http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,druck-753517,00.html
Bashar Assad opted to fire Faisal Kalthoum, the reviled governor of Daraa province, accusing him of "glaring mistakes" and exercising "disproportionate, deadly violence." Assad said he may allow independent political parties and lift the state of emergency that has been in force for 48 years -- concessions that would have been unimaginable just a few weeks ago. But he made his offer conditional on an end to the street fighting.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
A CIA commander for the Libyan rebels : Patrick Martin
The Libyan National Council, the Benghazi-based group that speaks for the rebel forces fighting the Gaddafi regime, has appointed a long-time CIA collaborator to head its military operations. The selection of Khalifa Hifter, a former colonel in the Libyan army, was reported by McClatchy Newspapers Thursday and the new military chief was interviewed by a correspondent for ABC News on Sunday night.
Hifter’s arrival in Benghazi was first reported by Al Jazeera on March 14, followed by a flattering portrait in the virulently pro-war British tabloid the Daily Mail on March 19. The Daily Mail described Hifter as one of the “two military stars of the revolution” who “had recently returned from exile in America to lend the rebel ground forces some tactical coherence.” The newspaper did not refer to his CIA connections.
McClatchy Newspapers published a profile of Hifter on Sunday. Headlined “New Rebel Leader Spent Much of Past 20 years in Suburban Virginia,” the article notes that he was once a top commander for the Gaddafi regime, until “a disastrous military adventure in Chad in the late 1980s.”
Hifter then went over to the anti-Gaddafi opposition, eventually emigrating to the United States, where he lived until two weeks ago when he returned to Libya to take command in Benghazi.
The McClatchy profile concluded, “Since coming to the United States in the early 1990s, Hifter lived in suburban Virginia outside Washington, DC.” It cited a friend who “said he was unsure exactly what Hifter did to support himself, and that Hifter primarily focused on helping his large family.”
To those who can read between the lines, this profile is a thinly disguised indication of Hifter’s role as a CIA operative. How else does a high-ranking former Libyan military commander enter the United States in the early 1990s, only a few years after the Lockerbie bombing, and then settle near the US capital, except with the permission and active assistance of US intelligence agencies? Hifter actually lived in Vienna, Virginia, about five miles from CIA headquarters in Langley, for two decades.
The agency was very familiar with Hifter’s military and political work. A Washington Post report of March 26, 1996 describes an armed rebellion against Gaddafi in Libya and uses a variant spelling of his name. The article cites witnesses to the rebellion who report that “its leader is Col. Khalifa Haftar, of a contra-style group based in the United States called the Libyan National Army.”
The comparison is to the “contra” terrorist forces financed and armed by the US government in the 1980s against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. The Iran-Contra scandal, which rocked the Reagan administration in 1986-87, involved the exposure of illegal US arms sales to Iran, with the proceeds used to finance the contras in defiance of a congressional ban. Congressional Democrats covered up the scandal and rejected calls to impeach Reagan for sponsoring the flagrantly illegal activities of a cabal of former intelligence operatives and White House aides.
A 2001 book, Manipulations africaines, published by Le Monde diplomatique, traces the CIA connection even further back, to 1987, reporting that Hifter, then a colonel in Gaddafi’s army, was captured fighting in Chad in a Libyan-backed rebellion against the US-backed government of Hissène Habré. He defected to the Libyan National Salvation Front (LNSF), the principal anti-Gaddafi group, which had the backing of the American CIA. He organized his own militia, which operated in Chad until Habré was overthrown by a French-supported rival, Idriss Déby, in 1990.
According to this book, “the Haftar force, created and financed by the CIA in Chad, vanished into thin air with the help of the CIA shortly after the government was overthrown by Idriss Déby.” The book also cites a Congressional Research Service report of December 19, 1996 that the US government was providing financial and military aid to the LNSF and that a number of LNSF members were relocated to the United States.
This information is available to anyone who conducts even a cursory Internet search, but it has not been reported by the corporate-controlled media in the United States, except in the dispatch from McClatchy, which avoids any reference to the CIA. None of the television networks, busily lauding the “freedom fighters” of eastern Libya, has bothered to report that these forces are now commanded by a longtime collaborator of US intelligence services.
Nor have the liberal and “left” enthusiasts of the US-European intervention in Libya taken note. They are too busy hailing the Obama administration for its multilateral and “consultative” approach to war, supposedly so different from the unilateral and “cowboy” approach of the Bush administration in Iraq. That the result is the same—death and destruction raining down on the population, the trampling of the sovereignty and independence of a former colonial country—means nothing to these apologists for imperialism.
