Chossudovsky: Western Countries Sabotage Syria Peace Plans [video]
Global Research TV
October 11, 2012
US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says, if elected, he would work with the US allies to arm the insurgents fighting against the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
This comes as a group of Syrian political parties have held a forum in the country’s capital, Damascus, to discuss a peaceful solution to the unrest in the Arab state.
The participants of the meeting said political dialogue, national reconciliation and fighting terrorism are the sole means to restoring security.
The Syrian figures reiterated that their country is entangled in an international conspiracy by some Arab and Western countries, adding that the unity of the Syrians would foil any plots.
The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the insurgents are foreign nationals, mostly from Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan.
Press TV has conducted an interview with Michel Chossudovsky, Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization, from Montreal, to further discuss the issue. The following is a rough transcription of the interview.
Press TV: When Romney says that Washington’s ambition is to impose American values in Syria, what do you think American values imply exactly?
Chossudovsky: Well, I’m a little bit confused as to Romney’s interpretation of Western values. For me, Western values actually come from Mesopotamia. They come from the ancient Aramaic language which is still spoken in Syria.
That is the cradle of Western civilization. That’s where Christianity was born. That’s where both the New Testament and the Old Testament were written and formulated in Aramaic. And Aramaic is still spoken in Syria.
If Romney wants to support Western values, it’s not by channeling weapons to al-Qaeda and to an opposition which is integrated by terrorists and which, ultimately, these military formations reject what I understand as Western values — which are the values of the Western world but also of the Middle East.
Press TV: We’ve earlier discussed the possibility of a full-scale military intervention by NATO in Syria, starting off with Turkey first getting involved. We’re already seeing shelling across the border.
Right now, as these countries beat the drums of war against Syria, where is the UN Arab League Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi? Where is the so-called six-point peace plan that was put forth by Kofi Annan?
Chossudovsky: Well, it would seem that the same Western countries which have put forth these peace plans are now involved in, ultimately, boycotting or undermining these peace plans.
Turkey has threatened military intervention in Syria based on very tenuous evidence that Syrian armed forces shelled a border city inside Turkish territory. The New York Times says that there’s no evidence one way or the other as to who actually committed these acts of shelling.
Turkey is already within Syrian territory, supporting the rebels, providing them with weapons and so on. I should mention that there’s a lot of opposition inside Turkey to any kind of military adventure which could lead to a full-fledged war with Syria.
Press TV: Let’s hope cooler heads prevail.
Originally aired on PressTV, October 9, 2012
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/09/265761/west-sabotages-syrian-peace-plan/
‘We were handcuffed at gunpoint’ – flight engineer of Syria-bound plane [video]
Russia Today
October 11, 2012
Turkey says the Syria-bound passenger plane, that was forced to land in Turkey, was carrying Russian-made munitions. The Moscow airport that dispatched the flight insists there was no illegal cargo onboard. F-16 fighter jets intercepted the flight on its way from Moscow to Damascus, which was carrying 37 people. RT’s Tom Barton reports.
Also, RT talks to author and journalist Afhsin Rattansi
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[hat tip: Alexander Higgins]
Chossudovsky: Turkey Already Waging War on Syria [video]
Global Research TV
October 8, 2012
Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey has told his country to prepare for war against Syria relying on an unproven shelling that landed in Turkey from Syrian territory.
The Turkish military has fired mortar shells into Syria for the fourth day in a row after a number of projectiles slammed into the southern border province of Hatay.
Press TV has interviewed Michel Chossudovsky, Centre for Research on Globalization, Montreal, about the recent steps Turkey has taken and how the plan for NATO involvement inside Syria may unfold.
What follows is an approximate transcript of the interview.
Press TV: Five days of military strikes and now the Turkish prime minister is calling on his country to prepare for war.
With the way things have gone so far, would Turkey had come to this regardless of the mortar that fell in from Syria?
Chossudovsky: Well, this has been a hidden agenda for quite some time. The war on Syria is already de-facto because Turkey is supporting the Free Syrian Army; it’s training the rebels; it’s allowing for the influx of mercenaries through its territory; it is providing logistics to the terrorists inside Syria; and it has Special Forces also within Syrian territory.
And I should say that the military high command has concern that it’s supporting the Muslim Brotherhood as well involved in insurrection. So the war is de-facto.
