[Occupymendocino] [Fwd: First Syria 'rebels' armed and trained by CIA 'on way to battlefield' 04 Sep 2013]

[agnes at mcn.org]

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: First Syria 'rebels' armed and trained by CIA 'on way to
battlefield' 04 Sep 2013
From:    "CLG_News" <clg_news at legitgov.org>
Date:    Wed, September 4, 2013 1:01 am
To:      "CLG News" <clg_news at legitgov.org>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government
04 Sep 2013
http://www.legitgov.org/
All links are here:
http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news

US defends use of white phosphorus weapons in Iraq - CLG archives --US, UK
used white phosphorous in Falluja in 2005. Posted by Lori Price,
www.legitgov.org 03 Sep 2013 From November 2005 Archives, Page Two. US
denies illegal use of weapons in Iraq 18 Nov 2005 (The Sydney Morning
Herald) The Pentagon has acknowledged using incendiary white phosphorus
munitions in a 2004 counterinsurgency offensive in the Iraqi city of
Falluja, but defended their use as legal. A Pentagon spokesman,
Lieutenant-Colonel Barry Venable, said on Wednesday that the US military
had not used the highly flammable weapons against civilians, contrary to
an Italian state television report this month that said the weapons were
used against men, women and children in Falluja who were burned to the
bone. "We categorically deny that claim," Colonel Venable said. "It's part
of our conventional weapons inventory and we use it like we use any other
conventional weapon," said another Pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman.
Colonel Venable said white phosphorus was not outlawed or banned by any
convention. However, a protocol to the 1980 Convention on Conventional
Weapons forbids using incendiary weapons against civilians or against
military targets amid concentrations of civilians. The US did not sign the
protocol. US defends use of white phosphorus weapons in Iraq 16 Nov 2005
(Reuters) The Pentagon on Wednesday acknowledged using incendiary
white-phosphorus munitions in a 2004 'counterinsurgency' offensive in the
Iraqi city of Falluja, but defended their use as legal. Army Lt. Col.
Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesman, said the U.S. military had not used
the highly flammable weapons against civilians, contrary to an Italian
state television report this month which said the weapons were used
against men, women and children in Falluja who were burned to the bone. UK
used white phosphorus in Iraq 16 Nov 2005 (BBC) UK troops have used white
phosphorus in Iraq - but only to create smokescreens [?!?], Defence
Secretary John Reid has said. MPs are worried by the admission by US
forces that they used the controversial substance in the Iraqi city of
Falluja - something they had previously denied. US used white phosphorus
in Iraq 15 Nov 2005 (BBC) The Pentagon has confirmed that US troops used
white phosphorus during last year's offensive in the northern Iraqi city
of Falluja. The US earlier denied it had been used in Falluja.

First Syria 'rebels' armed and trained by CIA 'on way to battlefield' 03
Sep 2013 The first cell of Syrian 'rebels' trained and armed by the CIA is
making its way to the battlefield, President Barack Obama has reportedly
told senators. Mr Obama said that a 50-man [terrorist] cell, believed to
have been trained by US special forces in Jordan, was making its way
across the border into Syria, according to the New York Times. The
deployment of the rebel unit seems to be the first tangible measure of
support since Mr Obama announced in June that the US would begin providing
the opposition with small arms.

Congress moves to approve Syria strike 03 Sep 2013 Obama's battle to get
congressional approval for a military strike on Syria moved a step closer
Tuesday, with leaders of both parties in Congress announcing that the
United States should respond to Syrian President Assad's alleged use of
chemical weapons. US President Barack Obama convinced leaders of both
Democrats and Republicans in Congress to support his request for the
authorization of a military strike on Syria. After a meeting with more
than a dozen senior lawmakers this week, members of both parties went
public, praising Obama's plan and pledging a 'yes' vote on the operation
against the Syrian government.

US Navy deploys five warships, one amphibious ship to Mediterranean for
Syria 02 Sep 2013 The US Navy has deployed an amphibious transport ship to
the Mediterranean, where five destroyers are already in place for possible
missile strikes on Syria, a defense official said Sunday. The USS San
Antonio, with several helicopters and hundreds of Marines on board, is "on
station in the Eastern Mediterranean" but "has received no specific
tasking," said the defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Unlike the destroyers deployed to the area, the San Antonio carries no
Tomahawk cruise missiles but can ferry up to four helicopters and is
designed to bring Marines ashore by chopper or landing craft.