The role of Hifter, aptly described 15 years ago as the leader of a “contra-style group,” demonstrates the real class forces at work in the Libyan tragedy. Whatever genuine popular opposition was expressed in the initial revolt against the corrupt Gaddafi dictatorship, the rebellion has been hijacked by imperialism.
The US and European intervention in Libya is aimed not at bringing “democracy” and “freedom,” but at installing in power stooges of the CIA who will rule just as brutally as Gaddafi, while allowing the imperialist powers to loot the country’s oil resources and use Libya as a base of operations against the popular revolts sweeping the Middle East and North Africa.
Hifter’s arrival in Benghazi was first reported by Al Jazeera on March 14, followed by a flattering portrait in the virulently pro-war British tabloid the Daily Mail on March 19. The Daily Mail described Hifter as one of the “two military stars of the revolution” who “had recently returned from exile in America to lend the rebel ground forces some tactical coherence.” The newspaper did not refer to his CIA connections.
McClatchy Newspapers published a profile of Hifter on Sunday. Headlined “New Rebel Leader Spent Much of Past 20 years in Suburban Virginia,” the article notes that he was once a top commander for the Gaddafi regime, until “a disastrous military adventure in Chad in the late 1980s.”
Hifter then went over to the anti-Gaddafi opposition, eventually emigrating to the United States, where he lived until two weeks ago when he returned to Libya to take command in Benghazi.
The McClatchy profile concluded, “Since coming to the United States in the early 1990s, Hifter lived in suburban Virginia outside Washington, DC.” It cited a friend who “said he was unsure exactly what Hifter did to support himself, and that Hifter primarily focused on helping his large family.”
To those who can read between the lines, this profile is a thinly disguised indication of Hifter’s role as a CIA operative. How else does a high-ranking former Libyan military commander enter the United States in the early 1990s, only a few years after the Lockerbie bombing, and then settle near the US capital, except with the permission and active assistance of US intelligence agencies? Hifter actually lived in Vienna, Virginia, about five miles from CIA headquarters in Langley, for two decades.
The agency was very familiar with Hifter’s military and political work. A Washington Post report of March 26, 1996 describes an armed rebellion against Gaddafi in Libya and uses a variant spelling of his name. The article cites witnesses to the rebellion who report that “its leader is Col. Khalifa Haftar, of a contra-style group based in the United States called the Libyan National Army.”
The comparison is to the “contra” terrorist forces financed and armed by the US government in the 1980s against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. The Iran-Contra scandal, which rocked the Reagan administration in 1986-87, involved the exposure of illegal US arms sales to Iran, with the proceeds used to finance the contras in defiance of a congressional ban. Congressional Democrats covered up the scandal and rejected calls to impeach Reagan for sponsoring the flagrantly illegal activities of a cabal of former intelligence operatives and White House aides.
A 2001 book, Manipulations africaines, published by Le Monde diplomatique, traces the CIA connection even further back, to 1987, reporting that Hifter, then a colonel in Gaddafi’s army, was captured fighting in Chad in a Libyan-backed rebellion against the US-backed government of Hissène Habré. He defected to the Libyan National Salvation Front (LNSF), the principal anti-Gaddafi group, which had the backing of the American CIA. He organized his own militia, which operated in Chad until Habré was overthrown by a French-supported rival, Idriss Déby, in 1990.
According to this book, “the Haftar force, created and financed by the CIA in Chad, vanished into thin air with the help of the CIA shortly after the government was overthrown by Idriss Déby.” The book also cites a Congressional Research Service report of December 19, 1996 that the US government was providing financial and military aid to the LNSF and that a number of LNSF members were relocated to the United States.
This information is available to anyone who conducts even a cursory Internet search, but it has not been reported by the corporate-controlled media in the United States, except in the dispatch from McClatchy, which avoids any reference to the CIA. None of the television networks, busily lauding the “freedom fighters” of eastern Libya, has bothered to report that these forces are now commanded by a longtime collaborator of US intelligence services.
Nor have the liberal and “left” enthusiasts of the US-European intervention in Libya taken note. They are too busy hailing the Obama administration for its multilateral and “consultative” approach to war, supposedly so different from the unilateral and “cowboy” approach of the Bush administration in Iraq. That the result is the same—death and destruction raining down on the population, the trampling of the sovereignty and independence of a former colonial country—means nothing to these apologists for imperialism.
