HIGHLY POTENT NEWS THAT MIGHT CHANGE YOUR VIEWS

region

What Did President Obama’s Comments On Marijuana Legalization Mean?

by Anthony Johnson
The Weed Blog
December 18, 2012

Are Media Outlets Missing What President Obama Really Said About Marijuana?

Barbara Walters interview with President Obama aired last Friday and marijuana legalization was one of the topics covered.  Reactions have varied from the hopeful to the pessimistic since a preview of the interview and a partial transcript were released.  Now that the interview has been aired, where do the marijuana legalization measures in Colorado and Washington stand with the federal government?  Different people took different things away from the interview.  Just as I have blogged previously, I don’t think that President Obama said anything very substantial and feel that is is upon us, the civil libertarian and cannabis law reform communities, to lead on this issue, because the President simply isn’t.

Andrew Sullivan was encouraged by President Obama’s statements to Barbara Walters, while Matt Yglesias thought that his comments were “meaningless.”  The folks at Reason were skeptical that the President’s statements really indicated any new policy as he didn’t signal a change towards targeting marijuana providers and Alex Seitz-Wald, writing for Salon, stated that “history suggests reformers should be wary.”

A lot of people I spoke with over the past couple of days, seemed to be very influenced by headlines like, “Marijuana Not High Obama Priority,” “Obama lets the states decide on marijuana” and “Obama: Feds shouldn’t target recreational pot users in Colorado, Washington,” as these headlines all imply that the Obama Justice Department will allow states to implement their own marijuana laws.  Unfortunately, the Presidents comments did not signal that his administration will adhere to the will of the voters in Washington and Colorado, he simply stated that going after recreational users will not be a priority of the federal government, but that has never been a priority of the federal government, so I tend to agree with Matt Yglesias that his statements regarding recreational consumers were pretty meaningless.  I agree with The Denver Post’sheadline, “Obama’s stance on marijuana still not clear.”

The only aspects about his comments that weren’t really meaningless fluff were his statements about how it is time to have a conversation about legalization and that is is upon Congress to pass laws and the Executive Branch to enforce laws.  These statements make it clear to me that President Obama is completely unwilling to be a true leader marijuana law reform.  We, anyone concerned about drug laws, states’ rights or civil liberties, must lead on this issue.  If we force Congress to act, then the President will follow us and finally listen to the will of the people and allow states to operate as laboratories of democracy as Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandies once called for.  Fortunately for us, Senator Patrick Leahy, who has stated his intention of holding hearings on the issue, Rand Paul and several House members have provided us an opening to take the lead.

One one hand, I sympathize with President Obama’s predicament and understand his willingness to lead on drug law reform issues.  He has so many issues on his plate, including the fiscal cliff negotiations, health care, immigration policy, foreign policy and gun control, that marijuana legalization cannot be his top priority.  His Justice Department is staffed with prosecutors who have spent their careers prosecuting people for marijuana, they aren’t going to be hopping on the legalization bandwagon any time soon.  Vice-President Joe Biden has been a Drug War warrior his entire political career as well, so he probably isn’t advising the President to allow states to implement their own cannabis laws.  Finally, President Obama’s historical significance as the first African American to occupy the White House likely weighs upon him and he is likely sensitive as being seen as “pro-pot” or “soft on drugs.”

On the other hand, I don’t understand President Obama’s reluctance to be more of a leader on this issue.  Marijuana legalization is favored by a majority of voters in many polls and a very strong majority of voterswant the federal government to allow states to implement their own cannabis laws.  Both of the legalization states sent their electoral votes to President Obama and most of his core constituencies  including young people and liberals, overwhelmingly support ending cannabis prohibition.  Also, prior to running for the presidency, Barack Obama is on record supporting marijuana decriminalization and examining the failed Drug War.  Now that he doesn’t have to worry about re-election, there isn’t a better time for President Obama to have our nation thoroughly evaluate the Drug War, particularly the War on Marijuana. And finally, the President has been provided political cover by Republican Senator Rand Paul and the influential conservative magazine, the National Review.  If Obama were given to much grief about allowing states to implement their own marijuana laws, he could always pin the idea on the conservative junior senator from Kentucky and on the conservative disciples of William F. Buckley, Jr. (the founder of the National Review.)

