US President Barack Obama has appointed a new ambassador to Libya. She is Deborah K. Jones. She is the first US ambassador since Chris Stevens was killed in Benghazi, along with three other diplomatic staff, on 11 September 2012. Since then the US embassy has been under temporary Chargés d’Affaires, first Laurence Pope and since the beginning of the year William Roebuck.
Jones’ appointment has not officially been announced by the US, although a source at the Libya Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday that it had approved the appointment.
It is expected to be formally announced later today, when US Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Prime Minister Ali Zeidan who is visiting the US at present.
From New Mexico, Jones joined the U.S. Department of State in 1982. She speaks Arabic, having studied it the Foreign Service Institute in Roslyn, Virginia and at the State Department’s Field School in Tunisia. She also speaks French and Spanish.
She was US ambassador to Kuwait between 2008 and 2011. Earlier she served for two years as the State Departments’ Country Director of the Office of Arabian Peninsula and Iran Affairs. She then became Desk Officer for Jordan and worked in the State Department’s Operations Center and on its Board of Examiners until 2005. From August 2005 to 2007, she served as Principal Officer at the US Consulate-General in Istanbul.
Asked about the her reported appointment, Chuck Dittrich, executive director of the US-Libya Business Association, said “if true, she would be a very good choice. She has been a successful US Ambassador to Kuwait, as well as Deputy Chief of Mission in the UAE and Consul-General in Dubai and Istanbul. She has the depth and breadth of experience needed to guide this important bilateral relationship through a critical period. Ambassador Deborah Jones will bring unique insight into the risks and great promise of the transition now occurring in Libya and her nomination would signal the Obama Administration’s commitment to maintaining a high level of engagement with Libya.”
The US embassy in Tripoli was not available for comment.
Ministry of Defence sent Libyan troops to secure the facility Mellitah gas after being closed because of the clashes between militias on Sunday, said the Chairman Mellitah Complex, Abdel Fattah Hacan,
Mellitah exporting gas to Italy but it stopped shipments because of the fighting, which erupted on Saturday, Hacan said that exports are expected to resume after 48 hours of securing the compound, located in northwestern Libya, according to the Reuters news agency.
“I received a phone call that the Ministry of Defence vehicles and sent it on its way here. Immediately secured the site, we will resume exports within 48 hours.”
The Libyan gas exports to Italy via the pipeline “Green Stream” stopped due to the exchange of fire near the gas installations in Mellitah northwest Libya.
It is noteworthy that the company Mellitah owned equally between the Italian group and the “National Oil Corporation” of the Libyan government.
Qatar’s Brotherhood Ties Alienate Fellow Gulf States
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L), Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi (C) and Qatar’s Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani pose for photos in Riyadh Jan. 21, 2013. (photo by REUTERS/Fahad Shadeed)
By: Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi for Al-Monitor.
The Arab Gulf States may not admit it publically, but a schism is slowly emerging between these countries in the wake of the rise of Islamist powers in the region. Qatar, on the one hand, has wholeheartedly endorsed the new Islamist powers of the Arab world in the form of the Muslim Brotherhood, while the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have been skeptical at best. Although disagreements concerning external relations have previously emerged within the Gulf Cooperation Council states — for instance, some states have stronger ties with Iran than others would like to see — this is the first time that a member state has allied itself closely with a party that another member state accuses of undermining its system of government.
Qatar’s relations with the Muslim Brotherhood are multi-pronged. On the media front, Qatar has dedicated Al Jazeera, the country’s most prized non-financial asset, to the service of the Muslim Brotherhood and turned it into what prominent Middle East scholar Alain Gresh calls a “mouthpiece for the Brotherhood.” The channel has in turn been repeatedly praised by the Brotherhood for its “neutrality.” Qatar has also been very generous with the income from its gas wealth. Qatar’s influential prime minister pledged that his country would not allow Egypt to go bankrupt. Doha has already transferred five billion dollars to Egypt to help it meet its financial obligations and prevent the pound from sliding further.
In exchange for its assistance, Al Ahram reports that Egypt’s new government gave Qatar a number of assurances, including “technical support” for the Syrian opposition, the rotation — possibly to a Qatari citizen — of the Arab League Secretary General post, and “Egyptian approval of Qatari nominees on behalf of the Arab group in several international and regional forums.” Egypt has also given Qatar a number of perks, such as excluding Qatari investments from laws governing foreign ownership.
Saudi apprehension
While Saudi Arabia has also been generous with its assistance — the Kingdom granted Egypt $4 billion in assistance — it is still wary of the Muslim Brotherhood. Saudi scepticism stems mainly from two issues. The Brotherhood’s stance towards Saddam Hussein’s forces invasion of Kuwait in 1990 was seen by many in Saudi and other Gulf states as an endorsement of the aggression. This may also explain Kuwait’s cold shoulder treatment of the Brotherhood. The oil-rich Gulf state, whose sovereign wealth fund is estimated to reach $300 billion, hasn’t offered any meaningful aid to Egypt since the Brotherhood came to power. However, no Gulf official has been as public with voicing his distaste for the Brotherhood as the late Saudi Crown Prince and Interior Minister Prince Nayef, who was quoted as saying in 2002: “Without any hesitation I say it, that our problems, all of them, came from the direction of the Muslim Brotherhood.” The Saudis accuse the Muslim Brotherhood of “betraying” the Kingdom after it hosted their members who were persecuted during the Nasser era. While the UAE’s strict opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood stems from the country’s allegations that the group seeks to establish an “Islamist state in UAE.”
Although publicly welcoming the Brotherhood, Saudi Arabia has privately been opposing them. I was informed by a source that was present at recent negotiations to form the Syrian opposition of the Saudi delegation’s strong rejection of any Brotherhood figure. Saudi’s financial assistance could be read as an attempt to keep relations relatively warm and not allow this most important of Arab states to drift into an Iranian orbit.
The UAE has publicly taken the strictest position towards the Muslim Brotherhood and what it claims are the group’s activity on its territory. It has detained dozens of individuals it alleges are Brotherhood members, both citizens and more recently non-citizens. Looking back, the UAE was amongst the first countries to pledge aid to Egypt, as early as June 2011, in the form of $3 billion in small businesses and housing projects. However, none of that money has materialized, no doubt due to the deteriorating relations.