The incident is being used as a pretext when in fact even according to the Western media, we do not know who is behind this shelling incident inside Turkish territory.
The Ankara government blames Damascus; it blames the Syrian armed forces, but if you look at some of the press reports emanating from the New York times on the one hand and the German media, there is absolutely no proof that these shots were actually done by the Syrian governmental forces.
And they could have been done by the Free Syrian Army. They could also be used deliberately as a pretext to enable Turkey to proceed to the next phase of this war.
Now what is also of course very disturbing is the fact that Turkey as a member of NATO may well invoke Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, which stipulates that an attack on one member is an attack on all members. It’s the doctrine of collective security and this might be the first step for a NATO involvement.
Press TV: That leads me to my next question, do you think that through this escalation of this conflict we are going to see direct NATO involvement, because we are already getting reports that NATO artillery and weapons are already being used by the Turkish military in their shelling?
Chossudovsky: Well, it’s clear that Turkey is already involved. Turkey is already involved inside Syria.
Now what I think is possible is that Turkey is going to demand the formation of some kind of a buffer zone, which essentially means the occupation of certain border areas of Syria. This has been on the drawing boards of military planners for quite some time. Turkey has territorial aspirations as far as Syria is concerned. But it is more than that.
The coast line, which links Turkey to Lebanon and Israel going through Syrian territory. This is also an objective, to gain control over that coastline.
In other words, we have to understand that Turkey is a major military power in the region; it is involved in the conflict; it is supporting mercenary fighters inside Syria; and there is the distinct danger of military escalation not only in terms of Turkish regular forces, which are now entering officially into Syrian territory, but also that this might extend to a subsequent NATO involvement under the doctrine of collective security.
Originally aired on PressTV, October 8, 2012
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/08/265596/turkey-has-territorial-aspirat…
NATO Terrorists Mass Slaughter Civilians in Aleppo, Syria
Al Qaeda-style terrorist bombings slaughter/maims scores, Western media spins war crime as terrorists “targeting government forces.”
by Tony Cartalucci
October 3, 2012 – NATO-backed terrorism swept the northern Syrian city of Aleppo this week, killing and maiming scores of civilians. Al Qaeda-style car bombings targeted public squares throughout the city in a coordinated attack the Western press has attempted to claim was “targeting government forces.” CNN in their article, “Syria: Dozens killed in blasts at Aleppo public square,” bases this conclusion on the discredited “Syrian Observatory for Human Rights,” a single man, Rami Abdelrahman, who is admittedly a biased member of the so-called “Syrian opposition,” based not in Syria but in Coventry England disingenuously posing as an entire “human rights organization.”
But even Abdelrahman’s baseless claims state that “most of the casualties were government forces” meaning that the remaining victims were indeed civilians. Attacking public squares populated with civilians using indiscriminate explosive devices in such attacks is a brazen war crime, one made possible by Western cash, armaments, and political support supplied to sectarian extremist groups starting as far back as 2007.
The city of Aleppo has suffered heavily at the hands of NATO-backed terrorists, entire battalions of which consist of Libyan terrorists, not Syrian “freedom fighters” as the Western media attempts to repeatedly state. Libyan militants from the listed terror organization, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), are stationed, armed, and funded in NATO-member Turkey by Western and the Persian Gulf states of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, before crossing into northern Syria to carry out atrocities against the Syrian people under the guise of the so-called “Free Syrian Army.”
Image: Libyan Mahdi al-Harati of the US State Department, United Nations, and the UK Home Office (page 5, .pdf)-listed terrorist organization, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), addressing fellow terrorists in Syria. Harati is now commanding a Libyan brigade operating inside of Syria attempting to destroy the Syrian government and subjugate the Syrian population. After ravaging many of Libya’s historical sites out of sectarian spite, these very same terrorists are attacking heritage sites across the ancient northern city of Aleppo, Syria.
As these terrorist battalions continuously fail to achieve any significant military gains against the Syrian Army, they have resorted to brazen terrorist attacks like the recent coordinated car bombings, as well as targeting high profile historical sites across the ancient city. The Western media then attempts to portray the ravaging of Syria’s historical treasures as perpetrated by the Syrian government, when these same Libyan terrorists ravaged their own historical sites in acts of sectarian spite toward the end of last year’s NATO-backed destruction of the Libyan nation-state.