Regardless of how the Obama Administration ultimately responds to Colorado and Washington or whether we help usher a bill through Congress that allows states to implement their own cannabis laws without a threat of federal interference, or not, marijuana legalization is not going away.  President Obama and Congress cannot stop more states from ending cannabis prohibition in 2014, 2016 and beyond.  The federal government simply doesn’t have the resources to stop our movement.  As more and more people understand that ending cannabis prohibition will allow law enforcement resources to be better prioritized to combat serious and violent crime, while generating revenue and creating jobs, the polls will continue to move in our favor.  As the polls continue to move in our favor, so will elected officials all across the country, and just as Alcohol Prohibition went the way of the dodo bird, so will cannabis prohibition.

Republished with special permission from the National Cannabis Coalition

December 19, 2012 | Categories: drug war, health, marijuana, news, police state, tyranny, US | Leave a comment

Unmasking the Brotherhood: Syria, Egypt, and Beyond

Land Destroyer

December 13, 2012 (Stop Imperialism) – The complexities of the Arab Spring and the struggle for political freedom throughout the Arab world should not obscure what has now become an absolutely essential understanding for all anti-imperialists: the Muslim Brotherhood is one of the most powerful weapons of the Western ruling class in the Muslim world.  While that may be a difficult pill for some to swallow for emotional or psychological reasons, one need look no further than the insidious role the organization is playing in Syria and the abuses of power and human rights of the government of Egypt.  In the US-NATO sponsored war against the Assad government, the Muslim Brotherhood has emerged as the leading western-sanctioned force, the avant-garde of the imperialist assault.  While, in Egypt, President Morsi and the Brotherhood government seek to destroy what had been, little more than a year ago, the promise of the revolution.

Muslim Brotherhood in Syria

This week’s establishment of the Supreme Military Command, in charge of all military aid and coordination to the rebels, demonstrates unequivocally the leadership role of the Muslim Brotherhood in the drive for regime change in Syria.  As Reuters reported, “The unified command includes many with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and to Salafists…it excludes the most senior officers who have defected from Assad’s military.”[1] This command structure, formed at the behest and under the sponsorship of the US, UK, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey among others, does not simply include members of the Muslim Brotherhood, it is, in fact, dominated by them.  Is it possible that the Western imperial powers simply did not notice that the group they were forming was comprised of these elements?  To suggest so would be to accuse some of the leading “statesmen” of the world (Hillary Clinton, William Hague, Laurent Fabius, Ahmet Davutoglu, etc.) of being stupid.  Alas, they are not so.  Instead, these individuals have collaborated to create a Muslim Brotherhood proxy force in Syria, one that can be controlled and depended on to do the bidding of the West.

However, it is not enough to say that the Muslim Brotherhood is heading this new military structure, for that would be to imply that they have not been playing a critical role all along.  Rather, the organization has been central to the destabilization of Syria since the beginning of the armed conflict.  The Syrian National Council, originally the face of the Western-backed “opposition” was itself dominated behind the scenes by the Muslim Brotherhood. As former Muslim Brotherhood leader Ali Sadreddine stated regarding the SNC, “We chose this face, accepted by the West…We nominated [former SNC head Burhan] Ghalioun as a front for national action. We are not moving now as the Brotherhood but as part of a front that includes all currents.”[2] Essentially then, we see that the organization has, from the very beginning, maintained a large degree of control of the foreign-based opposition, as distinctly different from the indigenous opposition of the National Coordinating Councils and other groups.  The Muslim Brotherhood, an international political and paramilitary machine, has come to lead the battle against Assad government.

In fact, the Muslim Brotherhood has provided many forms of leadership and assistance to the foreign-based, foreign-backed opposition beyond simply direct leadership. From providing diplomatic and political cover, to on-the-ground tactical support such as weapons smuggling, fighter recruitment, and other necessary responsibilities, the organization has come to permeate every aspect of what we in the West conveniently refer to as the “rebels”.

As early as May 2012, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the center of the organization, was already providing the political and diplomatic support the rebels needed to topple the Assad regime.  As they were poised to win the Egyptian elections, the Brotherhood was busy making public comments about the need for Western military intervention in Syria.  The organization’s spokesman, Mahmoud Ghozlan stated, “The Muslim Brotherhood calls on Arab, Islamic, and international governments to intervene…to bring down the [Assad] regime.”[3] This brazen public statement flies in the face of all arguments which claim that the Muslim Brotherhood is somehow anti-imperialist, that they stand in opposition to Western dominance of the Arab world.  On the contrary, though they may posture themselves as opposing the West, they are, in fact, tools of the imperial powers used to destroy independent nations which stand in opposition to US hegemony in the Middle East.