UAE-Qatar at opposite ends
The UAE and Qatar have accomplished an almost complete reversal of roles in relations with Egypt over the past two years. Egypt was a steadfast ally to the UAE under the previous Mubarak government, while relations with Qatar were cold at best. Following the ascent to power of the Brotherhood, Qatar was catapulted to the forefront of Egypt’s friends in the region. A case in point is the size of Qatari investments in Egypt prior to the revolution, which Egyptian government estimates put at a measly $260 million. On the other hand, the size of UAE investments in Egypt is estimated to be $5 billion, while trade is growing in double digits despite the spiraling of relations. Saudi investments in Egypt, probably the largest of any country, are estimated to be $12 billion. It is notable that Qatar announced plans to invest $18 billion in Egypt in the next five years.
On Mar. 5, 2012, Al Jazeera broadcast a show with Brotherhood televangelist Yousef Al-Qaradawi in which he warned the leadership of the UAE that they will be “facing the wrath of God” after a number of Syrians were deported to Egypt. The following day, the Emir of Qatar visited Abu Dhabi on an unannounced visit and is said to have reassured the UAE president of Qatar’s ties with its Gulf neighbor. That episode was never uploaded onto Al Jazeera’s website, but is available on YouTube. Al Qaradawi is amongst a group of Muslim Brotherhood leaders who immigrated to Qatar during the Nasser era and set up a branch in the Gulf state. In 1999, the Qatari chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood decided to dissolve its operations and by 2003 the dissolution was complete. In the same year, a series of meetings were held between the current Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and senior Muslim Brotherhood leaders in the hopes that a similar deal could be reached for the UAE chapter. The deal stipulated that the UAE chapter of the Brotherhood, known as Al Islah and established in the 1970s, can continue operating within the UAE in exchange for ending its pledges of allegiance to the Supreme Guide and ceasing political activities. According to the deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the group agreed to stop recruiting members from the UAE armed forces and to cease offering allegiance as of 2003, although nothing was said about halting political activities. Relations between the Brotherhood and the UAE never recovered following the collapse of this deal that for some reason succeeded in Qatar, but not in the Emirates.
Qatar’s interests
The Qatar-UAE-Egypt triangle has gone through different phases. In the mid-20th century, Dubai, the second emirate in the UAE, was the closest Gulf state to Qatar. Familial ties between both states translated into a common currency and strong economic ties. Following the Qatari coup d’état in 1996, in which the current Emir replaced his father who had good ties with Egypt, relations between Doha and Cairo deteriorated. Soon after, Qatar launched Al Jazeera, which hosted Egyptian and Saudi opposition for years until a thaw in relations took effect around 2008. Interestingly, Mubarak’s first visit in over a decade to Qatar took place only in November 2010, exactly two months before he fell from power.
Saudi and the UAE were also apprehensive of Qatar’s ties with Iran. These states were taken aback when Qatar invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend a meeting of the GCC in December 2007, making him the first Iranian leader to do so. Qatar’s attempts at smoothing relations with Iran are understandable in the light of both countries sharing the world’s biggest gas field. What is not so understandable is Qatar’s unwavering commitment to the Muslim Brotherhood to the degree that it may jeopardize relations with its neighboring Gulf States.
One Qatar-based researcher attributes the country’s active role to the Emir’s desire to “secure a legacy for himself,” while a soon to be published paper by a Princeton academic argues that Qatar sees the Brotherhood as a platform to exponentially increase its regional and global influence. There is no doubt that Qatar’s global significance has multiplied through piggybacking on Egypt’s stature and the regional influence of the Muslim Brotherhood.
While the UAE has alienated Egypt’s new leaders, Qatar has alienated Egypt’s population. It is yet unclear which strategy will work in the medium-to-long term. Qatar has certainly scored points of influence over the UAE at present, but the same will not apply to Saudi. For Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, the grand prize is no doubt the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with its massive wealth fund of $637 billion. The host of two of Islam’s three holiest sites in Mecca and Medina also includes over 1.5 million Egyptian immigrants. Ultimately, neither Qatar nor the UAE can ever replace the significance of Saudi Arabia for Egypt and its Muslim Brotherhood government.
Egypt’s welfare
Amidst the simmering disagreements between the wealthy Gulf states, it is important to consider what is best for Egypt. The country is facing major challenges including 4 million unemployed officially, tourism arrivals down by double-digit percentile points, underpaid doctors, over a million street children, poor infrastructure that results in the deaths of hundreds a year, and a variety of educational, environmental, social and other economic challenges. Egypt clearly needs all the friends it can get. No matter how honourable the Qatari Prime Minister’s intent to not let Egypt go bankrupt, the latter’s debts are far too large for it to be covered through Doha’s generosity. Egypt’s public debt is estimated at $224 billion, while Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, while growing rapidly, is estimated at $136 billion. Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood needs foreign help to finance and implement its neo-liberal economic plans. This will include not only funding from Qatar, Saudi and the UAE, but also technical transfer from the latter to Egypt to help it tackle its various challenges.
Qatar rapprochement with the Muslim Brotherhood has drawn the ire not only of its Gulf’s neighbours but also the Egyptian intelligentsia. News leaks about Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood concessions to the Gulf peninsula state — along with the bypassing of diplomatic norms such as neglecting to notify the Egyptian ambassador to Doha about Qatar’s Prime Minister’s recent visit to Cairo — only exacerbates tension with non-Islamists in Egypt. The Qataris have had to deny claims of attempting to “dominate” Egypt, and rebut allegations that it is buying the Suez Canal, one of Egypt’s main sources of revenue. One must only visit social media pages of Egyptian activists and intellectuals to see their heavilynegative reaction to the warming of relations between the Brotherhood and Qatar, a phenomenon also reported widely in the Egyptian media. Local outlets have also been reporting on growing discontent within the Egyptian street over ties to Qatar, with one former Egyptian minister threatening to throw himself off a tower if the Brotherhood handed the Suez Canal to the Gulf state.
Concern in Qatar
On on-line private messages too, citizens of Qatar, traditionally a Salafi Wahhabi, state have been telling me of their discontent with the state policy towards the Brotherhood. I sought permission to publish parts of an email I received from a Qatari commenting on the state’s close ties and financial aid to the Brotherhood:
“The problem is that the amount of aid isn’t beneficial to any party except the MB. Egyptian aid from Qatar is now tied into the MB. The people of Egypt know this and it can create a problem later with the question of democracy.
