Posts from — November 2011

Open-source intelligence
by Steve Ragan – Nov 7 2011, Tech Herald

The Associated Press (AP) recently visited a plain-looking building in Virginia, which is used by the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and staffed by a team of “vengeful librarians” to sort massive amounts of OSINT, or Open Source Intelligence. The CIA calls this location an Open Source Center.

OSINT, believe it or not, is often a key source of information that leads to actionable intelligence. It’s all around you, because OSINT is anything and everything publically available. Today, social media holds a wealth of OSINT sources, thanks to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, countless blogs and news websites, as well as video channels such as YouTube. OSINT also includes public records.

After the AP story ran, pundits expressed shock because the CIA was “spying” on people via social media. News headlines warning people to “be careful” with what they say on Twitter, because the CIA “may be watching”, made the rounds all weekend long.

It’s a needless worry, because most of what the CIA is doing is no different than what reporters do when following developing events. When a story breaks, journalists will follow breaking news on Twitter or, in some cases, Facebook, in order to amass immediate information and reaction.

So what is the CIA doing? As the AP report explains, it’s doing its job. Earlier this year, the CIA monitored the reaction on Twitter to the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed. It also monitored comments here stateside, but most of the aforementioned “vengeful librarians” watched the reactions in China and Pakistan. …more

The Social Network is Stalking You
ACLU – 16-November, 2011

A new web feature by USA Today details the ways that Facebook stalks you around the Internet – even when you’re not logged in. Facebook’s tracking methods – in the guise of the innocent seeming “Like” button – record every web site its 800 million-plus members have visited during the previous 90 days, even if you never click on that button, or don’t have a Facebook account.

We shouldn’t have to choose between browsing the Web and keeping Facebook from tracking everything we do online. That’s why we’ve asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to look into Facebook’s practice of tracking your web activity even if you never click on a Like button or log into Facebook at all, and why we encourage you to tell Congress to take steps to protect our privacy by creating a “Do Not Track” mechanism with legal force. And, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.), chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, has pledged to hold a hearing to investigate these reports.

Here’s what happens: when you visit any page on Facebook, it tacks “cookies” onto your browser, regardless of whether you have a Facebook account or are logged in. These cookies alert Facebook every time you visit a website that has a “Like” button or other Facebook social plug-ins. Given the number of sites that use “Like” buttons and other Facebook social plugins, Facebook has the ability to track a huge amount of your surfing habits. They know what you read, which videos you watch, what you buy, who your friends are and anything else you do online. Even if know this tracking is happening, you have no access to the information being compiled about you nor are you given the opportunity to correct any errors or clarify or delete anything misleading or just embarrassing. And while Facebook claims that it retains this information only to improve the effectiveness of its social plugins, profiles like these are a potential goldmine to online advertisers and can be irresistible to law enforcement, not to mention other third parties like insurance companies or divorce attorneys. …more

Farr, Grijalva, Harkin Sign Bahrain Arms Deal Resolutions
POMED – Novemebr 16, 2011

Two additional cosponsors have been added to H.J. Res. 80, which calls for “limiting the issuance of a letter of offer with respect to a certain proposed sale of defense articles and defense services to the Kingdom of Bahrain,” originally introduced by Rep. James McGovern (D-MA). The new cosponsors include Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) and Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ). Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) has also been signed onto H.J. Res. 80′s companion resolution in the Senate S.J. Res. 28, introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).

The resolution limits the proposed arms sale, requiring the Secretary of State to “certify to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives” that the Government of Bahrain “is conducting good faith investigations and prosecutions of alleged perpetrators responsible for the killing, torture, arbitrary detention, and other human rights violations committed since February 2011,” among other measures ensuring the Government of Bahrain’s compliance with international human rights standards.

