) The British journalist does not confront the scandalous duplicity of the Frenchman Robert Marjolin, who seems resolved to appease his American counterparts instead of representing the member states of the EEC.

If Evans-Pritchard has slightly exaggerated the issue as to the silence that the participants admit is necessary to surround the progress of the monetary union agenda, he has on the other hand omitted to underline the intrinsically scandalous character of this meeting and of the standpoint of the Frenchman Marjolin.

It is true that Evans-Pritchard must limit himself to a word length constrained by newspaper article conventions and that he has, earlier in the article, underlined that “The leaders of the European Movement – Retinger, the visionary Robert Schuman and the former Belgian prime minister Paul-Henri Spaak – were all treated as hired hands by their American sponsors.” Undoubtedly was it not the place to make precisely the same point with respect to Robert Marjolin. A shame. For two facts, damning for the Europeanist cause, emerge from the original document:
a) The wilful servitude of the Vice-President of the EEC
Robert Marjolin, EEC Vice-President, appears as a man alone, literally bombarded with questions from not least five representatives of the State Department. Not only does he accept to be thus placed in a position manifestly numerically inferior, but he also accepts to be questioned – and to respond! – on a series of subjects of the highest strategic importance.
The sentiment emitted in this memo is appropriately described as wilful servitude: Marjolin is subjected to a hearing dictated by a non-European state, and he slavishly renders an account of the progress of the European states’ agenda, in disclosing the requisite details. The EEC Vice-President shoulders meekly the role of a servant who renders account to his masters.
b) The high treason of the Vice-President of the EEC vis-à-vis the 6 member states of the EEC

If one reads closely this memo, one gains awareness the incredible fact that the Frenchman Marjolin confides to these American negotiators his wish to circumvent the will of the European states and of the European peoples, in imposing on them surreptitiously a monetary union, something at that stage not envisaged on account of the known opposition.

This duplicitous behaviour of the EEC Vice-President is a matter of high treason vis-à-vis the then 6 member states of the EEC, and notably, as a French national, with respect to France. How to otherwise describe his confidences, given that he evidently had no mandate that permits him to make disclosures on this type of subject with the representatives of a foreign government?

In particular, the Frenchman Marjolin was the best placed person to know that Charles de Gaulle was then in frontal opposition with the EEC, presided over by the German jurist Walter Hallstein, friendly with Nazi authorities during the 1930s and until 1944. Besides, the founder of Free France – less than three weeks after this meeting in Washington – provoked the celebrated ‘empty chair crisis’, which lasts from 30 June 1965 to 30 January 1966.

The treason of Marjolin is also to be measured in another passage of the memo: that where he deplores the granting of tariff preferences (legitimised by the Rome Treaty that underpins the EEC – of which he is however the Vice-President!) at the demand of some member state governments and in favour of certain developing countries, notably former African colonies and of countries of the Maghreb.

Marjolin’s desire to please his US masters leads him to declare that he “did not think that such agreements were very desirable”, and to regret “that they would cause difficulties for the U.S. in regard to Latin America”, but to reassure Washington in underlining “that they are limited in duration and would expire by 1970”.

Can one imagine a government official more assiduous in submitting himself slavishly to foreign interests? And can one genuinely be astonished, if one confronts the personal and institutional supporters which have guided his career, not least the Rockefeller Foundation and Jean Monnet?

In June 1965, what did President Charles de Gaulle think of Robert Marjolin and of some of the European Commission’s projects?

“As for this Commission, it deserves to disappear. I want no more of Hallstein. I want no more of Marjolin. I want no more to do with them. … I want no more that the French government should have to do business with these types. … The problem, it is this mafia of supranationalists, whether commissioners, deputies or bureaucrats. They are all enemies. They have been put there by our enemies.”
C’était de Gaulle, Alain Peyrefitte, Fayard, Éditions de Fallois, Tome II, pp.290-291.
What would de Gaulle have thought of these projects of monetary union that Robert Marjolin discusses with his counterparts?

Can one imagine the man of 18 June [tr: 1940] giving a mandate to Robert Marjolin to advance such a project in cooperation with the USA? This is the country that he had justly denounced as the dominant force behind ‘European construction’ in his press conference of 15 May 1962, in describing the object as ‘federalist’, which ‘could not be European’.

The answer is not difficult to imagine since de Gaulle himself had indicated in a tête-à-tête with Alain Peyrefitte what he thought of Robert Marjolin and his confrères. A detail symptomatic: Marjolin had made known his secret to his Minister on Saturday morning 12 June 1965, only a few hours after the Washington meeting the evening before, and of which the Chief of the French state had probably no knowledge.

Let us return to and further explore the previous quotation for its implications.
Charles-de-Gaulle: “Hallstein has invented a ceremony of letters of credence for officials of the states in Brussels. He takes himself for the President of a supranational Government. He doesn’t even hide his agenda, which consists of replicating at the European level the federal structure of West Germany. The Commission would become the federal Government. The European Assembly would be the equivalent of the Bundestag. The Council of Ministers would become the Bundesrat, the Senate, in short! It’s laughable. But don’t deceive yourself: it involves an institutional drift that will finish by taking over if we don’t put a stop to it. And we alone have the power to do it. … As for the Commission, it won’t get him into heaven. I will have satisfaction. Hallstein, Marjolin and Mansholt [tr: Dutch, European Commissioner for Agriculture], they’re finished. I will not renew their mandates.”

Fifteen days later, during another tête-à-tête with Peyrefitte, held after the Council of Ministers’ meeting on 1 July 1965, the founder of Free France and of the Fifth Republic explodes in anger against the European Commission, and notably against Wallter Hallstein and Robert Marjolin:
“As for this Commission, it deserves to disappear. I want no more of Hallstein. I want no more of Marjolin. I want no more of Mansholt. I want no more to do with them. … It is necessary to be clear of it all. In any case, I want no more that the French government should have to do business with these types. It is finished for good. … The problem, it is this mafia of supranationalists, whether commissioners, deputies or bureaucrats. They are all enemies. They have been put there by our enemies. The Socialist buddies, with some MRP hostages, friends of Felix Gaillard [tr: Radical, Prime Minister 1957-58] and of Maurice Faure [tr: perennial Minister and fervent Europeanist]. They have spent their time in forging a state of a spirit hostile to France.”

The most important lesson arising from the original memorandum of the State Department of 11 June 1965 resides in the total political allegiance – even complicity – of the EEC Vice-President, with the US officials. Robert Marjolin engages precisely in what has always been designated ‘friendship with a foreign power’ and an act of high treason vis-à-vis the 6 member states of the EEC in whose interests he is supposed to work, and particularly vis-à-vis his own country, France.

Finally, this memorandum, with its status of partial confidentiality, is only the visible part of the iceberg? The secret documents, written in a style certainly more direct and a cynicism surely more transparent, are still unopened.


[1] « Euro-federalists financed by US spy chiefs », by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Daily Telegraph, 19 September 2000.
[2] « Histoire secrète de l’Union européenne », par Thierry Meyssan,Réseau Voltaire, 28 juin 2004.
[3] « Développements dans le marché commun », Réseau Voltaire, 11 juin 1965.
[4] “Raymond Aron, the Atlantist prosecutor.”, by Denis Boneau,Voltaire Network, 21 October 2004.
[5] « Comment le Conseil des relations étrangères détermine la diplomatie US », Réseau Voltaire, 25 juin 2004.
[6] « Shell, un pétrolier apatride », par Arthur Lepic, Réseau Voltaire, 18 mars 2004.
[7] The reader will find a facsimile of the original memorandum: “Developments in the Common Market”, Voltaire Network, 11 June 1965.

http://www.voltairenet.org/article184422.html

Jihadism and the Petroleum Industry

Jihadism and the Petroleum Industry

by Thierry Meyssan


While the Western media portray the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant as a group of jihadists reciting the Qur’an, the ISIL has started the oil war in Iraq. With the help of Israel, it has cut off Syria’s supply and guaranteed the theft of oil from Kirkuk by the local government of Kurdistan. The sale will be assured by Aramco who will camouflage this diversion as increased "Saudi" production.

