Some random musings on the American soldier on Memorial Day

Usually, when the USA is commemorating Memorial Day, I try to write something about the many hundred of millions of people which were murdered by US military forces during this country's short history.  Sometimes I like to post a list of US wars/interventions.  If you are interested in this topic, click here, here, here or here.  Today, I wanted to do something a little different.  I wanted to share with all of you, but mainly with those outside the US, my own experience of US military personnel, the people whose deaths are being commemorated today.

It so happens that I have had the opportunity to meet and work with rather wide spectrum of US soldiers including armored cavalry officers, F-18 Navy pilots, Air Force Colonels working on the YF-23 program, a former Deputy Commander of the so-called "Delta Force", NCOs of the 82nd and 101st Airborne, and even a retired Chairman of the JCS. Though these were very different people, with different skill-sets and personalities, studying and working with them did make me come to some overall conclusion about the US military.  These are highly subjective, of course, and I share then with you only as personal impression and not as any type of systematic or representative observation.

Regular readers of this blog, who know my views on US imperial policies, will probably be surprised to hear that the first word which comes to my mind when I think of the US soldiers which I met is "decency".  Yes, all the folks which I meant were decent, honorable people.  Some of them did have misgivings about the wars they fought, others did not.  But none of them were the kind of flag-waving racist morons which so many outside the USA associate with US soldiers.  Sure, there are folks like that out there - in places like the Green Zone in Baghdad for sure - but I did not personally meet that type.

The second word which comes to my mind is "professionals".  The folks I met were all competent professionals.  They were not only well trained, but they were also professional in their attitude towards their mission and their possible enemies.  I personally heard none of that "we are number one!!!" crap which are always associated with the military when shown on the Idiot Box.  The folks I met were competent and they knew that, but they also knew that the other guy could be very good too, possibly better than them.  Now, any well-trained solider should think that he is well-trained and that he can (and probably will) win.  But that confidence should not turn into a jingoistic arrogance which simply assumes that by showing up on the battlefield "we" will easily win.  I would say that at least the US soldiers which I met had a healthy balance between confidence and caution.

One the bad side, ALL of the US soldiers I met were "culturally parochial" (and that is putting it kindly).  They had no understanding or knowledge of their areas of deployment or the kind of people they would be likely to fight.  While this might not matter a great deal for a submarine commander or a fighter pilot, this is absolutely devastating for a special operations or intelligence officer.  I think that this sorry state of affairs is not so much a result of arrogance or imperial hubris, as it is  the inevitable consequence of a deficient educational system which does not teach foreign languages properly, combined with the pernicious effects of the US corporate media which is designed people stupid and ignorant and which solely focused on the USA.  As a result, most US soldiers can be split into two equally mistaken categories: those who think that the US is superior to other countries/nations/cultures and those who believe that the other guys are "just like us".  In fact, of course, neither is true.  The "others" are neither "like us" nor are they in any way inferior.  Just very very different.  Again, that weakness is particularly devastating for the special operations and intelligence forces.

The other big weakness of the US military its pathological over-reliance on technology which sometimes borders on idol worship.  I would say that all of the US soldiers I met were pretty much convinced that better technology can win wars.  This is, of course, absolutely wrong for a long list of reasons which I will not list here (that would be a topic in itself).  Add to this that US military gear is vastly over-rated and that a lot of US military equipment is designed primarily by engineers and not by fighting soldiers, and you will easily understand why over and over again the US military as been stunned by the realization that the "other guy's" weapons outperform the US-made ones.

Keeping all this in mind, how good a fighting force is the US military?

I would say that the answer to this question depends on the kind of war we are talking about.  There is what I call an "American type of war" out there, the kind which the US loves to fight and the kind which it will always win.  It combines the features of the so-called AirLand Battle and Network Centric Operations.  This type of war is inevitably expensive, technology-heavy and geared towards the destruction of classical military forces.  Only a major military power with advanced technology of its own (including a survivable nuclear weapons force) could hope to prevail such a war against the USA (currently that means Russia; in the not too distant future possibly China).  Everybody else would be rather effortlessly defeated by the USA in such a war.  That arrogant idiot Saddam learned that at his own expense when, following the invasion of Kuwait, he deployed his entire military *exactly* as US strategists would want him to.  We all know what happened then: one of the fastest and most comprehensive military defeat in history for Iraq, and one of the shortest and easiest military triumphs for the USA.

The way to defeat the US military is to impose upon it a type of war which it loathes to fight.  One in which technology does not play a crucial war, one which negates the US advantage in advanced technologies, one in which targets are difficult to identify or acquire.  Mountains, jungles, forests, swamps and urban areas are all ideally suited for this kind of operations.  Another important aspect of anti-US operations is to feed the US intelligence network with false information to the point of saturating it.  US "human intelligence" has always been very weak and desperate thus for sources.  It is therefore rather easy to bait it and to feed it exactly what it wants to hear.  Present the US intelligence community with putative "hardliners" and "moderates" in need of support, add in a couple of "corrupt" agents willing to betray their side for money or a visa to the USA, throw in a couple of carefully staged telephone calls (designed to be intercepted) and you get the perfect brew which will give the US intelligence community a massive headache.

The good news for those who resist the US Empire is that anti-US operations are cheap.  They require more brains than hardware, and they can be organized in a local, decentralized, manner.  The bad news is, of course, that such efforts cannot shoot down bombers or sink aircraft carriers.  So the key goal must not be to destroy US hard power, only to make it irrelevant.

There is one more aspect of the "US kind of war" which needs to be addressed here.  But I want to stress that this aspect is not a product of the US soldier's culture itself but the product of the US political class which gives its orders to the US military: what the US does when it fails to achieve a rapid military victory.