Meanwhile, Isabel Coles argues that “the future of U.S. military support for Bahrain, starting with a $53 million arms deal now on the line, hinges on the findings of a human rights investigation into the Gulf kingdom’s handling of popular protests earlier this year.” Some fear that while the BICI report, due on November 23, may serve as a “springboard for reform,” the report will not present a “strategic solution to the issue to prevent the recurrence of these problems” in the form of a renewed . …more

Bahrain: Sustained Opposition to Arms Sale
November 15, 2011 – POMED

In a Washington Post ”Letter to the Editor,” Sanjeev Bery, advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, writes that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “was quick to repeat the Bahraini government’s assurance that it will hold accountable “those who cross lines in responding to civil unrest” during her recent speech at the National Democratic Institute. Meanwhile, Bery points out that “no one in the Bahraini government has been prosecuted for the many shooting deaths of protesters, and no one is being held accountable for countless allegations of torture. While an investigation is underway, the real question is whether there will be accountability for those who pulled the trigger — and for those who may have given the orders to do so.”

A report entitled “Accessory to Murder? US Weapons in Bahrain and the Coming Arms Sale” examines visual footage of what author Bill Marczak claims are American weapons being used in the February crackdown by the Bahrain Defense Forces (BDF). Marczak offers suggestions for the U.S. government, the policy community, and the general public, including encouraging the Department of Defense to pursue an End-Use Monitoring (EUM) investigation into supplies sold by the U.S. to Bahrain. He also suggests that if the BICI report does not “adequately address” the topic of the BDF’s suppression of protests, the State Department should carry out its own investigation. Lastly, U.S. citizens should encourage their representatives to sign onto H.J. Res. 80 and S.J.Res. 28, joint resolutions in the House and Senate that limit a proposed arms sale to Bahrain. …source

Letter from Obama insults its recipients
By Zac Smith – The Oklahoma Daily – November 15, 2011

President Barack Obama:

I read your letter, published on Thursday in The Daily and other student papers, with great interest.

You express concern over the economic prospects of young Americans, and you preside over a country which, according to CIA surveys, suffers from a greater degree of class inequality than many developing African nations and former Soviet satellites. For most Americans born into the lower economic stratum of society, life outside of that stratum will be forever unattainable.

You criticize Wall Street organizations for their “failure to adapt,” precipitating the current financial crisis for which the American worker must foot the bill. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup were among the key Wall Street contributors to the crisis; as you’ll recall, they were also among your largest campaign contributors in 2008.

Goldman Sachs associates provided you with more than $1 million during the run-up to the election, according to records released by the Federal Election Commission and collated by the Center for Responsive Politics. Then, after you assumed office, you appointed former Goldman Sachs Co-Head of Finance Gary Gensler as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and former Goldman Sachs Vice Chairman Robert Hormats as Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs. Former Goldman Sachs Vice President Mark Patterson also became your administration’s treasury chief of staff.

Your discomfort with Wall Street’s failure to respond to public needs hasn’t prevented you either from accepting enormous sums of Wall Street money or appointing former Wall Street executives to high positions in your administration.

You emphasize that you are just like us, that you share our concerns about debt and the affordability of college. You are devoted to making certain that we all have a fair opportunity to obtain an education.

Oddly, this hasn’t stopped your administration from supporting regimes that deprive millions of people of education and other basic rights. Last year, your administration sold $60 billion worth of military aircraft to the Saudi Arabian government in what Al-Jazeera reported as the single largest U.S. arms sale in history. The dismal state of human rights under the Saudi monarchy is well-known; in 2010, the U.S. State Department admitted that the Saudi government subjected its citizens to “torture and physical abuse … arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention … [and] restrictions on civil liberties such as freedoms of speech.” Saudi women are subject to a level of officially-sanctioned dehumanization virtually unknown in similarly developed nations.

Though the Saudi state educational system is relatively well-funded, its curricula are packed with stultifying religious dogma and Saudi women are often compelled by government-sanctioned societal conventions to avoid pursuing higher education. Thirty percent of Saudi women are illiterate, according to CIA figures. ...more

Harper inconsistent on rights in the case of Bahrain
November 15, 2011 – Eva Sajoo – Troy Media

When Prime Minister Stephen Harper returned from the recent Commonwealth Summit in Perth, Australia, he cast human rights as the defining issue for member nations — even threatening to boycott the next meeting in Sri Lanka if the subject is not forthrightly discussed.

As he put it, “the most important part of the Commonwealth is that we are building on a common heritage and trying to push globally an agenda of freedom, democracy, and human rights.”
But despite Harper’s attempts to burnish his credentials as a champion of human rights, his government has shown a willingness to ignore them entirely in recent months.