Image: In the US-NATO sponsored war against the Assad government, the Muslim Brotherhood has emerged as the leading western-sanctioned force, the avant-garde of the imperialist assault.  While, in Egypt, President Morsi and the Brotherhood government seek to destroy what had been, little more than a year ago, the promise of the revolution. 

….

This political and diplomatic backing is merely one aspect of the Brotherhood’s involvement in the destruction of Syria.  As the New York Times reported in June of 2012, “CIA officers are operating secretly in Southern Turkey helping allies decide which Syrian opposition fighters across the border will receive arms…by way of a shadowy network of intermediaries including Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood.”[4] The use of the Muslim Brotherhood to smuggle arms to the rebels in Syria should come as no surprise considering the fact that it is the Sunni monarchies of the region (Saudi Arabia and Qatar primarily) who have been the most vociferous voices championing regime change in Syria by any means necessary.  The relationship between these monarchies and the Muslim Brotherhood is self-evident: they share similar religious convictions and are avowed enemies of all forms of Shiism.  Moreover, they have been part and parcel of the system of US hegemony that has kept the entire region under its vice grip for decades.

Many have argued in the past that, though they share identical ideologies and “brand”, the Syrian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood is somehow independent of the Muslim Brotherhood proper.  This preposterous claim is countered by the simple fact that every public position the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood has taken has been in direct alignment with the public statements from Cairo.  As the Carnegie Middle East Center’s article The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria demonstrates, Since the beginning of the revolution, the Brotherhood has maintained that foreign intervention is the only possible solution to the crisis in Syria. In October 2011, it also called on Turkey to intervene and establish protected humanitarian zones in Turkish territory.”[5] When two entities bear the same name, have the same sponsors, and take the same positions, it is an exercise in willful ignorance to argue that they are somehow not the same entity or, as is more accurate, taking orders from the same masters. But who are these masters?

The Powers Behind the Muslim Brotherhood

In examining the utterly insidious role that the Muslim Brotherhood is playing in Syria, one must begin with an understanding of the historical relationship between the Muslim Brotherhood and Western imperialism.  The organization was founded by Hassan al-Banna in 1928 with the intention of reestablishing a purer form of Islam as had existed centuries before.  However, this was merely the religious veneer that was created to mask the political intentions of the organization.  As explained in the Mother Jones article entitled What is the Muslim Brotherhood and Will It Take Over Egypt?, the author explains that, “The Muslim Brotherhood served as a battering ram against nationalists and communists, despite the Brothers’ Islam-based anti-imperialism, the group often ended up making common cause with the colonial British.  It functioned as an intelligence agency, infiltrating left-wing and nationalist groups.”[6] This indisputable fact, that the Muslim Brotherhood functioned, even its early days, as a de facto arm of Western intelligence, is critical to understanding its development and current political power.

However, there are those who argue that, despite this “coincidence” of objectives and agendas, the Muslim Brotherhood could never be tied directly to the intelligence community.  However, as Robert Dreyfuss, author of the Mother Jones article clearly points out, there is ample evidence tying the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood directly to the CIA:

By then [1954], the group’s chief international organizer and best-known official was Said Ramadan, the son-in-law of Hassan al-Banna. Ramadan had come to the attention of both the CIA and MI-6, the British intelligence service. In researching my book … I came across an unusual photograph that showed Ramadan with President Eisenhower in the Oval Office. By then, or soon after, Ramadan had likely been recruited as a CIA agent. Wall Street Journal reporter Ian Johnson has since documented the close ties between Ramadan and various Western intelligence services … Johnson writes: ‘By the end of the decade, the CIA was overtly backing Ramadan.'”[7]

The fact that the central figure in the international organization was a known CIA agent corroborates the assertions made by countless analysts and investigators that the Brotherhood was used as a weapon against Nasser and, in fact, all Arab socialist leaders who at that time were part of a rising tide of Arab nationalism which sought, as its ultimate goal, independence from Western imperial domination.

In order to fully grasp just how the Brotherhood developed into the organization we know today, one must understand the relationship between it and the royal family of Saudi Arabia.  In fact, the Saudis have been the key financiers of the Brotherhood for decades for the same reasons that the United States and the Western powers needed them: opposition to Arab nationalism and the growing “insolence” of Shiite states.  Dreyfuss writes, “From its early days, the Brotherhood was financed generously by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which appreciated its ultra-conservative politics and its virulent hatred of Arab communists.”[8] Essentially, as the United States began to exert its post-war might throughout the region, the Muslim Brotherhood was there to be a willing beneficiary and humble servant sowing the seeds of hatred between Sunni and Shia, espousing a hate-filled Salafist ideology that preached conflict and inescapable war between the branches of Islam.  Naturally, all to the benefit of Western powers who cared little for the ideology and more about the money and resources.