The role of Hifter, aptly described 15 years ago as the leader of a “contra-style group,” demonstrates the real class forces at work in the Libyan tragedy. Whatever genuine popular opposition was expressed in the initial revolt against the corrupt Gaddafi dictatorship, the rebellion has been hijacked by imperialism.
The US and European intervention in Libya is aimed not at bringing “democracy” and “freedom,” but at installing in power stooges of the CIA who will rule just as brutally as Gaddafi, while allowing the imperialist powers to loot the country’s oil resources and use Libya as a base of operations against the popular revolts sweeping the Middle East and North Africa.
Tearing Down a Middle East Dictator Statue – Chapter 2 : Michael Shaw
If these dramatic scenes from Deraa, Syria on Friday were reminiscent of anything here in the West, it was the toppling of the Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad’s Firdos Square. Except the Syrian’s, in dismantling dictator/President al-Assad’s dictator father, didn’t need a U.S. tank to do it.
Oh, and we Tumbl’d this.
(photos: Two cell phone photos and still frame from amateur video via Reuters. caption/s: Protesters gather near the site where the statue of late Syria President Hafez al-Assad was torn down in the southern Syrian city of Deraa, in this picture taken with a mobile phone March 25, 2011. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was facing the deepest crisis of his 11 years in power after security forces fired on protesters on Friday, adding to a death toll that rights groups have said now numbers in the dozens. Picture taken March 25, 2011. caption 3, first sentence,: This still image taken from amateur video posted on a social media website shows men removing the statue of late Syria President Hafez al-Assad in Deraa March 25, 2011.)
Oh, and we Tumbl’d this.
(photos: Two cell phone photos and still frame from amateur video via Reuters. caption/s: Protesters gather near the site where the statue of late Syria President Hafez al-Assad was torn down in the southern Syrian city of Deraa, in this picture taken with a mobile phone March 25, 2011. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was facing the deepest crisis of his 11 years in power after security forces fired on protesters on Friday, adding to a death toll that rights groups have said now numbers in the dozens. Picture taken March 25, 2011. caption 3, first sentence,: This still image taken from amateur video posted on a social media website shows men removing the statue of late Syria President Hafez al-Assad in Deraa March 25, 2011.)
Z Net - The Spirit Of Resistance Lives : Philip Weiss
zcommunications.org
I'm stirred by the speech because I think its ultimate impact will be on Palestine. In fact, I think Obama is conscious of its Palestinian application. Again and again he made statements tonight-- massacre, atrocities, freedom of speech, universal rights, "the writ" of the U.N. Security Council, 40+ years of tyranny, the rights of refugees, the support of the Arab League, America's "unique ability" to have an effect-- that apply to the Palestinian experience.
http://www.zcommunications.org/cairo-2-by-philip-weiss
Cairo 2
President Obama's most critical statement tonight was that letting Qaddafi win would have imperilled the nascent democracies in Tunisia and Egypt. "The democratic impulses that are dawning across the region would be eclipsed by the darkest form of dictatorship, as repressive leaders concluded that violence is the best strategy to cling to power."
I'm stirred by the speech because I think its ultimate impact will be on Palestine. In fact, I think Obama is conscious of its Palestinian application. Again and again he made statements tonight-- massacre, atrocities, freedom of speech, universal rights, "the writ" of the U.N. Security Council, 40+ years of tyranny, the rights of refugees, the support of the Arab League, America's "unique ability" to have an effect-- that apply to the Palestinian experience.
http://www.zcommunications.org/cairo-2-by-philip-weiss
Cairo 2
President Obama's most critical statement tonight was that letting Qaddafi win would have imperilled the nascent democracies in Tunisia and Egypt. "The democratic impulses that are dawning across the region would be eclipsed by the darkest form of dictatorship, as repressive leaders concluded that violence is the best strategy to cling to power."
الثورة العربية في غمضة عين في الاعلام العالمي والعربي : مشارقة
الإعلام الأجنبي:
· جنين زكريا، Washington Post: على الرغم من استمرار انتقاد إسرائيل لسوريا خاصة في ظل تحالف الأخيرة مع إيران، إلا أن تل أبيب ترى أن بقاء الأسد في الحكم أفضل لها ولأمنها، فالجبهة السورية لطالما كانت الأكثر هدوءاً على مدى عقود، كما أن المنطقة الشمالية الحدودية بين البلدين ازدهرت في ظل وجود سلام وتعايش نسبي. للمزيد...