The US military has a very ugly and consistent record of going after civilian targets if it fails to achieve its military objectives.  From the bombing of Germany, to Vietnam, to the invasion of Kosovo to today's war against Libya, the US always turns to a massive campaign of atrocities against civilians when it fails to achieve its objectives in a "clean" "TV-compatible" "precision" campaign.  Any force attempting to oppose the USA needs to accept that as an integral part of the US warfighting doctrine and prepare for such a development.  The US will always begin its campaigns by targeted attacks against military objectives, which it will rapidly "expand" the target list to "regime" targets.  But if that fails, the US military will always attack the entire infrastructure of the society which hosts the force the US cannot defeat.  To better mask the murderous nature of such a campaign deliberately targeted at the civilian population, the US propaganda machine will churn out a flow of reports about some alleged "atrocities" committed by the side resisting the US Empire.  Conversely, the US will always "deplore" any case of its own atrocities if the general public becomes aware of them.  It will then lay the blame on the other side "using civilians as human shields" or "hiding amongst civilians".  Again, any force opposing the US Empire has to expect such an anti-civilian campaign as absolutely inevitable and carefully plan for it.

In conclusion, I want to turn back to the US solider. I always have mixed feelings on Memorial Day.  I hate it's "patriotic" nature.  I hate the fact that nobody seems to ask the obvious question of why a country which was never attacked since Pearl Harbor waged so many wars.   I hate the way 99.9999% of Americans seem unable to question their own imperial past, nevermind their current imperial wars.  On Memorial Day my thoughts are always first and foremost with those who were killed by the very people who are commemorated as heroes and patriots today.  I have never seen a statistic of how many people the USA has murdered worldwide since its creation, but I am confident that the correct figure is in the hundred of millions range (just think of the Native Americans or the Blacks slaves).  And yet, I always have a desire to separate these ugly facts of history from the US soldiers I have personally met in my life.  Somehow, meeting them face to face did not connect them to the policies of their country, at least in my mind.  I suppose that it would be possible to say that they too are victims of the US Empire.

It's not an either-or thing.  I think that we can feel sorry for both the victims of US imperialism and those who were used by the US Empire to fight wars all over the planet.  I know, this is hardly an original thought, but it is mine today.  For all my total opposition to US imperialism, I personally harbor no hostility towards US veterans.  And I think that I will always have a warm spot in my heart for these US soldiers I studied and worked with.  I sincerely wish them well.  But more then anything else, I wish them peace.

The Saker

Very interesting interview of Phyllis Bennis by Paul Jay

Many interesting issues are alluded to in this interview. I wonder if you guys could comment on the following topics:

1. The Salafi <-> Muslim Brotherhood relation. Is there a "porous border" between these two groups? Does the MB have a salafist wing?
2. The Foreign Ministry <-> Military relation. Is there a real power struggle taking place between these two ministries?
3. Assuming that the USA will do all it can to sidetrack, disrupt, undermine, subvert and reverse the Egyptian Revolution (a safe assumption, I would submit), what are the chances of Egypt fully getting out of the US influence in a way similar, but not necessarily identical, to the manner in which Iran got rid of its Yankee overlords?

Any comments/insights would be highly appreciated!

Thanks,

The Saker

Internet censorship in full swing in the USA (again)

First we had "Evil Joe" Lieberman with his "Internet kill switch" and now they are at it again, this time with a "Protect IP Act".  The thugs in Congress are always up to no good, usually some crafty way of making the rich richer, the poor poorer, to further reduce any civil liberty left and, last but not least, to do whatever the hell the Israel lobby demands from them.  Censoring the Internet is a particularly "good" idea, from their point of view, as it would contribute to making US millionaires and billionaires richer, and it would also provide a terrific way of cracking down on anti-Israel, anti-Zionist or pro-Palestinian (i.e. "terrorist) websites.

What AIPAC's minions in Congress do simply not understand is that the technology needed to defeat all their plans is already out there.  For example, take a look at the following information about the FreedomBox:

FreedomBox Foundation

FreedomBox at Debian

Eben Moglen discusses the freedom box on CBS news

or watch these two videos of Eben Moglen speaking on the topic "Freedom in the Cloud"

Presentation

Q&A

"Evil Joe" and his cohorts will fight freedom everywhere, on the Internet and in the real world, but at least on the Internet they are clearly out-gunned by the new technologies (software and hardware) which already exist and which shall be deployed in the near future.

This, at least, is a battle we already know we will win.

The Saker

Israeli Geography 101 by David Rovics

Rae Abileah gets assulted, beaten and arrested

Netanyahu got 29 standing ovations, four more than President Obama at his state of the union address.  Amazing...

And what a wonderful lady Rae Abileah is!  People like this give me hope!

Another major victory for the Egyptian people?

According to Ha'aretz and the BBC, Egypt will permanently open the Rafah crossing into Gaza The Rafah crossing will be opened permanently from 0900 to 2100 every day except Fridays and holidays, beginning Saturday 28 May: the crossing will be opened permanently from 0900 to 2100 every day except Fridays and holidays, beginning Saturday 28 May.

If that is true, this is wonderful and long-awaited news!!

Brick by brick, the racist abomination of the "Jewish state of Israel" is being dismantled.  There remains much to still be done, but punching a hole through the blockade of Gaza was always a top priority and a first step towards bringing down the "Apartheid wall" in the rest of Palestine.

I don't believe for one second that this decision has been taken thanks to the deep humanism of the military caretaker junta running the Egyptian state.  I therefore can only put the credit there where I believe it is due: to the pressure of the Egyptian people themselves.

We all - not just the Palestinians of Gaza - owe them an immense debt of gratitude!

Netanyahu, Obama and the rest of them are polarizing the world, and this is a very good thing indeed

Yesterday I watched with some amazement how the entire US Congress stood up and down and up and down and up and down again "interrupting" Netanyahu's speech with obligatory standing ovations and thought to myself, is there any way at all a country could humiliate itself any more?  Keep in mind that the man for whom the US Congress folks were obsequiously hopping up and down is the same man who humiliated the US president in public, inside the White House.  Now, setting aside all the empty rhetoric, was was Netanyahu's message to Congress and the rest of the world?  Simply this: Israel does not give a damn about international law or public opinion and the only thing Israel will ever "negotiate" with the Palestinians is a wholesale unconditional surrender.

This is actually very good news.

It is good for the Palestinians because it makes any and all forms of "negotiations" with Israel look exactly like what they are: at best, a total waste of time, at worst, a euphemism for capitulation.

It is good for the (few) mentally sane Israelis who are not subscribing to the prevailing racist ideology because it makes the racist delusion of a "two state solution" unambiguously unachievable. 