U.S. positioning aircraft carrier for possible strike on Syria 02 Sep 2103
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and other ships in its
strike group are heading west toward the Red Sea to help support a limited
[sic] U.S. strike on Syria, if 'needed,' defense officials said on Sunday.
The Nimitz carrier strike group, which includes four destroyers and a
cruiser, has no specific orders to move to the eastern Mediterranean at
this point, but is moving west in the Arabian Sea so it can do so if
asked. It was not immediately clear when the ships would enter the Red
Sea, but they had not arrived by Sunday evening, said one official.

'IDF soldiers mass on Lebanese border' --Media reports claim Israeli
forces have mobilized in the north ahead of a possible US attack on Syria
31 Aug 2013 Lebanese media reported Saturday that the IDF has mobilized a
large number of troops along the Israel-Lebanon border, ahead of a likely
US attack on Syria following the alleged use of chemical weapons by regime
forces last week. According to the reports, which were not confirmed by
the IDF, Israeli soldiers were deployed in areas bordering the eastern
areas of south Lebanon, namely the Upper Galilee, the Shebaa Farms and the
Golan Heights.

US Marine website targeted by pro-Assad hackers 02 Sep 2013 Pro-Syrian
regime hackers posted messages on a US Marine Corps recruiting website on
Monday, urging troops to defy orders from President Barack Obama. The
hackers showed photos of people in American uniforms holding hand-written
signs saying they would not fight for 'al-Qaeda' in Syria. "Obama is a
traitor who wants to put your lives in danger to rescue al-Qaeda
insurgents," the message read, according to a screenshot from The Wall
Street Journal.

Obama wins backing for Syria strike from key figures in Congress 03 Sep
2013 President Barack Obama won the backing of key figures in the U.S.
Congress, including Republicans, in his call for limited U.S. strikes on
Syria to punish President Bashar al-Assad for his suspected use of
chemical weapons against civilians. In remarks that appeared to question
the legality of U.S. plans to strike Syria without U.N. backing,
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the use of force is only legal when it
is in self-defense or with Security Council authorization. Assad denies
deploying poison gas that killed hundreds of civilians last month.

Two sociopath peas is a pod: Boehner says he'll back Obama on Syria
strikes 03 Sep 2013 House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, on Tuesday
endorsed President Barack Obama's call for military action in Syria. The
top elected Republican in Washington, Boehner said following a meeting at
the White House that he intended to support Obama's plan for limited
strikes against the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria. "I am going to
support the president's call for action," he told reporters. "I believe my
colleagues should support this call for action."

McCain playing poker on his iPhone during Syria hearing 03 Sep 2013
(Washington Post) Senator John McCain (R-Sociopath-Ariz.) plays poker on
his IPhone during a U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing
where Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, and
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey testify
concerning the use of force in Syria, on Capitol Hill in Washington DC,
Tuesday, September 3, 2013.

Obama's proposal seeks broad war power, despite vow of limits 01 Sep 2013
While President Barack Obama insists he wants only a limited air attack on
Syria, his proposed authorization of force would empower him to do much
more than that. The substantive part of Obama's proposed authorization of
the use of military force, conveyed to congressional leaders over the
weekend, contains 172 words. That's significantly more than either the
1964 Tonkin Gulf [aka false flag] Resolution authorizing the Vietnam War
or the 2001 resolution authorizing retaliation for the 9/11 terror attacks
[aka false flag], two measures that later became notorious for how
aggressively presidents used them.

Only 'diplomatic support': UK Foreign Secretary says Syria military action
ruled out 01 Sep 2013 William Hague, the UK's foreign secretary, has ruled
out military intervention in Syria stating Britain will only be offering
diplomatic support in the light of PM Cameron's defeat on the parliament
vote. The UK Chancellor slammed Labour "opportunists." "Parliament has
spoken. I don't think it is realistic to think that we can go back to
parliament every week with the same question having received no for an
answer," Hague said on the Murnaghan Show on Sky News on Sunday.

