Unrepresentative NTC is unable to control militias, tribes and factions, which are committing human rights abuses in a bid to settle scores

By Ramzy Baroud

(source: Gulf News)

 A US soldier with the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) looks for evidences, as others walk at the scene of a suicide attack in Kandahar south of Kabul, Afghanistan. A suicide attacker blew himself up yesterday at an entrance to a sprawling base for US and Nato operations, killing seven civilians, police said.

The British Foreign Office and the US State Department are seriously concerned. Human rights officers in the United Nations are angry. Canada, for some reason, seems particularly enraged. The target of all this fury is Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC), which is berated for failing to curtail widespread human rights violations throughout the country.

The story sounds somewhat typical. Rights watchdog groups sound the alarm regarding violations in some third world country. Western powers respond by demanding accountability. The media reports on the story until it eventually fades away.

However, this story requires more than a mere acknowledgement of the self-serving approach to human rights violations. The accusers include the UN and leading members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato). It was the selective wording and interpretation of UN Security Council Resolution 1973 that led to a devastating war against Libya. The war destroyed one brutal regime and replaced it with another — at the expense of tens of thousands of Libyan lives.

As for the accused, it is no other than the NTC, which itself was a Nato political construct aimed at leading the political transition in Libya to serve western interests.

By Ali Abunimah

(source: Electronic Intifada)

The relentless drumbeat for war against Iran got a little bit louder last night with comments by US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta on CBS’ 60 Minutes that Iran is only a year from making a nuclear bomb if it decided to proceed. Panetta emphasized that Iran having a bomb is a “red line for us, and it’s a red line obviously for the Israelis. So we share a common goal here. If we have to do it, we will do it.”

The interviewer, Scott Pelley, had to ask what the “it” meant – but the clear implication was a military attack.

It is hard to avoid the suspicion that Panetta’s comments were part of efforts by the Obama administration to appease and placate the Israel lobby as President Obama faces a tough re-election battle and constant Republican attacks that he is too soft on Iran and not pro-Israel enough.

Just weeks ago, Panetta admitted Iran was not pursuing nuclear weapons

While Panetta did not say that Iran has decided to proceed with making a bomb he did not repeat comments he made just weeks ago that Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons (video above).

Speaking on CBS Face The Nation on 9 January, Panetta let slip, as Raw Story put it:

the big open secret that Washington war hawks don’t want widely known: Iran is not developing nuclear weapons.

On that occasion Panetta said:

I think the pressure of the sanctions, the diplomatic pressures from everywhere, Europe, the United States, elsewhere, it’s working to put pressure on them, to make them understand that they cannot continue to do what they’re doing. Are they trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No. But we know that they’re trying to develop a nuclear capability, and that’s what concerns us. And our red line to Iran is, do not develop a nuclear weapon. That’s a red line for us.

By E Qasim

(source: Star Newspaper, Monday 30/01/2012, Pg 11)

The sabre rattling and war mongering against Iran is nothing new. The main actors have always been Israel, USA and Britain. They know very well that it will take many years before Iran develops a nuclear warhead, if at all. False flagging and the application of the fear psychosis has been the tried and tested modus operandi.
 
The truth of the matter is the following:

1. Besides oil, Iran has huge deposits of natural gas that could last for decades to come

2. The China National Petroleum Company has signed a $5 billion dollar deal to drill for this gas.

3. Western petroleum giants Total and Shell lost out on the deal because of their indecisiveness coupled with their misguided allegiance to the western powers and Israel.

4. This gas will be pivotal to the recovery of world economies. China will be the chief beneficiary.

5. Iran's South Pars gas fields are the largest in the world. In the near future it will outstrip Saudi's crude oil output.
 
In this context, there will be a major re-alignment of world economies, with the US role diminishing with time. Hence we see this blustering rhethoric about democracy, peace,war on terror and alleged Iranian nuclear weapons. This can only be interpreted as as a desperate attempt by the US and her allies in Europe and the Middle East to hide their fears that they stand to be the big losers.
 
Russia is also sitting on large gas deposits and her influence in the region should not be underestimated. As matters stand, the US is backing the wrong horses.
 