It is good for the entire Middle-East because it further polarizes all politicians into two clearly separated groups: on one side Israeli puppets and traitors and on the other (more or less) popular leaders actually representing their constituencies.

It is good news for the USA because it now shows to those how still have a functioning brain that the real "President" of the USA is Benjamin Netanyahu and the real "Congress" of the United States is AIPAC.

The first necessary step in resolving any problem is to diagnose it.  Without that first step, no solution can every be found.  In this case, the entire planet has a problem and that problem has two faces, like a coin: a secular one and a religious one:

The secular one is called Zionism and it can be summed up in the following sentence: "God does not exist, but He gave us the Holy Land".  This ideology is a co-product of 19h century European nationalism and it is therefore not surprising that it is racist, imperialist and colonial in its deepest core.

The religious one is called Talmudic/Phariseic "Judaism" (which has nothing in common with the religion of the Old Testament and) which can be summed up in the following sentence: "God created Jews in His image and likeness and He created the goyim from (a different essence from) the earth".  This belief in two different essences between Jews and goyims can only be described as Satanic (as Christ Himself said I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan Rev 2:9).

What we see in modern Israel is an inevitable fusion of these two initially distinct ideologies into a new one, which could be loosely referred to as the self-worship cult of the Jewish tribe.  This cult has a new, quasi Christ-like, messiah - the Jewish tribe as a whole who suffered during the so-called "Holocaust" for the sake of repairing the world (tikkun olam).  This collective messiah has lead the Jewish people back to the Land of Israel and he will restore peace to the entire planet by ruling the world from Jerusalem with the Jews as mediators between God and the goyim (hence the "undivided and eternal" capital of Israel).

This is not an ideology which can be negotiated with.  Certain ideologies or world views leave some room for compromise, but one which is both "God-given" AND racist does not.

Is this nuts?  Yes, absolutely.  Is this Satanic?  Totally.  Is this real?  You bet it is!  Just listen to Netanhayu and the rest of them.  They have finally come out of "their closet" and they are openly proclaiming their beliefs.  The predictable result of this great "coming out" (which, I would argue, began under Clinton) will be the inevitable polarization of the entire planet into the same two camps as in the Middle-East: those who are with "them" and those who are not (does that not remind you of Junior's "you are either with us or with the terrorists"?).

The stakes in his conflict are truly huge, way bigger than only Palestine or the entire Middle-East.  What is at stake is the soul of mankind, our very humanity.  Will we submit to the absolutely evil ideology combining secular racism and religious satanism, or will our civilizations fight for the idea of the common humanity and brotherhood of ALL humans?  Will we find it in ourselves to finally "globalize the Intifada" or will we submit to the Synagogue of Satan?

Though at times this Synagogue of Satan appears almighty, it is not and the real outcome of this struggle is not only external, but it is also internal: it is primarily fought inside the soul of each human being.  As soon as a person commits himself/herself to resist evil that evil is already instantly defeated in the soul of this person!    Sure, the Empire seems powerful, but its power is only external.  The reality is that it is being beat on all fronts and it is on the retreat - in particular inside the mind and souls of more and more people.  Just think of how many people reached their "breaking point" listening to Netanyahu, Obama and the rest of them in the past couple of days.  Whatever the figure, I can promise you that more people opened their eyes to what is really going on than were put to sleep by it all.

Netanyahu and Obama are probably doing more than anyone else to globalize the Intifada and, for that at least, we ought to be grateful.

The Saker

Glorious victory for the invincible Tsahal!!

Commentary by Mark Regev (or was it Barak Obama? don't matter - same thing):

It is good to see that the glorious and invincible IDF (aka 'Tsahal') continues to maintain a clear military edge over the terrorists and enemies of democracy, civilization and progress. As the only democracy in the Middle-East continues to be surrounded by millions of barbarians representing an existential threat to the peace-loving Jewish state of Holocaust survivors, and as the specter of a Second Holocaust looms big over our eternal friends, the SIX MILLION (!) Jewish people of Israel, it is absolutely vital that the eternal alliances between the USA and Israel remain as strong as ever, to the point of making the two states indistinguishable.  Let the murderous thugs like Ahmadinejad and the "A-Team of terrorism" - Hezbollah - know that the young men and woman of the Jewish state of Israel will stand strong and proud in defense of the enlightened values of Jewish supremacy, religion-based racism and full-spectrum brutality dominance (aka the Dahiya doctrine).  At a time when the New Antisemitism is on the rise - "The belly is still fertile that gave birth to the vile beast" - and when millions of innocent Jews worldwide are threatened by a Second Holocaust, it is reassuring and deeply comforting to see that those who made the desert green in the land without people for a people without land, are now standing as one in defense of our common values.  Let the Antisemites and self-hating Jews worldwide behold how their terrorist friends are dealt with by the enlightened security forces of Eretz Yisrael acting in self-defense.

Absolutely amazing humiliation of the USA by Netanyahu

Just watch these surreal images:

That Netanyahu would dare to utterly humiliate Obama inside the White House on in front of the world press really proves what which has been clear for many years already:

The USA is not a superpower. The USA is just an Israeli colony.

Call is ZOG. Call it ZPC.  Call it the "Israel Lobby".   Call it whatever you want, but the fact is that the USA is run by, and from, Israel.

Denying this sad reality will do little to change that.

The subservient status of the USA will only change if/when a powerful spotlight is turned to this issue, when it is openly and intelligently discussed, and when Americans decide that they want their country back.

I am not holding my breath.

The Saker 

Why Political Liberty Depends on Software Freedom More Than Ever

These guys are the best of the best of the US military?!

Amazing and hilarious news form the BBC:

The US is to tighten security around the elite military unit that killed Osama Bin Laden, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said. Mr Gates revealed that the US Navy Seal team had expressed concerns over their safety and that of their families.

SEAL Team 6

It appears that the "sooper-dooper best of the best" DEVGRU Navy SEAL Team 6 are afraid that somehow 'al-Qaeda' will take revenge on them.  In the USA.  Even though the USA as 16 "intelligence agencies", plenty of Federal, State and local policies agencies, porno-scanning & genital groping TSA thugs, rent-a-cops in most public places and all the protection which the Navy bases offer - the "heroic" SEALs are turning yellow at the thought 'al-Qaeda' punishing them for shooting an unarmed men in front of his family.