The UN described in detail similar attacks on Libyan historical sites in a report titled, “UN independent experts condemn destruction of Sufi religious sites in Libya,” which stated:
Three United Nations independent experts today strongly condemned the destruction of Sufi religious and historic sites in various parts of Libya, as well as the intimidation and excessive use of force against unarmed protesters opposing the destruction.
According to media reports, ultra-conservative Islamists were responsible for the damage, reportedly with the acquiescence of members of the security forces. The sites are revered by Sufis, a branch of Islam known for its moderation but considered heretical by some branches of the Islamic faith.
These same sectarian extremists are now busy at work in Syria, again, with NATO arms, cash, and both political and covert military support carrying out identical atrocities with the Western press repeating identical lies to obfuscate from the public the true scope of the conflict.
Maher Arar offers to talk to Omar Khadr [video included]
CBC News
October 2, 2012
Maher Arar, whose wrongful deportation and torture in Syria led to a multimillion-dollar settlement with Ottawa, says Canada must decide whether it wants to continue to “demonize” Omar Khadr or to rehabilitate him.
Arar, now a human rights activist in Ottawa, told host Evan Solomon on CBC News Network’s Power & Politics that Khadr needs to talk to someone who understands what he went through during his imprisonment in Guantanamo Bay, and that he is willing to talk to Khadr if asked.
“If the government wants me to assist, if [Khadr’s] lawyers want me to assist … but let’s be clear, it is a decision [Khadr] needs to make,” Arar said.
Arar said Khadr was likely coerced into making statements after being abused and tortured at Guantanamo Bay prison.
“I can relate to him, I can relate to all the Guantanamo detainees,” Arar said. “The minute I hear the word torture, something in my mind starts thinking … what did this guy go through and how is he going to recover, most importantly?”
Arar, a Canadian citizen since 1991 and Ottawa-based telecommunications engineer, was detained during a stopover in New York in September 2002 and deported to Syria, where he was born, even though he was carrying a Canadian passport.
He was incarcerated, beaten and tortured in a Syrian jail for nearly a year after his “rendition” by U.S. authorities.
After an official inquiry that cleared him of all alleged ties to terrorism, Arar was given an official apology from the federal government and awarded a $10-million settlement.
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION – Oct. 6, 2012 — Canadian Peace Congress: End the Aggression Against Syria! Stop the Drive to War Against Iran!
Global Research
October 1, 2012
The Canadian Peace Congress condemns the ongoing foreign intervention in Syria and the escalating drive to war against Iran, and calls for the immediate withdrawal of all Canadian, NATO and foreign mercenary forces from the region. We further call upon the Conservative government of Stephen Harper to restore and normalize its diplomatic relations with Syria and Iran, and to re-orient Canadian foreign policy toward peace, international cooperation and solidarity.
The Harper government’s decision to adopt an international policy of belligerence, and to do so without consulting Parliament, is further evidence of its abandonment of a foreign policy of peace and diplomacy in favour of aggressive and hostile interference in the internal affairs of sovereign countries. Syria and Iran are member states of the United Nations and have expressed no hostile intent towards Canada or its people. Prime Minister Harper is actively contributing to the danger of war, through hostile policies that are out of step with the Canadian peoples’ longstanding support for peace.
The Canadian government has allied itself with a minority of Western governments who, along with pro-war forces within Israel and a few reactionary Arab regimes, are seeking new pretexts for intervention and war. These include the protection of human rights or the prevention of the alleged proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. These objectives cannot be achieved by breaking diplomatic relations, imposing economic sanctions, arming foreign mercenaries, or forging international campaigns for regime change and by installing puppet governments favourable to the strategic goals of the major western power.
Foreign intervention, sanctions and military aggression only weaken the human and democratic rights of the Syrian and Iranian people, and diminish their ability to develop and improve their societies. The aftermath of NATO intervention in Libya last year, in which Canadian armed forces bombed Libyan territory, has been disastrous for the people of Libya who are now plunged into factional warfare. This, plus the catastrophic consequences of the military occupation of Iraq, including the deaths of over one million Iraqis, clearly indicate that the main victim of any war is the civilian population.