The editorial makes no mention of these facts, for reasons best known to them.

By Jesse Lieberfeld

(source: Carnegie Mellon University - Dietrich College News)

I once belonged to a wonderful religion. I belonged to a religion that allows those of us who believe in it to feel that we are the greatest people in the world—and feel sorry for ourselves at the same time. Once, I thought that I truly belonged in this world of security, self-pity, self-proclaimed intelligence, and perfect moral aesthetic. I thought myself to be somewhat privileged early on. It was soon revealed to me, however, that my fellow believers and I were not part of anything so flattering.

Although I was fortunate enough to have parents who did not try to force me into any one set of beliefs, being Jewish was in no way possible to escape growing up. It was constantly reinforced at every holiday, every service, and every encounter with the rest of my relatives. I was forever reminded how intelligent my family was, how important it was to remember where we had come from, and to be proud of all the suffering our people had overcome in order to finally achieve their dream in the perfect society of Israel.

This last mandatory belief was one which I never fully understood, but I always kept the doubts I had about Israel’s spotless reputation to the back of my mind. “Our people” were fighting a war, one I did not fully comprehend, but I naturally assumed that it must be justified. We would never be so amoral as to fight an unjust war. Yet as I came to learn more about our so-called “conflict” with the Palestinians, I grew more concerned. I routinely heard about unexplained mass killings, attacks on medical bases, and other alarmingly violent actions for which I could see no possible reason. “Genocide” almost seemed the more appropriate term, yet no one I knew would have ever dreamed of portraying the war in that manner; they always described the situation in shockingly neutral terms. Whenever I brought up the subject, I was always given the answer that there were faults on both sides, that no one was really to blame, or simply that it was a “difficult situation.” It was not until eighth grade that I fully understood what I was on the side of. One afternoon, after a fresh round of killings was announced on our bus ride home, I asked two of my friends who actively supported Israel what they thought. “We need to defend our race,” they told me. “It’s our right.”

“We need to defend our race.”

Bombings in Nigeria

Friday, 27 January 2012

The Media Review Network (MRN) is deeply concerned at the recent spate of bombings of churches, police stations and civilians in Northern Nigeria allegedly by a group called Boko Haram.

In the light of previous false flagging operations and the current arrest and prosecution of two individuals in the United Kingdom, we cannot dispel the possible involvement of a third force in these operations. To blame it on militant Muslims in the north attacking Christians in order to establish Shariah rule is very simplistic, one dimensional and unsubstantiated.

Media reporters must be reminded that the ‘war on terror’ has long been used by governments to advance their own agendas at home and abroad and clearly defines Muslims as the enemy. Having said that, the events unfolding in Nigeria must be seen within the global political environment. These international dynamics provide more questions than answers and remains a challenge for mainstream media to unpack and unravel. For instance:

1. The appearance in a UK court of one Gary Hyde and his German colleague Karl Kleber, charged with shipping 80 000 rifles and 32 million rounds of ammunition to Nigeria. Their commission was $1.3 million.  On whose behalf are they acting?

2. Who were the Nigerian buyers?

3. Why has the government of Nigeria has remained silent on the matter?

4. Were these arms destined for clandestine operations designed to promote civil and inter-religious strife?

5. Both these arms dealers have deeply questionable reputations.

The Muslim leadership in Nigeria has distanced itself from all acts of terror attributed to Muslim groups.

The MRN further asks: Who benefits from this type of civilian unrest? There may be many suspects out there and not only the Muslims. When you connect the dots from Afghanistan to Iraq to Guantanamo Bay to Kashmir to Palestine, you can see a systematic onslaught against a group of people called Muslims.

That there is a serious disconnect between the truth, half-truth and blatant lies, is not in doubt. What is contested is whose fault it really is.

Given that the Western media dominates almost all discourse, Islam and Muslims are blamed for everything that goes wrong in the world. There is very little admission that much of the chaos in the world is caused primarily by Western policies that affect others in profoundly negative ways.

Issued by:

Ibrahim Vawda
Senior Researcher - Media Review Network
Tel: 012 374 6987
Cell: 072 295 0088
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