VIDEO — Arab League warns against foreign interference in Syria
PressTV
May 24, 2013
The Arab League has held an urgent meeting on Syria at its headquarters in Cairo. The meeting was aimed at developing a unified Arab stance regarding the international efforts to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria.
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via Twitter / adamkokesh
May 24, 2013
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Top US diplomat vows wider military aid for anti-Damascus militant gangs
PressTV
May 23, 2013
US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) in a meeting with Jordan’s ruler King Abdullah II
US Secretary of State John Kerry has again vowed expanded military support for foreign-backed militant gangs in Syria if “diplomacy” fails to end what he claimed as a civil war in the country.
Speaking in the Jordan capital of Amman on Wednesday, Kerry said the US and its partners, in Western Europe and mainly Arab dictatorships in the region as well as Turkey, will widen their support for anti-Damascus gangs in the country by “sending more weapons or taking other measures short of sending American forces,” The Washington Post reports Thursday.
The development comes as Syrian troops are on the verge of recapturing major Syrian city of Qusayr on the Lebanese border from the foreign-backed insurgents in the country.
Kerry, meanwhile, also tried to lower expectations for an international effort to bring the highly divided opposition groups and the Syrian government to the negotiation table amid persisting differences among militant leaders and new international worries about the existence of radical terrorists among opposition forces.
The top US diplomat also sounded pessimistic about the prospect of convening an ‘international peace conference’ in Geneva next month in efforts to “negotiate a cease-fire” and form a “transition government,” the report adds.
“In the event that we can’t find that way forward…, we will also talk about our continued support and growing support for the opposition in order to permit them to continue to fight,” Kerry said.
This is while the Syrian army has successfully concluded the first phase of its operation in the strategic western city of Qusayr, according to press reports.
Syrian forces have inflicted major losses on the militants in the city, destroying their weaponry and equipment.
The Syrian army has also found several caches of weapons, mostly containing Israeli-made ammunition.
The senior commander of the terrorist group al-Nusra Front, Abu Omar, was reportedly also among those killed in battle on May 21.
MFB/MFB
Portland Voters Reject Water Fluoridation for the Fourth Time
Late Tuesday night over 60 percent of Portland area voters rejected a proposal to begin fluoridating the city’s water supply.
Photo: AP/Don Ryan
by Derrick Broze
Intellihub.com
May 24, 2013
Mayor Charlie Hales expressed his disappointment in a statement. “The measure lost despite my own ‘yes’ vote.That’s sure disappointing, but I accept the will of the voters.”
Portland voters first turned down fluoridation when the process began in the 1950′s, and again during the 1960′s. It was briefly approved in 1978, however that plan was overturned two years later, before any fluoride was ever added to the water.
After rumors of backroom deals between the City Council and fluoridation supporters emerged, clean water activists sprung to action. In response to last years city council vote to begin fluoridating water serving 900,000 citizens, protestors organized efforts to bring the issue to the public for a vote. After gathering over 40,000 signatures the measure was brought forth.
The issue also wound up politicizing a statewide health report that showed falling cavity and tooth decay rates in the state over the past five years. One of the report’s authors said she felt pressure by Upstream Health, the group spearheading fluoridation efforts, to present the findings in a certain way.
Oregon Live covered the details of the report:
“The percentage of children who already had a cavity fell from 64 to 52 statewide, according to the survey. That represents a drop of nearly one-fifth.
The percentage of children with untreated decay also declined from 36 to 20 statewide, the survey found. That’s down by nearly half.
And the other major measure, rampant decay — which is defined as seven treated or untreated cavities — fell from 20 percent to 14 percent statewide. That’s down by about one-third. “
With this latest rejection Portland becomes the largest city in the United States that does not add fluoride to the water. Speaking to the Portland Tribune, Kim Kaminski, leader of Clean Water Portland said, “At a very fundamental level, people understand that we don’t want more chemicals in our water.”
This year marks the 68th anniversary of fluoridation – the first U.S. city to adjust the fluoride levels in its water supply was Grand Rapids, Mich. on January 25, 1945, according to the American Dental Association.
Despite the fact that most mainstream health organizations, including the American Medical Association, endorse fluoridation over 200 communities have rejected the practice in recent years. Opponents of fluoridation in Portland worry by adding fluoride to the water it will ruin the city’s famously pristine water supply, as well as violate an individuals civil liberties, by forced medicating through the water.
Portlands stance against water fluoridation has become an attacking point for many publications around the country. Accusations of being anti-science, or a conspiracy theorist abound for those opposing the controversial practice.