The ongoing events of the Arab spring have tested Western commitments to human rights and democratic values. Popular demonstrations have faced repressive responses from governments that Canada is accustomed to doing business with. Bahrain, for example, as a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, was identified as a “priority market” for Canadian exports and investment, according to a government fact sheet on Canada-Bahrain relations. This may explain the resolute silence of our human rights champions in Ottawa after recent events.

In early August, Al-Jazeera’s English service aired a chilling documentary called “Shouting in the Dark”. It detailed the mass demonstrations for democracy in Bahrain that began in February, and the continuing trend of arbitrary arrest, torture, and detention of those suspected of participating in protests or sympathising with those who have. This was swiftly followed by an official protest from the Bahraini government, which succeeded in cancelling planned re-runs of the documentary. The U.S. proved unwilling to upset the Al Khalifa government which hosts its Fifth Fleet, and limited its comments to encouraging a “national dialogue” process.

While the Bahraini government has represented this as a measure of its good intentions, the torture and silencing of its citizens has continued, well documented by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The crackdown includes heavy prison sentences for human rights activists, doctors, and member of the political opposition. The government also requires signed oaths of political silence from university students as a condition of enrolment.

Canada, which lately has been faithfully mirroring the policies of its southern neighbour, has said nothing. Rather, the government fact sheet on our relations with Bahrain states that “Canada and Bahrain share common views on the importance of education.”

Now one of our fellow Canadian citizens, Nasser Al Raas, has been subjected to the same pattern of detention and torture that has terrorised Bahrainis. Al Raas visited the country in March, to see his fiancée and sisters. When he attempted to leave he was arrested, his passport and identification confiscated. After a month of torture, during which he was compelled to sign confessions while blindfolded, he has been charged with participating in protests and sentenced to five years in prison. He also suffers from a heart condition which requires medication – something he was denied in prison. His family has appealed to the Canadian government for help, but with little effect. …more

[cb editor: Clinton is either a psychopath or is completely out of touch of the reality of US foreign policy.]

Promoting Democracy Is In America’s Interest
11-13-2011 – VOA

“Americans believe that the desire for dignity and self-determination is universal.” “In the Middle East today, the greatest single source of instability is not the demand for change. It is the refusal to change.” — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

VOA – The United States is committed to promoting democracy in the Middle East and North Africa. “We are not simply acting in our self-interest,” said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “Americans believe that the desire for dignity and self-determination is universal.” Moreover, democratic governments tend to be more stable, peaceful, and prosperous.

Secretary Clinton continued by stating, “In the Middle East today, the greatest single source of instability is not the demand for change. It is the refusal to change. That is true in the case of Syria, where a crackdown on small, peaceful protests drove thousands into the streets and thousands more over the borders. It is true in Yemen, where President Saleh has reneged repeatedly on his promises to transition to democracy and suppressed his people’s rights and freedoms. And it is true in Egypt. . . .If, over time, the most powerful political force in Egypt remains a roomful of unelected officials, they will have planted the seeds for future unrest,” said Secretary Clinton, “and Egyptians will have missed a historic opportunity.”

In Bahrain, the U.S. intends to hold the government to its commitments to provide access to human rights groups, to allow peaceful protests, and to ensure that those who cross lines in responding to civil unrest are held accountable. Reform and equal treatment for all Bahrainis are in Bahrain’s interest, in the regions interest and in the United States’ interest.

A fundamental component of democracy is holding free and fair elections. Parties committed to democracy must reject violence; they must abide by the rule of law and respect the freedoms of speech, religion, association, and assembly; they must respect the rights of women and minorities; they must let go of power if defeated at the polls.

In order to promote the democratic process in North Africa and the Middle East, the U.S. is providing resources, capabilities and expertise to support those who seek peaceful, democratic reform.

The United States is committed to helping all people, men and women, in the region find justice and opportunity as full participants in new democratic societies. …more

Hizbollah Leader Hassan Nasrullah Warns US of dire consequences if Iran or Syria attacked.
November 12, 2011 – by jafrianews

JNN Nov.12th 2011:The Secretary General of the Shi’ ite armed group Hezbollah warned the United States on Friday that any attack against the party’s allies Iran and Syria would spread to the entire region.