A Tool of the Western Powers Today?

It is often argued that, though the historical record unequivocally shows the Brotherhood as intimately connected to Western intelligence, somehow the organization has changed, that it has become a peaceful force for political progress in the Arab world.  As recent events in Egypt have shown, nothing could be further from the truth.  With the undemocratic attempted power grab by Egyptian President Morsi, the scaling back of civil liberties, the rights of women, and religious and ethnic minorities, the Muslim Brotherhood has shown itself to be little more than a reactionary political force parading itself as a form of “progress”.

If one had any doubts as to the true intentions and motivations of the Muslim Brotherhood once in power in Egypt, one needed look no further than its position on the institutions of global finance capital, particularly the International Monetary Fund.  In one of the first decisions taken by Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood government, Cairo established that it would, in fact, welcome conditional loans from the IMF[9] to rescue itself from the prospect of a continued economic crisis.  However, as part of the conditions of the loan, Morsi’s government would have to drastically reduce subsidies, regulations, and other “market restrictions” while increasing taxes on the middle class.  Essentially, this meant that the Brotherhood consented to the usual cocktail of austerity medicine that had been administered by the agents of finance capital so many times all over the world.  This, naturally, begged the question: Was this the end of the revolution? Indeed, many in the streets of Cairo are asking themselves this same question.  Or, to put it more accurately, they already know the answer.

In Egypt, as in Syria, the Muslim Brotherhood has made itself into an appendage of the Western imperialist ruling class.  It has dutifully served these interests over the course of decades, though the names, faces, and propaganda have changed over the years.  As we watch the tragic images coming from Syria or the tens of thousands in the streets of Cairo, we must question why it has taken so long for this perfidious organization to be exposed or even understood. The answer is, as usual, because it serves the interests of global capital to keep the rest of the world confused as to who the enemies of progress really are.  By revealing their true nature, the real forces of peace and progress around the world can reject the Muslim Brotherhood and the imperial system in all its overt and covert forms.

Eric Draitser is the founder of StopImperialism.com.  He is an independent geopolitical analyst based in New York City.  He is a regular contributor to Russia Today, Press TV, GlobalResearch.ca, and other media outlets. You can reach him at ericdraitser@gmail.com.

[1] http://news.yahoo.com/rebels-circle-damascus-airport-russia-u-downbeat-013515100.html [2] http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/06/us-syria-brotherhood-idUSBRE84504R20120506
[3] http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/egypts-brotherhood-calls-intervention-syria
[4] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/world/middleeast/cia-said-to-aid-in-steering-arms-to-syrian-rebels.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
[5] http://carnegie-mec.org/publications/?fa=48370
[6] http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/what-is-the-muslim-brotherhood
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] http://www.albawaba.com/business/morsi-egypt-imf-loan-432065

December 19, 2012 | Categories: co-opting and/or destabilization, Egypt, news, sovereignty, Syria, tyranny, US, war | Leave a comment

Fox News bans employees from debating gun control [video]

Russia Today
December 18, 2012

Since last Friday’s school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, gun control has taken center stage in the media. One media outlet isn’t allowing employees to take part in the debate of gun regulations. According to reports, Fox News has mandated that its employees refrain from talking about gun control. Christopher Chambers, journalism professor at Georgetown University joins us with more.

RT America LIVE http://rt.com/on-air/rt-america-air/
Subscribe to RT America! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=RTAmericaLike us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/RTAmerica
Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/RT_America

December 19, 2012 | Categories: gun-control, news, Sandy Hook, tyranny, US, videos | 1 Comment

Military Escalation, Dangerous Crossroads: Russia-US Confrontation in Syria?

by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research
December 15, 2012

On December 14, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta signed a Pentagon order to deploy 400 US missile troops to Turkey.  According to Washington, the security of Turkey, NATO’s heavyweight, is threatened.  US military personnel will to be deployed to Turkey in the coming weeks to operate two US Patriot missile batteries.

According to the Pentagon’s spokesman, George Little:

“The United States has been supporting Turkey in its efforts to defend itself,… [against Syria]

“I’m not going to go into precise locations at this time, he added, “but I wanted to let you…know that we signed that order and that we are prepared in the context of NATO to support the defense of Turkey for an unspecified period of time.”