White House to Congress: Help protect Israel 02 Sep 2013 The Obama
administration is using a time-tested pitch to get Congress to back
military strikes in Syria: It will help protect Israel. Israel's enemies,
including Iran and the terrorist rebel group Hezbollah, could be
emboldened if Congress fails to approve action against the regime
government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, senior administration
officials said Saturday. And for the second day in a row, President Barack
Obama publicly cited the threat against Israel if Assad's reported use of
chemical weapons goes unchecked. Secretary of State John Kerry also
referred to Israel repeatedly as he made the rounds on all five major
Sunday morning news shows -- as well as comparing Assad to Adolf Hitler.
[Media: Why is it the 'Assad regime' but the 'Obama administration?'
Obama's killed thousands of civilians with drones worldwide. --LRP]

To some, US case for Syrian gas attack and need for strike has too many
holes 02 Sep 2013 The Obama administration's public case for attacking
Syria is riddled with inconsistencies and hinges mainly on circumstantial
evidence [aka lies], undermining U.S. efforts this week to build support
at home and abroad for a punitive strike against Bashar Assad's
government. The case Secretary of State John Kerry laid out last Friday
contained claims that were disputed by the United Nations, inconsistent in
some details with British and French intelligence reports or lacking
sufficient transparency for international chemical weapons experts to
accept at face value. After the false weapons claims [aka lies] preceding
the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the threshold for evidence to support
intervention is exceedingly high.

Syria intervention plan fueled by oil interests, not chemical weapon
concern 30 Aug 2013 In 2009 - the same year former French foreign minister
Dumas alleges the British began planning operations in Syria - Assad
refused to sign a proposed agreement with Qatar that would run a pipeline
from the latter's North field, contiguous with Iran's South Pars field,
through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and on to Turkey, with a view to
supply European markets - albeit crucially bypassing Russia. Assad's
rationale was "to protect the interests of [his] Russian ally, which is
Europe's top supplier of natural gas." Instead, the following year, Assad
pursued negotiations for an alternative $10 billion pipeline plan with
Iran, across Iraq to Syria, that would also potentially allow Iran to
supply gas to Europe from its South Pars field shared with Qatar. The
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the project was signed in July 2012
- just as Syria's civil war was spreading to Damascus and Aleppo - and
earlier this year Iraq signed a framework agreement for construction of
the gas pipelines.

CNN Caught Staging News Segments on Syria With Actors 01 Sep 2013 Anderson
Cooper and CNN have been caught staging fake news about Syria to justify
military intervention. The primary "witness" that the mainstream media is
using as a source in Syria has been caught staging fake news segments.
Recent video evidence proves that "Syria Danny" [LOL], the supposed
activist who has been begging for military intervention on CNN, is really
just a paid actor and a liar. The following video shows him contradicting
himself while off air, and even asking crew members to "get the gunfire
sounds ready" for his video conference with Anderson Cooper on CNN. [Yes,
it's reminiscent of Robbie Parker laughing and asking what he should say
at his Sandy Hook presser: 'So, just read the card?' 'Yeah, just read the
card.'.]

Government let British company export nerve gas chemicals to Syria 01 Sep
2013 The Government was accused of "breathtaking laxity" in its arms
controls tonight after it emerged that officials authorised the export to
Syria of two chemicals capable of being used to make a nerve agent such as
sarin a year ago. The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, will on Monday be
asked by MPs to explain why a British company was granted export licences
for the dual-use substances for six months in 2012 while Syria's civil war
was raging and concern was rife that the government could use chemical
weapons on its own people. The disclosure of the licences for potassium
fluoride and sodium fluoride, which can both be used as precursor
chemicals in the manufacture of nerve gas, came as the US Secretary of
State John Kerry said the United States had evidence that sarin gas was
used in last month's atrocity [by the CIA-backed 'rebels'] in Damascus.

Syrian rebels used Sarin nerve gas, not Assad's government: U.N. official
06 May 2013 Testimony from victims strongly suggests it was the rebels,
not the Syrian government, that used Sarin nerve gas during a recent
incident in the revolution-wracked nation, a senior U.N. diplomat said
Monday. Carla del Ponte, a member of the U.N. Independent International
Commission of Inquiry on Syria, told Swiss TV there were "strong, concrete
suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof," that rebels seeking to
oust Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad had used the nerve agent. But she said
her panel had not yet seen any evidence of Syrian government forces using
chemical weapons, according to the BBC, but she added that more
investigation was needed.