As in the case of Libya last year, the drive to interfere in Syria and Iran is driven by the strategic and economic interests of imperialist powers. These countries – including the United States, Britain, the European Union and Canada – choose militarism and war as their preferred option for expanding their spheres of influence and control over resources and markets. The result is destruction, displacement and despair to the peoples of the developing countries who have been targeted. Far from resolving conflicts, these policies of interference only deepen current crises and escalate the danger to world peace.
Pro-war forces have seized upon the many complexities in the situations in Iran and Syria, to promote misinformation and confusion. The threat to peace in the Middle East does not arise from countries who exercise their sovereign right to develop the nuclear energy industries to build their economies. Nor does it originate with countries who oppose Western efforts to re-colonize the Middle East and control its vast energy resources, through the New Middle East Plan. Rather, the concrete threat to peace is the existing conventional and nuclear weapons that the US, its NATO allies and Israel constantly brandish in their effort to destabilize the region, to demonize governments that oppose imperialist plans, and to justify interference and war.
The Canadian Peace Congress asserts that the direction of economic, political and social development in any country is the sole right of the people of that country to determine, without foreign interference. We hold this principle to be true for the people of Canada, as we hold it to be true for the people of Syria and Iran. We are completely opposed to any foreign political or military intervention, under any pretext. This includes efforts to interfere with and divert genuine democratic domestic movements.
The role of the Canadian government in both of these crises has been shameful. Under Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, Canada has abandoned its reputation as a country with an independent stance in international relations, and assumed the posture of a vocal NATO aggressor state. In all dimensions – political-diplomatic, economic and military – Canada’s recent policies toward Syria and Iran have been geared toward three goals:
- Isolate and neutralize sources of information that conflict with imperialist aims, by cutting off communication with the governments and peoples in Syria and Iran;
- Increase the suffering of the people and generate anti-government sentiment, by imposing economic sanctions that particularly target energy industries who produce for local consumption;
- Increase the active military threat in the region, by deploying warships and other military resources to the region.
These goals all directly serve the overall objective of pro-Western regime change in Syria and Iran, and the Harper government has campaigned hard internationally, to convince other countries to assume similar policies against both countries.
In the case of Syria, the Conservatives have also campaigned aggressively to create and promote a political opposition movement to the government. In November 2011, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly received a report that “virtually no one [in Syria] is calling for international military intervention” and that Syria was “without a clearly identifiable opposition with precise political ambitions.” Yet, just prior to that report, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird had met with the Syrian National Council and proclaimed them to be the legitimate opposition who has “continuously outlined their appetite for change.” It is unclear how Baird identified an organized and “legitimate” opposition when NATO could not, and it suggests that the Syrian National Council is little more than a pro-Western puppet government-in-waiting that has been fashioned by imperialist forces.
Furthermore, Canada has supported the arming of an estimated 40-60,000 foreign mercenaries to fight inside Syria. These mercenaries form the backbone of the Free Syrian Army, and indicate the degree of armed foreign intervention already underway in Syria. The recent elections in Syria had a higher voter turnout than in Canada, and a number of independents and government opponents were elected and have been included in the cabinet. The Syrian people have spoken, yet Canada and other interventionist forces continue to pick sides in an internal matter.
In the case of Iran, the frenzied drive to war has obscured certain significant facts from the public eye:
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Iran is a non-nuclear state and a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and is under the supervision of the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Iran has repeatedly stated that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and not for military ends. The fact of the matter is that neither the IAEA nor the U.S. administration has been able to show any substantiated evidence about the weaponization of Iran’s nuclear energy program. The U.S. Secretary of Defence, Leon Panetta, has publicly conceded, “there is no evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapon.”
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Israel is a nuclear weapons state with an estimated 200-400 nuclear weapons, who has refused to join the NPT. There is no UN supervision over Israel’s nuclear activities. It has pre-emptively attacked other neighbouring states, and has threatened Iran with military attack many times.
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United States is a nuclear weapons state with more than 10,000 nuclear weapons, and it has not allowed any inspection of its nuclear facilities by the IAEA. The U.S. has used nuclear weapons against other countries, when it exploded two nuclear bombs on Japan and when it used uranium-enriched weapons in Iraq. The U.S. also has repeatedly threatened Iran with military attack, and has nuclear-equipped forces currently stationed in the region.