They are not alone.

Obama's granny also get special protection now:

Meanwhile, Kenya says it is stepping up security around the home of President Barack Obama's step-grandmother, Sarah Obama, in the wake of Bin Laden's death. "All visitors going to the home will have to be thoroughly vetted," said regional administrator Francis Mutie. "They will undergo security screening before they are cleared to visit the home."

Hilarious as this may be, all this just goes to show that the leaders of the US Empire are paranoid cowards and that their "elite" killers are in reality terrified of those they are supposed to fight.

Yet another example of imperial decline.

The Saker

Note: Blogger was down for several days

Dear friends,

Blogger was down for a couple of days, a number of posts were deleted and no comments were recorded for a while.

Sorry about that - I just wanted you to know that it was not of my doing.

The Saker

Possible signs of real changes in the Russian security and elite military forces

One of the more exotic technologies for tracking deeply submerged submarines consists of using a satellite based radar to measure the tiny elevation of the water surface of the ocean above an otherwise well hidden and silently moving submarine.  Some less exotic techniques including detecting wakes, tiny differences in water temperatures, magnetic fluctuations and many other "indirect" methods.  What I propose to do today is something similar: to try to look at some possible signals of what might be happening hidden deep inside the Russian security establishment.

Doku Umarov

As some of you might have recalled, I have regularly covered what I saw as a government campaign to defund, "reform" (read: shut down) and otherwise weaken the Russian elite military forces.  A Spetsnaz brigade was dismantled, the military intelligence service (GRU) was almost reduced to a Department of the General Staff, the 106th Airborne Division came close to being simply eliminated, and a number of top officers were either rather "mysteriously died" or resigned.  Things got totally out of control when the Airborne Forces almost officially demanded the sacking of Defense Minister Serdyukov.

Magomedali Vagabov

And then things suddenly seemed to cool down, and an eerie silence covered this entire "front".  There are now some signs that things have actually begun to change.

First, the Russian security services have embarked on a major campaign to capture or eliminate the leaders of the Wahabi underground in the Caucasus.

Even before the bombing of the Domodedovo airport in Moscow several top leaders of the Wahabi underground in the Caucasus (such as Magometali Vagabov) were killed in the course of several special operations.  Following the Domodedovo bombing (which was officially claimed by the self-styled "First Emir of the Emirate of the Caucasus" Doku Umarov) the campaign to track

Abdullah Kurd

down and kill the Wahabi leaders suddenly intensified and achieved major successes.  Many top officials of the Wahabi insurgency were killed including "Moganned" (a Saudi national), "Abdullah Kurd" (a Turkish national), Israpil Validjanov, Asker Djapuev and even Astemir Mimishev - the assassin of the Mufti of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic.  All of them were killed in the time period between April and May of this year.

The one still not caught, although his death has been announced many times only to be proven wrong is Doku Umarov himself.  Umarov, arguably the very last "historical" leader of the Chechen insurgency alive, has skillfully managed to escape many times from some very close calls, but there is no doubt in my mind that the noose around him is now extremely tight and that he will be killed very soon.

Asker Djapuev

As for the insurgency itself, it is reduced to two basic types of operations: high visibility "symbolic" terrorist attacks such as the one in Domodedovo or small, local level, assassinations of junior policemen and murders of "collaborators".  The single best indicator of the real capabilities of the insurgency is that it is handled only by Ministry of Internal Affairs forces and not by the military (the exception being, of course, the killing of top level commanders which is typically a join effort of the FSB and the GRU with logistical support from local police forces).

Astemir Mamishev

Bottom line: the insurgency has been defeated, most of its leaders are dead, and the scope and nature of Wahabi terrorism in the Caucasus and south Russia has been brought down to something similar to what the IRA was in the years preceding the Good Friday Agreement.

Of course, there is a Presidential election coming up in Russia and Medvedev has been challenged for many of his policies (betrayal of Iran, his "reforms" of the military, Russia's vote in the UN on Libya and many others) and, just like Obama, he needs to market himself as a "strong leader".  This is particularly true considering that Prime Minister Putin is far more popular than Medvedev.

Moganned

There are also signs that Medvedev is openly courting elite Russian military forces.  First, there was the absolutely unprecedented move to award the Order of Kutuzov to the 45th Independent Special Operations Airbore Regiment as a whole (rather than to one individual).  Not only that, but this year the 45th Independent Special Operations Airborne Regiment was invited to the Victory Parade on Red Square.  

Something even more amazing happened on the same day: for the first time ever the traditionally super-secret GRU Spetsnaz forces were also represented during the Victory Day lead by a Spetsnaz Colonel who was identified by name (!).  Considering the fact that Spetsnaz GRU forces are still normally

Israpil Validzhanov

under order never to even show their faces, having them participate in a parade transmitted worldwide is an absolutely amazing, I would say earth-shattering, departure from the usual practice.

Medvedev also showed his support for the Special Forces of the Internal Ministry during a visit to the HQ of the "Rys'" Spetsnaz unit which included a lengthy conversation with the officers of this elite unit.

Clearly Medvedev is going out of his way to make all the political moves needed to show his support for the previously neglected security forces.  His efforts actually go beyond the symbolic.

Spetsnaz GRU sniper in Ossetia

The 106th Guard Airborne division has recently received a lot of high tech gear including UAVs, reconnaissance vehicles and ATV, top of the line night vision gear, encryption communications, advanced computerized command and control networks, etc.  A division which was almost disbanded is now receiving lavish care from the Kremlin.

Of course, this could all be a short lived, one-time, effort in order to achieve some political gains.  But this might also signal that Medvedev has finally accepted the fact that he cannot indefinitely oppose the security establishment and that a typically Russian backstage deal was made between the Kremlin and the security and key military forces.  I am inclined to believe that the latter is true.