Qatar’s diplomacy is at some level now delegitimize by their aid being tied to a party. Qatar aids parties that, in return, they influence. Rather than being a respectable third party, Qatar has now interjected itself in Egyptian, Libyan and Syrian politics, for better or worse.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are a bit different because now they can help in future situations without question (or as much controversy) on how objective they can be. While Qatar has a stake in the MB, the success of the MB means more influence for Qatar.”
Doha’s Brotherhood gamble
Clearly Qatar is taking a giant leap of faith with the Brotherhood, something it is not unknown to do before when it built ties simultaneously with Hamas and Israel, Iran and the US, the Taliban and the West. This time Qatar will be hoping that its Muslim Brotherhood allies succeed in their political and economic project and, since it is so heavily invested in them, they may also hope that their hold on power lasts for some time. Qatar will also, at minimum, expect Egypt’s Brotherhood to be a loyal friend in return, although many who have dealt with the Brotherhood may advise Doha to read about the group’s record of keeping promises and alliances when they are no longer beneficial. Consider for an instant a scenario in which Saudi Arabia presents Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood with a choice of expanding its relations with the Kingdom in exchange for an easing of ties with the Qataris. It probably won’t be a difficult decision for the Brotherhood to make.
Qatar, after all, presents the Brotherhood with two major assets. First, the country’s Al Jazeera satellite channel which — although no longer popular in Egypt following the advent of numerous local channels — still enjoys substantial regional viewer-ship from which the network can continue to propagate the Brotherhood’s message. Second, Qatar is today the Muslim Brotherhood’s banker and personal financier, bankrolling its budget and investing heavily in the group’s projects. However, Qatar’s vast per-capita wealth pales in comparison to Islamic heavyweight Saudi Arabia’s several hundred billion dollars in assets and invest-able funds. Whatever diplomatic and regional weight Qatar and Al Jazeera can offer the Brotherhood could easily be matched by Saudi Arabia’s much larger media and diplomatic network. Meanwhile, the UAE and Saudi will continue to wonder what exactly Qatar wants from the Brotherhood as they see their smaller Gulf neighbour fully immerse itself in the Brotherhood’s challenges, hopes and ambitions.
It would indeed be ironic if the Brotherhood, having been nurtured and supported by Qatar so carefully, turns its back on the state in the coming few years. Ironic perhaps, but not unlikely.
December 5 (mathaba) The Leader, Teacher-Thinker of the Green Charter International Revolutionary Committees Movement is giving a wide-ranging speech in English language addressed to the world-wide movement of revolutionary committees. (See related links below for other parts of the speech).
Everything was already written in The Green Book. But many of you chose not to read it or not to take it seriously. We already warned of an age of anarchy and demagoguery if the Authority of the People should relapse. For years, it has been relapsing, and you isolated me and gave us false information.
You brought people to conferences and showed videos of those conferences and gave false reports. Nothing you did was true. You held up The Green Book and shouted slogans and then you forgot those powerful slogans. After that you shouted Allah, Muammar, Libya and that is all.
What happened to the Al-Fateh and its principles of Unity, Socialism and Freedom?You abandoned it. Did you understand what has been said all these years, about the need to seize power by the people again as the Libyan masses had been sidelined and excluded from power, while the corrupt were brought in to steal?
Yet instead of rising up to seize back power, you sought to exact revenge against perceived enemies while doing the bidding of Satan and the biggest enemy of all became your friend and supporter, you served Satan while proclaiming loudly that God is Great.
What are you doing to free the political prisoners? Why do you lack imagination? Is it only by attacking the prisons that you think you will be able to free the prisoners? Those heavily guarded prisons, while you have insufficient weapons?
Did you not learn from history? Did you not listen? Libya is not Libya any more, it is open country for every criminal in the world. Every capitalist company can freely come to Libya and avoid the paying of taxes, providing services to other foreign capitalist companies without declaring their real income neither here nor abroad.
They take, take, take, stealing the wealth of Libya, Africa, Muslims. They do so with impunity. Yet you leave them alone, you have not attacked one single one of these vultures. As we said, Libya is not Libya, so the world is also open to you: what does Allah say in the Quran that you will be asked on the Day of Judgement? Was the Earth not wide enough for you to migrate?
Who said you have to be sitting in Tunisia or Egypt, waiting for a new Qadhafi to come out of nowhere, when you are not deserving. The price you are paying today is one you fully deserve. Are you saying Allah is unjust? All things are known and all things have their reason. This is al-Qadr. It is your just rewards.
Those companies which are stealing your wealth and making you slave in your own countries do not recognize the borders of Libya, so why should you? Strike them wherever you find them, they don’t operate only in Libya. Regroup in sanctuary wherever you can. Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Moldova, you have endless possibilities.
When you are struck down in your homes, when you did nothing but appease the devil, why are you appealing to reason? Do you think the false organizations that we have all exposed long ago are going to come and help you? Don’t you wish to free your families from the prisons, from poverty and despair, from ignominy?
What are you waiting for? Why are you hiding in the shadows? Which countries have occupied your land, raped your mothers and stolen your wealth? Do they include some forty countries in Europe and elsewhere? Which are those countries? Did you make a list? Did you determine which one of them citizens are innocent as they are opposed to their regimes? And which ones are supportive?
Are you making excuses for the ignorant, when everyone is born with a brain to think, eyes to see and ears to hear? Is it not a fact that people are willingly blind and deaf because they are selfish? So why should you spare them? Grab them wherever you can, and trade your prisoners one white for one hundred of your family.
Soon the prisons will be emptied, if you were to adopt this strategy. What do you think would happen if Libya had occupied France, or Italy or Britain or Qatar? Do you think they would do as you are or would they be hunting every Libyan in every remote location and making them pay a price until their families are released?
Did you not learn from the example of Vietnam? Of what happened in Iraq, Afghanistan? Yes, some of you want to turn Libya into Afghanistan. But that is the deranged minority that rules without any brain nor heart, content to follow fake religious edicts like slave machines without any thought process.