· جولان كوسوف،The Telegraph: إن تحرك الأمم المتحدة لتطبيق مقترح تعليم طلاب غزة عن تاريخ المحرقة، تحرك جريء وجذري وضروري، وبالمثل فان إسرائيل وبعض مؤيديها عليهم الدخول في عملية مماثلة. فلا يوجد مبرر للشعور بالرضا أو الصواب، عندما يعتقد 54% من الشباب الإسرائيلي أن حرمان العرب من حقوقهم المدنية هو أمر مقبول، ومئات الحاخامات يدعون اليهود إلى عدم بيع أو تأجير ممتلكاتهم لغير اليهود، ووصف جميع العرب بالمتوحشين بعد عملية ايتمار. وعملية السلام الحقيقية يجب أن تبدأ بعد أن يتم تحرير قلوب وعقول الشباب من خطاب الكراهية والرسومات الكاريكاتورية المهينة حول الآخر. للمزيد...
الإعلام العربي:
· سعيد الشيخ، القدس العربي: اتهام السيدة بثينة شعبان والنظام السوري للفلسطينيين بإشعال الفتنة في سوريا لن يكون الأخير، ولكن لن يظل الفلسطيني الحائط الواطئ لأن يقفز عليه النظام العربي لتمرير وترحيل أزماته. للمزيد..
· جيهان الحسني، الحياة اللندنية: ليس مطلوباً أن تتحرك الأساطيل والبوارج على الشواطئ الليبية لنقل الفلسطينيين إلى بر الأمان، لكن هناك خيارات كثيرة يمكن لعباس أن يقوم بها إذا اصبحت هذه القضية على رأس أولوياته، فهو ملزم بإيجاد حلول تنهي عذاب شعبه. للمزيد..
· أمجد عرار، دار الخليج: يوم الأرض ليس مجرد مناسبة للتضامن اللفظي الخجول من أمم العالم غير المتحدة أصلاً، فهو مناسبة لتذكير أولئك الذين ينامون على وسائد النسيان والوجوه الكالحة أن في هذه البلاد دماء لو نبشتم التراب لوجدتموها ما زالت ساخنة. للمزيد..
· رشاد أبو شارو، القدس العربي: 30 آذار، منذ العام 1976 صار يوما للأرض، يحتفل به الفلسطينيون داخل فلسطين وخارجها، ففيه تم إنقاذ 60 ألف دونم من الأراضي الفلسطينية بعد أن استولت عليها إسرائيل. ولا بد أن نسترجع أرضنا الفلسطينية في ظل الثورات العربية. للمزيد..
· يوسف أبو اللوز، دار الخليج: في يوم الأرض تبدو أرض فلسطين منقسمة بين البحر والبرّ، تبدو مكانين منفيين، وجغرافيتين واقعتين في نار الاختلاف والانقسام. بردت اللغة، بعدما برد السلاح، وأصبحت المقاومة مصطلحاً فولكلورياً، فمن لأرض فلسطين في يوم أرضها؟. للمزيد..
Sabah Al-Bazee( journaliste) irakien Il a été tué par des éclats : Gilles Klein
L'agence ajoute que Sabah Al-Bazee travaillait pour elle en Irak depuis 2004. Il a été tué par des éclats provoqués par une explosion. Né au nord de Bagdad, Al-Bazee, 30 ans, était marié et père de trois enfants.
L'organisation américaine Committee to Protect Journalists rappelle à cette occasion que, sans compter Al-Bazee, 147 journalistes et 57 employés par des médias ont été tués en Irak depuis 1992.
Une page Facebook appelant à une troisième Intifada palestinienne a été supprimée par Facebook : Gilles Klein
Les créateurs de la page disaient s'être inspirés des exemples tunisien et égyptien, mais la page dont l'adresse était http://www.facebook.com/Palestinian.Intifada est n'est plus accessible, elle a finalement été supprimée par Facebook hier, après avoir attiré plus de 350 000 supporters.
Le ministre israélien de l'Information avait écrit à Mark Zuckerberg, patron du réeau social, que "sur cette page Facebook, il y avait des commentaires appelant à tuer des Israéliens et des Juifs pour libérer Jérusalem et la Palestine par la violence", ajoutant: "Je me tourne vers vous pour que vous ordonniez la supression immédiate de cette page."
سوزان مبارك دعمت المرأة من الصفوة، وتركت المرأة الشعبية على حالها : اميرة محمد
ربما يتصور البعض أن المرأة المصرية عاشت أزهي عصورها في الأعوام الأخيرة، في ظل النشاط الكبير الذي أولته قرينة الرئيس السابق للجمعيات النسائية، وفي ظل صنبور الدعم المالي الذي كانت تتلقاه كبريات المنظمات المعنية بحقوق المرأة. لكن واقعة التحرش اللفظي والجسدي الجماعية التي تعرضت لها متظاهرات يوم 8 مارس الماضي أكدت أن المشكلة متجذرة ومازالت كامنة في ثقافة
"مجتمع ذكوري" وأن أيا من هذه الجمعيات لم تنجح طوال السنوات الماضية في مخاطبتها أو حلها عمليا.