For the Atlanticist press, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). which has just invaded the north and west of Iraq. is a group of jihadists led by their faith, the Koran in one hand and a Kalashnikov in the other. For those who have suffered their abuses, including in Syria, it is a private army of mercenaries, composed from the four corners of the Earth and managed by American, French and Saudi officers - dividing the region to allow easier control by the colonial powers.

If one conceives of members of the ISIL as armed believers, we cannot imagine dark material interests behind their attack. But if we admit that these thugs are manipulating religion to give the illusion that Allah blesses their crimes, we must be more attentive.

While shedding crocodile tears for the thousands of Iraqi victims of this offensive, the Atlanticist press decries the consequences of this new conflict for oil prices. Within days, the barrel rose to $115, that is to say the level of September 2013. Markets were concerned about the fight for the Baiji refinery near Tikrit. In reality, this refinery produces only for local consumption, which could quickly run out of fuel and electricity. Rising oil prices is not due to the interruption of Iraqi production, but the disruption of deliveries. It will thus not last as markets are in surplus.

Saudi Arabia has announced that it will significantly increase its production to compensate for the reduced supply due to the marketing ban by ISIL. But experts are skeptical and point out that the kingdom has never produced more than 10 million barrels per day.

The Atlanticist press, which denies the sponsorship of NATO, learnedly explained that the ISIL suddenly became rich by conquering oil wells. This was already the case in northern Syria, but it had not noticed. The western press had tried to deal with fighting between the al-Nosra Front and the Islamic Emirate as a rivalry exacerbated by the "regime", while they sought to monopolize the oil wells.

However, a question arises to which the Atlanticist media and the Gulf is still has no answer: how can these terrorists sell oil on the international market so monitored by Washington? In March, the Libyan Benghazi separatists had failed to sell the oil that they had seized. The U.S. Navy intercepted the tanker Morning Glory and had returned it to Libya. [1]

If the Frente al-Nosra and the ISIL are able to sell oil on the international market, they are authorized by Washington and are linked to storefront oil companies.

Chance has it that the annual world congress of the oil companies was held from June 15 to 19 in Moscow. We thought there would be talk of Ukraine, but there the issues were Iraq and Syria. It was learned that the oil stolen by the Frente al-Nosra in Syria is sold by Exxon-Mobil (the Rockefeller firm that rules Qatar), while that of ISIL is operated by Aramco (USA / Saudi Arabia ). Note in passing that during the Libyan conflict, NATO authorized Qatar (that is to say, Exxon-Mobil) to sell oil from the " territories liberated by al-Qaeda”.

We can therefore read the current fighting, as all those of the twentieth century in the Middle East, as a war between oil companies. [2] The fact that the ISIL is financed by Aramco is enough to explain why Saudi Arabia claims to be able to compensate for the decline in Iraqi production: the kingdom would just put its stamp on the stolen barrels to legalize them.

The ISIL breakthrough allows it to control the two main pipelines: the one exiting toward Banias to supply Syria while the other transporting crude to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. The Islamic Emirate has interrupted the first, causing additional power outages in Syria, but strangely, it allows the second to function.

This is because this pipeline is used by the local pro-Israel Kurdistan government to export the oil it just stole from Kirkuk. However, as I explained last week [3], the ISIL attack is coordinated with Kurdistan to cut Iraq into three smaller states, according to the map reshaping "the Greater Middle East" established by US Staff in 2001, that the U.S. military failed to win in 2003, but Senator Joe Biden had adopted by Congress in 2007. [4]

Kurdistan has begun its oil exports from Kirkuk via the ISIL-controlled pipeline. Within days, it was able to load two tankers at Ceyhan, chartered by Palmali Shipping & Agency JSC, the company of billionaire Turkish-Azeri Mubariz Gurbanoğlu. However, after the al-Maliki government, which has not been overthrown by Washington, issued a note denouncing this theft, none of the companies usually working in Kurdistan (Chevron, Hess, Total) dared to buy this oil. Failing to find a buyer, Kurdistan has declared its readiness to sell its cargo at half price at $ 57.5 per barrel, while continuing its traffic. Two other tankers are being loaded, always with the blessing of the ISIL. The fact that traffic continues in the absence of a market shows that Kurdistan and the ISIL are convinced that they will succeed in finding a buyer, indicating they have the same state supports: Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The possible division of Iraq into three will not fail to reshuffle the oil cards. In the face of the ISIL breakthrough, all oil companies have reduced their staff. Some more than others: this is the case of BP, Royal Deutsch Shell (which employs Sheikh Moaz al-Khatib, the geologist former president of the Syrian National Coalition), Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (TPAO) and Chinese companies (PetroChina, Sinopec and CNOOC).

So the losers are the British, the Turks, and especially the Chinese, who were by far Iraq’s largest customer. The winners are the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The stakes are thus unrelated to a fight for the "true Islam."

 [1] “Pentagon orders take over of "Morning Glory" in Mediterranean Sea”, Voltaire Network, 17 March 2014.
[2] « Irak, les pages d’histoire effacées » (Iraq, the pages of history erased), par Manlio Dinucci, Traduction Marie-Ange Patrizio, Il Manifesto, Réseau Voltaire, 18 juin 2014.
[3] “Washington Relaunches its Iraq Partition Project”, by Thierry Meyssan, Translation Roger Lagassé, Voltaire Network, 19 June 2014.
[4] « La balkanisation de l’Irak » (The Balkanization of Iraq), par Manlio Dinucci, Traduction Marie-Ange Patrizio, Il Manifesto, Réseau Voltaire, 17 juin 2014.
Thierry Meyssan

http://www.voltairenet.org/article184382.html#nb3

Destroying Militant Firing Points in Jobar

Destroying Militant Firing Points in Jobar

Jobar. SAA units have been engaged in positional fighting today. That is how the city landscape became transformed after a 17, 000-strong militant army had entered the city on their way toward downtown Damascus. The militants’ plans to capture the capital city of Syria were thwarted. Eventually, a number of bandit groups dug in and set up their defense positions in this ancient neighborhood of Damascus city.

Pretty often, there are just a few wall partitions separating the SAA troops from the militants. Whoever spots the enemy movement first is the first one to open fire. SAA intelligence units keep a constant track of the militants there and immediately report on newly detected targets. Additional informations comes also from the militants themselves. Every time some of the members of the armed militant groups decide to strike a deal with justice, they report on the groupings of their fellow militants or their plans. The newly discovered targets are then engaged by SAA forces made up of troops and units according to the respective combat mission.  

The harsh reality of everyday combat routine does not prevent the Syrian soldiers from remembering the nice things of life, though.

According to the latest intelligence, a group of militants has set up its defense positions right behind this sand hill. A well-fortified militant firing point is hidden somewhere in that area. SAA battle tank moves in to destroy the militant defense positions there. A couple of fire strikes by the battle tank reduces the militant fortifications to a heap of rubble. “Shilka” self-propelled gun moves in to open fire through the newly created opening. High-rate gunfire of this anti-aircraft weapon system is perfectly fitted for action against light defense fortifications and personnel.

The terrorist firing point is destroyed. The job is done for today.

Andrey Filatov, Vasily Pavlov, Victor Kuznetsov, Marat Musin.