Despite a recent Salon article that claims the Fluoride Free movement is “Without a study to stand on” there are a number of studies that show a variety of health concerns . The article also states, “The (fluoride) ion occurs naturally in ground water in varying levels, some that are in fact too high.” While this claim is true it is also misleading.
When a city chooses to add “fluoride” to the water supply they are actually adding the toxic substance hydrofluorosilic acid. Hydrofluorosilic acid is a by-product of phosphate mining, and if not for cities purchasing the substance for millions of dollars, it would have to be disposed of at a hefty cost to the producer.
The history books are filled with examples of medical and scientific practices that were seen as safe at one point only to be demonized later. The early critics of any common practice are often ridiculed until new evidence creates a shift in understanding and future practices. When it comes to water fluoridation we are dealing with a similar situation.
For more information on the dangers of water fluoridation and how you can get involved please check out the Fluoride Action Network. (www.fluoridealert.org)
sources:
^http://portlandtribune.com/pt/9-news/153165-inspired-water-fight-sends-message
U.S. Senate Committee Votes in Favor of Arming Mercenaries in Syria
nsnbc international
May 22, 2013
Widening of Syria War into a Regional War with Global Implications becoming Inevitable.
Christof Lehmann (nsnbc),- The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has passed legislation that, if signed by U.S. President Obama, approves of officially supplying weapons to what the committee describes as “The Syrian Opposition”.
According to international law the bill implies, that the U.S.A. officially becomes a conflicting party. The official approval of weapons deliveries and other aid to “the opposition” is arguably changing its status to that of a mercenary corps.
The Senate´s decision has significantly increased the likelihood of the development of a regional war with global implications and has, if it is signed by President Obama, for the foreseeable future undermined attempts to settle the war by political means.
The bipartisan U.S. Senate´s Foreign Relations Committee voted 15 – 3 in favor of the bill that would allow U.S. politicians to officially arm the terrorist organizations, which the USA has been directly and indirectly financing, arming and otherwise supporting since the genesis of the conflict in 2011.
If signed by President Obama, the U.S.A. would technically become a directly involved party to the war. Arguably, the so-called opposition would receive the legal status of being a US-sponsored mercenary corps. In other words, the legal status would concur with its de facto status.
While some analysts state, that the decision would not imply significant changes on the ground because the USA has sponsored terrorists in Syria since the onset of the crisis, others predict that the new legislation implies a significant increase of arms shipments, a significant increase in recruitment efforts, a substantial increase of funding, and an inevitable widening of the war into Lebanon and Iraq.
The legislation calls to “provide defense articles, defense services, and military training” directly to the “opposition” on the ground in Syria who “have been properly and fully vetted and share common values and interests with the United States”.
The legislation officially endorses an illegal military strategy on Syria, which a US Training Circular for Special Forces and “Foreign Students” designates as being official US military doctrine. The Training Circular, TC-18-01 explicitly states, that the US military, for the foreseeable future, would primarily be involved in unconventional warfare.
The subversion of foreign nations, as described in the TC-01 is a de-facto outline of the political and military strategy which the USA has used against the Syrian Arab Republic since 2011. The full document has previously been disclosed on nsnbc.
It is especially the last part of the sentence, “vetted and share common values and interests with the United States”, that would also officially transform the United States into a party that is directly involved in the war by recruiting, financing and arming mercenaries.
Belhadj – The Enemy Image
According to reliable Syrian statistics, which repeatedly have been sent to the office of U.N. Secretary Ban Kyi-moon, more than 80 per cent of the persons involved in combat operations against the Syrian military forces and the Syrian Civil Defense Forces are foreign fighters.
Since the US-backed coup d´etat in Libya in 2011, Abdelhakim Belhadj, who has a long history of cooperation with the British Foreign Intelligence Service MI6, Mossad and NATO Intelligence, and who according to former Spanish Prime Minister Aznar is the main responsible person for the 2004 Madrid Train Bombings that killed dozens, Abdelhakim Belhadj also functions as official Tripoli Military Governor. The largest so far documented arms shipment, including SAM-7 surface to air missiles was shipped from Libya through Turkey and into Syria. It is safe to conclude that the greatest part of arms shipments and deployment of recruits from Libya to Syria as well as to Mali is being organized through the Belhadj network.
Belhadj, Tripoli Military Governor and Syrian Tripoli Brigade Commander in Chief
With the main body of Syria recruits being recruited through a network that is in liaison with NATO, NATO is by implication, also becoming directly involved in the Syria War if the bill is passed. In fact, some international lawyers argue that NATO´s legal status already is that of a party to the conflict due to the fact that Turkey is directly involved.
The legal implications are mind-boggling and bound to significantly worsen the crisis between Russia and the USA, the crisis between Russia and the EU, and the crisis between some EU member states, first and foremost Germany and the USA.