Iraq: British Troops Deny Mutilation Claims 02 Sep 2013 Bodies of
insurgents killed in a battle in Iraq were not mutilated by British
troops, nor were detainees mistreated, a public inquiry has heard. On the
first day of evidence from military witnesses, the Al-Sweady Inquiry was
told that claims that Iraqis killed in the Battle of Danny Boy were
mutilated were "baseless rumours" [?] spread to discredit coalition
forces. The inquiry is examining claims that 20 or more Iraqis were
unlawfully killed at Camp Abu Naji (CAN) near Majar-al-Kabir on May 14 and
15, 2004, and that detainees  prisoners were ill-treated there and later
at Shaibah Logistics Base.

KBR Seeks Combat Immunity in Soldier Toxic-Exposure Suit 03 Sep 2013 KBR
Inc. is invoking federal laws shielding contractors during wartime to
avoid a Texas trial over injuries claimed by troops who were exposed to
[KBR's] toxic chemicals while guarding a work site in Iraq. KBR is set to
argue today before a U.S. Court of Appeals panel in El Paso, Texas, that
such contractor-on-the-battlefield statutes act as a firewall to
litigation. Lawyers for injured soldiers are urging the three-judge panel
to reject KBR's theory that the Houston-based company is immune from the
lawsuits.

Taliban bombers attack US base in Afghanistan 02 Sep 2013 The Taliban have
attacked a US base in eastern Afghanistan, with reports of a series of
explosions. The morning raid took place on the Torkham base in Nangahar
province, near the Pakistan border. A Taliban spokesman told the BBC that
the group was behind the attack. The forward operating base is home to
some 66,000 US troops serving in Afghanistan along with forces from other
countries.

Sweden Investigates Lost WikiLeaks Luggage, Including Evidence of Alleged
U.S. War Crime in Afghanistan 03 Sep 2013 Swedish police opened an
investigation Tuesday after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange urged them to
find out what happened to a suitcase he suspects was stolen from him in
2010 by intelligence agents as he traveled from Sweden to Germany. The
suitcase contained three laptops that had WikiLeaks materials, including
evidence of a war crime allegedly committed by U.S. troops in Afghanistan,
according to an affidavit that Assange's lawyer filed along with a
criminal complaint to police at Stockholm's Arlanda Airport. In the
affidavit, Assange suggested his bag may have been illegally seized "as
part of an intelligence operation with the purpose of gathering
information about me."

U.S. intelligence agencies spend millions to hunt for insider threats,
document shows 01 Sep 2013 The U.S. government suspects that individuals
with connections to al-Qaeda [al-CIAduh] and other hostile groups have
repeatedly sought to obtain jobs in the intelligence community, and it
reinvestigates thousands of employees a year to reduce the threat that one
of its own may be trying to compromise closely held secrets, according to
a classified budget document. The CIA found that among a subset of job
seekers whose backgrounds raised questions, roughly one out of every five
had "significant terrorist and/or hostile intelligence connections,"
according to the document, which was provided to The Washington Post by
former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

REVEALED: Secret program gives federal agents nearly instant access to
BILLIONS of AT&T phone records without a court order --Hemisphere program
allows federal agents to access details on rolling database of 4billion
calls a day that are process through AT&T switches --Secret program in
place since 2007 includes records dating back to 1987 02 Sep 2013 A secret
government program called Hemisphere gives federal agents nearly
instantaneous access to billions of AT&T phone records dating as far back
as 1987, all without a court order or the oversight of a judge, it was
revealed today. It's a spying database that dwarfs anything built by the
National Security Agency to date - and federal agents have routine access
to it to conduct criminal investigations. The AT&T database contains the
location, time, phone number and other metadata from every phone call that
crosses the AT&T relay switches - an estimated 4billion calls a day.
Because the database captures any call that travels across the company's
lines, calls made by users of other carriers are also included. Since
2007, federal agents have been able to access the trove of information in
minutes - simply by issuing a subpoena. It appears little or no judicial
oversight governs the access to this information.

NSA directly spied on Brazil, Mexico leaders, mapped communications with
aides - Report 01 Sep 2013 The National Security Agency's spy program
targeted the communications of the Brazilian and Mexican presidents, and
in the case of Mexico's leader accessed the content of emails before he
was elected, the U.S. journalist who obtained secret documents from NSA
leaker Edward Snowden said Sunday. Journalist Glenn Greenwald, who lives
in Rio de Janeiro, told Globo's news program "Fantastico" that a document
dated June 2012 shows that Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's emails
were being read. The document's date is a month before Pena Nieto was
elected. It's not clear if the spying continues.