ANNA-News. Damascus, Syria

Drinking Water On An Empty Stomach

http://www.secretsofthefed.com/drinking-water-empty-stomach-2/

Drinking Water On An Empty Stomach

It is popular in Japan today to drink water immediately after waking up every morning. Furthermore, scientific tests have proven its value.

We publish below a description of use of water for our readers. For old and serious diseases as well as modern illnesses the water treatment had been found successful by a Japanese medical society as a 100% cure for the following diseases:

Headache, body ache, heart system, arthritis, fast heart beat, epilepsy, excess fatness, bronchitis asthma, TB  ***(verify from a consultant)***, meningitis, kidney and urine diseases, vomiting, gastritis, diarrhea, piles, diabetes, constipation, all eye diseases, womb, cancer and menstrual disorders, ear nose and throat diseases.

METHOD OF TREATMENT

1. As you wake up in the morning before brushing teeth, drink 4 x 160ml glasses of water

2. Brush and clean the mouth but do not eat or drink anything for 45 minute

3.. After 45 minutes you may eat and drink as normal.

4. After 15 minutes of breakfast, lunch and dinner do not eat or drink anything for 2 hours

5. Those who are old or sick and are unable to drink 4 glasses of water at the beginning may commence by taking little water and gradually increase it to 4 glasses per day.

6. The above method of treatment will cure diseases of the sick and others can enjoy a healthy life.

The following list gives the number of days of treatment required to cure/control/reduce main diseases:
1. High Blood Pressure (30 days)
2. Gastric (10 days)
3. Diabetes (30 days)
4. Constipation (10 days)
5. Cancer (180 days)
6. TB (90 days) ***(verify from a consultant)***
7. Arthritis patients should follow the above treatment only for 3 days in the 1st week, and from 2nd week onwards – daily.

This treatment method has no side effects, however at the commencement of treatment you may have to urinate a few times. It is better if we continue this and make this procedure as a routine work in our life. Drink Water and Stay healthy and Active.

This makes sense .. The Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals not cold water. Maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habit while eating!!! Nothing to lose, everything to gain…

For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion.

Once this ‘sludge’ reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.

Webster Tarpley - The End of Fukuyama: Re-Starting History After a Quart...

Webster Tarpley - The End of Fukuyama: Re-Starting History After a Quarter Cen

U.S. cuts aid to Uganda, cancels military exercise over anti-gay law | Reuters

U.S. cuts aid to Uganda, cancels military exercise over anti-gay law | Reuters





(Reuters) - The
United States on Thursday cut aid to Uganda, imposed visa restrictions
and canceled a regional military exercise in response to a Ugandan law
that imposes harsh penalties on homosexuality.


The White House said in a
statement the measures were intended to "reinforce our support for human
rights of all Ugandans regardless of sexual orientation or gender
identity."

Homosexuality is taboo
in most African countries and illegal in 37, including in Uganda where
it has been a crime since British rule.

Uganda's
new law, signed by President Yoweri Museveni in February, imposes jail
terms of up to life for "aggravated homosexuality" which includes
homosexual sex with a minor or while HIV-positive.

Widely
condemned by donor countries, the law also criminalizes lesbianism for
the first time and makes it a crime to help individuals engage in
homosexual acts.

Western donors,
including the United States, had halted or re-directed about $118
million in aid to the east African nation's economy before Thursday's
announcement.

The White House said
on Thursday the United States would impose visa restrictions on Ugandans
it believes have been involved in human rights violations, including
gay rights.

The United States will
halt $2.4 million in funding for a Ugandan community policing program in
light of a police raid on a U.S.-funded health program at Makerere
University and reports of people detained and abused while in police
custody.

In addition, Washington
will shift some funding for salaries and travel expenses of Ugandan
health ministry employees to non-governmental agencies involved in
health programs.

It will also
reallocate $3 million in funding for a planned national public health
institute in Uganda to another African country, which it did not name. A
National Institutes of Health genomics meeting would be moved from
Uganda to South Africa, the White House said.

It
also canceled plans for a U.S.-sponsored military exercise in Uganda
that was meant to include other East African countries. A date had not
yet been set for the exercise.

Uganda
is a key Western ally in the fight against Islamic extremism in
Somalia, where Ugandan troops for the backbone of the African Union
force battling al Qaeda-aligned militants.

U.S.
special forces have also been involved in the hunt for Joseph Kony, the
elusive rebel commander seeking to topple the Ugandan government. Kony
is believed to be hiding in the jungles of central Africa.

In
Kampala, a government official asked about the U.S. measures said that
Uganda would not alter its decision to toughen laws against homosexuals.

"Uganda
is a sovereign country and can never bow to anybody or be blackmailed
by anybody on a decision it took in its interests, even if it involves
threats to cut off all financial assistance," government spokesman
Ofwono Opondo said.

U.S. President
Barack Obama previously told Museveni the law would complicate
relations between the two countries. Since then Washington has been
reviewing its funding to Uganda, while privately pressing Museveni's
government to repeal the law.

Сирия. Удар по опорному пункту боевиков в Адре. Рекогносцировка

Attack on Militant Point-Defense Area in Adra: Reconnaissance

We arrived in Adra to make a documentary on Syrian army operation aimed at clearing the city of terrorists there. In the following morning, we set out to do terrain-oriented  reconnaissance prior to the combat battle that was to take place the following day.

SAA Officer: “The operation will begin from here, from this city square. I am going to explain to you today how we will operate tomorrow. Three tanks are going to move in from this spot down here. As soon as the right-hand side opens up move away to the right immediately. You can not move along on the road pavement. Three battle tanks on one level.

“As soon as you moved to the right… The first tank should take to right. The second one takes a little further to the right. The third tank, as soon as you turn right, open fire immediately. Do not linger.

“As soon as you have spotted your target, all those located to right of it are your enemy. Any movement you spot there, strike at it right away. All those are enemies there. Do not let them pop their heads out.”

We climbed the staircase to the upper floor to make ourselves familiar with the terrain of the imminent combat area by looking at it through an opening in the wall. We compared what we had seen on the maps with the real world.

In a nearby school building the militants had created their point-defense position there. All the buildings around the area have been made into one single sprawl of defense area fortifications. Running all along a concrete fence, there must be a trench there.

Abandoned cars and vans on the city streets bespoke the surprise attack by the terrorists some time earlier. The vehicles would have certainly been taken away by their owners if they had only had a chance to do so.

That city square would certainly render the battle tanks uncovered and exposed to enemy fire. That is why it is so important to work out details of coordination between the tanks’ crew members and their future cooperation with the infantry units on the ground.

The oil cisterns had been shelled some time before by the militants and after that a number of fires broke out in the area. Back then, the smoke of the burning gasoline and oil could be seen even in Damascus city, 40 kilometers away from here.  

We have to make a short run to the fence keeping our heads down for a militant sniper was said to be doing his job controlling this area from the school building.

This is the road that the battle tanks will take moving into the battle area. Now the tank men are about to make visual observations of the front line and discuss their future actions. Tomorrow, the battle tanks are going to enter combat from this very spot.

We made a quick dash for the oil trucks parking lot and took cover by the vehicles against a possible shot by a sniper. The tank men surreptitiously took peeks of the area where they would have to maneuver their battle tanks the following day.

I quickly set my camera forward and immediately retracted it back. There is no time for proper filming. The danger here is real it is imperative to do one’s job in a prompt, time-wise manner.

The militants are said to be actively masking their anti-tank landmines as curbstones. The area on to the remains of those two red plastic wire chairs is said to be checked. Further along that way, one has to move away from the road and accelerate one’s closing in with the enemy.

We are coming back from the front line.

Tomorrow, the battle tanks will be doing their job pounding the nearby buildings with fire strikes. There is a lower level ground behind the concrete fence over there which causes additional difficulties to the battle tanks exposing their lower front plates. The SAA commanding officers have to take all those nuances into account and also foresee the possible actions of the enemy in order to make sure than the lives of their soldiers will be spared and the future mission will be accomplished.  