Most experts on US – Israeli foreign relations agree that the Israeli lobby in the USA, which has a significant influence over the majority of members of Congress, has been lobbying strongly in support of the bill. Over the course of the last month reports of direct Israeli involvement in the war have significantly increased.
Already in 2011 Israel was arming the so-called Syrian opposition through third parties in Lebanon. Most prominently among them, the Saudi-Lebanese national and chairman of the “Movement for the Future Party” Saad Hariri, and the leader of the Lebanese Druze community and chairman of the Lebanese Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblatt. Jumblatt is known for having facilitated shipments of weapons and equipment from Israel´s Raphael Industries since 2011.
One of the few Senators who have voted against the bill was Senator Rand Paul who stated ” You will be funding today the allies of al-Qaeda…. It is an irony you cannot overcome”. Critics of Rand Paul however state that his nay-vote was cheap since it was well known that the majority would vote in favor of the bill. Others criticize Paul for being representative of double standards by not clearly stating that al-Qaeda and “The Opposition” are euphemisms for a network of NATO mercenaries who can be used as friend or foe, terrorist of freedom fighters, all and alone depending on utility.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is currently visiting Jordan to meet representatives from 11 nations. Part of the agenda will be discussions between Kerry and Russian representatives about the so-called U.S.-Russian roadmap to end the Syria crisis.
The chances for ending the war in Syrian by political means however, are becoming increasingly slim. According to some analysts, the crisis is developing a propensity toward a deterioration into a Sarajevo-like situation, where the events begin determining the decisions of the policy makers, rather than the policy makers being the ones who determine the development of the events. The odds are clearly stacked against a political resolution and overwhelmingly for a widening of the war into Lebanon and Iraq.
Russia has repeatedly warned that the material support of the terrorists in Syria violates international law, and Russian officials have warned that the passing of the legislation is one more, and a most serious violation of international law.
The Russian position always was and remains the position, that only direct talks between the Syrian government and the opposition can solve the crisis and that the arming of terrorists sabotages ongoing attempts to solve the crisis and the ongoing political reform process in Syria.
In March, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated, that “International law does not permit the supply of arms to non-governmental actors and our point of view is that it is a violation of international law” .
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About the Author
U.S. Military Base In Uzbekistan Would Destabilize Region
Stop NATO…Opposition to global militarism
May 23, 2013
Daily Times
May 22, 2013
Uzbek quest for US weapons could dent Central Asia
Farooq Yousaf
image: Uzbek President Islam Karimov and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen
2014 is approaching, and so is the deadline for the withdrawal of US-led coalition forces from Afghanistan. Leon Panetta, the then-US Defense Secretary, in 2012 announced that by the end of 2014 coalition forces would cease any combat operations and would be limited to normal military duties in the country. Moreover, [Afghan President] Hamid Karzai, in a recent interview, gave approval to allowing nine US military bases even after the pullout.
With the United States wary of transporting heavy weaponry out of Afghanistan, offers have been made by the Central Asian states, such as Uzbekistan, in return for some of the latest arms and equipment that they lack. According to a report by The New York Times, policy makers in Washington took Uzbekistan’s offer so seriously that the United States has partially lifted a set of arms sales restrictions that has been in place for about a decade.
Last year, in June, reports started to surface that Uzbekistan that faces international arms embargoes due to widespread human rights violations, started negotiations for a possible arms-transit and military base deal with the USA, that would help the coalition forces take its equipment out of Afghanistan, whereas Tashkent would benefit by acquiring the state-of-the-art weaponry. Kazakhstan’s newspaper Liter, on August 15 last year, predicted that a possible deal for a US base in Uzbekistan could be reached when US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake visited Tashkent.
Uzbekistan, for long has been indicating shifting its alliances and partners. One of such indications was its withdrawal from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a military cooperation initiative between Russia and Central Asian states [as well as Armenia and Belarus]. It would have been difficult for Tashkent to enter into military negotiations with the United States if it were a member of the CSTO, but abandoning the CSTO freed it from coming under any pressure.
In terms of geostrategic importance, the most feasible gateway for cargo withdrawal is Pakistan, yet it seems that the coalition forces want as many alternatives as possible, such as Uzbekistan, in case Islamabad decides to go against its deals with NATO and close the NATO supply line, or even ask for more money.
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Such a move by Uzbekistan would mean it wants to turn its back on Russia, a neighbour that supports much of the Uzbek workforce. Russia, even after the Soviet disintegration, has maintained a substantial influence over some of the Central Asian states, but this influence has mostly been in the form of mutual cooperation and better relations.