45 Airborne Spetsnaz on Victory Day

Whatever may be the case, this is clearly good news for Russia in general and for the Caucasus in particular.  After two decades of absolute horror and chaos, there is a least a non-irrelevant possibility that some normalization and recovery might take place.  The combined action of the security forces and the Kremlin's campaign to support non-Wahabi Islam are slowly bringing about some results.  What is now needed is another double struggle: to bring in economic growth to the Caucasus and a merciless crackdown at the local corruption which is absolutely horrendous, even by Russian standards.

Spetsnaz "Rys'" officer

Medvedev has embarked on a massive campaign to fight corruption in Russia.  This campaign is centered on two mains tracks: a massive overhaul of the hideously corrupt and incompetent police force combined with an equally ferocious crackdown on corrupt government officials.  The faces of sacked police generals are now paraded on TV on an almost daily basis and the Kremlin is using the crafty pretext of a "re-attestation" of *all* the Internal Ministry official (from the rank and file to the very top commanders) to sack anybody who is perceived as corrupt or incompetent.  The Russian public in understandably viewing all this with a lot of skepticism, or even cynicism, and only time will show if all these efforts are for real or not.  The key test, in my opinion, will be if the Kremlin will be willing (and able) crackdown on the all-powerful Mafia and gangs of thugs which have prospered in the Caucasus for many decades.

Spetsnaz GRU Col. Tkachuk on Victory Day

The problem of the Wahabi insurgency cannot be separated from the problem of the south Russian mob - the two are twin brothers, closely linked at many levels.  For example, one of the reasons why only central "elite" Spetsnaz forces have been able to eliminate so many Wahabi leaders is not that such operations require an amazing amount of military skills, but simply because the central Spetsnaz forces have no connections to the local mob or the local police (which, for all practical purposes is one and the same).

This is an ambitious multi-tired program for sure, but one which is vital for the stability and security of all of Russia.  If it takes a looming Presidential election to finally make it happen, then this is a good thing.

The Saker

Statement From the Family of Osama bin Laden

I Omar Ossama Binladin and my brothers the lawful children and heirs of the Ossama Binladin (OBL) have noted wide coverage of the news of the death of our father, but we are not convinced on the available evidence in the absence of dead body, photographs, and video evidence that our natural father is dead. Therefore, with this press statement, we seek such conclusive evidence to believe the stories published in relation to 2 May 2011 operation Geronimo as declared by the President of United States Barrack Hussein Obama in his speech that he authorized the said operation and killing of OBL and later confirmed his death.

If OBL has been killed in that operation as President of United States has claimed then we are just in questioning as per media reports that why an unarmed man was not arrested and tried in a court of law so that truth is revealed to the people of the world. If he has been summarily executed then, we question the propriety of such assassination where not only international law has been blatantly violated but USA has set a very different example whereby right to have a fair trial, and presumption of innocence until proven guilty by a court of law has been sacrificed on which western society is built and is standing when a trial of OBL was possible for any wrongdoing as that of Iraqi President Sadam Hussein and Serbian President Slobodan Miloševic'. We maintain that arbitrary killing is not a solution to political problems and crime's adjudication as Justice must be seen to be done.

It is also unworthy of the special forces to shoot unarmed female family members of Binladen killing a female and that of one of his son.

Most importantly, when it is a common knowledge that OBL's family is residing at one place outside KSA, why they were not contacted to receive his dead body. His sudden and un witnessed burial at sea has deprived the family of performing religious rights of a Muslim man.

Finally, now that the operation is concluded we wish the Government of Pakistan to release and hand over all minors of the family and all the family members are reunited at one place and are repatriated to their country of origin, especially female members of the family to avoid further oppression and we seek international support to that effect.

Without agreeing to the ways of OBL as to how he professed, believed and operated, We Omar Ossama Binladin, and my brothers, the lawful children of the Ossama Binladin (OBL) herewith demand an inquiry under UNO to reach to the accuracy of the facts as stated by United States into the fundamental question as to why our father was not arrested and tried but summarily executed without a court of law. We are putting these questions to the United Nations, OIC, President of United States that a necessary evidence is presented to the family in private and or public to make us believe what they claim, and all the remaining family members are repatriated and united after necessary initial investigation.

In making this statement, we want to remind the world that Omar Ossam Binladin, the fourth-born son of our father, always disagreed with our father regarding any violence and always sent messages to our father, that he must change his ways and that no civilians should be attacked under any circumstances. Despite the difficulty of publicly disagreeing with our father, he never hesitated to condemn any violent attacks made by anyone, and expressed sorrow for the victims of any and all attacks. As he condemned our father, we now condemn the president of the United States for ordering the execution of unarmed men and women.

Failure to answer these questions will force us to go to International forum for justice such as International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice and UN must take notice of the violation of international law and assist us to have answers for which we are lawful in seeking them. A panel of eminent British and international lawyers is being constituted and a necessary action may be taken if no answers are furnished within 30 days of this statement.

source

Sacrilege, rape, torture, murder and other atrocities continue in Bahrain

by Zafar Bangash for Crescent International

Saudi-Bahraini atrocities against peaceful protesters

Given its tiny size (1.215 million population and 290 sq. miles of territory), Bahrain would not warrant a second glance yet its un-elected, tribal rulers rub shoulders with leaders at the world stage. Originally from Kuwait, the Khalifah family moved to Bahrain displacing Banu ‘Utbah nearly 200 years ago. Since then, the Khalifahs have ruled the tiny island as a family fiefdom but always sought external support to maintain their grip on power. Old habits, especially bedouin habits die hard. Bahrain has been under Iranian, British and now American-Saudi protection.

This brings us to the current situation where an uprising that started on February 14, is being ruthlessly suppressed with the help of Saudi and Emirati troops as well as mercenaries from Pakistan, Jordan and Yemen. The brutal crackdown also has US support. In fact, there was a quid pro quo between the Saudis and the Americans. In return for Saudi help in pushing the Arab League resolution to launch attacks on Libya, the US would turn a blind eye to the Saudi invasion and occupation of Bahrain. The Americans, too, wanted to crush the people’s movement for fundamental rights in Bahrain because it would have put at risk the US Fifth Fleet that uses Bahrain as its regional base. The Americans occupy one-third of the island; local Bahrainis are not permitted to set foot there. The Americans’ needs are taken care of not by local Bahrainis but expatriate workers from Pakistan, India and elsewhere who are treated as little more than slaves.