We are moving back to the battle tank base. The tank men display neither fear nor depression. Tomorrow is going to be just another day of work. It is going to be all in another day’s work of protecting one’s country against terror.  

Andrey Filatov, Victor Kuznetsov, Marat Musin.

ANNA-News. Adra, Syria

Точечная работа по позициям террористов

Precision Fire Strikes on Terrorist Defense Positions

Jobar, Syria. It is positional fighting that is taking place here right now. SAA commanding officers’ main routine operations have as their objective the destruction of constantly emerging new terrorist firepoints.

SAA Officer: “We need to strike in depth over there along that alley. Two or three penetrating rounds between those trees deep into the city block. Let’s strike with armor-piercing ones. They will penetrate through two or three houses.”

In the meantime, while the problem of the illegal military groups in the area is being decided in the higher quarters, the army troops on the ground have to ensure the safety of civilians traveling on that road that lies beyond this city block. The houses that run along the road are controlled by the troops. But just a few walls and partitions away from them there are militants over there. Battle tanks would need to strike with great precision to make sure that they did not harm civilians and friendly forces and destroyed the terrorists.

Since there is no direct combat contact with the enemy at the moment, this particular mission is best fulfilled by the SAA veteran battle tank, T-55. T-55’s rifled gun is best suited for deadly precision strikes on the targets.

SAA Officer: “Magnificent!”

Having finished its job on the first group of targets, the battle tank changes its position.

The distance between us and the militants’ defense positions is about 400 meters. All that is left for us to do now is to trust the SAA commanding officers on the ground here: If they do not take cover, it means that everything is alright and we can continue with our work.

The battle tank takes its firing point and turns its gun in the direction of Harasta city. The voice command to open fire is given in coordination with the spotters so that the fire strikes would not hurt any civilians. The second salvo was slightly stalled because of the warning that came from the spotter about an approaching civilian transport on the road. The firing resumed as soon as the cars on the road had passed by.

Another spot, another stop for today. I had no time to mount my camera on top the battle tank’s turret. So, I mounted it right on its front hull. There is no view of the firing gun in the next video footage but the shock wave generated by the strike came out to be pretty nice.

A couple of high precision strikes had made our day’s work accomplished for that particular day.

Andrey Filatov, Victor Kuznetsov, Marat Musin.

ANNA-News. Damascus, Syria

How our brains store recent memories, cell by single cell

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140616151343.htm

sciencedaily.com
How our brains store recent memories, cell by single cell -- ScienceDaily

The findings, published in the June 16 Early Edition of PNAS, further illuminate the neural basis of human memory and may, ultimately, shed light on new treatments for diseases and conditions that adversely affect it, such as Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy.

"To really understand how the brain represents memory, we must understand how memory is represented by the fundamental computational units of the brain -- single neurons -- and their networks," said Peter N. Steinmetz, MD, PhD, program director of neuroengineering at Barrow and senior author of the study. "Knowing the mechanism of memory storage and retrieval is a critical step in understanding how to better treat the dementing illnesses affecting our growing elderly population."

Steinmetz, with first author John T. Wixted, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Larry R. Squire, PhD, professor in the departments of neurosciences, psychiatry and psychology, both at UC San Diego, and colleagues, assessed nine patients with epilepsy whose brains had been implanted with electrodes to monitor seizures. The monitoring recorded activity at the level of single neurons.

The patients memorized a list of words on a computer screen, then viewed a second, longer list that contained those words and others. They were asked to identify words they had seen earlier, and to indicate how well they remembered them. The observed difference in the cell-firing activity between words seen on the first list and those not on the list clearly indicated that cells in the hippocampus were representing the patients' memories of the words.

ADVERTISEMENT

The researchers found that recently viewed words were stored in a distributed fashion throughout the hippocampus, with a small fraction of cells, about 2 percent, responding to any one word and a small fraction of words, about 3 percent, producing a strong change in firing in these cells.

"Intuitively, one might expect to find that any neuron that responds to one item from the list would also respond to the other items from the list, but our results did not look anything like that. The amazing thing about these counterintuitive findings is that they could not be more in line with what influential neurocomputational theorists long ago predicted must be true," said Wixted.

Although only a small fraction of cells coded recent memory for any one word, the scientists said the absolute number of cells coding memory for each word was large nonetheless -- on the order of hundreds of thousands at least. Thus, the loss of any one cell, they noted, would have a negligible impact on a person's ability to remember specific words recently seen.

Ultimately, the scientists said their goal is to fully understand how the human brain forms and represents memories of places and things in everyday life, which cells are involved and how those cells are affected by illness and disease. The researchers will next attempt to determine whether similar coding is involved in memories of pictures of people and landmarks and how hippocampal cells representing memory are impacted in patients with more severe forms of epilepsy.

Co-authors include Yoonhee Jang, University of Montana; Megan H. Papesh, Louisiana State University; Stephen D. Goldinger, Arizona State University; Joel Kuhn, UCSD; Kris A. Smith and David M. Treiman, Barrow Neurological Institute.

Funding for this research came, in part, from the Medical Research Service of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Institute of Mental Health (grant 24600), the National Institute for Deafness and Other Communications Disorders (grant 1R21DC009781), the Barrow Neurological Foundation, the Arizona Biomedical Research Council and the UC San Diego Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind.

Confirming what neurocomputational theorists have long suspected, researchers at the Dignity Health Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Ariz. and University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that the human brain locks down episodic memories in the hippocampus, committing each recollection to a distinct, distributed fraction of individual cells.

Webster G. Tarpley, Ph.D. TARPLEY.net – World Crisis Radio

Webster G. Tarpley, Ph.D.
TARPLEY.net – World Crisis Radio

“Isis” Blitz Run by CIA-France-Saudis-Turkey to Save Syrian Rebels, Topple Maliki, Isolate Iran; Obama Must Work with Assad, Rouhani, Putin to Roll Back Terrorist Threat; McCain Pushing Bonapartist Cold Coup in Washington by Warmonger Gens. Petraeus and Keane; Support Tax Wall Street Party’s Dan Buhrdorf for Senate in Nebraska to Stop Neo-Protestant Austerity Demagogues Brat and Sasse



http://tarpley.net/

MH370 Families

http://www.dw.de/mh370-families-a-fresh-set-of-eyes-needed/a-17692952

dw.de

MH370 families: 'A fresh set of eyes needed'

The fate of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has been shrouded in mystery ever since the passenger jet left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing in the early morning hours of March 8 with 239 people on board. While the Boeing 777 is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, international search efforts have so far failed to provide any clues as to what happened to the plane.

Objects spotted by radar, ships and airplanes that have turned out to be floating garbage have led to growing frustration among the victims' relatives. Some of them fear the authorities might know more than they are willing to reveal and have therefore launched the "Reward MH370" campaign on the crowdfunding website Indiegogo. The project aims to raise at least 5 million USD "to encourage a whistleblower to come forward with information," the families said in a press release.

In a DW interview, Sarah Bajc, whose partner Philip Wood was on board the flight, talks about why some of the victims' families mistrust the conclusions reached by the authorities and why they consider an insider is needed to help solve the mystery of Flight MH370.

DW: How many of the victims' relatives are participating in the "Reward MH370" campaign?

Sarah Bajc: "Reward MH370" has been organized by a team of seven people, including five family members and two independents.

What is the purpose of the campaign?
Philip Wood (L) and his partner Sarah Bajc Copyright: private

"I am fully committed to bringing Philip home, be that in celebration, or to his final resting place," says Bajc (R)

The main purpose of the campaign is to raise funds to provide a reward for a whistleblower to come forward with information that leads us to find the plane. A portion of the funds will also be used to fund a private investigation firm to chase those leads.