Yet what of you rats, revolutionaries or rebels? What are you looking for? Are you not seeking the very same things that we all seek, prosperity, wealth, justice, accountability, power, ownership of the means of production, share in the production, share of the national wealth, participation in decision-making, consensus?
Are you not seeking peace, security, stability, prosperity? Did you think that this will be achieved by your current methods or do you see that all you ask for is exactly what is in fact Jamahriya? Is not a rose a rose by any other name? But you fight each other and will get nothing, because you are divided.
You swallowed the simple propaganda of the enemy who has a clear plan to occupy not only Libya but all of Africa. You fell for the simple trinity of “Constitution, Flag, Anthem”. These are the false trappings of traditional state apparatus, with government on the one side and the people on the other.
Did you not realize that there is already the perfect Constitution?Is the Holy Qur’an not sufficient for you? You want to interpret it and lay down rules for all that only a few participate in shaping? Or do you want to instead take the Qur’an, study it and apply it. Read al-Shura. The people’s conferences are the way to implement shura (consultation), how else? Call them donkey or rat conferences if you prefer, but conference together is the ONLY way for Shura.
Instead you create groups, movements, brigades, parties, all of which run counter to the Holy Qur’an with the reality that Shura can only be exercised by all the free people who have not been convicted and sentenced for crimes, and this can only occur in People’s Conferences even if by any other name.
Did you not realize that there is already a flag, but not one that contains emblems that satisfy always only a minority while enraging others? Did you decide that you hate green and so you will destroy all the grass, the mountains, stop eating salad, wear anything but green, and delete the green colour?
What is wrong with the colour? It is the colour of Islam, of hope, of peace, of tranquillity of the environment, of life. Anyone can make a flag out of green cloth and fly it without going to a shop or special authority and this is the idea of people’s power and not a state or symbol that represents a group or limited complication.
What is wrong with “Allahu Akbar” as our anthem? Is it not universal? Is that your problem also, like the flag, you want to limit it to make you feel special as a Libyan or as your tribal affiliation rather than as a Muslim? Do you think Allah recognizes the borders of Libya or your nationality or your passport?
Why do you shout Allahu Akbar when committing the most heinous of crimes,while you cringe from the people’s anthem that was played in theJamahiriya.
It is time for you to wake up, but you have to learn the hard way. You had to destroy everything so that you could claim you built something. But you’ve built nothing. And you will build nothing. You cannot build without a plan and you have no plan.
For this reason the revolutionary committees must seize the initiative. You must make a Comprehensive Strategy. This must include many issues and areas such as political prisoners, human rights, democracy, Jamahiriya legitimacy, revolutionary warfare, liberation, regional and universal relations, power, unity, socialism, freedom.
You must form the General Emergency Committee of the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and work toward a Greater Jamahiriya. There is no such thing as the end of the Jamahiriya simply because most of its functions have been suspended by war, imprisonment, murder and intimidation.
This simply means a suspension: all the laws and decisions remain as at the last time the people could convene in their people’s conferences in late 2010. Since then, the Libyan people have been prevented from decision-making and forced to accept elections that excluded the majority from participation.
We don’t need any elections, nor will we contest in those elections, to do so is a fallacious reformist solution, not a real solution. We have over 6,000 people’s conferences open to all the Libyan masses and which have not been allowed to convene since the war and imposition of dictatorship of the minority.
The General Emergency Committee of the Great Jamahiriya will consist of those authorities who are still free, and will simply continue the Jamahiriya legitimacy as all the agreements regarding legal issues, relations, properties, assets, are still intact and legal, signed under Jamahiriya and still valid as Jamahiriya.
Those officials and others who are prevented from carrying out the proper functions should gather in Venezuela where you will find the assistance, security and facility to continue the Jamahiriya legitimacy at the international level, and extend the borders of the Great Jamahiriya under occupation to a Greater Jamahiriya including other free people’s.
As to the revolutionary committees movement, you should shun your old methods which only obtained the false international support of a few fake revolutionary committees based upon what money they could get from Libya. Instead you should join the genuine international movement and work with it.
Create your new platform and publication and join the International Green March which you previously destroyed after its success, join as equals with other Jamahiriya citizens, and devise and publish the Comprehensive Strategy (of Jamahiriya).
You are not alone in the world of people seeking liberation from the clutches of globalisation, capitalism and tyranny. But you have to stand up and be counted.
On January 22 a telling leak cropped up in the Internet. British defence contractor’s BRITAM server was hacked and megabytes of classified internal files of the firm were released to the public. Now the case is acquiring a Britamgate scale due to the publication on Prison Planet. What is the story behind the leakage? Why this scandal is likely to turn around the situation in Syria?
Let’s brief the files. The key finding is a mail dated December 24, 2012 sent by Britam Defence’s Business Development Director David Goulding to Dynamic Director of the firm Phillip Doughty, who is a former SAS officer:
Phil . We’ve got a new offer. It’s about Syria again. Qataris propose an attractive deal and swear that the idea is approved by Washington.
We’ll have to deliver a CW to Homs, a Soviet origin g-shell from Libya similar to those that Assad should have. They want us to deploy our Ukrainian personnel that should speak Russian and make a video record.
Frankly, I don’t think it’s a good idea but the sums proposed are enormous. Your opinion?
Kind regards
David
To clarify the things, CW is a standard abbreviation for Chemical Weapons; ‘g-shell’ is a bomb consisting of an explosive projectile filled with toxic gas.
Taking into account the memorable Barack Obama’s warning that the ‘use or even transportation of chemical weapons by the Assad regime would represent a “red line” that would precipitate military intervention’, a message he reiterated last month after the election to the second term, the plotted operation, if carried out, would provide an ideal pretext for the foreign intervention into Syria.
Who would perpetrate the video-recorded delivery of CWs to Homs? The text of mail clearly indicates that they would use Britam’s Ukrainian personnel for forging videos.
Scrolling down one of the hacked files, (Britam HRM Expat Data Load Sheet August 2012.xlsx) we found out the private data of 58 Ukrainian citizens working for Britam Defence Ltd in Iraq.
Several employees might not be enlisted as the folder /Iraq/People/ contained the photocopies of passports of several other Ukrainians. There are also some Serbs/Croatians and Georgians in the list who also might be filmed as ‘Russians’.
The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah has recently published a couple of ‘Western intelligence reports’ stating that ‘Assad had already transferred chemical weapons to the terrorists’.