Ships of the US Fifth Fleet prowl the Persian Gulf in a ceaseless attempt to intimidate regional countries, especially Iran whose independent policies are viewed with fear by the Americans. With America’s large footprint in Bahrain come other demands: free availability of alcohol, nightlife, and other vices. Despite being a 100% Muslim country, the Bahraini rulers are unable to resist American demands. Not surprisingly, Bahrain has numerous night clubs, drinking holes and casinos. In fact, Bahrain came into its own in the 1970s following the eruption of civil war in Lebanon that shut down the Muslim East’s only “enjoyment capital” until then. As if not to be left behind, the Saudis built a causeway, appropriately named the King Fahd Causeway that links mainland Saudi Arabia with Bahrain. Every Thursday evening (start of weekend in the region) thousands of Saudis drive across the causeway to visit Bahraini nightclubs where they drink and partake in other vices that are not openly available in the kingdom.

The causeway has another, altogether sinister purpose as well. In case of threat to the ruling Khalifah family, the Saudis would send troops to rescue them. This is precisely what happened on March 13–14 when an estimated 2,000 Saudi and Emirati troops were rushed to Bahrain to crush the people’s uprising. The overwhelming majority of Bahrainis are Shi‘is while the ruling Khalifah family is Sunni. People were asking for no more than what people elsewhere in the Muslim East have demanded: basic rights and freedom and dignity. And unlike the rebels in Libya, the Bahraini protesters were completely unarmed and peaceful. Men and women came with their children carrying flowers, not guns. Even this was unacceptable to the Khalifahs and their Saudi and American masters. The peaceful protesters were attacked with live ammunition as well as tear gas shells. Some protesters were shot at point blank range. Tanks and armored personnel carriers have also been used to crush cars and smash neighborhoods. At least 30 protesters have been killed, four of them in police custody. This number may appear small but in the context of the island’s overall population, it is significant. Scores of doctors and nurses have been abducted and have simply disappeared because they were treating wounded protesters that happen to be Shi‘i as are the doctors and nurses. Many injured protesters did not seek treatment at the hospitals for fear of being arrested. One Bahraini female poet, Ayat al-Qermezi, was kidnapped, gang-raped and murdered. University professors have also been arrested.

Bahrain is now officially under a state of national security that was imposed when the Saudis invaded and occupied the island state. It is essentially under martial law. Saudi tanks and armored personnel carriers block major intersections; entire Shi‘i neighborhoods are under lock-down. Bahraini security personnel dubbed “Baltajiyah” (thugs) armed with metal bars go around smashing cars and store windows. These acts of vandalism have been secretly captured on camera by the American television network, ABC News. There are police checkpoints all over the country. A midnight-to-early morning curfew is in force and more than 800 Bahraini protesters — all Shi‘is — have been dismissed from their jobs. Tanks are stationed in the center of the capital Manama and at all major intersections.

Despite such atrocities against peaceful protesters, the US and its allies have maintained a studied silence while their wrath is reserved for Colonel Muammar Qaddafi of Libya and Bashar al-Asad of Syria. It seems there is a hierarchy of suffering. If you are from a country whose government the West does not like, you get support and publicity. If you happen to be in a country whose regime is an ally of the West, forget about your rights. You will be arrested, tortured, raped and murdered and nobody in the West would raise a finger.

Acts of sacrilege, rape, torture and murder in Bahrain

Bahraini security forces backed by Saudi troops and their masters in Washington have and continue to perpetrate indescribable crimes against innocent civilians in Bahrain. Those targeted include not only peaceful protesters, but also doctors and nurses treating the injured in hospitals. Poets, teachers and university professors and their family members have also been targeted. The impunity with which Bahraini forces are attacking civilians and the crimes they are committing clearly point to deep collusion with the regimes in Saudi Arabia and the US. The Americans and their allies have gone ballistic over Colonel Muammar Qaddafi’s attacks on protesters in Libya and have sent planes and drones to attack and destroy his installations but are deafeningly silent about well-documented crimes against innocent civilians perpetrated by the unelected minority Bahraini regime.

Saudi troops rushed to Bahrain on March 13 have indulged in wanton acts of vandalism and sacrilege. Masjids have been attacked and destroyed and copies of the Qur’an trampled upon. Muslims rightly take great offense at disrespect to the noble Qur’an as has been witnessed in the case of the extremist American Christian pastor, Terry Jones in Florida whose act of sacrilege has been condemned worldwide. Yet there is near total silence about the Saudis’ acts of sacrilege and desecrations in Bahrain.

Since the invasion of Bahrain by 1,000 Saudi troops (and 1,000 Emirati troops) backed by armored personnel carriers and tanks, they have indulged in wanton acts of destruction, killings and desecrations. The Saudis, pushing their narrow, obscurantist interpretations of Islam have razed masjids in Bahrain’s Bu Quwah locality and deliberately thrown copies of the Qur’an on the floor trampling upon them. Despite these well-documented cases of vandalism and sacrilege, the aged and ailing Saudi King, Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz, has vowed his “full backing” for Bahrain’s ruling Khalifah family. These obscurantist bedouins from the deep recesses of the desert have no legitimacy to rule either in the Arabian Peninsula or Bahrain; the people whom they rule have given them no mandate to do so. The only reason they are in power is because they were agents of the British who installed them on the thrones and now they have transferred their loyalty to the US. They worship America and act at its command. On its part, Washington turns a blind eye to their crimes.

There are other equally troubling crimes the Bahrainis and the Saudis have perpetrated in the island state when people launched peaceful protests for reform in mid-February. Tens of thousands of people accompanied by women and children gathered at Manama’s Pearl Square to press for reform of the political system. They carried flowers that they wanted to give to the Bahraini security forces, reflecting their peaceful intent. Instead, the police and troops fired into unarmed and completely peaceful protesters. Scores were injured or killed. As the protests escalated and it appeared that the Bahraini security forces that have recruited thousands of mercenaries from Pakistan, Jordan, Yemen, and elsewhere into its ranks, are unable to control the surging crowds, Saudi and Emirate troops were rushed in to shore up the regime.

