The USA - in bed with the worst of the worst

Please take a look at this article from the al-Akhbar English language website. I think that it is extremely interesting as it shows the true face of the Saudi Kingdom, not one of modernism and progress, but one of crass pre-medieval barbarity.  Let me point of a few things here:

Wahabi crucifixion in Yemen

a) Crucifixion as a method of executing is legal in Saudi Arabia.  Yup, that's right.  What the pagan Romans did 2000 year ago, the Saudi Wahabi still do today, and its all legal.

b) The Saudis practice dismemberment. Now that practice has far more recent precedents, in particular in the European Middle-Ages.

c) The person they want to crucify is a Shia cleric. Yes, you read that right - a Shia cleric. The charges against him?  “inciting sectarian strife,” “aiding terrorists,” and “insulting Gulf leaders and scholars.”  Translated into plain English these would read: support for the cause of the oppressed Shia minority in the KSA, having contacts with Iran, criticizing Wahabism.  In other words, he is clearly a "prisoner of conscience", a political prisoner, somebody charged with political crimes and not actual criminal violations.

Do you remember Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani?  She is an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for the murder of her husband by a court in Tabriz.  Her case the entire planet erupted in protests, and even many friends of Iran used all their connections to have this sentence overturned which, eventually, it was.  Her final status is still unsure.

Now, as an Orthodox Christian I oppose the death penalty on principle.  Furthermore, the idea that the all-loving and infinitely merciful God would want anybody to be executed by stoning, crucifixion or dismemberment strikes me as absolutely preposterous and outright blasphemous.  I therefore am absolutely appalled that a court in Iran would be capable of handing down such a barbaric sentence.  However, having said that, I do not some striking differences between the two cases.

Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr

Ashtiani was accused of murder. Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr has not committed any violent crime.  Then, Ashtiani's case triggered a huge worldwide wave of outrage.  Has anybody even heard about the case of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr?  Not the Western "human rights" organizations for sure.  They are probably too busy presenting the "Pussy Riot" group as a noble defender of free speech...

I have written many times here that the Zionist entity called "Israel" is an abomination, a stain on the honor of the entire planet, a disgrace for all of mankind: it is the last openly racist state on the planet and it's ideology actually makes the claim that Jewish racism is God-given.  Yes, I still believe that Israel is truly the worst abomination on the planet.  But I would rank Saudi Arabia as a clear second worst regime.  Both Israel and the KSA are anachronisms is the sense that their true ideology is medieval in its barbarity and fundamentally aggressive and violent by nature.

And yet, these are the closest allies of the USA in the region.  The USA, Israel and the KSA - talk about an axis of evil!  Talk about "rogue nations"!

And yet, who stands up to these two murderous and crazed regimes?  Really only Iran.  Everybody else either lacks to guts to say anything, or they actively collaborate with these states and their respective lobbies in the USA.

And in the meantime, while the USA is subsidising these to satanic regimes with billions of dollars, the Zionists and the Wahabis are destablizing countries worldwide.  As for Iran, the only country to truly stand up and resist these two abominations, it is the victim of international sanctions under the totally fallacious pretext that one day Iran "might" develop a nuclear weapon while being under the stricest of monitoring by the IAEA.

It is undeniable that the USA is "in bed" with the worst of the worst, regimes which are so evil and corrupt as to justify their worst abominations by claiming that this is the Will of God.

I can only hope that the BRICS countries will now reach out to Iran and help it economically and politically.

The Saker

Israel And The Temple Mount

Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich

On July 23, 2012, in a scathing attack against the Wagf (literally translated to endowment), the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) opinion piece’s opening paragraph stated: “This year, as Israel observes the traditional period of national mourning for the destruction of the Holy Temple on Tisha b’Av (which starts at sundown on Saturday), it has again been revealed that the Islamic Wakf is carrying out unsupervised work at the Temple Mount, potentially causing irrevocable damage to Judaism’s holiest site i”.

A December 2011 al-Akhbar article fully elaborates on the Israeli attacks against the Islamic Waqf (see link ii) for the purpose of land grab which includes homes, shops, and even Moslem cemeteries. But there is another dimension to these attacks – a messianic aspect which is far more alarming than just stealing land from their rightful owners. The inherent danger from the Israeli obsession over the Temple Mount was first elaborated in an article dated June 2010 called “Nukes And Temples” – highlights of which is as follows.

Evidently, American presidents wish to continue to guard Israel's nuclear "secret". Today, the secrecy continues, as does the aid -- perhaps towards a messianic return - the building of the Third Temple.

In 2006, the Israeli government began work on an exact replica of the Hurva synagogue on its original site. The story of the Hurva has received little attention other than coinciding with Joe Biden's visit to Israel and that government's insistence on building more illegal settlements. But Hurva is the beginning of the end.

As the United States protects Israel and pushes for more sanctions on Iran, thereby distracting the international community from the more pressing problem at hand, rabbis are being tailored for the special kind of garments they will be wearing in a "rebuilt temple". These rabbis believe that the return of Jews to Jerusalem are the obvious signs - "Less obvious are the more subtle realities that add up - the rebuilding of the Jewish Quarter, Jews steadily moving into the Old City, even the Temple Mount tunnel excavations. But alas, those big mosques are still situated on the Temple Mount. For now."iii

Attempts to fulfill the prophecy are not new. In 1990, there was another attempt by the 'Temple Mount Faithful' to bring a cornerstone for a reconstructed Third Temple to the site. In 1996, the opening of an archaeological tunnel adjacent to the Mount led to the first outbreak of widespread violence across the territories between Israelis and Palestinians since the signing of the Oslo accords. In 2000, Ariel Sharon staged a provocative visit to the Temple Mount and said: "The Temple Mount is in our hands and will remain in our hands. It is the holiest site in Judaism and it is the right of every Jew to visit the Temple Mount,".

It took four years to complete the work on Hurva. When presidential candidate, Barack Obama promised AIPAC an undivided Jerusalem in 2008, the building of the Hurva synagogue was well on the way -- which signaled continued future attacks on the al-Aqsa Mosque to make way for construction of the Third Temple. Past wars and future was waged against other countries based on unfounded accusations has distracted the international community from the reality of this construction and its implications - the messianic era. As importantly, Israel's stockpile of nuclear weapons - a nation more likely than any other to use their nuclear weapons based on their deep religious ideology.

Of particular concern is the Gush Emunim, a right-wing religious organization, or others, hijacking a nuclear device to ‘liberate’ the Temple Mount for the building of the Third Temple. The completion of the Hurva synagogue has increased these chances. On April 6, JTA reported that "Our Land of Israel" party had put posters on 200 city buses in Jerusalem showing an artist's rendition of the Third Temple on the site now occupied by the al-Aqsa Mosque with the slogan, "May the Temple be built in our lifetime."

Equally disturbing, a 1997 article reviewing the Israeli Defense Force repeatedly stressed the possibilities of, and the need to guard against, a religious, right-wing military coup, especially as the proportion of religious in the military increases iv. The warming was not unfounded. The once secular army now has combat units filling with those who believe Israel's wars are "God's wars".

This small nation with unimaginable influence in the Western world, enabled by the United States continues to commit crimes against humanity, instigates conflicts and unleashes terrorists in the region and beyond, while it distracts the global community with Iran and its non-existent nuclear program, presenting it as a threat while the zealots prepare for the Messiah's Temple - unhindered. Heaven must be hell.

Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich is a Public Diplomacy Scholar, independent researcher and blogger with a focus on U.S. foreign policy and the role of lobby groups.

i Haim Richman, “Op-Ed: Stop Islamic Wakf’s work on the Temple Mount”, JTA, July 23, 2012
ii Mya Guarnieri, “Destruction of Waqf: The Grave Offences of the Israeli State”; alakhbar, December 19, 2011 http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/destruction-waqf-grave-offences-israeli-state
iii Tom Mountain. Preparing for the Third Temple Jewish Advocate. Boston:Aug 22, 2008. Vol. 199, Iss. 34, p. 9 (1 pp.)
iv (Blanche, Ed, “Is the Myth Fading for the Israeli Army? — Part 1.” Jane’s Intelligence Review, 8, no. 12 (December 1996).

Obama Can Shut Down Internet For 4 Months Under New Emergency Powers

by Paul Joseph Watson for Prison Planet

President Obama will be handed the power to shut down the Internet for at least four months without Congressional oversight if the Senate votes for the infamous Internet ‘kill switch’ bill, which was approved by a key Senate committee yesterday and now moves to the floor.

The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, which is being pushed hard by Senator Joe Lieberman, would hand absolute power to the federal government to close down networks, and block incoming Internet traffic from certain countries under a declared national emergency.

Despite the Center for Democracy and Technology and 23 other privacy and technology organizations sending letters to Lieberman and other backers of the bill expressing concerns that the legislation could be used to stifle free speech, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed in the bill in advance of a vote on the Senate floor.

In response to widespread criticism of the bill, language was added that would force the government to seek congressional approval to extend emergency measures beyond 120 days. Still, this would hand Obama the authority to shut down the Internet on a whim without Congressional oversight or approval for a period of no less than four months.

The Senators pushing the bill rejected the claim that the bill was a ‘kill switch’ for the Internet, not by denying that Obama would be given the authority to shut down the Internet as part of this legislation, but by arguing that he already had the power to do so.

They argued “That the President already had authority under the Communications Act to “cause the closing of any facility or station for wire communication” when there is a “state or threat of war”, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Fears that the legislation is aimed at bringing the Internet under the regulatory power of the U.S. government in an offensive against free speech were heightened further on Sunday, when Lieberman revealed that the plan was to mimic China’s policies of policing the web with censorship and coercion.

“Right now China, the government, can disconnect parts of its Internet in case of war and we need to have that here too,” Lieberman told CNN’s Candy Crowley.

While media and public attention is overwhelmingly focused on the BP oil spill, the establishment is quietly preparing the framework that will allow Obama, or indeed any President who follows him, to bring down a technological iron curtain that will give the government a foot in the door on seizing complete control over the Internet.

As we have illustrated, fears surrounding cybersecurity have been hyped to mask the real agenda behind the bill, which is to strangle the runaway growth of alternative and independent media outlets which are exposing government atrocities, cover-ups and cronyism like never before.

Indeed, China uses similar rhetoric about the need to maintain “security” and combating cyber warfare by regulating the web, when in reality their entire program is focused around silencing anyone who criticizes the state.

The real agenda behind government control of the Internet has always been to strangle and suffocate independent media outlets who are now competing with and even displacing establishment press organs, with websites like the Drudge Report now attracting more traffic than many large newspapers combined. As part of this war against independent media, the FTC recently proposing a “Drudge Tax” that would force independent media organizations to pay fees that would be used to fund mainstream newspapers.

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Commentary: Joe Lieberman. "Evil Joe". Lieberman has this almost satanic ability to radiate evil and to always, always, be right in the middle of most, if not all, the really ugly and evil plans the Empire is cooking up for the rest of us. In the same vein as Kissinger, Perle or Dershowitz, Lieberman is a living caricature of the "evil Jew" of the Nazi propaganda. Why is that? Why do these guys go out of their way to match the most extreme anti-Jewish stereotypes? I just don't get it...

The Saker

By Haitham Sabbah for Palestine Think Tank

Same old story, new president:

U.S. President Barack Obama will not cut the billions of dollars in military aid promised to Israel, a senior U.S. administration official said Wednesday. The $30 billion in aid promised to Israel over the next decade will not be harmed by the world financial crisis, the official told Israel Radio. He spoke on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. military aid to Israel was increased in a decade-long deal agreed to by Bush in 2007. OTOH, U.S. will pay close to $1 billion for rebuilding the wreckage in Gaza mostly caused by armaments paid for by the U.S.! To add insult to injury, there is a condition on that money:

Clinton: Some $900 million pledged by the United States to the Palestinians will be withdrawn if the expected Palestinian Authority coalition government between Fatah and Hamas does not recognize Israel's right to exist, Western and Israeli diplomats said Wednesday.

Key Facts

• Total direct aid to Israel, 1948-2003, $89.9 billion (uncorrected for inflation)
• Since 1976 Israel has been the largest annual recipient of US aid. It is the largest cumulative recipient since World War II.
• Direct U.S. aid for each Israeli citizen in 2001 (per capita annual income of Israel = $16,710) — over $500
• Direct U.S. Aid for each Ethiopian citizen in 2001 (per capita annual income of Ethiopia = $100) — about $.45
• REGULAR US GRANT AID in FY 2003
1. $2.76 billion military aid grant
2. $2.1 billion economic support funds
3. $600 million refugee resettlement grant
• COMMERCIAL LOAN GUARANTEES IN FY 2003, $2 billion
• BUSH ADMINISTRATION SUPPLEMENTAL REQUEST FOR FY 2003
1. Military aid grant $1 billion
2. Commercial loan guarantees $9 billion
3. Arrow missile development $60 million
• TOTAL AID FOR FY 2003 $14.82 billion
• Percentage of U.S. foreign aid that goes to Israel — 30%
• Israel's population as a percentage of world population — .01%
• Section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) states, "No assistance may be provided under this part to the government of any country which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights." 22 U.S.C. 2304(a)
• Section 4 of the Arms Export Control Act prohibits selling military equipment to countries that use them for non-self-defense purposes.
• The U.S. State Department determined in February 2001 that Israel has committed each of the acts that the law defines as "gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, including torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without charges and trial, causing the disappearance of persons by the abduction and clandestine detention of those persons, and other flagrant denials of the right to life, liberty, or the security of person." It described Israeli army use of live ammunition against Palestinians when soldiers were not in impending danger as "excessive use of force."

SOURCES: Clyde R. Mark, Israel: U.S. Foreign Assistance, Congressional Research Service, updated April 1, 2003; Clyde R. Mark, Middle East: U.S. Foreign Assistance, FY 2001, FY 2002, FY 2003 Congressional Research Service, March 28, 2002