“The U.S. should understand that a war against Iran and Syria will not remain in the Iranian and Syrian territories, but it will engulf the whole region…,” Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech to mark Hezbollah’s martyr’s day.

The Hezbollah leader said that the United States was currently attempting to compensate for losses in the region as a result of the unrest in Egypt and Tunisia and the imminent withdrawal of its troops from Iraq.

“These changes in the region are not in the interests of the United States, and as a result, the resistance is gaining momentum, ” he said.

Israel and Western powers have called for further sanctions on Iran following a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, suggesting the Islamic republic was working on designing an atomic bomb under the cover of a peaceful energy program.

“The United States wants to subjugate Iran and force it to have direct negotiations with it, and wants to subjugate Syria to accept what it has never accepted in the past,” Nasrallah said.

Meanwhile, Nasrallah said that Lebanon has become stronger and more capable of thwarting Israeli attacks given his party’s capability.

“It is unlikely that Israel would wage war against us … Lebanon is in a position where it can turn the tables on those who attack,” he said. …source

Arab League rejects a letter from the Bahraini opposition
Nov 16th, 2011 – Bahrain – By shiapost

Arab League refused to receive the message from the Bahraini opposition abroad, which asks the Arab League to send a Fact-finding committee to Bahrain and demands the inclusion of Bahrain’s case in its agenda.

The letter that the Bahraini opposition sent to the Secretary-General of the Arab League contains those demands: “sending a fact-finding committee to Bahrain, and including the reforming demands in Bahrain on the agenda of the League.”

When the Arab League refused to receive the letter, the opposition delegation protested in front of the Arab League Office in Cairo. The members of the protest carried Bahraini flags but were subjected to harassment by the Syrian dissidents who were present at the scene.

Dozens of members of the Bahraini community in Egypt demonstrated in front of the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, in protest against the double standards adopted by the League in dealing with events in some Arab countries.

The demonstrators raised Bahraini flags and said many slogans condemning the Arab League’s policy, accusing it of putting pressure on the government in Damascus at a time where it ignores the repression, tyranny and human rights violations made against the people of Bahrain.

The following is the text of the message the Bahraini opposition:
“There is no secret to Your Excellency the suffering that the Bahraini people are facing, including persecution, repression and flagrant violation that took place on February 14th, 2011 during our appeal”

The people of Bahrain had expected, in light of the achievements that were made by some of the Arab people in the “Arab Spring”, that the Arab League would seek to achieve the legitimate demands of the Bahraini people (Demands for freedom, justice and democracy), but the Arab League did not take these demands into consideration and did not have a clear position despite the horrible violations that people have suffered from. (Political activists, lawyers, doctors, journalists, teachers, intellectuals, students, and workers were all subjected to the violations).

We hope that the Arab League would do the following:
First: The inclusion of the legitimate demands of the Bahraini people for the political reformation in the deliberations of the Arab League at its regular emergency meetings.

Second: Sending a committee to investigate the events in Bahrain and the extent of violations of human rights. …more

Emirates to add 50 new planes worth $18 billion
Jet maker Boeing says deal biggest single order in dollar terms in history
11/13/2011 – AP

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Dubai’s fast-growing airline Emirates kicked off the region’s biggest airshow Sunday with an order for 50 Boeing 777s, which the U.S.-based aircraft maker described as its biggest single order in dollar terms in history.

The list price for the deal is $18 billion, but airlines typically negotiate discounts for large orders.

Although the Gulf airlines are the among the world’s most ambitious in expanding their fleets and routes, a deal the size of the Emirates contract had not been expected at the airshow because of the large backlog of planes already on order for Emirates and rivals such as Abu Dhabi-based Etihad and Qatar Airways.

The deal, announced by Emirates chairman and CEO Sheik Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, is for an extended-range version of the 777-300. Emirates already has 95 777s in service, which is the most of any carrier.

Chicago-based Boeing Co. said the deal is the largest single aircraft order in dollar terms in its history.

“It sustains a lot of jobs in the United States — several thousand,” said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Before Sunday’s order, Emirates already had 40 of the planes booked. That means it now has nearly as many of the twin-aisle planes on order as it already operates.

Emirates is the Middle East’s largest carrier. It is owned by the government of Dubai, which is recovering from a debt-fueled financial crisis that came to a head two years ago.

Its young fleet also includes Airbus A330s, A340s and the double-decker A380.

Bahraini activists rally across Manama , Slams Arab League’s Double Standard
JafriaNews – 13 November, 2011

JNN 13 Nov 2011 : Bahraini activists have held new anti-regime protests across the capital Manama against the ruling Al Khalifa family, and Arab League’s Double Standard on Syria and Bahrain , Press reports.

The demonstrators took to the streets on Saturday in the face of continued crackdown by Saudi-backed Bahraini forces on peaceful protests in the Persian Gulf island.

They shouted slogans against the regime and its allies, including Saudi Arabia, which has been heavily contributing to Manama’s suppression of the popular uprising it has been facing since February. In the eastern village of Ma’ameer, regime forces stormed a house and detained a young boy. Meanwhile, a teenage girl was rearrested in spite of her deteriorating health condition.

The 17-year-old Ashwaq al-Magabi, who suffers from sickle cell anemia, was first detained among dozens of women during a protest in a Manama mall in October.
According to local sources, scores of people have been killed, some while in custody, and hundreds more arrested during the campaign of suppression.
Bahrainis demonstrate against Arab League silence on Manama’s deadly crackdown, as the League met to vote on several anti-Syria moves, Press TV has learned.

Protesters gathered in front of the AL headquarters in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Saturday, demanding the body to adopt a clear stance on the brutal suppression of Bahrainis. They also held banners saying that the Saudi-backed Al Khalifa regime has suppressed thousands of pro-democracy protesters. …more

Struggle for Bahrain: An Interview with Alaa Shehabi
15 November, 2011 – Shia Post

Alaa Shehabi (AS): I am Alaa Shehabi from Bahrain. I am a lecturer, economist, and writer by day. I am also the wife of a political detainee. My husband is called Ghazi Farhan, he is a businessman, completely apolitical.

A month after the Saudis invaded, he was arrested from his office car park. On that day, 12 April, he came home for lunch and played with our baby and then drove back to his office. I did not hear from him again. I went online and read on Twitter that Ghazi Farhan has been successfully arrested—someone from the intelligence network was tweeting about it, bragging about it. It was a very big shock. He was not expecting it; he was the guy that stayed away from this. He knows that politics is trouble in this part of the world, so he was not involved in any activism.

I am sure they went after my husband because of his relationship to me. I come from a strong opposition background, my father is an opposition activist in the United Kingdom. I was very active and I have never been quiet about my views. I think they knew of me so they selected one of us. I have seen his interrogation notes and I appear in most of them. It was punishment by proxy.

So, Ghazi was held for the next fifty days and then suddenly appeared in a military tribunal at the end of May. He was charged with participating in the protests. The technical term is “participating in an illegal assembly consisting of more than five persons,” and he was also charged with spreading false information. And then in a matter of ten minutes, he was sentenced to three years in prison. It has been seven months since he was convicted. It has been a very difficult time for my family personally. But I would like to emphasize that in the prison he is in, he is one of at least five hundred people who have been arrested, charged, and convicted because of their participation or involvement in the political uprising. …more

Bahraini Premier calls for fast-track reforms
Manama: Mon, 14 Nov 2011

His Royal Highness Prime Minister of Bahrain, Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, yesterday urged ministers to fast-track implementation of National Dialogue recommendations.

Yesterday’s Cabinet session, which he chaired, discussed an update on 10 draft laws endorsing a set of 15 recommendations, which were referred to the legislative authority. They include the draft laws on the press, child, labour in the private sector and audio-visual media.

The Cabinet was also updated on draft laws reflecting 25 other recommendations.

Ministries are also putting in place legal tools to implement 16 other recommendations. HRH the Premier instructed ministries to fast-track draft laws in co-ordination with the follow-up committee and the legal jurisprudence authority. …source

Gulf arms sales vital for U.S. companies
Nov. 15, 2011 – UPI

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Nov. 15 (UPI) — The Pentagon’s reported plan to sell the United Arab Emirates nearly 5,000 bunker-buster bombs to counter Iran is part of a move to strengthen Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf as the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq nears completion.

But it’s also a lifesaver for U.S. defense contractors who’re having to rely on exports to keep assembly lines running because of hefty cuts in military spending at home after the feeding frenzy of the post-Sept. 11 era.

“The defense industry is coming to the end of what many of its senior figures regard as a golden decade,” The Financial Times reported in a September assessment of the sector.

“Ten years ago, in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. government began a huge injection of cash into the Pentagon budget.

“Over the course of the decade, the U.S. annual defense budget has doubled in cash terms to reach nearly $700 billion in 2010.

“The profits of the U.S. defense industry have quadrupled over that period,” the FT reported. “The country has come to dwarf all other nations in the amount it spends on military equipment.

“Now, however, the tap has been turned off and defense companies in the United States — as well as in Europe — face more challenging times.

“Some senior executive in the industry believe Congress will take out up to $1,000 billion from the core Pentagon budget over the next decade,” the business daily said.
…more

Bahraini teachers’ appeal going ahead
14 Nov 2011 – BCHR

Jalila al-Salman, former vice-president of the Bahrain Teachers’ Association (BTA), was released on 1 November following her re-arrest in October. Her appeal and that of her colleague Mahdi ‘Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb, former president of the BTA, is on 11 December.

Jalila al-Salman was first arrested on 29 March. She was held in prison for over five months. During that time, she alleges, she was subjected to ill-treatment and verbal abuse. She was released on bail on 21 August, but sentenced by the National Safety Court of First Instance, a military court, on 25 September to three years in prison. She was not present in court at the time. She was rearrested on 18 October and subsequently released on bail on 1 November pending an appeal hearing. Her colleague Mahdi ‘Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb was tried and sentenced by the same court to 10 years in prison. He remains in prison, having been detained since his arrest. Both were convicted of using their positions to call for a strike by teachers, halting the educational process, inciting hatred of the regime, attempting to overthrow the ruling system by force, possessing pamphlets and disseminating fabricated stories and information, among other charges.

Both made appeals against their sentences, which will be heard by the High Criminal Court of Appeal on 11 December. Her lawyer has reportedly said he will ask the appeal court also to lift an outstanding travel ban on Jalila al-Salman. Amnesty International believes Mahdi ‘Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb and Jalila al-Salman have not used or advocated violence. They appear to have been targeted solely for their leadership of the BTA and for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly. As civilians they should not have been tried and sentenced by a military court. …more

War: The Wrong Jobs Program
By Mark Engler, November 15, 2011

More than 40 years ago, long before anyone had ever heard of Barack Obama, before the collapse of Bear Stearns, and before contemporary debates about bailouts and debt ceilings, two authors, Paul Baran and Paul Sweezy, considered a tricky problem. In times of downturn, the government must spend to stimulate the economy. Yet getting the political establishment to agree on one particular program of spending seemed nearly impossible.

Baran and Sweezy phrased the conundrum as a question: “On what could the government spend enough to keep the system from sinking into the mire of stagnation?”

After assessing the political realities that steer America’s power elite, they could find only one response. It was not what typically comes to mind when we think of economic stimulus or government-led job creation.

Their answer: “On arms, more arms, and ever more arms.”

The authors did not approve of military spending as a strategy of economic development. But, even at the very outset of the Cold War, they saw the deep hold that it had on decision-makers in Washington, DC.

We can see the continuing hold it has today. This fall, responding to high and persistent unemployment, President Obama called for a federal jobs act. Among its measures, the act proposed investment in schools and infrastructure. Conservative opponents responded with cries of derision. The critics charged that the plan “doubles down on a failed government stimulus strategy.” It means “adding more money to the same broken system” they said. Finally, they insisted, “It comes to a point that you can’t keep borrowing in a futile attempt to stimulate the economy when the increased debt itself is weakening the economy.” …more

Hezbollah denies Al-Khalifa’s accusations
Nov 15th, 2011 – By shiapost

Retorting to accusations made by Bahrain MPs that Hezbollah was involved in a recently busted “terrorist cell” in Manama, Hezbollah denied on Monday having ties “to an alleged cell in Bahrain”.

Hezbollah said in its statement that the alleged terrorist cell might be “one of the fabrications [weaved] by the Al-Khalifa authoritarian regime in Bahrain,” in reference to Bahraini King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa.

Those accusations “are not true and baseless,” the statement read.