At the risk of offending readers’ sensitivities because of the subject matter, some of the terrible things occurring in Bahrain need to be highlighted. The case of Ayat al-Qermezi, a 20-year-old female poet, is the most shocking. Ayat had composed and recited poems critical of Bahraini Prime Minister Khalifah bin Salman al-Khalifah to the masses assembled in Pearl Square. Soon thereafter, she started receiving threatening emails and letters. Most were laced with profanities. When she referred these to the police, instead of taking her complaint seriously and apprehending the culprits, they insulted and threatened her.

In late March, masked Bahraini troops raided al-Qermezi’s home twice, demanding the family tell them about Ayat’s whereabouts or they would “destroy the house over your heads, by the order of high-ranking officials,” according to her mother’s statement. Following such threats and coercion, al-Qermezi’s family was forced to tell them where she was hiding. Ayat then disappeared and the family heard no word from her. Deeply concerned about this, the family started searching for her. The police were no help; they told the family they had no information about Ayat and tried to force them to confirm through a letter that their daughter had gone missing. In mid-April, al-Qermezi’s family received an anonymous call informing them that Ayat was in a coma at an army Hospital.

At the hospital, doctors confirmed that Ayat had gone into a coma after being raped repeatedly. The physicians’ efforts failed to save her life and she died at the army hospital. Her story has received scant attention in the Western media that goes into a fit of frenzy if any such crime is perpetrated by people opposed to the West. In Bahrain’s case, a blanket of silence has fallen over Ayat’s brutal torture, rape and murder. Even al-Jazeera, the Qatari-based network that claims to be leading the Arab Awakening by its 24/7 coverage of events elsewhere in the Middle East, has been silent about atrocities in Bahrain. There are no grainy videos of atrocities captured on cell-phone cameras that al-Jazeera is so fond of showing of events in Syria and Libya. Ayat’s story is not seen worthy of being reported by the Doha-based network that seems intent on protecting the decrepit monarchies in and around the Persian Gulf including their own in Qatar. Instead, al-Jazeera beams exaggerated reports about what the Syrian or Libyan regimes are allegedly doing to their people.

So far, several other women, including doctors, university professors and students, have been kidnapped or arrested by Bahraini security forces and have similarly disappeared. Masked Bahraini security agents have occupied all hospitals and prevent the injured from being treated. Doctors and nurses wishing to fulfill their professional duty are prevented from doing so. Dr. Richard Sollom, deputy director of Physicians for Human Rights, was so concerned about the abuse of doctors and nurses in Bahrain after his fact-finding mission that he contributed an op-ed piece to the British daily The Independent on April 21. Following his visit to Bahrain — a rare example of independent outside reporting allowed by the regime — Dr. Sollom wrote: “In two decades of conducting human rights investigations in more than 20 countries, I have never seen such widespread and systematic violations of medical neutrality as I did in Bahrain… Ambulances, hospitals and medical clinics as well as its physicians, nurses, and medical staff are all being targeted. It’s pervasive and ongoing. These attacks violate the principle of medical neutrality and are grave breaches of international law.” Doctors around the world have expressed similar shock and outrage.

Since doctors and nurses have had to treat patients that suffered injuries when shot at by Bahraini security forces, this has provided them “unparalleled evidence” of the atrocities committed by the authorities and its forces. “Their knowledge of these atrocities has also made them targets,” says Dr. Sollom. He wrote that more than 32 healthcare professionals have been “abducted” (his words in the original) “over the last two months and are being held incommunicado by security forces.” At the Salmaniyah, the island state’s largest hospital where Bahrain’s leading medical specialists work, “the hospital administration… called doctors and nurses in for appointments, from which they were never seen again. Presumably they are taken to places of detention,” he wrote.

Dr. Sollom specifically mentioned the Criminal Investigations Directorate at Adliya, a notorious detention centre where torture is rampant. His team, however, found that doctors did not have to be taken to detention centres to suffer violent attacks. “We have documented the story of six doctors beaten by security forces in a Salmaniyah staff room. When security forces are capable of such brutality in a hospital, one can only imagine what happens in a detention center,” he wrote in his April 21 piece. Doctors have even been dragged from their homes in the middle of the night and have simply disappeared.

Doctors are supposed to treat patients whoever they are, not locked up because they are caring for supposed dissidents. John Black, president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: “These reports of harassment of medical staff in the ongoing unrest in Bahrain, including surgeons trained in the UK, are deeply disturbing. The protection and care of people wounded in conflict is a basic right guaranteed by the Geneva Convention and one that every doctor or medical institution should be free to fulfill.”

Michael Wilks, vice-president of the British Medical Association and a former chair of the ethics committee, said: “The Geneva Convention and international medical ethical standards are absolutely clear — punishing doctors because they are perceived to be treating patients of whom the regime disapproves is completely unacceptable.” Such mistreatment, harassment and torture of doctors and nurses constitute war crimes but we have yet to hear from the champions of human rights in the US or Europe that the Bahraini rulers should be tried for war crimes.

According to a documentary secretly recorded in Bahrain and shown by the American television network, ABC, on April 19, “private companies” in Bahrain have dismissed some 800 employees from work because they participated in anti-government demonstrations. In his report for ABC, Trevor Bormann said most people did not wish to reveal their identity when interviewed for fear of being arrested, but Farida Ghulam whose husband Ibrahim Sharif was arrested and is still held in detention, made no attempt to hide her identity. Bormann pointed out that while the regime tries to give a sectarian twist to the demonstrations, Farida Ghulam and her husband are Sunnis and they are asking for reforms based on respect for people’s rights. Jafar Adam, a youth who was shot in the hip also made no attempt to conceal his identity. He said that the security forces already know his identity since he went to the hospital where they took all his details. Other youth injured in demonstrations — and Bormann showed several of them with bodies pierced with shotgun pellets — were willing to show their wounds but not their faces. They have not been to the hospital for treatment for fear of being arrested and possibly disappearing like scores of other injured people.