Record radiation readings near Fukushima contaminated water tanks --Rising
radiation levels and leaks at the plant have prompted international alarm.
04 Sep 2013 Radiation readings around tanks holding contaminated water at
the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant have spiked by more than a fifth to
their highest levels, Japan's nuclear regulator said, heightening concerns
about the clean-up of the worst atomic disaster in almost three decades.
Radiation hotspots have spread to three holding areas for hundreds of
hastily built tanks storing water contaminated by being flushed over three
reactors that melted down at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in March 2011.
Readings just above the ground near a set of tanks at the plant showed
radiation as high as 2,200 millisieverts (mSv), the Nuclear Regulation
Authority (NRA) said on Wednesday.

Japan to spend $500m on radioactive water leaks at Fukushima 03 Sep 2013
Japan will spend up to *500 million of public funds to tackle radioactive
water leaks at Fukushima, reports said Tuesday, as the government vowed to
take the lead in the 'clean-up.' Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will gather
members of his nuclear disaster response team to decide on the government
response to stop toxic waste leaking into the Pacific ocean from the
crippled plant, officials said. Water from nearby hillsides has been
flowing under the plant and mixing with polluted water that has already
seeped into the ground, resulting in mildly radioactive water reaching the
sea.

British police arrest 16 non-proliferation activists at nuclear site 02
Sep 2013 Police have arrested 16 people attending a demonstration at a
nuclear weapons facility owned by UK's Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE).
The rally started on early Monday in the southern village Burghfield,
Berkshire with protestors storming the site, trying to blockade its access
points, including a public highway. The civil resistance group have
targeted their campaign at Britain's nuclear weapons policy. They want
disarmament of nukes and a halt to the UK's Trident nuclear missile
system.

NYC mayor sues over law easing suits vs. police 03 Sep 2013 Mayor Michael
Bloomberg asked a court on Tuesday to block a law that would make it
easier for people to sue over stop-and-frisk or other police techniques,
continuing his press against new checks being imposed on the nation's
biggest police force. The mayor's lawsuit, which he had indicated he'd
file, argues that the measure treads into an area governed by state
criminal law. It includes a section explaining when and how police can
stop, question and pat down people, for instance.

US vampire checkpoints: Maryville, TN officers train for mandatory blood
draws at DUI stops 02 Aug 2013 Police officers in Maryville spent the day
Friday learning how to properly handle a mandatory blood draw at DUI
stops. The Blount County Substance Abuse Prevention Action Team and the
Blount County District Attorney General's Office worked with the officers.
The workshop explained the process of getting and serving a search warrant
for a mandatory blood draw.

Gus the Polar Bear - Free at last, Free at last. 03 Sep 2013 Gus the Polar
Bear's death has been widely eulogized in the news and social media over
the past few days, but nowhere have I seen outrage expressed about the
plight of Gus and other large mammals who "live" at zoos... Born in the
arctic wilderness of Toledo, Ohio, Gus never visited his natural habitat
and was forced to spend his life under house arrest, unable to roam the
hundreds of miles that are the normal home range of a polar bear. His
North Sea was the size of an inflatable backyard pool; the New York summer
was his cool arctic breeze. He lived alone for the last two years of his
life, after his great love Ida died, no new bear brought in to keep him
company.

Vladimir Putin takes field trip to aquarium, gives high five to walrus 02
Sep 2013 Russian President Vladimir Putin visited an "oceanarium" that is
being built on Russky Island in Vladivostok on Sunday. While there,
according to the Presidential Press and Information Office, Putin "watched
brief performances by dolphins and walruses" and toured the construction.
Putin also posed for photos with some of the animals and gave a high five
to one of the walruses. The English-language recap of the trip posted by
the Presidential Press and Information Office noted Putin is "monitoring
the construction work and has visited the site on a number of occasions
already." (Photos)
Lhota would have let kittens get run over, says subway shouldn't have been
shut down 30 Aug 2013 (NY) The two wayward kittens who caused chaos on the
B and Q lines were recovering from their adventure today, as the mayoral
candidates weighed in on the frisky felines. Former MTA boss Joe Lhota
(R-Terrorist) said he would have kept the trains running, rather than
inconvenience hundreds of riders. The MTA cut power on Thursday morning to
keep the two from getting squashed by the B and Q trains.

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