We are confident that we will raise at least a substantial portion of our goal of 5 million USD. We do believe it is possible we could even exceed that goal. If we can, we will make the reward even larger.

Why do you think a whistleblower is needed to provide more information on the fate of the missing plane?

Over the last three months, there have been many indications that information is being withheld and/or modified prior to release to the public. That makes us confident that there are people who know more than is being shared. That may even include someone who knows exactly where the plane is, and perhaps even the details of what happened. Our hope is that someone will come forward with the information needed to find the plane. A fresh set of eyes is needed.

What evidence do you have that information is being withheld?

Besides the dozens of changed or redacted stories, there was the preliminary report itself. The cargo manifest was missing pages of information, the air traffic control audio files appear to be tampered with, and there are a significant number of factual inaccuracies in the 'Actions Taken' report. There is also the modified data release from Inmarsat and the withdrawal of the acoustic pings from consideration as leads.

What information do you hope a whistleblower will provide?

We have set parameters for submissions to include the need for concrete evidence to support the claim. Evidence may include photographs, audio clips, genuine documents, and validated eyewitness accounts. A theory based on circumstantial evidence, or on ambiguous satellite photos, would not be considered a valid lead.

It seems that you are not satisfied with the conclusions the authorities have reached so far. Why is that?

It just doesn't sound reasonable to us. If we are to accept the conclusion provided by the authorities, then we must also accept the reasonableness of the following things:

First, it is possible for a fully loaded Boeing 777 to crash in the water without a single piece of debris surfacing in the ocean, on a beach, or in fishing nets over a three-month period of time. Second, a Five Power Defense Arrangement military base at Butterworth, Malaysia either didn't see or ignored a huge unidentified object flying almost directly over its base.

Third, Australia's famous JORN over-the-horizon radar defenses were not operating on March 8. And last but not least, a mechanical failure could happen that is significant enough to knock out all communication capabilities and human intervention, yet still allow the auto-pilot to fly the airplane smoothly for many hours.

Do you have any indications of intentional misdirection on the part of the authorities?

We have no proof that the authorities are intentionally misdirecting this investigation, however, if it is not intentional misdirection, it certainly is gross incompetence. The Malaysian government is continuing to stay in control of an operation they have clearly failed at. This is an intentional decision to remain an obstacle, which is then intentional misdirection through stubborn ignorance and pride.

What it your personal feeling as to what happened to the plane?

I have too many feelings to put into words. That is why I am on a quest to find facts. Only proof will lead us to the plane and the passengers. I am fully committed to bringing Philip home, be that in celebration, or to his final resting place.
A Japan Coast Guard (JCG) studies a map with a Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency pilot (L) in JCG's Gulfstream V Jet aircraft customized for search and rescue operations as they search for the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 plane over the waters of the South China Sea March 15, 2014. Investigators believe someone aboard the missing Malaysian airliner deliberately shut off its communications and tracking systems, turned the plane around and flew for nearly seven hours after it vanished,

"The conclusions reached by the authorities just don't sound reasonable to us," says Bajc

How are you and other relatives of the victims coping with this difficult situation?

We are coping with the situation by staying busy and doing what we can to continue to push for the truth. The only other option would be hopelessness and despair, but that solves nothing.

An international team is now determining an expanded search zone of up to 60,000 square kilometers. What more would you like authorities to do to help find the missing plane and passengers?

We are confident in Australia's ability to run a competent underwater search. Our challenge to the investigation, however, is that we believe they are looking in the wrong place because of failures in the early stages of the investigation.

We are hoping that the authorities will cooperate with our efforts should we find appropriate leads to pursue beyond what our investigation firm can pursue. Our call for a whistleblower to come forward aims to identify the correct place to find the plane. At that point we will of course need to get the authorities to drive that search and rescue process.

Sarah Bajc teaches economics and business studies in Beijing, China. Her partner Philip Wood was on Flight MH370 when it disappeared March 8.

PressTV - The disaster that is US foreign policy

PressTV - The disaster that is US foreign policy





The disaster that is US foreign policy


We live in angry times. For evidence, turn on any news program. An awful lot of people, led by right-wing politicians and radio and TV entertainers, are angry at Barack Obama for trading five Taliban officials, who have been held for years without charge in the Guantánamo prison, for an American soldier, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who apparently walked away from his outpost after having a change of heart about the Afghan war. The Right is apoplectic.

To make matters worse for the right wing, Obama had the nerve to embrace — on the grounds of the White House no less — the soldier’s parents, who themselves are under suspicion by the Right. Bergdahl’s father, after all, wears an ominously bushy beard (is the Calvinist really a Muslim?) and spoke to his son in Pashto, the language of the son’s captors. Worse yet, he was so desperate to rescue his son that he tweeted to a Taliban spokesman, “I am still working to free all Guantánamo prisoners. God will repay for the death of every Afghan child, ameen.” (The tweet was later deleted.)

Before his disappearance, then-PFC Bergdahl emailed disparaging remarks about the U.S. military and America itself after he saw a U.S. military truck run over an Afghan child.

These people need help, yet what they get is the most conceited country in the world telling them that they are nothing and that they are stupid, that they have no idea how to live.… We don’t even care when we hear each other talk about running their children down in the dirt streets with our armored trucks.… We make fun of them in front of their faces, and laugh at them for not understanding we are insulting them.… I am sorry for everything. The horror that is america [sic] is disgusting.

In response to this email, his father wrote, “In matters of life and death, and especially at war, it is never safe to ignore ones’ [sic] conscience. Ethics demands obedience to our conscience. It is best to also have a systematic oral defense of what our conscience demands. Stand with like minded men when possible.”

For the right-wing, the Bergdahl matter confirmed every fear they ever had about Obama. This is where apodictic certainty borne of nationalism and interventionism inevitably leads. If you believe in American exceptionalism and indispensability, you’ll believe anything.

Obama’s defenders were on no firmer ground, defending actions for which they had condemned George W. Bush, such as issuing signing statements announcing that the president would ignore parts of bills he signed into law. Obama’s boosters would never have tolerated Bush flouting a requirement that he give Congress 30 days notice of some action (which Obama was supposed to have done before releasing Guantánamo prisoners). As usual, in politics the important thing is not what is done, but who does it. Republicans live by this standard too, of course.

The president’s fans defended his POW deal (which I have no problem with) on the grounds that the war in Afghanistan is winding down and this is what happens with prisoners when wars end. Winding down? There will be 9,800 troops through next year, and the last troops won’t leave before 2016. Without irony, Sam Stein of the pro-Obama Huffington Post said on MSNBC that the “war will be over in a matter of years.” That must be great comfort to the troops and their loved ones.

Those who back Obama still can’t bring themselves to say that the Afghan war was a stupid and that Obama’s 2009 surge — which accelerated the casualties — was stupidity squared.

My head says that I should sit back and watch with satisfaction this fight between conservatives and progressives. Both sides share the same flawed premises, so let them go at it until they fall down in exhaustion.

But my gut tells me that this fight will be get even uglier than it already is, and its consequences bode ill for the future, because no one in the mainstream is willing to question the deepest premises of American foreign policy and its inevitable disastrous consequences. In the larger scheme, the Bergdahl exchange is a sideshow.

Mainstream U.S. foreign policy, whether the Wilsonian neoconservative, “humanitarian” interventionist, or so-called realist variant, produced the conditions that made Americans the targets of terrorists. It then dictated the response — Bush’s “war on terror” — which made things even worse. If things don’t change, we have strong reasons to fear for the future. Al-Qaeda and its offshoots are not on the run. They have gained ground, from Iraq westward to Syria and Lebanon, southward to Yemen, across northern Africa, and again southward to Mali and Nigeria, where Boko Haram conducts its reign of terror. And let’s not forget Somalia’s al-Shabaab in the Horn of Africa to the east.

Obama boasts that “bin Laden is dead.” But in practical terms, what does that mean? Not very much, writes Patrick Cockburn, who has reported from the Middle East for years:

Unsurprisingly, governments prefer the fantasy picture of al-Qa’ida because it enables them to claim a series of victories by killing its better-known members and allies. Often, those eliminated are given quasi-military ranks, such as “head of operations,” to enhance the significance of their demise. The culmination of this most publicized but largely irrelevant aspect of the “war on terror” was the killing of Bin Laden in Abbottabad in Pakistan in 2011. This enabled President Obama to grandstand before the American public as the man who had presided over the hunting down of al-Qa’ida’s leader. In practice, his death had no impact on al-Qa’ida-type jihadi groups, whose greatest expansion has been since 2011.

The resurgence of these jihadis is most striking on the ground in Iraq and Syria, but is evident in Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia and, in recent months, Lebanon and Egypt. In Iraq, it was a final humiliation for the US, after losing 4,500 soldiers, that al-Qa’ida’s black flag should once again fly in Fallujah, captured with much self-congratulatory rhetoric by US Marines in 2004. Aside from Fallujah, Isis, the premier jihadi movement in the country, has rapidly expanded its influence in all parts of Sunni Iraq in the past three years.

America is not winning the war on terror because it was unwinnable from the start, primarily because its origins and nature were viewed through a distorting nationalist and imperialist ideology and thus were badly misunderstood. As a result, the U.S. government has killed countless innocent Muslims, seen the lives of thousands of young Americans snuffed out or ruined, and squandered obscene sums of money.

And what’s to show for it? A growing and spreading movement of extremists who want revenge against Americans. Thanks very much, ruling elite.

While reasonable people wouldn’t call that success, bin Laden might have. Even in 2004, he pointed to “evidence of the success of the bleed-until-bankruptcy plan.” That is, he had succeeded in drawing the United States deeper into the Muslim world, especially Afghanistan (the bane of earlier empires), because that was right where he wanted America. Iraq was icing on the cake, compliments of Bush, since it gave Arab jihadis a place to fight Americans and learn their trade, which they could later ply in Libya and Syria — strangely, with American assistance.

Jeff Huber, a retired naval flight officer, realized this several years ago:

Dead or alive, Osama bin Laden is the greatest strategist in the history of human conflict. With no navy or air force or anything that resembles a formal army, he’s managed to whip the world’s mightiest nation like a rented camel. Our economy is shot, the best-trained, best-equipped military in history has been proven impotent, and our moral standing in the world has gone through the sub-basement.

Michael Scheuer, once head of the CIA’s bin Laden unit, said much the same thing in 2004: “I think it is fair to conclude that the United States of America remains bin Laden’s only indispensable ally.” (He wrote that in his book Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror.)

The conventional wisdom is that terrorists struck on 9/11 (and earlier) while we were minding our own business. Since, according to this story, it was unprovoked aggression against our freedom and affluence, the only proper response (we were told) was overwhelming force to eradicate the terrorists. But since that response only aggravated the unacknowledged cause, the result has been the opposite of what was promised.

The conventional wisdom is wrong. “Bin Laden has been precise in telling America the reasons he is waging war on us,” Scheuer wrote. “None of the reasons have anything to do with our freedom, liberty, and democracy, but have everything to do with U.S. policies and actions in the Muslim world.” He was referring to U.S. support for corrupt oil-rich kings and dictators and the enabling of Israel’s injustices against the Palestinians.

When you understand what Scheuer and others have been saying, you realize that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the drone murders and covert actions in so many other countries are self-defeating for the American people, though not for those who profit from war in terms of power and lucre.

The policymakers didn’t go into Afghanistan to win — no one could have been that delusional so soon after the Soviet defeat. They went in to show the American empire’s power and resolve, and to reestablish political and economic dominance in that part of the world. They failed on all counts.

Things will look no better in 2016, so they might as well leave now and save the lives that will otherwise be lost.

He’s in every action movie — but not for long: Meet the Expendable Asian Crewmember - Salon.com

He’s in every action movie — but not for long: Meet the Expendable Asian Crewmember - Salon.com

He’s in every action movie — but not for
long: Meet the Expendable Asian Crewmember

From "Godzilla" to "X-Men" to "Total
Recall," why does every blockbuster need a single Asian guy to kill off? 

 

Fans of the original “Star Trek” television series, which aired from
1966 to 1969, are familiar with the old trope of the expendable Asian
crewmember. Every week, one or two unlucky marginal characters, wearing
the red shirt of a Security Officer, would join a landing party that
usually consisted of Captain James Kirk, First Officer Spock, and Dr.
Leonard “Bones” McCoy from the starship USS Enterprise. The trio would
beam down to the planet’s surface along with the Expendable Crewmember –
who would promptly get killed off by a space monster/mysterious
sentient cloud/primitive hostiles. The Expendable Crewmember became such
a routine part of the storyline that it was spoofed on the animated
television show “Family Guy,” and became a running joke in the 1999 film
“Galaxy Quest,” in which Sam Rockwell’s character, “Crewman no. 6,” is a
nervous wreck named Guy, so forgettable to everyone that even he knows
he’s doomed to die.

As little kid, I found it a bit odd that the
Klingons always missed Kirk and hit the guy in the red shirt standing
next to him. And as I got older, I couldn’t help but notice two strange
trends beginning to pop up in Hollywood summer blockbusters: 1) Random
storylines would detour to someplace in Asia for no particularly good
reason, and 2) One useless Asian character – only one – would show up
and stick around just long enough to make a vague impression as a
villain. Then he or she would die at the hands of the good (white) guys,
who would then march off victoriously into the sunset.

Now, it
has been pointed out to me that the business of killing off villains is
an equal-opportunity plot device, and Asian people are not being singled
out for horrible deaths. Which is true. It’s long been the case that
Hollywood casts ethnic minorities as bad guys so their heads can be
blasted off. In horror films, there is also the bimbo rule, which
requires hot blondes to get killed off first. This is neither racist nor
sexist (see no. 7 on this list, John Cho, hot blond), but the norm.





The
Expendable Asian Crewmember is different from the phenomenon known as
the “Asian sidekick,” whose ranks include Cato in the “Pink Panther”
film series from the ’60s and ’70s and remade in 2006; Kato in the
“Green Hornet” television series from the ’60s, remade as a film in
2011; Mr. Miyagi in “The Karate Kid,” 1984, remade and moved from
California to China, 2010; and the mutant Yukio in ”The Wolverine,”
2013. But the vast majority of blockbuster film franchises have no Asian
characters in them at all. In general, both New York City and The
Future are curiously free of Asians except for Maggie Q, whose
time-traveling powers enable her to pop up briefly in “Divergent,” 2014.
There are so few Asians in the galaxy inhabited by Star Wars that a
hilarious blog,
“You Offend Me You Offend My Family,” has scoured the entire franchise
for signs of Asian life. The results were: one rebel officer, and a
dubious claim that Admiral Ackbar, fearless cephalopod leader of the
Rebellion, was “Asian-like.”

Which brings me to the 2013 “Star
Trek” reboot, with Zoe Saldana as Lt. Uhura and John Cho as Lt. Sulu,
plus loads of “Asian-like” aliens, including Vulcans. When the most
diverse cast in a Hollywood summer blockbuster happens to be based on a
television show that debuted a half century ago, it’s better to be the
Expendable (Asian) Crewmember than not be allowed on board at all. But
I’m hoping it won’t be another 50 years before Mr. Sulu not only takes
the helm but gets his own ship – and can star in his own film.

Here is a mere sampling of the Expendable Asian Crewmembers I’ve spotted over the years:

“X-Men 2: X-Men United,”
2003. Yuriko. The perfectly coiffed, impeccably manicured and silent
assistant to evil mastermind Stryker, Yuriko turns out to be a
super-villain called Lady Deathstrike whose abilities closely parallel
those possessed by the Wolverine. Wolverine kills her by injecting her
with the rare metal adamantium in its liquid form.

“X-Men 3: The Last Stand,”
2006. Kid Omega. As the Mutant Brotherhood organizes against humans,
Kid Omega becomes one of Magneto’s new recruits. Played by Ken Leung, he
can project spikes out all over his body in the manner of an angry
porcupine. He dies in a blast of psychokinetic energy unleashed by the
super-mutant, Jean Grey/Phoenix.

“Mission Impossible III,”
2006. Zhen Lei. Played by Maggie Q, this femme fatale joins the
“Impossible Mission Force,” experiences a staged death, and disappears
from the story. The fact that she is Chinese does not explain why the
action relocates to Shanghai as opposed to, say, Southern California,
which is also inhabited by white heroes plus a few Chinese people eating
noodles.

“Live Free or Die Hard,” 2007. Mai Lin.
Once again played by Maggie Q, Mai Lin is a cyber-terrorist with
nefarious plans that vaguely involve computer hacking. Bruce Willis
blames her for the awful script and throws her down an elevator shaft.

“The Dark Knight,” 2008.
Lau. Played by Chin Han, Lau is a mob accountant who hides the mob’s
money and flees to Hong Kong for the express purpose of getting Batman
to Asia for an extended tourist commercial involving many tall, sleek
skyscrapers. Batman brings Lau back to the U.S., where he is killed by
the Joker.

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” 2009. Agent Zero. A mutant expert marksman, Agent Zero, played by ethnic Korean actor Daniel Henney, not
only looks fine in a tailored black suit, he has better hair than
Wolverine. After many tries, Wolverine finally succeeds in mussing his
rival’s hair by downing his helicopter and blowing it up.

“Total Recall”
(remake), 2010. Bob McClane. Played by John Cho, better known as Lt.
Sulu from the “Star Trek” reboot, Bob gets killed off when he stupidly
asks secret agent Doug Quaid about his feelings. This taboo question
prompts a police raid that results in everybody except Quaid getting
shot.

“Pacific Rim,” 2013. My friend Minsoo
Kang, who is an expert on the history of automatons, told me that not
one but “two Chinese robot operators” show up and get crushed when
monsters mash their robots. (They die at the same time and don’t have
names, so I will count them as one.) Not only does this film have a
female lead played by Japanese actress Rinko Kikuchi, but it’s set in
Hong Kong, which gets smashed by machine-monsters. This film didn’t do
very well in the U.S. but did extremely well in Asia (e.g., China, Korea
and Japan). As summed up by Forbes, Pacific Rim was “the rare English-language film in history to cross $400 million while barely crossing $100 million domestic.”

“Red 2,”
2013. Han Cho-Bai. He is an international assassin sent to kill retired
black-ops CIA agent Frank Moses. Moses is played by Bruce Willis, so
you know he doesn’t get killed off. Neither does Han Cho-Bai (played by
Korean actor Lee Byung-Hun), because he’s a red herring who is really a
disguised sidekick. Though I enjoyed the display of his martial arts
skills, he’s got no business being in this film except to sell tickets.
It made nearly twice as much in foreign receipts as it did in the U.S.,
and the bulk of those tickets were sold in Japan and South Korea.
 Could
there be a theme developing here? Why, yes! And it leads directly to…

“Godzilla”
(remake), 2014. Dr. Serizawa. Played by the legendary Ken Watanabe, the
Serizawa character appears in the 1954 version set in Japan, where he
unexpectedly dies. Crucially, the original Godzilla hit U.S. theaters
around the same time as the first wave of Asian immigrants, in the
aftermath of WWII and the Korean War. Sixty years later, the newer,
sexier version of the giant lizard suggests that Godzilla is a strong,
charismatic, assimilated Asian-American who wants his own starring role
in a summer blockbuster without so much goofy metrosexual makeup.
And just as some of the funniest Internet memes focus on the giant
lizard’s new Hollywood look,
it’s not a done deal that Serizawa’s character gets killed off this
time around, even if he is the only Asian character with a name, thus
adhering to the one-Asian rule. I guess you could call that progress.

9/11Evidence

http://asheepnomore.net/2014/06/02/911-russia-presents-evidence-us-uk-israel-co-conspirators/

asheepnomore.net

911: Russia Presents Evidence Against US, UK And Israel Co-Conspirators?
by admin · June 2, 2014

by Michael Thomas

“9/11 was an Anglo-American black operation executed in collusion with Israeli Secret Services.” — 9/11 Investigator

Undoubtedly the 9/11 attacks on New York City and Washington DC are the most misrepresented by officialdom in US history.

Whereas the assassination of John F. Kennedy is now understood to have been a classic CIA Public Execution Plan, it does not come close to 9/11 in terms of the number and magnitude of outright falsehoods, misleading statements, fake science and fraudulent facts submitted by officials and agents of the US Government. The ‘official’ 9/11 Commission Report stands as the most fabricated document ever produced by US tax dollars. Not only did the investigation avoid every serious inquiry about how two steel frame building came down after being dustified in NYC, it also subverted every initiative to ferret out the truth.

That’s all about to change in 2014.
It appears that Russia has been conducting systematic data dumps on 9/11, the release of which represents more factual information on the attacks than any US Government source. In the wake of the Anglo-American coup d’état conducted by the CIA and MI6 in Kiev, it appears that Russia has no more patience for Western interference. Especially when nations are destabilized on Russia’s borders do the stakes in this highly consequential geopolitical chess match go up.
Since Vladimir Putin has no intention of starting World War 3, he can only respond to US-EU meddling by using asymmetric warfare on the internet. Were the American people to understand that elements within the US Federal Government were behind the 9/11 attacks , EVERYTHING would change in a heartbeat. Because the Obama Administration has shown no sign of aborting its planned takeover of the Ukraine, Russia is now left with fewer, but still quite potent options.
The following excerpt recently appeared on an alternative news website — Veterans Today — under the subtitle “Too Classified to Publish”. Essentially this unprecedented release of ultra-secret and highly classified information illustrates Putin’s new tack toward Western intractability. Simply put, Russia will no longer stand by idly while the Anglo-American Juggernaut projects it power wherever it so chooses.

TOO CLASSIFIED TO PUBLISH
According to a retired FXX agent specializing in Israeli counter intel: The type of nuclear devices used on 911 were a modified version of the W-54 nuclear artillery shells that were covertly provided to the Israelis between 1988 and 1998 from US surplus stockpiles illegally exported during the Bush/Clinton era.
Chemical analysis done by DOE Sandi was able to identify the chemical/radiation footprint or fingerprint of the warheads based on samples taken after 911 of the fallout at ground zero. (Editor’s note: Nuclear weapon use at ground zero is confirmed from multiple sources)
All plutonium based warheads have a chemical fingerprint that can identify the type of design and where the PU was made and how old it is. This was the 911 blackmail on Bush 1 and 2, the illegal transfer of surplus US nuclear weapons to the Israelis and why the continued cover up, along with the stolen gold and stock fraud that was going on Wall Street etc. According to file ENW57.pdf on page 66. (Editor’s note: Document received and confirmed)
Only a 2 kiloton device was needed to drop the buildings. A 2 kiloton device will produce a fireball of apx 150 to 200 feet in diameter at over 4000 degrees Centigrade. Just large enough to melt the I beams of the central core of the building and drop them in place. The light flash would last less than 1 second and primarily be in the UV light range. Overpressure would only be at 60PSI max and directed upwards with the blast. See underground effect.
Fallout would be minimal and located to within ground zero range only. Radiation would drop to acceptable levels within 72 hrs. after the blast. Most fall out was trapped in the cement dust thus causing all of the recent cancer deaths that we are now seeing in NYC amongst first responders. (Editor’s note: Consistent with site data)

Melted steel and iron oxide or “nano thermite” is a byproduct of the very high gamma ray / Neutron flux induced into the central steel core. The radiation dissolves the steel into iron oxide consuming the carbon and silicone in the steel.
This explains the missing steel columns and the very important clue of the “vaporized’ 20 ton antenna tower atop the south tower. The upward blast of radiation literally vaporized it. Video evidence proves this to be true. (Editor’s note: Tower issue a vital one.)
The total XXOO data file from DOE Sandia on the 911 event is well over 72 MB. P.S. Snowden didn’t have a Q clearance so he missed this one. Carnaberry had a pretty good stash of documents on the subject. (All under the transit stuff.) The entire nuclear nonproliferation story of stolen nuclear material coming from Russia was an Israeli cover story to hide the original source of weapons material coming from the US stock piles. (Editor’s note: Fully confirmed)
Illegal distribution of US nuclear material to foreign allies was not limited to Israel. Virtually all NATO allies were in on this scam too. Dick Cheney was the bad guy on this one. Bush2/Cheney traded nuclear pits to foreign country as IOU’s in order to get what they wanted. Tom Countryman a well-known Israeli operative is curiously now in charge of N.N.P. at the State Department under Obama.(?) He was put there by Ram Emanuel.

It appears that the weapon of choice for the Israelis were the W-54 and follow on series of nuclear pits taken from the Amarillo TX storage dump. This was what Carnaberry was working on for Bush senior in Houston.
A total of over 350 pits were transferred to the Israelis over a 10 to 20 year period of time. The W-54 type of pit design were the most desirable due to the 2 point implosion pit design. This is the easiest to re manufacture and modify as compared to other circular pit designs.
The pill shaped design of the W-54 type weapon contains over 1.5 times more plutonium than a standard pit. This would allow enough Plutonium to be recovered that was still of weapons grade use even after 32 plus years of age. Americium build up in the pit over time eventually makes the Pit unusable as a weapon so they have a limited shelf life based on how fast or slow the Plutonium was produce in the reactor at Stanford.
Usually it was about 150 days max. Irradiation time in the reactor during production determines the shelf life of the pit as weapons grade material. All of the micro nukes used by the Israelis are re-manufactured W-54 type series devices.

Khazelov confirmed this a micro nuke bombing
These devices were used in the Bali bombing and the London bombing and in Japan on their reactors. (Editor’s note: Nuclear weapon use in Bali confirmed) Also used in Damascus, Iraq and Afghanistan by the US. (Editor’s note: Multiple confirmation including site samples.)
These are stored in most Israelite embassies for ease of deployment. The one’s used on 911 were kept at the Israeli consulate in NYC until put in place. After 911 the FBI now checks all diplomatic pouches with a Geiger counter before entering or leaving the US. The South African weapons were also surplus W-54 artillery shells acquired from Israeli and final assembly and testing was done in South Africa with Israel assistance. (Editor’s note: This explains Pelendaba production issues.)
This was done because the Israelis needed a testing ground in order to make sure that there rebuilt weapons would work as designed. (Editor’s note: Testing on Sept. 22, 1979 multiple confirmations.) The North Korean weapons are also of the 155 mm artillery design as provided by Israel.
The true North Korean nuclear weapons program is based on nuclear artillery use and not missiles. The plan is to use a massive artillery barge on South Korea if war breaks out this include the use of small nuclear artillery shells to counter US tanks rockets and artillery.
The Saudi’s also have a stash of W-54′s acquired from the US under Bush2. (Editor’s note: Confirmed) The Israelis have also provided them to India, Brazil, China, Taiwan, Japan, North and South Korea etc. (Editor’s note: All but South Korea confirmed. Canada had been believed to be the source of Brazilian nuclear weapons.) Dimona is a standard 75 megawatt thermal open top reactor as used in France for their plutonium weapons production program, their version of Stanford (Editor’s note: Probably “Hanford”).

Due to over use as a fast breeder reactor by the Israelis, Dimona suffered a “steam explosion” IE a flash over indecent due to neutron criticality back in the late 1980′s under Bush 1. This shut down its operation for many years until repairs could be made.
It know only operates at very low power levels due to neutron absorption damage to the containment vessel. Now mainly use for isotope production. This forced the Israelis to turn to stolen nuclear stock piles from the US for the continuation of their nuclear program.
The Israelis knowing that the nuclear material that they had acquire only had a limited shelf life left before it was no longer usable as weapons grade then tried to dump it on the surplus market as fast as possible before it was of no use to them. So they dumped it on unsuspecting nations who would only sit on it and not be able to test it. These were the fissile tests in North Korea. (Editor’s note: Confirmed, multiple sources)
When everybody caught on to the scam such as Japan and Korea. (IE the Korean sub sinkings etc) they were angry because they paid big bucks for junk. This started a mini cold war with Israel and her old clients. However with micro nukes even as the plutonium ages it will still fissile producing a smaller size detonation well under 2 kiloton in size.
So they can still be used as small dirty bombs or as very small tactical nukes such as the nuclear artillery strikes on Damascus with rocket assisted W-54′s. (Editor’s note: Confirmed strike, May 4, 2013) On the W-54 pit design it is pill shaped and it is only about 4 inches in diameter and weighs about 24 pounds.
Most of the fuel is consumed in the plasma fire ball when detonated so there is very little plutonium fallout left to escape. If it is salted with other materials the fallout can be even reduced to lower levels such as in an enhanced radiation device or the so called neutron bomb. This is what was used on 911.

The primary purpose of the nuclear weapon used on 911 was to produce a massive Gama ray / neutron flux that would vaporize about 150 to 300 feet of 6 inch thick steal I beams that constituted the central core of the WTC buildings. This created a free fall event as seen on TV that day. (Editor’s note: Critical information here.)
The flash would be hidden from sight due to the underground detonation. Most of the light was in the non-visible light spectrum any way. Over pressure would be reduced to 6 psi due to the blast traveling up the central core and neutron radiation vaporizing the TV antenna at the top of the building as see on TV.
The fallout would be mainly vaporized concrete cement and iron oxide. This is why after 911 they told everyone on TV that the beta radiation burns that people were getting were due to the caustic cement dust and not due to the radiation effects from the radioactive cement fallout. (Editor’s note: Fully confirmed)
The iron oxide found all over the place was what was left of the steel I beams. This was the so called Nano Thermite that was found everywhere. Fallout was limited to a 1 mile area around down town NYC. See charts. (Editor’s note: Received)
Radiation decay was reduced to safe low levels after 72 hrs., (Editor’s note: Fully confirmed) outside of ground zero its self. This is why the area was blocked off from the public for 3 days after the event, in order to let the radiation drop to safe levels.[1]
If you read this excerpt closely, you can clearly see that Russia means business. It is what they did not say — directly — that makes this data-dump so poignant … and dangerous to the Anglo-American power structure.

Footnotes:
[1] Too Classified to Publish: Bush Nuclear Piracy Exposed | Veterans Today
by Gordon Duff, Senior Editor
References:
9/11: The Ultimate Inside Job And False Flag Operation
9/11 Commission Report: The Most Ridiculous Conspiracy Theory Of All Time
About the author:  Michael Thomas is a contributing writer to Storyleak and Editor of the State of the Nation website, where he offers analysis on geopolitical events.