“The purpose of this deployment is to signal very strongly that the United States, working closely with our NATO allies, is going to support the defense of Turkey, especially with potential threats emanating from Syria,”  US Air Force News, December 14, 2012)

The Patriot surface-to-air interceptors are deployed to deal  “with threats that come out of Syria” According to U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. these threats “include Syrian strikes inside Turkey and fighting between the government and rebels that extends into Turkey”  (CNN, December 14, 2012):

“We can’t spend a lot of time worrying about whether that pisses off Syria,” said Panetta [sic] after signing the order Friday. (Ibid, emphasis added)

In addition to the US missile deployment, Germany and the Netherlands have confirmed that they will also deploy Patriot missiles in Turkey directed against Syria.

Not mentioned in the official Pentagon statement, this buildup of patriot missile batteries is not only directed against Syria, it is intended to confront Russia’s military presence  in Syria as well  as its support to the development of Syria’s air defense system.

The US-NATO Led Insurgency

The Pentagon’s initiative in Turkey is part of the US-NATO-Israeli led insurgency against Syria. In recent months, this insurgency has evolved towards an unofficial (yet de facto) allied invasion characterized by the presence inside Syria of French, British, Turkish and Qatari Special Forces.

These Special Forces are “embedded” within rebel ranks. They are not only participating in the training of rebel forces, they are also involved in de facto paramilitary command and coordination, in liaison with NATO.

In other words, member states of the Atlantic Alliance through their Special Forces and intelligence operatives on the ground  largely determines the nature and thrust of rebel activities. Of significance, the main fighting force directly recruited and trained by US-NATO, Saudi Arabia and Qatar is the Al Nusra Front, (see image right) an Al Qaeda affiliated militia involved in countless terrorist acts against civilians.

The Broader Middle East War

The US Patriot missile deployment in Turkey is part of a regional process of  militarization which includes the establishment of US command posts and the stationing of American troops in Jordan and Israel.  This  regional military deployment also threatens Iran.

Moreover, US-NATO-Israeli war preparations with regard to Syria are coordinated with those pertaining to Iran. The command posts in Israel, which oversee some 1000 US troops, in coordination with Israel’s IDF, are under the jurisdiction of  US European Command (EUCOM).

In a recent statement Iran’s chief of staff warned that the stationing of Patriot anti-missile batteries on Turkey’s border with Syria “was setting the stage for world war”

It is worth noting that in addition to the Patriot missiles in Turkey, Patriot batteries targeted at Iran have also been deployed to Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE and Bahrain (2010).

[READ MORE…]

December 19, 2012 | Categories: co-opting and/or destabilization, France, Germany, Iran, Israel, NATO, news, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, sovereignty, Syria, the Netherlands, Turkey, tyranny, UK, Ukraine, US, war | Leave a comment

Prohibition is over in Philadelphia [video]

Adam VS The Man
December 18, 2012

12/15/2012 Philadelphia, PA

Please address hate mail to adam@adamvstheman.com
Donate Bitcoin: 1BWeuWdgjrP8PFAwBwgwU9BUqJNewScouy
Invest here to support ADAM VS THE MAN!
http://adamvstheman.com/invest

December 19, 2012 | Categories: drug war, health, marijuana, news, police state, tyranny, US, victories, videos | 1 Comment

MUST SEE: Sandy Hook & Aurora In Batman Movie [video]

YouTube — whiteblood10
December 16, 2012

[hat tip: LittleSisMedia]

December 19, 2012 | Categories: Batman Massacre, false-flag, film, gun-control, news, police state, predictive programming, Sandy Hook, tyranny, US, videos | Leave a comment

Film Factory Farms? Terrorist.

P.A.N.D.A.  People Against The NDAA
December 10, 2012

A whole new set of people has been added to the terrorist club. Along with those who are “reverent of individual liberty” and “suspicious of centralized federal authority,” people who film factory farms are now considered terrorists:

“This new information comes as the Center for Constitutional Rights has filed a lawsuit challenging the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) as unconstitutional because its vague wording has had a chilling effect on political activism. This document adds to the evidence demonstrating that the AETA goes far beyond property destruction, as its supporters claim.”

http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/fbi-undercover-investigators-animal-enterprise-terrorism-act/5440/

December 19, 2012 | Categories: economy, food, health, news, police state, protests, tyranny, US | Leave a comment

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »