America's Surveillance State Knows No Bounds

The Guardian reported on one facet of America's descent into a total surveillance state:

The battered credibility of the Guantánamo trials has been further dented by revelations of hidden microphones, intelligence service interference with court proceedings and protests from lawyers who say the US military is preventing a proper defence of the alleged organisers of the 9/11 attacks.

The increasingly chaotic pre-trial hearings for the alleged mastermind of the attacks on the World Trade Center, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and four co-accused have slowed progress toward the full trial, to the point where it will now not start until at least 2014. But the latest developments also further undermine confidence in a military court whose legitimacy has long been questioned.

In recent days, the commander of the Guantánamo prison, Colonel John Bogdan, was forced to admit on the witness stand that secret listening devices disguised as smoke detectors were installed in the cell where lawyers met their clients, and that he knew nothing about them.

This means citizens must rely on whistle blowers, those in the inside of the surveillance state, for revelations on its depth and mendacity.  Which brings us to America's treatment of Bradley Manning.

Bradley Manning, the US soldier accused of being behind the largest leak of state secrets in America's history, has been denied the chance to make a whistleblower defence in his upcoming court martial in which he faces possible life in military custody with no chance of parole.

Checkmate, the surveillance state wins.  Obama must be very proud of the payoff that awaits him post public service.

Update 1-2-2017:  President Obama's zero tolerance war on whistleblowers paves the way for President elect Donald Trump, who has already expressed extreme disregard for the press and the role it's played in keeping government responsible and accountable. 

Obama to Continue Summary Executions

A white paper identified the "legal basis" for a U.S. President to order the summary execution of American citizens.  President Obama ramped up the use of drone strikes. The practice violates international law, but the U.S. isn't accountable given its U.N Security Council veto vote.

Not content with exterminating people via drone, Obama wants to turn this tool on citizens.  Hail to Obama, the Drone King!

War Talk Grows on Iran

The legendary Henry Kissinger spoke to fellow global tamperers on the looming danger of a nuclear Iran at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.  BusinessInsider offered Kissinger's view

"People who have advanced their view will have to come to a determination about how to react or about the consequences of non-reaction.  I believe this point will be reached within a very foreseeable future."

Kissinger didn't weigh in on the facts or offer his wisdom on strategies to undertake.

Kissinger, Peres and Defense Minister Ehud Barak all seem to think that the Iran nuclear situation will come to close in some way in the next few months.

From Davos Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak cited America's ability to "surgically strike" Irianian nuclear program.

Haaretz reported:

U.S. last April deployed six F-22 Raptors, its most advanced fighter currently in operational use and the only operational 'stealth' fighter in use around the world, on airbase in UAE. This temporary deployment has apparently become permanent. 

We'll see if Martin Indyk was right with his prediction.  The stage is prepared..

Update 4-9-13:  Secretary of State John Kerry quickly donned the war jacket while visiting Israel.   Kerry made no mention of Dimona or Hiroshima.

Obama Practical, King Visionary

It's ironic the first black American President was inaugurated on Dr. Martin Luther King Day.  They stand in contrast to one another.

1.  Dr. King was visionary, President Obama practical. 
2.  Dr. King called for an end to poverty. President Obama grew the number under poverty in his first term.
3.  Dr. King was the victim of domestic spying.  President Obama grew America's spy complex, giving it more power to spy upon and detain U.S. citizens without a warrant.
4.  Dr. King was the victim of assassination.  President Obama grew America's international practice of summary execution by drone fired missiles.

Dr. Martin Luther King used the power of vision, persuasion and oratory to envision a better America.  The beneficiary of King's vision has been practical, incremental, and frequently absent from stage.  President Obama is no MLK.

Israel's Expansion Extravaganza

Israel announced a settlement expansion extravaganza in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.  This came in retaliation for a United Nations vote on a Palestinian state, where representatives overwhelmingly granted Palestine nonmember observer status. 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "pressed the Palestinian Authority to return to direct negotiations, saying the process represents 'not just the best but the only path to the independent state they deserve.'"

Hillary Clinton dangled economic peace to Palestinians in the West Bank, while Israel took more land.  That effort resulted in no talks  for nearly the whole Obama administration.  A brief round of talks in 2010 quickly disintegrated. 

Back to the settlement expansion, which Hillary weighed in on: "These activities set back the cause of a negotiated peace."

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland criticized the Israeli (settlement expansion) announcement. "These actions are counterproductive and make it harder to resume direct negotiations or achieve a two-state solution," she said.

The U.S. claims to have opposed settlement building for four decades.  That is patently laughable.  As for Palestine, it's third on Hillary's list of Middle East priorities.  Number 1 is preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.  Number 2 is keeping the cease fire in Gaza.  Number 4 is US and Israel supporting movements for democratic change in the Arab world.

As for democracy, Israel's arc is questionable in Hillary's eyes.

Without peace, extremists will grow stronger and Israel will be forced to militarize even further, Clinton said. “And without peace, the inexorable math of demographics will one day force Israelis to choose between preserving their democracy and remaining a Jewish homeland.”  

Israelis, public opinion wise, choose peace regularly.  It seems governments are incapable of delivering.

The U.S. and Israel teamed up to deny Palestine "nonmember observer" UN status.  They joined seven other countries, while 193 voted to grant what appears to be a nonthreatening status.

Update 12-2-12:  Israel confiscated NIS 460 million ($120 million) in Palestinian Authority tax funds.  Divide, appropriate land and starve. 

Update 12-12-12:  Settlements are a requirement for keeping peace, says Tzipi Livni.

Update 6-24-26:  Former Israeli leaders and security chiefs demanded action to stop violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.  

They demanded immediate action to “eradicate Jewish terrorism”, cataloguing years of attacks – including murder, sexual assault, theft, arson and desecration of the dead – by civilian and military perpetrators who acted with “almost complete impunity”.

It's a several decade old practice.  

Update 8-20-26:  Reuters reported:

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has warned militant Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank not to steal property owned by Palestinian Americans, describing such behavior as "a violation of God's law". 

"You don't take something that doesn't belong to you."

Patently laughable given what has happened over the last thirty years.   Israel has taken and taken and taken and taken and taken and ....

Razing Gaza: Obama's Second Round

The last time Israel razed Gaza, Barack Obama was President elect.  Israel wound up their operation prior to Obama's historic nomination.  America dangled "economic freedom" for Palestinians the last four years, but not much else.  The U.S. did give Israel over $10 billion in military aid during that time.  That military aid is now exploding in Gaza.

While Israeli military spokesman Mordechai said "every Israeli missile has an address," the media once again found themselves on the Israeli invitation list.  For the second time in four years, Gaza's innocent civilians are blockaded.  The question is how bad the beating will be?

Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai was quoted by Israel's Haaretz newspaper as saying that the goal of the operation was "to send Gaza back to the Middle Ages. Only then will Israel be calm for 40 years".

Obama is consistent in his support of Israel, despite his promise to work on Gaza immediately after his inauguration.  I expect the beating to be pretty bad and extremely sad...

Update 4-5-24:  The world is horrified by the killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza. Jesse's Crossroads Cafe wrote:

Over 30,000 innocent civilians and 196 aid workers have been systematically targeted and murdered in Gaza in this ongoing act of ethnic cleansing. The aid workers and food convoys are being targeted to promote the starvation of a civilian population. Their lies and phony claims are disgraceful, and transparent to the rest of the world. Yesterday's strike that targeted seven Western aid workers has finally provoked a response. More misery and pain is being inflicted in the West Bank, in what can only be said as a 'grab for land' of other people.

The razing of Gaza is near complete. 

Nuclear Weapons to Prevent Nuclear Weapons?

A Sunday Times report suggests Israel may need to use nuclear weapons to keep Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons: Jerusalem Post reported:

Defense experts claim Israel have two options, either deploy special forces on the ground, or use ballistic missiles with tactical nuclear warheads, the British paper reported.

Now that the U.S. Presidential election is over with, global tamperers know the players with certainty.   If there's one sole bright spot of U.S. bipartisanship on Capital Hill, it's against Iran.  Might a preventive tactical nuclear attack against Iran be in order?

Update 12-2-12:  The U.S. gave Iran until March to cooperate with the IAEA.  Then the U.S. will report Iran's noncooperation to the U.N. Security Council.