MEDIA ROOTS — Welcome to the future of combat: robot wars.  Take official numbers of troop withdrawal with a grain of salt, because their work is now being done by unmanned predator drones and private mercenary armies (which make up at least half of the US military presence abroad).  

Although the use of predator drones is not a new war tactic by any means, Obama has set a new Executive precedent by extensively relying on the use of unmanned drones to find people and clandestinely kill them around the world.  During the last three years, his administration has built a widespread apparatus of control that spreads across at least six countries for the purpose of surveilling adversaries and facilitating secret assassinations.

Regarding Obama’s drone killings, CIA and JSOC kill lists, and U.S. imperialism, the Washington Post reports: “Remotely piloted aircraft were used during the Clinton and Bush administrations, but only in recent years have they become advanced and abundant enough to be deployed on such a large scale.”

“In Pakistan, the CIA has carried out 239 strikes since Obama was sworn in, and the agency continues to have wide latitude to launch attacks.”

“In Yemen, there have been about 15 [drone] strikes since Obama took office, although it is not clear how many were carried out by drones because the U.S. military has also used conventional aircraft and cruise missiles.”

“CIA and military strikes this fall killed three U.S. citizens…”  No trial, due process or human rights for the victims of the Obama administration’s secret drone programme.  The US continues to set the military stage.  As Obama ushers the proliferation of predator drone technology, arms race tensions will force other nations to keep up with war technology, all which enriches war profiteers at the expense of the proletariat.

MR

***

WASHINGTON POST — The Obama administration’s counterterrorism accomplishments are most apparent in what it has been able to dismantle, including CIA prisons and entire tiers of al-Qaeda’s leadership. But what the administration has assembled, hidden from public view, may be equally consequential.

In the space of three years, the administration has built an extensive apparatus for using drones to carry out targeted killings of suspected terrorists and stealth surveillance of other adversaries. The apparatus involves dozens of secret facilities, including two operational hubs on the East Coast, virtual Air Force­ ­cockpits in the Southwest and clandestine bases in at least six countries on two continents.

Other commanders in chief have presided over wars with far higher casualty counts. But no president has ever relied so extensively on the secret killing of individuals to advance the nation’s security goals.

The rapid expansion of the drone program has blurred long-standing boundaries between the CIA and the military. Lethal operations are increasingly assembled a la carte, piecing together personnel and equipment in ways that allow the White House to toggle between separate legal authorities that govern the use of lethal force.

Read more about Under Obama, an emerging global apparatus for drone killing.

© 1996-2011 The Washington Post

Photo (above) by Flickr user US Army, Photo (feature) by Flickr user Jim N Texas

MEDIA ROOTS — “On the Dark Side in Al Doura: A Soldier in the Shadows” tells the story of U.S. Army Ranger John Needham’s experiences in Iraq witnessing war crimes and other grim atrocities by the U.S. Military.  He tried to blow the whistle and, in the process, endured great suffering and is now deceased.  Filmmaker Cindy Peister spoke to Project Censored about the new film on KPFA.  Michael Needham joins the discussion to help tell his son’s story.  (Listen to the interview here and read the transcript below.)

MR

***

On the Dark Side in Al Doura: A Soldier in the Shadows

***

PROJECT CENSORED — “Greetings, everyone, and welcome to The Morning Mix; this is the Project Censored Show on Pacifica Radio.  I’m Mickey Huff, in-studio, with Peter Phillips.  It’s Friday, December 23rd [2011].  Today’s show: Occupying Free Speech Radio—our One-Year Anniversary show.

“The second segment of the programme, we’ll hear film producer Cindy Peister, who joins us to talk about the new film “On the Dark Side in Al Doura: A Soldier in the Shadows” that addresses soldiers’ war crimes allegations in Iraq atrocity photos.  We’ll also speak to the father of U.S. Army Ranger John Needham, Michael Needham, to tell his son’s story.”

Dr. Peter Phillips (c. 37:53):  “You’re listening to the Project Censored Show on Morning Mix, KPFA.  This is Peter Phillips.  And with me, in-studio, is Mickey Huff.  

“Circulating on the internet now is a new film “On the Dark Side in Al Doura,” which focuses on U.S. Army Ranger John Needham’s experience in Iraq where he witnessed war crimes and some rather grim atrocities.  He tried to blow the whistle on that and he, in the process of being there, was blown up like 14 times, had traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress, shrapnel throughout his body, ended up back here in the U.S. under some dire situations, and is now deceased.