هذا ما عبرت عنه صفاء عبد البديع، المحامية في النقض والإدارية العليا، ورئيس المؤسسة العربية لمكافحة العنف ضد المرأة، التي قالت لـ "دويتشه فيله" : "هناك شريحة كبيرة لاسيما بين الطبقة المتوسطة ثقافة تستكثر على المرأة ما وصلت إليه. هؤلاء كان يجب أن توجه لهم رسائل خاصة. لدينا في مصر جمعيات نسائية كثيرة تعمل في مجال حقوق المرأة والإنسان. عليها أن تتعلم كيف توجه خطابها. يجب تغيير ثقافة المجتمع تجاه المرأة".
واتفقت الناشطة الحقوقية مع الانتقادات التي كانت توجه لبعض الجمعيات النسائية كونها كانت شكلية تضم سيدات المجتمع والصفوة ولم تهتم في حقيقة الأمر بمعاناة المرأة الفقيرة والكادحة. وأضافت: "لا أنكر هذا الكلام، لكني لا أعممه في الوقت نفسه. لا أستطيع أن أقول أن كافة الجمعيات العاملة في مجال المرأة هي جمعيات شكلية ولصفوة المجتمع الراقي، بل هناك جمعيات جادة، أنا شخصيا احتككت بها فعليا، هناك جمعيات أهلية ساعدت المرأة المعيلة لأسرتها. وهناك أخرى تفتقر إلى الدعم المالي في وقت كان فيه دعم الدول أو المنظمات الدولية يصل للجمعيات الكبيرة التي لا تحتاج فعليا إليه".
ويكيليكس: رئيس اليمن مهتم بالثراء وهو في عزلة ما قبل الاعتزال او التعزيل
"الرئيس (اليمني علي عبد الله) صالح مهتم بإثراء عائلته أكثر من اهتمامه باتخاذ قرارات إستراتيجية لمستقبل اليمن". هذه العبارة وردت في ملخص برقية دبلوماسية صادرة من السفارة الأميركية في العاصمة اليمنية صنعاء بتاريخ 23 مايو/أيار 2005 عن اجتماع غير رسمي مع شخصية يمنية.
وتعمد موقع ويكيليكس الذي سرب البرقية شطب اسم الشخصية اليمنية المذكورة في البرقية في جميع المواقع التي ورد فيها لأسباب امنية وقانونية.
وتقول البرقية إن السفير الأميركي في صنعاء توماس كراجيسكي اجتمع بشكل غير رسمي مع الشخصية اليمنية، التي أبدت تشاؤمها من طريقة الرئيس علي عبد الله صالح في إدارة البلاد.
عزلة
الشخصية اليمنية قالت إن صالح يصبح أكثر عزلة يوما بعد يوم وأقل استماعا للنصائح التي تسديها له بعض الشخصيات العملية والتقدمية في الحكومة اليمنية. البرقية علقت على هذه التصريحات بالقول إن السفارة الأميركية قد استمعت بالفعل إلى هذا النوع من الطرح من عدة شخصيات في الحكومة اليمنية.
كما ادعت الشخصية اليمنية –بحسب البرقية- أن الرئيس صالح مهتم فقط بإثراء عائلته وعلى وجه الخصوص قائد الجيش الشمالي علي محسن الأحمر (الذي يعتبر ثاني شخصية متنفذة في اليمن)، وأن صالح لا يستمع إلا إلى نفسه ويتمتع بثقة غير واقعية بأنه يتخذ القرار الصائب على الدوام.
يذكر أن الأحمر انشق على الرئيس صالح مؤخرا وانضم إلى حركة المعارضة التي تنشط في اليمن مطالبة بتنحي الرئيس صالح عن الحكم.
االعراق: 38 قتيلاً بينهم مراسل للعربية في "صلاح الدين" : CNN
سقط 38 قتيلاً على الأقل، بينهم مراسل قناة "العربية"، بالإضافة إلى أكثر من 70 جريحاً، في أعمال العنف التي شهدتها محافظة "صلاح الدين"، شمالي العراق الثلاثاء، إثر قيام مجموعة من المسلحين باقتحام مبنى مجلس المحافظة والسيطرة عليه.
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