The Canadian Peace Congress supports the October 6 Day of Protest Against War, initiated by the Canadian Peace Alliance. After more than a year of conflict and violent foreign intervention, thousands of Syrian people have died. If governments like Canada are allowed to continue their current policies of aggression, interference and colonization, thousands more will die. All peace-supporting groups in Canada – including trade unions, faith communities and student groups – need to speak out and mobilize against intervention in Syria and Iran and the threat of a far broader war in the region.
The Canadian Peace Congress demands that the Canadian government:
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Immediately withdraw Canadian military forces from the region, and oppose military intervention in Syria and Iran, under any pretext;
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Restore diplomatic relations with Syria and Iran, remove sanctions, and support the peace initiatives of those states and organizations advocating a cease fire and negotiated end to the war;
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Withdraw from NATO, which has a nuclear first-strike policy and complimentary sea- and land-based ballistic missile systems, and all other military alliances;
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Promote full nuclear disarmament, beginning with the nuclear stockpiles of the United States, Israel and NATO;
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Adopt a new independent Canadian foreign policy of peace, non-intervention and diplomacy in international relations.
Canadian Peace Congress Executive Council
30 September, 2012
The Canadian Peace Congress was formed in 1949 as an organization of Canadian people that works for world peace and disarmament. We maintain that peace, not militarism and war, is the guarantor of democracy, human rights, and social and economic justice. The Peace Congress is affiliated to the World Peace Council and is a founding member of the Canadian Peace Alliance.
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Don’t Attack Iran
Join the International day of Action, October 6
Events Listings
Edmonton
A peace rally organized by the Edmonton Coalition Against War & Racism (ECAWAR) urging the Canadian government not to use military intervention in Iran.
The program includes:
Dr. Rose Geransar (Iranian-Canadian activist)
Siavash Saffari (Iranian-Canadian activist)
Peggy Morton (ECAWAR)
Dr. Dougal MacDonald (ECAWAR)
Paula Kirman (political singer/songwriter)
….more details to come!
Hands off Iran!
Hands off Syria!
No Sanctions – No War!
Canada Needs and Anti-War Government!
Facebook event
Halifax
Join us for a rally and march on Saturday, October 6, part of a pan-Canadian day of action to oppose a war against Iran.
1:00 p.m. Rally at Halifax Commons Triangle
1:30 p.m. March to Megan Leslie’s Community Office on Gottingen St.
Hamilton
No Attack on Syria and Iran!
Join thousands of people around North America and England in protesting the run-up to the looming wars in the Mideast! Stop the Harper government’s preparations for military intervention in both Syria and Iran!
Saturday, October 6, 2012, at the Federal Building, 55 Bay Street North, Hamilton, 1 pm.
For further info on the October 6 demonstrations, e-mail hcsw-at-cogeco.ca, phone 905-383-7693, or go to our events page at www.hamiltoncoalitiontostopthewar.ca . Colin Powell says: Don’t Get Fooled Again!
Toronto
Don’t attack Iran – Rally and March
Join the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War for a city-wide rally and march on Saturday, October 6, part of a pan-Canadian day of action to oppose a war against Iran.
2:00 p.m. Rally at Queen’s Park
3:00 p.m. March
3:30 p.m. Public meeting: ‘Why Harper cut ties with Iran’ – featuring special guest speakers (TBA)
Vancouver
Stop Harper’s Warmongering Against Iran
International Day of Action Against War
Saturday October 6
12 Noon
Meet at Peace Flame Park (also known as Seaforth Peace Park) – south end of Burrard Bridge, between Cornwall & 1st Ave Join StopWar.ca and allies in a display of banners and signs for drivers, cyclists and transit riders.
This action is in solidarity with an international day of action. Below, please find the callout for actions across Canada.
More information: stopwar-at-resist.ca
Journalist Almost Assasinated for Exposing Turkey Delivering Weapons to Syrian Insurgents [video]
Syrian Girl
October 3, 2012
Lebanese Journalist for Al Jadeed TV, Yumna Fawaz was embedded with Syrian opposition groups on the Syria-Lebanese border. When she witnessed Turkish officers distributing weapons to insurgent groups inside Syria, as a result she was taken hostage by the Turkish officers and her video tapes seized. The intention may have been to execute and silence her and blame the Syrian government, because at the same her station received news from the Free Syrian Army claiming that she has been killed by the Syrian government. A phone call may have saved her.
Youtube seems to be advertising on my videos against my consent.
PN 