“We have on the line the producer from the film “On the Dark Side in Al Doura” Cindy Peister.  Cindy, are you with us?”  

Cindy Peister (c. 0:00):  “Yes, I am.”

Dr. Peter Phillips (c. 0:00):  “Great to have you, Cindy.”

Cindy Peister (c. 38:47):  “Thank you.”

Dr. Peter Phillips (c. 38:48):  “And also on the line is Michael Needham.  He is John Needham’s father.  And both are going to talk about the film and the importance of these very serious accusations against U.S. Military.  

“Cindy, tell us about the film and how people can see it.”

Cindy Peister (c. 39:05):  “Thank you, Peter.  First of all, I just wanna thank you and Mickey for having us on and Project Censored for all the incredible work that you have done to get stories like this out to the public that they wouldn’t, otherwise, know.  

“Actually, I did more than produce it.  I wrote the script and directed it.  So, I’m really familiar with the material.  

“We met Michael in March of this year.  I did an interview with him in our own independent media, Pulse TV and Maverick Media, out of Ventura.  And we were all stunned.  The crew and I were all stunned by Michael’s presentation of his son’s story.  John’s story is so tragic and Mike, himself, is so genuine and the atrocities are so vicious and so dark, we made a commitment on the spot to Mike that we would do whatever it took to help him get the story out.  

“We thought that it would be a lot better if Big Media put it out.  They have millions of viewers, but Mike had already had a number of disappointments in that regard.  We did sit it out and wait for Time Magazine to release the photos and stories that they had said that they didn’t do it, of course.  

“And then we went full speed ahead on getting our film out after CBS produced its show on John’s story November 12th.  They did cover aspects of veterans’ concerns that were really important, but they didn’t really focus on atrocities.  And Mike and I had really wanted to get this story out to the public.  We just felt it was in the public interest and it had to be done.

“So, we just pushed forward at that point.  We want accountability for these crimes.  And we want John’s story to be out there.  We had to turn to the activist community to distribute the film.  And it went out through the Occupy Movements, even across Europe.  David Swanson got the film and John’s letter to the Military authorities, in which he had tried to inform them of the atrocities.  He got that put out on Truth Out and now Project Censored is putting it out.  We really appreciate your support.

“We did get hundreds of thousands of hits [on-line] and twenty-something plays just the first five days.”

Dr. Peter Phillips (c. 41:38):  “Cindy, how can people see this online at this point?  

Cindy Peister (c. 0:00):  “Okay, if you go to our Vimeo website.  It’s http://vimeo.com//—”

Dr. Peter Phillips (c. 41:56):  “V-I-M-E-O, and I think if you google On the Dark Side in Al Doura, A-L-D-O-U-R-A, that you’re gonna find this because it’s at Maverick Media and Pulse TV.”

Cindy Peister (c. 42:06):  “Exactly.  And it’ll probably come out from the Truth Out site.

Dr. Peter Phillips (c. 42:10):  “That’s great.  And we’ll probably have links to it as well on our site.”

Cindy Peister (c. 42:13):  “Thank you.”

Dr. Peter Phillips (c. 42:14):  “On the line with us, also, is Michael Needham, John’s father.  Michael, are you there?”

Michael Needham (c. 42:21):  “Yes, I am.  Can you hear me okay?”

Dr. Peter Phillips (c. 42:23):  “Yes we can.  Thank you very much for coming on.  I saw the video this week.  It’s shocking.  It’s a tragedy of what happened to your son.  It’s also a tragedy of what was happening to other Iraq people in Baghdad, Iraqis who were killed in front of him.  And he tries to blow the whistle and reports that.

“Tell us a little bit about what happened.”

Michael Needham (c. 42:46):  “Well, basically, my son grew up in San Clemente, California.  He is one of five children; he’s my middle son.  And John was always a very active, athletic, you know, he was a very high achiever, a very fearless person.  He had a number of different opportunities.  He was in the pro surfing circuit in Southern California.  In 2005, he had actually won the Open Men’s Competition in a contest in Southern California that went on for four months.  So, he was pretty much on the fast track to pro surfing.  And he was also very interested in art and music.  

“So, within a period of time he started getting involved in watching different shows like Band of Brothers and you know, Saving Private Ryan.  We lived in San Clemente, only minutes from a Marine base, Camp Pendleton.  And this overwhelming, kind of, nationalistic feeling that the country was going through at that time motivated him to think about going into the Military and going and fighting for quote-unquote ‘our freedom.’  

“So, long-story-short, basically, I’m a Vietnam Veteran, ex-Army Officer and I tried to talk him out of it.  But he went ahead and made that choice.  Well, fast-forward.  

“He went through all this training.  He got deployed to Iraq in 2006 with a unit out of Fort Carson called the 212, 2nd Infantry Division, 12th Regiment, a [tech] and combat team.  And that particular unit became very, very infamous for these types of actions while they were in Iraq.  His unit was an Apocalyptic Now, type of unit, where you had a colonel, battalion commander, use these tactics of basically terrorising and murdering and dismembering bodies.  If anyone’s familiar with the trophy murders that were in Afghanistan.  This makes that look like a small-scale operation.  

“So, with the time we have on the phone right now, what I’d like everybody to do is look at the video on Vimeo.  And the real important thing here is that, as a parent, as a father or someone’s husband or son or uncle, people need to know the reality of what happened in Iraq.  And this is not an isolated case.  This is an entire battalion in southern Baghdad that basically targeted, murdered, and racketeered, basically, an entire neighbourhood through the leadership of the 2nd Infantry Division that was commanding at the time.

“The atrocities are real.  I got the photographs.  I presented them.  I went through a number of situations of dealing with the government, dealing with the Army, dealing with the Department of Defense, the White House trying to get people to take a look and take action.  But, basically, it was covered up.  I had major publications that were on the story and at time of release, I was told that they weren’t gonna do it.  In the case of The Washington Post, I was told that they were not going to run the story because they were basically told by the Pentagon that if they run the story that they would not have access like other agencies to breaking news.

“They were basically you know telling them that if you run the story, we’re gonna blackball you.”

Mickey Huff (c. 46:41):  “It’s elite sourcing, a form of censorship.  

“We’re speaking with Cindy Peister and Michael Needham about a new video On the Dark Side in Al Doura: A Soldier in the Shadows addressing soldiers’ war crimes allegations and Iraq atrocity photos.

“Michael, I’m sorry for interrupting you; I just wanted to point out, you were talking about The Washington Post; CBS also reported on this.  CBS did a programme on this.  And when they contacted the Army it was such that they claimed that war crimes did not occur, though CBS also stated that the report was redacted and incomplete with 111 pages withheld.  And the report claimed that when soldiers were asked about specific photos, one showing an individual with his brains pulled out atop a Military vehicle, they were told, quote, ‘We didn’t have any body bags that day. So, we put him on the hood of the vehicle for transport.’

“I mean this is the kind of thing that you’re talking about and the kind of thing you’re saying The Washington Post doesn’t want to talk about.”

Michael Needham (c. 47:38):  “Well, yeah.  And, basically, when we’re talking about that particular instance, which is one of hundreds and he’s documented with photos and with collaborative soldiers’ stories, is just a juvenile, sophomoric way of blowing this off.  Okay?  I mean I don’t want to go into too much detail right now because it’s a radio show.  We’re limited on time.  But being former Army, I understand what they need to do.  You would never drive a body around on a hood.

“What really happened at that time was that Iraqi was standing on the street and was shot and killed, point blank in the head.  They drug him on the hood.  They took his brains out.  And then they drove him around the neighbourhood with an interpreter blaring out threats in Arabic that if the citizens of the moulah, or the neighbourhood, in Al Doura did not cooperate with them that that’s what their end would be.  

“They were terrorists themselves.  They were killing civilians, robbing, stealing, just out of control.  It really is like an Apocalypse Now situation.

“The story with my son is even more interesting because basically I documented this thing from the very first minute he went in the Army.  And I don’t want, like I said, we have limited amount of time, but every claim we make, everything we say, we have dates, times, photographs, collaboration.”

Dr. Peter Phillips (c. 49:07):  “Michael, I think this is a really important story.  John, your son, tried to tell this.  He was subsequently came back to the U.S.  He is now deceased.  There are circumstances, all of this, which need to be investigated and brought forward.  We wish we had more time today to, really, talk with you more about this.  People can see this film online.  It’s called On the Dark Side in Al Doura: A Soldier in the Shadows.  You can watch it online.

“Cindy, are you still there?”  

Cindy Peister (c. 49:40):  “Yes, I am.”

Dr. Peter Phillips (c. 49:41):  “You’re continuing to work on this film; is that correct?”

Cindy Peister (c. 49:44):  “Well, we do have hopes to add some more interviews to make it a little meatier.  But we haven’t got that confirmed yet.  But we do hope to do that.  Yes.”

Michael Needham (c. 49:56):  “Well, I think—”

Dr. Peter Phillips (c. 49:57):  “Thank you.”

Michael Needham (c. 49:58):  “If I could interject for one second.  We are not done with this story yet.  I am still dealing with the VA in his death.  And at this point in time, we are not guaranteed on exactly how he died.”

Dr. Peter Phillips (c. 50:11):  “Michael, we’re gonna follow up on this with you and with Cindy.  And this is not gonna go away.  Thank you very much for being on the air with us today.”

John Needham (c. 50:20):  “Thank you very much.”

Cindy Peister (c. 50:20):  “Thank you, Peter.  Thank you, Mickey.”

Mickey Huff (c. 50:22):  “Thank you.”

John Needham (c. 50:23):  “Alright.  See you, Cindy.  Bye-bye.”

Mickey Huff (c. 50:24):  “We’re also joined in-studio by interim KPFA General Manager Andrew Phillips for our One-Year Show.  Andrew.”

Andrew Phillips (c. 50:30):  “Awe, this is a pat on the back and thank-you to you guys for doing such stellar work over the year, important work, such as we’re hearing today.  It’s really great that you’ve pitched in at KPFA.  And we’re proud to have you.  And I know that your programme, Mickey and Peter, is going out nationally also, creeping out there, because it is important that people hear this.

“Look, I want to take this opportunity to wish everybody, our Members and all of your listeners a very happy and prosperous holiday.  Hang tight; it’s gonna be a great year next year, very exciting.  We’ve got some interesting projects coming up.  And you guys in the studio and Anthony [Fest], especially, great work, and someone on the board I haven’t met yet, but thank you everybody.”

Mickey Huff (c. 51:15):  “That’s Jax.  Thanks Jax.  Thanks for coming in Andrew.”

Andrew Phillips (c. 51:17):  “My pleasure.”

Mickey Huff (c. 51:19):  “We appreciate it.

“We’re gonna round out the programme today.  We also did a brief interview with our, sometimes, co-host, Abby Martin; she’s also a Member of the Media Freedom Foundation; co-founder of Media Roots.  So, I had an opportunity to sit down and talk with Abby about the work she does, certainly the work she’s done covering the local Occupy Movement.  So, here’s a brief interview with Abby Martin of Media Roots.  

“For the One-Year Anniversary programme here at The Morning Mix Project Censored Show we wanted to, actually, talk to one of our co-hosts Abby Martin of Media Roots, who’s also a board member at Media Freedom Foundation.

“Abby, let’s just hear some of your reflections on the past year.  What have you been doing with Media Roots, some of the highlights that you’ve done here on the show, and some of the work you’re doing with Project Censored?”

Abby Martin (c. 52:05):  “Well, Mickey, I started Media Roots about a year and a half ago, starting off as just a news aggregate, just to have a vast collection of underreported news, kind of, what you guys were already doing in my own way and adding kind of a personal, personality, to it.  

“And then over time it turned into a citizen journalism project where people continually started pulling information from all over the world and submitting contributions.  And it ended up being way bigger than I imagined.  And getting involved with Project Censored and now intertwining the two, it’s really exciting.  

“Occupy Oakland, when that took off, I was on the ground every day when things were happening.  And that’s when the citizen journalism aspect of it really shined because I was able to tell the story of what was happening from the ground up instead of top down.  And we saw you know obviously the corporate news got that a lot wrong and said that people, you know, the crowd control methods that they used, those draconian crowd control methods, were warranted.  Really, it was up to citizen journalism to really tell the story of what was going on at that time.”

Mickey Huff (c. 53:14):  “And we’ve certainly been fortunate to have been working with you over the past year.  We certainly look forward to doing more of that.  What you’re describing sounds a lot like the name of the website, of the organisation, Media Roots.org.  Media Roots—radical, meaning, go to the roots and have a bottom-up kind of construction of a people’s narrative.  That’s what you’re getting at.”

Abby Martin (c. 53:35):  “Absolutely.  We see the top-down corporate consolidation and control of the message, it’s institutionalised; it’s not organic.  And Media Roots is, really, it’s from the ground up.  It’s true activism.  It’s true grass-roots journalism where you’re getting the story from each other like Robert McChesney said in the interview, ‘It’s not paid.’  Yeah, we accept donations, but we’re not influenced by any corporate donor or any sort of dogmatic principles.  We are for the truth.  We are completely unbiased.  We report from outside party lines, just like Project Censored does.  And it’s really important to have that.”    

Mickey Huff (c. 54:20):  “Hitting on the notion of reform, Elizabeth Cady Stanton once wrote, ‘Reformers who are always compromising have not yet grasped the idea that truth is the only safe ground to stand upon.’

“And, of course, we won’t pretend that there’s only one truth.  There are many different ways people can interpret things.  But one of the biggest problems that we have in our media structure here is that people don’t get all of the relevant facts.  And, of course, the bottom-up, the vernacular view, the media root, going straight to the street, so to speak, that’s often the view that’s really missing.  And certainly at Media Roots, you’ve been doing that.  You have been covering Occupy Oakland.  

“And you are also working with some people on a film about Occupy Wall Street.  Is that correct?  Could you talk to us, at least, briefly about some of that and maybe some of the narrative?  What’s the Media Roots connection there?  And what do you hope to accomplish?”

Abby Martin (c. 55:13):  “Yeah.  There’s a great film; it’s called The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film Project based in New York, run by a woman named Audrey Ewell.

“This whole concept that we’re talking about, citizen journalism, they’re pulling together everyone’s footage across the world that has been participating in covering the Occupy Wall Street Movement and putting it together in a collaborative project.

“I’m gonna be part director.  I’m submitting my Occupy Oakland footage, exclusively, to represent this area.  And it’s just a real exciting grassroots project with a bunch of journalists who are gonna get together and put together a citizen journalism film highlighting this Movement.”  

Mickey Huff (c. 55:50):  “We’ve been talking with Abby Martin of Media Roots.  Also you are familiar with Abby; she joins us here occasionally Friday mornings on The Morning Mix.  So, thanks again, Abby Martin, for all of your work.  Thanks for joining us today to help celebrate our One-Year Anniversary Show.  And we look forward to working with you in the year ahead.

Abby Martin (c. 56:08):  “It’s a great pleasure, Mickey.  Thanks so much for Project Censored and everything you do.”

Mickey Huff (c. 56:15):  “And that does it for today’s Project Censored Show on Pacifica Radio.  Again, I’m Mickey Huff in-studio with my illustrious co-host Dr. Peter Phillips.  Peter, it’s been a great year.  We look forward to doing more ahead with free speech community radio.”

Dr. Peter Phillips (c. 56:29):  “Thank you, Mickey.  And thank you to everyone at KPFA for having us on this year.  And we look forward to continuing.”

Mickey Huff (c. 56:36):  “That’s right.  Thanks again to Anthony Fest.  Thanks today for [Jax].  Thanks for [Kiersten]Thomas, who’s often on the board helping us out.  Thanks, too, to Andrew Phillips for joining us.  Thanks to Carrie Core.  Thanks to Arlene Engelhardt.  And, most of all, thanks to all of you, the listeners and supporters of community free speech radio; continue to Occupy Media in the new year to come.  And we’ll see you next time.”

Transcript by Felipe Messina for Media Roots

Photo by Flickr user US Army

***

MEDIA ROOTS- After using NATO’s Orwellian “humanitarian bombing” operation as the front for US intervention in Libya, the establishment is narrowing its sight on oil rich Syria next. Already the US and the EU have slapped economic sanctions on the country, citing President Bashar al-Assad’s human rights abuses during Syria’s recent protests. The corporate media is also beginning to ingrain propaganda about Syria’s stockpile of deadly weapons that is reminiscent of the propaganda surrounding the lead up to the Iraq war.

Earlier this month, Russia Today reported that the UN Security Council condemned “the widespread violation of human rights in Syria and the use of force against civilians by the country’s security forces,” while also urging the Damascus authorities to respect human rights and observe international law. “Those responsible for the violence should be held accountable,” the Council said in a presidential statement, the UN official website reports.

A great article by Global Research cuts through the misinformation regarding Syria and lays out some facts that don’t jive with what we are being told about their “democratic uprising”. Instead, reports suggest that the government and corporate press are fabricating a pretext for another NATO led humanitarian intervention in the region. Let’s not forgot that the United States pays the largest percentage of all NATO efforts, and wields the most influence on the shots being called on the grand chessboard.

Abby

***

GLOBAL RESEARCH– There is evidence of gross media manipulation and falsification from the outset of the protest movement in southern Syria on March 17th.

The Western media has presented the events in Syria as part of the broader Arab pro-democracy protest movement, spreading spontaneously from Tunisia, to Egypt, and from Libya to Syria. 

Media coverage has focussed on the Syrian police and armed forces, which are accused of indiscriminately shooting and killing unarmed “pro-democracy” demonstrators. While these police shootings did indeed occur, what the media failed to mention is that among the demonstrators there were armed gunmen as well as snipers who were shooting at both the security forces and the protesters.

The death figures presented in the reports are often unsubstantiated. Many of the reports are “according to witnesses”. The images and video footages aired on Al Jazeera and CNN do not always correspond to the events which are being covered by the news reports.

There is certainly cause for social unrest and mass protest in Syria: unemployment has increased in recent year, social conditions have deteriorated, particularly since the adoption in 2006 of sweeping economic reforms under IMF guidance. The IMF’s “economic medicine” includes austerity measures, a freeze on wages, the deregulation of the financial system, trade reform and privatization.

With a government dominated by the minority Alawite (an offshoot of Shia Islam), Syria is no “model society” with regard to civil rights and freedom of expression. It nonetheless constitutes the only (remaining) independent secular state in the Arab world. Its populist, anti-Imperialist and secular base is inherited from the dominant Baath party, which integrates Muslims, Christians and Druze.

Moreover, in contrast to Egypt and Tunisia, in Syria there is considerable popular support for President Bashar Al Assad. The large rally in Damascus on March 29, “with tens of thousands of supporters” (Reuters) of President Al Assad is barely mentioned. Yet in an unusual twist, the images and video footage of several pro-government events were used by the Western media to convince international public opinion that the President was being confronted by mass anti-government rallies.

The “Epicenter” of the Protest Movement. Daraa: A Small Border Town in southern Syria 

What is the nature of the protest movement? From what sectors of Syrian society does it emanate? What triggered the violence?

What is the cause of the deaths?

The existence of an organized insurrection composed of armed gangs involved in acts of killing and arson has been dismissed by the Western media, despite evidence to the contrary.

The demonstrations did not start in Damascus, the nation’s capital. At the outset, the protests were not integrated by a mass movement of citizens in Syria’s capital.

The demonstrations started in Daraa, a small border town of 75,000 inhabitants, on the Syrian Jordanian border, rather than in Damascus or Aleppo, where the mainstay of organized political opposition and social movements are located. (Daraa is a small border town comparable e.g. to Plattsburgh, NY on the US-Canadian border).

The Associated Press report (quoting unnamed “witnesses” and “activists”) describes the early protests in Daraa as follows:

The violence in Daraa, a city of about 300,000 near the border with Jordan, was fast becoming a major challenge for President Bashar Assad, …. Syrian police launched a relentless assault Wednesday on a neighborhood sheltering anti-government protesters [Daraa], fatally shooting at least 15 in an operation that began before dawn, witnesses said.

At least six were killed in the early morning attack on the al–Omari mosque in the southern agricultural city of Daraa, where protesters have taken to the streets in calls for reforms and political freedoms, witnesses said. An activist in contact with people in Daraa said police shot another three people protesting in its Roman-era city center after dusk. Six more bodies were found later in the day, the activist said.

As the casualties mounted, people from the nearby villages of Inkhil, Jasim, Khirbet Ghazaleh and al–Harrah tried to march on Daraa Wednesday night but security forces opened fire as they approached, the activist said. It was not immediately clear if there were more deaths or injuries. (AP, March 23, 2011, emphasis added)

The AP report inflates the numbers: Daraa is presented as a city of 300,000 when in fact its population is 75,000; “protesters gathered by the thousands”, “casualties mounted”.

The report is silent on the death of policemen which in the West invariably makes the front page of the tabloids.

The deaths of the policemen are important in assessing what actually happened. When there are police casualties, this means that there is an exchange of gunfire between opposing sides, between policemen and “demonstrators”.

Who are these “demonstrators” including roof top snipers who were targeting the police.

Israeli and Lebanese news reports (which acknowledge the police deaths) provide a clearer picture of what happened in Daraa on March 17-18. The Israel National News Report (which cannot be accused of being biased in favor of Damascus) reviews these same events as follows:

Seven police officers and at least four demonstrators in Syria have been killed in continuing violent clashes that erupted in the southern town of Daraa last Thursday.

…. On Friday police opened fire on armed protesters killing four and injuring as many as 100 others. According to one witness, who spoke to the press on condition of anonymity, “They used live ammunition immediately — no tear gas or anything else.”

…. In an uncharacteristic gesture intended to ease tensions the government offered to release the detained students, but seven police officers were killed, and the Baath Party Headquarters and courthouse were torched, in renewed violence on Sunday. (Gavriel Queenann, Syria: Seven Police Killed, Buildings Torched in Protests, Israel National News, Arutz Sheva, March 21, 2011, emphasis added)

The Lebanese news report, quoting various sources, also acknowledges the killings of seven policemen in Daraa: They were killed “during clashes between the security forces and protesters… They got killed trying to drive away protesters during demonstration in Dara’a”

The Lebanese Ya Libnan report quoting Al Jazeera also acknowledged that protesters had “burned the headquarters of the Baath Party and the court house in Dara’a” (emphasis added)

These news reports of the events in Daraa confirm the following:

1. This was not a “peaceful protest” as claimed by the Western media. Several of the “demonstrators” had fire arms and were using them against the police: “The police opened fire on armed protesters killing four”.

2. From the initial casualty figures (Israel News), there were more policemen than demonstrators who were killed: 7 policemen killed versus 4 demonstrators. This is significant because it suggests that the police force might have been initially outnumbered by a well organized armed gang. According to Syrian media sources, there were also snipers on rooftops which were shooting at both the police and the protesters.

What is clear from these initial reports is that many of the demonstrators were not demonstrators but terrorists involved in premeditated acts of killing and arson. The title of the Israeli news report summarizes what happened: Syria: Seven Police Killed, Buildings Torched in Protests.

The Daraa “protest movement” on March 18 had all the appearances of a staged event involving, in all likelihood, covert support to Islamic terrorists by Mossad and/or Western intelligence. Government sources point to the role of radical Salafist groups (supported by Israel)

Other reports have pointed to the role of Saudi Arabia in financing the protest movement.

What has unfolded in Daraa in the weeks following the initial violent clashes on 17-18 March, is the confrontation between the police and the armed forces on the one hand and armed units of terrorists and snipers on the other which have infiltrated the protest movement.

Reports suggest that these terrorists are integrated by Islamists. There is no concrete evidence as to which Islamic organizations are behind the terrorists and the government has not released corroborating information as to who these groups are.

Both the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood (whose leadership is in exile in the UK) and the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir (the Party of Liberation), among others have paid lip service to the protest movement. Hizb ut Tahir (led in the 1980s by Syrian born Omar Bakri Muhammad) tends to “dominate the British Islamist scene” according to Foreign Affairs. Hizb ut Tahir is also considered to be of strategic importance to Britain’s Secret Service MI6. in the pursuit of Anglo-American interests in the Middle East and Central Asia. (Is Hizb-ut-Tahrir another project of British MI6? | State of Pakistan).

Syria is a secular Arab country, a society of religious tolerance, where Muslims and Christians have for several centuries lived in peace. Hizb ut–Tahrir (the Party of Liberation) is a radical political movement committed to the creation of an Islamic caliphate. In Syria, its avowed objective is to destabilize the secular state.

Since the Soviet-Afghan war, Western intelligence agencies as well as Israel’s Mossad have consistently used various Islamic terrorist organizations as “intelligence assets”. Both Washington and its indefectible British ally have provided covert support to “Islamic terrorists” in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo and Libya, etc. as a means to triggering ethnic strife, sectarian violence and political instability.

The staged protest movement in Syria is modelled on Libya. The insurrection in Eastern Libya is integrated by the Libya Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) which is supported by MI6 and the CIA. The ultimate objective of the Syria protest movement, through media lies and fabrications, is to create divisions within Syrian society as well as justify an eventual “humanitarian intervention”.

Read more about Who is Behind The Protest Movement? Fabricating a Pretext for a US-NATO “Humanitarian Intervention”

Written by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

© 2011 Global Research

Photo by Flickr use gmsampaio

MEDIA ROOTS- One domino falls while another globalist target awaits toppling. Before the fog of war in Libya begins to sift, the political and media establishment have already latched their tentacles onto another chess piece in the Middle East: Syria. Last week, the US slapped economic sanctions on Syria for President Bashar al-Assad’s human rights abuses, freezing assets and blocking US business in the region.

Besides the saber rattling coming from the US government and the EU, the corporate media has launched a fear mongering campaign about Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons that is all too reminiscent of the WMD propaganda preceding the Iraqi invasion. The Washington Post released an article that is riddled with exaggerations and hyperbolic scenarios about Syria’s chemical arsenal, calling it the “largest in the world, consisting of tens of tons of highly lethal chemical agents.”

Even if the reports of Syria’s stockpile of weapons are true, it’s still completely illogical to engage militarily with a country simply for harboring chemical or nuclear weapons– especially since the US has the second largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the entire world.

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WASHINGTON POST– In 2008, a secret State Department cable warned of a growing chemical weapons threat from a Middle Eastern country whose autocratic leader had a long history of stirring up trouble in the region. The leader, noted for his “support for terrorist organizations,” was attempting to buy technology from other countries to upgrade an already fearsome stockpile of deadly poisons, the department warned.

Read more about US Says Libyan Chemical, Nuclear Materials Secure.

© 2011 Yahoo News

Photo by Flickr user Dapper snapper

MEDIA ROOTS- Since the federal government tends to refer to anyone in Afghanistan with a gun as member of the “Taliban”, it’s difficult to take stories from the corporate media about the Taliban at face value. However, the first official US military estimate of how much money the US has paid the Taliban through “reverse money laundering” since the invasion has been disclosed: $360 million.

Considering how any official Pentagon budget has always been the most conservative estimate when compared to independent analysis, it’s safe to say that this number is a gross underestimate of the true amount of funds the US government has paid to the “terrorists” we are supposedly fighting in the region. For more breaking down the logic of why the US funds the opposition to sustain the Afghan war check out MR Original – Afghanistan War: Resources for Endless Control.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS– After examining hundreds of combat support and reconstruction contracts in Afghanistan, the U.S military estimates $360 million in U.S. tax dollars has ended up in the hands of people the American-led coalition has spent nearly a decade battling: the Taliban, criminals and power brokers with ties to both.

In a murky process known as “reverse money laundering,” payments from the U.S. pass through companies hired by the military for transportation, construction, power projects, fuel and other services to businesses and individuals with ties to the insurgency or criminal networks, according to interviews and task force documents obtained by the AP.

“Funds begin as clean monies,” according to one document, then “either through direct payments or through the flow of funds in the subcontractor network, the monies become tainted.”

More than half the losses flowed through a large transportation contract called Host Nation Trucking, the official said. Eight companies served as prime contractors and hired a web of nearly three dozen subcontractors for vehicles and convoy security to ship huge amounts of food, water, fuel and ammunition to American troops stationed at bases across Afghanistan.

The Defense Department announced Monday that it had selected 20 separate contractors for a new transportation contract potentially worth $983.5 million to replace Host Nation Trucking. Officials said the new arrangement will reduce the reliance on subcontractors and diminish the risk of money being lost. Under the new National Afghan Trucking Services contract, the military will be able to choose from a deeper pool of companies competing against one another to offer the best price to move supplies. The new arrangement also gives the U.S. more flexibility in determining whether security is needed for supply convoys and who should provide it, according to a description of the contract.

HEB International Logistics of Dubai, a Host Nation Trucking prime contractor, “made payments directly to malign actors,” one of the task force documents reads. In 2009 and 2010, an HEB subcontractor identified in the document only as “Rohullah” received $1.7 million in payments. A congressional report issued last year said Rohullah – whose name is spelled Ruhallah in that report – is a warlord who controlled the convoy security business along the highway between Kabul and Kandahar, the two largest cities in Afghanistan.

Read more about $360M Lost To Insurgents, Criminals In Afghanistan

© 2011 The Associated Press

Photo by Flickr user azalea