Most likely the public opinion is being prepared for the ‘breathtaking videos’ depicting Russian-uniformed orRussian-speaking ‘soldiers’ allegedlycommitting atrocities against civilians in the Syrian cities or applying toxic gases there.
In this context we should not forget the reports circulating since last year that the rebel fighters in Syria had been given gas masks and were willing to stage a chemical weapons attack which would then be blamed on the Assad regime to grease the skids for NATO military intervention.
The information about Western and Middle East special services recruiting militants with Slavic features to play a role of Russian ‘mercenaries’ allegedly captured by Syrian opposition fighters was released by the Russian media in the middle of January.
They quoted a well-informed source as saying that ‘actors’ are being selected in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. They all must handle guns and able to operate anti-aircraft systems.
According to the script, they should recognize in front of the cameras that they were recruited by the Russian special services with the aim of supporting the army of Bashar Assad. Also, they ought to say that they have allegedly been delivered to Syria by Russian warships.
According to the source, all this will be filmed in Turkey or Jordan, where fake demolished Syrian towns have already been built in the form of large-scale theatrical scenery.
The same-type sceneries in Qatar were reportedly used during the information warfare against Libya in 2011.
Summing up these facts we can conclude that a provocation in Syria is the only option left for the war-mongers.
Having exhaustive information on the real situation in Syria and being aware of inability of the corrupted rebel group to make any significant change in Damascus, they have nothing to do but hire a second-rate British PSC for another round of dirty job.
We have no doubt that numerous tragic ‘revelations’ of atrocities committed by ‘pro-Assad army’ that were repeatedly hitting YouTube for the last two years, were also ‘ordered’ for enormous fee to the former British ‘berets’.
The latest leakage deserves thorough investigation and consideration on the top international political level. It is time for a BRITAMGATE to be boxed.
(****this was forwarded to me by a friend although he is Christian Orthodox and I am Muslim we both have nothing to divide. We both respect each other views about our religion, so I think its worth reading it as he has done a great job collecting all the data. The only thing I did is translate and keep his name anonymous for obvious reasons)
Another look at current happenings in Syria. An interesting text which circulates, despite LIST OF DEFECTS, (spelling and syntax errors. Text style etc)
The media broadcast news about persecution of Christians in Syria. For a year in Syria is something like … Civil War.
In fact, the U.S., England, France, Israel and other Western, finance Islamist fanatics, who obviously are armed to overthrow the current leader of the Syrian Assad. It does not mean that Assad himself has not up to now authoritarian rule. But with a difference. Assad and the Baathist regime, fully respected Orthodoxy that exists in Syria.
Syria belonged to the Byzantine Empire.
Dozens of monasteries, preserved and in operation today were built then, such is famous for its miracles monastery of Panagia Sentanagia. What Americans call “Arab Spring”, there seems to be nothing other than the power to impose fundamentalist Muslims, who make Syria western protectorate, as has been Saudi Arabia, Kuwait etc and of course recently Iraq and Libya. What about the 2.5 million Christians, of which 1 million Orthodox Christians living in Syria means, at best, persecution, moved up to slaughter, which have already begun. Remember that Gaddafi was true monarch had secured but per capita income for the people of multiple other Arab countries nationalized mineral wealth and an independent monetary policy by the Central Bank of Libya, which managed the Libyan gold (in Greece Bank of Greece privately owned with confidential recommendation portfolio).
Westerners would probably intervene in Syria by NATO air strikes etc but Russia keeps in Tartus,Syria major naval port with full coverage antiaircraft S-300 PMU, TOR-M1 etc which is operated by Russians themselves.
Indeed, some blogs have air that Turkish IDs grabbed two missiles of S-300 in photo identification effort.
On the other and of course China and Iran seem to be reground fine supports Assad.
If they, namely Russia, China and Iran withdraw their support Assad in a matter of hours to Westerners Entering to lynch and enforce their own government-Banana.
Do not forget that Syria is in the fourth grade Patriarchate of Antioch that is based in Damascus.
These light that we see on channels with monks, priests etc are Orthodox fathers and brothers who call themselves Rum from the Greeks, are the descendants of the Byzantines and did not betray their faith when Syria was conquered by the Arabs.
Furthermore let me remind you that Al Qaeda, yes known terrorist organization made in USA, said that 600 members are battling against Assad, that work for the U.S., Israel, etc.
I would remind you that in 1974 it is said that the father of Assad had disposed the military airports to Greece to refuel the Greek fighters to defend Cyprus. Of course the then government did not exploit the offer of Syria.
Needless to say that the U.S. and Israel are pushing the direct interruption of television channels that broadcast events from the perspective of Assad. Needless to say that Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries will block the satellite support these channels via satellites occupy themselves. Needless to say that the director of Obama’s national security leadership of the effort disinformation against Assad crafting the tale that will Entering as saviors of a dictator like Saddam and Gaddafi. Needless to say about the role of Israel’s Mossad, the destabilizing role and setting up wholly owned states around Israel (Egypt, Libya, Syria, Iran) all now? Coincidence is it?
It is needless to say that the Golan Heights occupied by the Israelis from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War annexed by normally first, secure the 1/3 of the water of Israel and will not spoil them all to attach something else reground fine regions by Syria … cantons. Needless to say that with all those directly served the Zionist club. Is superfluous to say that experts in psychological warfare and the control of the masses behind the pro-Western Syria channels just like in Greece to peddle memorandum, selling off public property, selling off mineral wealth etc.
Let’s see some posts:
Here you see a video of many truths about what really happens. Speaking Orthodox Syrians and Imam Muslim who confesses that indirectly knows fanatical Muslims who provoke Assad, the unknown, etc.
Christians Syrian Orthodox in their overwhelming majority, constitute 10% of the total population, living in harmony with others for centuries. Indeed, the Patriarchate of Antioch is one of the 4 “grandfather” of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople together with, Jerusalem and Alexandria.
So the Jew-Americans want to destroy the Orthodox population in the country in order to make Islamic standards protectorate of Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other regimes – pawns of the Zionists: Obstacle in these plans are the Syrian Orthodox.
Their major problem, however, is the dynamic presence of the Russians in the region. Maybe that’s why “sent” them … useful idiots cause Turks to the test: The results, all we know.
Here you will see British and American friends reporters say … now … see agents are self-adhesive with alleged rebels against Assad.
In the photo journalists of the “Sunday Times” Marie Colvin and Paul Conroy, posing with wanted terrorists, obviously agents of the CIA and the MI6
_______________ is located in Kalintigia Homs in Syria.antiregime The rebels gather in a building Christians and Alevis hostages and THE blown up with dynamite. Following charge-crime Syrian Army, defiance and the testimony of so many eyewitnesses. Who writes them? Assad a man? No.It is the testimony of a Munich the depositors or mother Agnes – Mary of the Cross, IN French-language website of neighboring monastery St. James. Nobody but you do not ‘discover’ …
And reproduce them but someone, what would you change? Na, eg The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote arrangements for the slaughter of 90 in Houla how he did against rebels in Alevi and Shiite supporters of Assad: Sunni insurgents attacked the barricade that had set up the Syrian army to protect their Alevi villages. battle lasted or half an hour and was deadly. Slaughtered women belong to Sunni family that had converted TO siitism, in another that was considered but Sunni collaborators status and other Shiite Family, as stated in the Dutch journalist Martin Jansensurvivors fled to the aforementioned monastery.
Nevertheless, Within a few days of journalistic reference for Houla, USA, France, UK, Germany and other Western diplomats expelled Syrians in token “protest”. Complete, ie, confirmation of blatant provocation. So, while he’s decades of quiet life of 2.4 million Christians marching towards the finish (as happened in Iraq when “liberated” from Saddam), another massive crime organized, to the desertification of an Arabic country, despite the reactions of the Russians (who sold attack helicopters in Damascus and launched intercontinental missile submarine in the Mediterranean!)
But how are all these? Thierry Meuse during the campaign of disinformation and war through the media has been undertaken by Benjamin Rhodes, National Security Council White House communications strategy. shall coordinate the effort for internal collapse now Syria and coup (after The attitude of Putin rather prohibits the attacker). It is a matter of days blocked channels Syrian television and replaced with energizing the CIA. Already the Arab League has formally requested by the operators of Nilesat and Arabsat satellites to quit all Syrian media, government and non (Syria TV, Al-Ekbariya, Ad-Dounia, Cham TV …), as was done in Libya! background made even more. In Qatar, the other day there were two international meetings: the first stage of psychological warfare of the channels Al-Arabiya, Al-Jazeera, BBC, CNN, Fox, France 24, Future TV and MTV coordinated with the American line butalsoidiots“The Christians in Beirut, the Alevis in the grave! ”40 from any religious stations. meeting on Thursday technicians and engineers discuss the construction of image, video and computers, both inside and outside the studio. Already in Saudi Arabia were placed copies of the Presidential Palace and the central square of Syria in Doha after she was deemed insufficient. Meanwhile, in Riyadh, Saudi ambassador to the U.S., his compatriot Gen. James B. Smith, also a British representative met with Prince Bandar Bin Sultan (him that Bush called “son” of) for a coordination with mercenaries latest in “Freedom Syrian Army” of the rebels.
Islamists and Westerners hand in hand once again.
Here you see Syrian rebel, rebel to plunder the Orthodox church. Are financed by the U.S., France, Israel and who receive our lenders and partners. Where is Our government? Archbishop Jerome why does he not speak?
Here you will see the beautiful Orthodox Holy Monastery of St. George of Homer in Syria
It is said that the monastery was built-in the 5th AD century by Emperor Justinian I in on an ancient statue of the god Homer, so it is known as “the monastery of St. George of Homer.” The monastery stands the main temple, built-in the 19th century within which we admire an impressive wooden temple of great artistic value.
Here you will see the Orthodox Monastery of the Archangels in Syria
The Cherubim Monastery is one of the Orthodox monasteries of Syria and the Patriarchate of Antioch. It is built at an altitude of 2,000 meters above sea level and only 7 km away from the town and there Safntnagia great monastery of Panagia. The Cherubim Monastery celebrates on Nov. 8, was founded in the 3rd century, but during the 16th century ruined. However, following a decision of the Patriarch of Antioch Ignatius W, rebuilt in 1982 and run by the monks of the neighboring monastery of St. George. West of the monastery is a large courtyard, where excavations are carried out and have been found underground spaces, possibly catacombs. Next to the monastery was rebuilt recently guest quarters of the monastery and an orphanage. related photos
Here you see a satellite photo of the Syrian border with imprinted area.With beautiful country 22 million inhabitants.
What is really happening in Syria?
by Eric Margolis
The dark and layered conflict in Syria is getting worse. And with it intensifies and public confusion, here in the West, and the U.S., the UK and some other European media portray civil war underway in Syria as a simple game in which passionate from the evil one is Assad regime Damascus and the other the, mostly unarmed protesters Republican.
The same scalar disappointing media coverage we saw recently in the case of Libya, where he utilized the way media to support foreign intervention.Informing that currently exists for Syria are equally imperfect as it was for Libya, where, incidentally, the situation is dangerously out of control.
The opinions expressed in this article are based on reliable primary sources in Washington, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon:
The support for the Ba’athist regime of Assad family, which has been in power for 41 years, is in constant decline. However, large parts of the armed forces, 17 intelligence and security services, strong minority Alaouiton, most Christians of Syria, some tribal elements and much of the commercial middle and upper classes are still on the side of Assad. Despite strong Western efforts to overthrow, Bashar al-Assad, a bland former ophthalmologist, keeps everything firmly in power.
The U.S., Britain, France, and some conservative Arab allies have funded and armed from the outset uprising in Syria, which began a year ago. In fact, the U.S. fund groups anti polite fontai Assad regime (father and son) from the mid 1990′s.said that weapons and ammunition to the rebels arrive in Syria through Jordan and Lebanon. Wing groups in Lebanon, funded by Western and Arab forces and Israel played a key role in the process of entry into the Syrian territory in the north of the country combatants and equipment.
The SunniMuslim Brothersraised its head again against the Damascus regime dominated by Alawites. In 1982, the undersigned was outside the Syrian city of Hama when government forces crushed the uprising of the Muslim Brotherhood, killing, an estimated 10,000 people and razing part of the city with heavy artillery.
Now the whole story involved and jihadists(note inprecor: holy war). Recently, small groups of al Qaeda veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan have entered Syria through bombings, car bombs with trying to destabilize the government. The current leader of al Qaeda, Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, has called for an all out war against the regime of Assad.
If anything is very interesting that the USA, Britain and France are now hugging those same forces of jihad who profess that they despise – and which of course used in Afghanistan in the 80′s and later, in Libya.
In this dangerous mix, one must add the growing numberof local militias in Syria, who fight each other and committing heinous crimes against civilians, bringing to mind the bloody civil wars in Iraq and Lebanon.
The main aim of Washington in Syria is felled the Assad regime to hit the closest ally, Iran.there so much anti-Iranian hysteria in the current period in the U.S., if any blow can be achieved against the Islamic Republic is good step. The oldest U.S. fears about the possibility of chaos in a prevalence Syria after the overthrow of Assad, seem now to be forgotten because of the rush to undermine Iran through the destabilization of Syria.The Republicans, led by Senator John McCain, are pushing for war against Syria and President Barack Obama is trying to rein in the hawks of war.
Israel, whose influence in Washington in this election period is unprecedented, raising the fever of war against Syria and Iran. Israel is satisfied that the crises in the two countries have been marginalize the timeliness issue of Palestine and the Golan Heights (note inprecor placed under Israeli occupation in the Six-Day War in 1967 from Syria), which annexed illegally by Israel in 1981 (note inprecor: as happened with East Jerusalem).comes from the Golan in 1/3 of the total water needed Israel. goal of Israel is to see Syria dismembered in conflict cantons, as is currently done in Iraq.
The French right, led by the UMP party of President Nicholas Sarkozy, always wanted to resettle in Lebanon and Syria’s influence was available when colonies of France. The Assad regime in Syria works like a thorn in the side of France for four decades, particularly in Lebanon, which Syria insists that it is still part of history. France hopes to repeat in Syria of stirring up the passions and benefits achieved by supporting the rebels in Libya.
Russia defends Assad regime and is determined not be fooled in the case of Syria from the perspective of a supposedly “humanitarian” intervention as happened in Libya. China is equally cautious.Both But slowly, relax the intensity of their support to Damascus as demonstrated last week by the unanimous call of the UN Security Council for a new peace plan for Syria.
A ceasefire is supererogatory necessary. Syria must stop using heavy weapons in urban areas. But forces outside Syria must stop supporting violent militias that Damascus calls “terrorists.” None of the parties involved has clean hands in Syria.
Eric Margolis, author of War at the Top of the World and American Raj: Liberation or Domination?: Resolving the Conflict Between the West and the Muslim World
source: lewrockwell.com/margolis
Ultimately I think we must understand what games are played internationally, that Zionism alter the states that terrorists and traitors to their country called democrats and revolutionaries, that Orthodox Christians are targeted and called … terrorists, that the House of Peoples repealed that that …. …. …. how to identify and propagate the truth is something curative in a world steeped in falsehood.
After the US and the West, Libya is the main financier of the Syrian opposition
By Valerie Stocker.
Libya is the only country in the world to have recognized the SNC as the official government of Syria.
Tripoli, 5 November:
The Syrian National Council says it has received over $20 million in aid from Libya since it was founded in October 2011. It makes Libya its most important donor by far. These figures were released against the background of increasing pressure on the SNC to marginalize extremist elements within its ranks.
In a detailed financial report published on Thursday, 1 November, the SNC states that total foreign donations have reached $40.4 million, half of which was given by Libya and the other half by Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. In more precise figures, $20.4 million originated from Libya, followed by $15 million from Qatar and $5 million from the UAE. The money was said to have been deposited in two bank accounts in Qatar and Turkey.
Regarding the use of foreign donations, the report states that of the $29.7 million spent so far, 89 percent went to relief efforts both inside Syria and abroad – including via “revolutionary movements and military councils” – while the rest was used to cover administrative expenses and communications support.
Having officially recognized the SNC as Syria’s legitimate government in October 2011, the Libyan authorities unveiled several aid packages – both material and financial – destined to the Syrian opposition in the course of 2012. In parallel, a large number of Libyan fighters have fought alongside with armed opposition groups on Syrian territory and considerable amounts of weapons fromLibya are said to have been channeled to these groups.
The publishing of these figures coincides with news of the United States allegedly withdrawing its support to the SNC which, it fears, is not doing enough to stem the influence of radical Islamists within the Syrian opposition.
As the Washington Post reported on Thursday, the Obama administration has been working towards building an alternative opposition leadership in order to win the support of minority groups who are still backing the Syrian regime. A day earlier, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had publicly stated that the SNC should no longer be considered the “visible leader” of the Syrian opposition.
(****Please do not forget that LibyaHerald is controlled from London so you can understand that the article is not objective! The ratverments did recognize the Syrian ratverments for the only reason not to feel alone! They have nothing against Asaad!.)
YOU WANT TO START A WAR? HERE IS HOW YOU DO IT!!!!
COUNTERING THE BIG LIES
Malcom Lagauche
Nayirah: the 15-year-old Kuwaiti liar who conned the U.S. government
August 11, 2007
Syndicated columnist Georgie Anne Geyer’s most recent article (Promoting Dangerous Divisions in Middle East) is the same old re-hashing of opinions of what is happening in Iraq. It is dull and laden with self-praise for her superior intuition about events in the Middle East. Among all her tired opinions, one statement stuck out like a black person at a Ku Klux Klan rally.Geyer wrote about being in Saudi Arabia in the fall of 1990, just across the border from occupied Kuwait: She reminisced:
What was happening with Iraqi troops all over the place? We found out soon enough. It was horror on a mass scale: piles of women’s breasts were found in bags …
I thought I had heard all the lies about the Iraqi regime, but this one is new.
Many accusations were made against Iraq before the 1991 destruction of the country as well as prior to the illegal March 2003 invasion. So many preposterous allegations came forth, yet no one in the mainstream media tried to discover the truth. To this day, all the falsehoods are still imbedded in the minds of most people in the West. A few journalists have taken the time to discover reality, but most of their work is never seen by the majority of citizens. On the occasion that a piece is discussed openly, the author is quickly denigrated for going against public opinion that is based on lies. The perpetrator becomes the victim.
On August 9, 2004, http://www.dissidentvoice.org published an article by Lila Fajiva (Iraqi Women and Torture) in which the author dispels some of the myths taken as fact. She stated:
Despite being totally debunked, the tale of Iraqi soldiers tossing babies out of incubators, a creation of a D.C. public relations firm, found its way into a largely fictitious account of Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait called The Rape of Kuwait, by Alabaman Jean Sasson who has made a lucrative career out of negative storiesabout women’s lives in the Middle East … “
A copy of The Rape of Kuwait made its way into virtually every press package sent out by the U.S. administration in the buildup to Desert Storm. In addition, every member of the U.S. government received the book. The Kuwaiti embassy in the U.S. ordered 200,000 copies for distribution.
Almost very word of this book has been discredited. But, not one U.S. politician has stated he/she used false information on which to build an opinion about Iraq. The vast majority of the people who read the book still believe the contents are accurate.
The lies transcend just one book. Rajiva added:
“Under the Saddam Hussein regime Iraqi women were not allowed to work outside the home,” said Lisa DePasquale, recycling outright propaganda.
DePasquale is a conservative columnist who is in denial of the results of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Unfortunately, her words were read by many and the absurd statement about women during the Ba’ath years is taken as standard fare in the U.S.
The most well-known debunked fairy tale is that of the Iraqi soldiers tossing babies from incubators in Kuwait and sending the incubators to Baghdad, leaving the babies to die on the floor. After Desert Storm, the truth emerged.The story was fabricated by the public relations firm of Hill and Knowlton, whom the Kuwaiti government paid $12 million for the demonizing of the Iraqi government.The supposed “eye witness”of thetossing out of the babies was a 15-year-old girl who testified to the U.S. Congress under the name of “Nayirah.”In fact,she was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the U.S. and was not in Kuwait during the occupation.Hill andKnowlton provided the script she read to the duped U.S. lawmakers.
When the story first came forth, some people questioned its authenticity. Almost immediately, Amnesty International (AI) verified the accusations.Now, there was no opposition to the huge lie; a lie that led seven U.S. senators to vote for authorizing war and who later stated that if they knew the truth they would not have given the green light.
Amnesty International is one of those groups that has an untouchable aura about it.If AI says it’ so, it must be. The truth differs.Instead of being the protector of human rights, the group may in fact be a convenient purveyor of U.S. imperialistic designs.
In Covert Action Quarterly, Issue 73, Summer 2002, Francis Boyle gave a picture of AI that contradicted that of the do-good, selfless public image the organization has.
Boyle was a member of the board of directors of Amnesty International USA from 1988 to 1992. Along the way, he found discrepancies between the group’s image and its reality. In fact, he questioned the AI report of the Kuwait incubators. According to Boyle:
Absolutely nothing happened. There was never an investigation,there was total stonewalling coming out of London.They refused ever to admit they did anything wrong. There has never been an explanation, there has never been an apology.It’s down the memory hole like 1984 and Orwell.
My conclusion was that a high-level official of Amnesty International at that time, whom I will not name, was a British intelligence agent.Moreover, my fellow board member, who also investigated this independently of me, reached the same exact conclusion. So certainly when I am dealing with people who want to work with Amnesty in London, I just tell them, “Look, just understand, they’re penetrated by intelligence agents, U.K,. maybe U.S. I don’t know, but you certainly can’t trust them.”
Boyle did not give a grand assessment of the leadership of AI. He said:
They don’t care. They’re completely and totally arrogant. “We are Amnesty International. We are the world’s largest and most powerful human rights organization. We won the Nobel Peace Prize for our work. So we do whatever we want.”
And again, if you don’t believe me, go search the Lexis-Nexis database and see if there has ever been an apology by Amnesty International for the Kuwaiti dead babies report.
Most people think that Ai may make the occasional error in judgement, but the organization is based on good deeds and the overwhelming desire to see the world rid of human rights violations. Again, this is an illusion. Boyle explained:
Amnesty International is primarily motivated not by human rights, but by publicity.Secondcomes money.Third comesgetting more members.Fourth,internal turf battles.And thenfinally human rights.To be sure, if you are dealing with a human rights situation in a country that is at odds with the United States or Britain, it gets an awful lot of attention, resources, man and womanpower, publicity, you name it, they can throw whatever they want at it. But if it’s dealing with violations of human rights by the United States, Britain, Israel, then it’s like pulling teeth to get them really to do something on the situation.
In November 2005, Ayatollah Sistani (the Shi’ite religious leader who can’t speak Arabic) issued a fatwa calling for the killing of homosexuals in Iraq.Two weeks later, Bush called him a man of great integrity and courage.
Even before Sistani issued the fatwa, gays and lesbians were being hunted and killed in Iraq.After the fatwa, the program was in full swing. Iraqi gays who were fortunate enough to get out of Iraq alive broadcast the plight of homosexuals still in Iraq.The subject was publicized in Europe and other areas, but little was written in the U.S.
Almost a year after the issuing of the fatwa, and a considerable amount of press on the subject, Amnesty International was asked their opinion of the sexual-cleansing of Iraq. The organization said it had never heard of the edict or the killing of hundreds, if not thousands, of Iraqi gays and lesbians. This ignorance of the facts proves Boyle’s allegations that AI only works on cases that acquire the most publicity. Whether the cases are true or not means nothing to AI.
Recently, I had a long conversation with my colleague Husayn Al-Kurdi, an astute writer of Iraqi history and culture. He stated the urgency of those few of us who write about the real history of Iraq to keep writing and writing. Al-Kurdi brought up the fact that what little real history is available is diminishing and that the U.S. is in possession of decades of Iraqi documents that will never be brought to daylight.
The U.S. has written the books Iraq now uses in its education system. Much real history of Iraq has been destroyed. Now is the time for all scribes to set the record straight,especially in matters of debunking the outrageous lies put forth by lackey journalists and human rights organizations.
Let’s put the myths of the bags of women’s breasts and killing of babies in the trash bin portion of history and repeatedly call for the truth.The liars should be held responsible for their acts; acts that have caused the deaths of more than three million Iraqis and the destruction of the most advanced country in the Arab world.
It is necessary that men should understand things as they are, should call them by their right names, and should know that an army is an instrument for killing, and that the enrollment and management of an army...is a preparation for murder - Tolstoy