In another move, NATO’s representative for Central Asia James Appathurai held meetings with Uzbek ministers in March this year, in what seemed to be a move to gain Uzbek support against Russia.
image: James Appathurai, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy and NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, in Uzbekistan on March 27, 2013
If the United States is successful in establishing a military base in Uzbekistan, it would entail bad political consequences, and hence play a role in destabilising not only Central Asia, but also South Asia, as the anti-US sentiment and motivation for radical Islamists could fuel a wave of militancy that could also spill over into Russia, one of the most important states in the region. Such concerns were raised by a Russian military expert, Lt Gen Leonid Sazhin¸ saying, “Although Americans claims that they are fighting against the Taliban in Afghanistan today, it will be them who, by deploying their facility in Uzbekistan, will lead Taliban members there.”
A base in Uzbekistan, that neighbours Afghanistan, could also be used for surgical strikes, and even drone attacks, into neighbouring Afghanistan, that could also raise major human rights concerns and sour relations with Kabul.
If the United States is successful in establishing a fully operational base in Uzbekistan, this would also worry China, another regional power, as it has already shown concerns over the bases surrounding it, known as the ‘ring of fire’. In any case, Uzbekistan needs to decide whether such a venture would be beneficial for the country and the region or will bring chaos in the long run.
The writer is a Programme consultant and Content Editor at the Centre for Research and Security Studies, Islamabad, belonging to Frontier Region of Pakistan. He is currently pursuing his higher Studies in Public Policy and Conflict Management in Germany. He tweets as @faruqyusaf and can be reached at farooq@crss.pk
Student jailed for three weeks awaiting trial over Facebook posts
End the Lie – Independent News
May 23, 2013
image: Cameron B. D’Ambrosio
A Boston-area teenager remains in custody on $1 million bond nearly one month after being arrested over what he said on the Internet.
Eighteen-year-old Cameron B. D’Ambrosio of Methuen, Massachusetts was arrested on May 1 after police were alerted to “disturbing verbiage” on his personal Facebook page discovered by a fellow student at Methuen High School. D’Ambrosio allegedly posted original rap lyrics that prompted authorities to charge him with terrorism, and now he faces a potential 20 years in prison.
“He posted a threat in the form of rap where he mentioned the White House, the Boston Marathon bombing and said, ‘everybody you will see what I am going to do, kill people,” Methuen Police Chief Joe Solomon told the Valley Patriot earlier this month.
Three weeks after being surprised by police at his Methuen home, D’Ambrosio remains locked up.
“A kid is in prison. Away from his family. All for something he posted on Facebook” reads a support page for the high school student established this week by the Center for Rights and Fight for the Future. In 48 hours, the website received more than 500,000 views, and on Thursday the administrators said 1.2 million people had visited the page by the time D’Ambrosio went before a judge that morning for a scheduled bail hearing. The justice differed deciding at this time if D’Ambrosio should be released from custody.
“Cam’s attorney made arguments that he should be released to his family and that all evidence (including testimony from the police) suggested that he was not a threat to anyone. He also noted that Cam was two weeks away from graduation, and Methuen High School had decided to grant him a diploma,” Fight for the Future wrote early Thursday. “We expect a decision within a few days and sincerely hope that Cam will be home safe with is family soon.”
Meanwhile, though, D’Ambrosio remains locked up if and until a judge decides he isn’t a hazard to the community.
At the time of his arrest, school officials and law enforcement alike applauded the speedy response and celebrate D’Ambrosio’s arrest as a victory against terrorism only a few days — and a few miles — from where two brothers allegedly detonated explosives at the Boston Marathon, killing three in the biggest act of terror in years on American soil. But nearly one month after being detained, authorities have not announced any proof that D’Ambrosio intended to act out the lyrics he left on his Facebook page.
“A search of Cam’s house found no explosives, weapons, or ANY evidence that he was planning anything other than becoming the next Eminem,” his supporters write.
Among the Facebook content that alerted authorities was a song that was considered a warning of things to come.
“So when u see me (expletive) go insane and make the news, the paper, and the (expletive) federal house of horror known as the white house, Don’t (expletive) cry or be worried because all YOU people (expletive) caused this (expletive),” reads a redacted version of one post made available to the Boston Herald.
Fox News quoted another song, in which the amateur rapper wrote “(expletive) the Boston bombing, wait til you see what I do. I’m going to be famous.”
On his support page, it’s noted that a key word was dropped from the line when it was reported by Fox. In actuality, D’Ambrosio wrote, “I’ma be famous rapping.”
“Suddenly something that sounds like a threat of violence is clearly just bragging about how good Cammy Dee is going to be in the rap game. Last we checked, teenage dreams of grandeur were not a crime,” the website claims.
Source: RT
PN 