The case of Dr. Masaud Jahromi, Chairman of the Engineering Department at Ahlia University in Bahrain, is equally disturbing. A highly respected academic who had obtained his Masters and PhD from Britain, and dedicated his life to academic excellence, was dragged from his bed at 2:30 am by Bahraini security forces on April 14. He has not been involved in any protests. His only “crime” is that like the majority of Bahrain’s population, he is Shia. That as far as the illegitimate Bahraini rulers and their Saudi patrons are concerned is enough to have him arrested, tortured and perhaps killed.

The Bahraini regime is perpetrating terrible crimes against innocent civilians. Life for the overwhelming majority of its citizens has become living hell. Their neighborhoods are under constant surveillance; armored personnel carriers and tanks are stationed on every street corner with security personnel going around smashing cars and property for no apparent reason except to humiliate people. Objecting to such vandalism immediately leads to arrest and disappearances. Even without objecting, it is enough to be a young Shia to be dragged away by the overzealous police that act like the Gestapo.

But do not wait to hear about this on CNN or al-Jazeera. And you will certainly not hear one Western ruler objecting to such barbaric behavior.

Dominical audio-visual smörgåsbord

First, an extremely interesting interview of Julian Assange on RT TV. For those who still insist on believing that Assange is an agent of the New World Order and Wikileaks a US government false flag psyop operation, please contact me ASAP. I have a bridge for sale in NY.

Next, and totally unrelated to the above - check out the Wahabi crazies in Gaza:

Lest anybody think that the only crazies out there are Wahabi, check out these US women - sorry, I can't call them "ladies" - proudly (re-)claiming the word "slut":

And some still seriously speak of the "Christian West", LOL. Let's take a look at a modern icon of the "culture" of the pseudo-"Christian" West:

And, just for comparison's sake, let me remind everybody of what a real Christian icon looks like:

The icon above, the "Vladimirskaia" Mother of God, appeared in Russia sometime in the early 12th century.  We know that it came from Byzantium, though nobody really knows much about its origins.  Church tradition attributes the painting of this icon to the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, although this should not be understood literally but rather as "copied from an original icon painted by Saint Luke".  What is beyond doubt is that this icon is ideal expression of the truly Christian culture.

You want another example?  Sure - here it is.  A US newspaper tells Bin Laden to "rot in hell".  Think of it as the "Inquisition reloaded":

How did all these "Christians" forget that already in the Old Testament God said:"Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God and not that he should return from his ways, and live? (Ezekiel 18:23).  The importance of the infinite mercy of God for any sinner was also repeated by Christ: "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." (Luke 15:7).

Heaven knows that I have no sympathy for Bin Laden, the Wahabi crazies or anybody who spent his life working for the CIA.  But I can honestly say that I am not at all confident that on the Day of the Last Judgment Bin Laden will be judged more severely than the so-called "Christians" who in reality are just a God-hating self-worshiping pagan and idolaters.

I will end today's "audio-visual smorgasbord" with a hopeful symbol of resistance against all that it evil.  That kid inspires me and give me hope.

Have a great Sunday everybody!

The Saker

Morderchai Vanunu wants his Israeli citizenship revoked

The Israeli Committee for

A Middle East Free of

Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Arms

Press release, May 7, 2011

Morderchai Vanunu demands to apply a recently passed law and revoke his Israeli citizenship. "I have no interest in Israeli citienship, I don’t want to go on living here".

To Mr. Eli Yishai, Minister of the Interior, 2 Kaplan Street, Hakirya, Jerusalem

Re: Revocation of Citizenship

I am Mordechai Vanunu, who was kidnapped in Rome on September 30, 1986, by the security services of Israel.

I was tried by the Jerusalem District Court, convicted of espionage, treason and assistance to the enemy and sentenced to 18 years imprisonment, following a newspaper interview to the London "Sunday Times" where I told of the production of materials for nuclear arms in Israel.

I have enacted the democratic principle of the public's right to know.

I have spent 18 years at the Ashkelon Prison, mostly under conditions of complete isolation. On April 21, 2004 I was released, under severe restrictions.

Seven years have passed and the restrictions are renewed again and again, every year, on the basis of the 1945 Defense (Emergency) Regulations. Now these restrictions are about to be renewed for yet another year.

Since my release I lived for six years in East Jerusalem. Since September 2010 I have lived in Tel Aviv.

On June 1986 I have converted to Anglican Christianity.　

Recently, the Knesset passed a law authorizing the revocation of Israeli citizenship for those convicted of espionage and treason.

For 25 years I am waiting and demanding the restoration of my complete freedom.

I am asking the State of Israel to revoke my citizenship.

This wish for revocation of citizenship is neither new nor recent.

Now, however, it is supported by the new Citizenship Revocation Law, passed on March 28, 2011.

I am asking and expecting that this law be enforced to the letter, and that my citizenship be revoked here and now, under the spirit of the law.

I have no other citizenship, but I can easily get one, even during my enforced sojourn in Israel, and certainly if I leave the country.

After the treatment and "care" which I got from this country and its citizens, I cannot feel myself a wanted citizen here.

In the Israeli media and on the Israeli streets I am called "The Atomic Spy" and "A traitor", harassed and persecuted as an Enemy of the State for 25 years.

I feel myself still imprisoned, still a prisoner of war and a hostage, held by the state and the government.

After 25 years of getting various harsh penalties from the state, I would like to see an end to punishments and the realization of my basic human right to freedom.

I wish to exercise my right to the Freedom of Conscience and the Freedom of Choice, by choosing not to be a citizen of Israel.

I have no interest in Israeli citizenship, I do not want to live here.

I ask that you revoke my citizenship here and now.

I request that you set me free of Israel, since Israel does not want me nor do I want Israel.

All that I knew I told, already in 1986, to the English newspaper. I have no further confidential information.

The time has come to let me leave Israel, after 25 years of imprisonment, a full quarter of a century!

Mordechai Vanunu

(c/o Att. Avigdor Feldman, 10 Huberman Street, Tel Aviv)

Copies: The President, Prime Minister, Defense Minister, Foreign Minister and Justice Minister.

http://www.youtube.com/user/vanunuvmjc?feature=mhum

http://www.vanunu.com/

Facebook: Vanunu Mordechai.

Email: vanunuvmjc@gmail.com

Mobile: +972 (0) 523744569.