The allegations are part of “an unsuccessful attempt made by the Al-Khalifa regime to blackout the real popular and peaceful revolution staged by patient and oppressed Bahraini people, amid the silence of international community and the suspected disregard of Arab League,” Hezbollah added.

Hezbollah stressed in its statement that such a silence of hostility “will not deter the people of Bahrain from continuing the project of its legitimized struggle until the achievement of its noble and national objectives.” …more

Reports Say U.S. Continued Detainee Transfers to Known Torturers
October 31, 2011 – Human Rights First

Washington, DC – Human Rights First today voiced concern about reports that the United States had long been transferring detainees captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan to the Afghan intelligence agency, the NDS, which has a well-documented history of torture and other forms of detainee abuse. These reports are a signal that – despite repeated assurances to the contrary – the United States remained complicit in the illegal practice of torture after it knew or should have known of abuses in the Afghan facilities to which detainees were sent.

“Numerous times in my conversations with Pentagon and civilian officials in Afghanistan and Washington, I was assured that the United States does not transfer detainees to the NDS where there is a substantial risk of torture,” said Human Rights First’s Gabor Rona. “Those assurances were apparently false.”

According to Human Rights First, the transfer of anyone to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subject to torture is a violation of the United Nations Convention Against Torture, to which the United States is a party. U.S. funding and support for Afghan security services known to engage in torture is also a violation of the Leahy amendment, a measure that requires the U.S. Departments of Defense and State to ensure recipients of U.S. security assistance are not engaged in torture or other human rights abuses. …more

FBI Report Shows Sharp Incline in Anti-Muslim Violence
November 14, 2011 – Human Rights First Continuance of Bush Crusader mentality

Washington, DC – The Federal Bureau of Investigations today released its annual data on hate crime in the United States for 2010. According to the data, the most comprehensive annual record of hate crime in the United States, most categories of hate crime increased slightly from 2009 levels. The sharpest increase came in the number of anti-Muslim hate crimes, up a staggering 50% from 107 in 2009 to 160 in 2010.

“After hate crime declined in 2009, it’s disturbing to see it rise again in 2010. The rise anti-Muslim violence is particularly significant. Human Rights First has long maintained that anti-Muslim violence, as well as other forms of hate crime, must be viewed and responded to as a serious violation of human rights. The U.S. Government can and must do more to confront these abuses,” said Human Rights First’s Paul Legendre.

According to LeGendre, one important step to combat all hate crime violence would be for the U.S. government to enhance police reporting of hate crime. In 2010, only 13% of all participating law enforcement agencies reported even a single hate crime in their jurisdictions – a shortcoming that LeGendre notes “undoubtedly masks the true extent of hate crime in the United States.”

To speak with LeGendre or for more information about anti-Muslim violence and other forms of hate crime in the United States and globally, please contact Brenda Bowser Soder at bowsersoderb@humanrightsfirst.org or 202-370-3323. …source

Clinton urges Saudi, Bahrain to embrace Arab Spring
By Bloomberg – 8 November 2011 rhetoric

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying that the US has a role in democracy movements that continue to roil the Middle East, urged Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to embrace reform and Syria to accept protesters’ demands.

“These revolutions are not ours – they are not by us, for us, or against us, but we do have a role,” Clinton said in remarks to the National Democratic Institute, a democracy support organization based in Washington. “Fundamentally, there is a right side of history. We want to be on it. And without exception, we want our partners in the region to reform so that they are on it as well.”

Clinton addressed skepticism in both the Arab world and at home about US motives and commitments since the Arab Spring began with a Tunisian fruit vendor’s protest self-immolation in December 2010.

Developments in the months since then have raised the possibility of Islamic groups gaining political power in Egypt, highlighted differences in the way the US has approached protest movements in places like Bahrain and Syria and drawn questions about US opposition to unilateral Palestinian attempts to gain recognition. …more

[cb editor: The terror cell plot makes no sense for one simple reason, there is nothing to be gained politically by Iran or anyone in opposition to the attacks that were supposedly planned. The ones that do have something to gain are the Saudi’s, Israel and the al Khalifa regime. This Saudi hatched plot has all the making of the ludicrous plot of Iran agents planning an assassination in the US. – WTF?]

Bahrain: Alleged terror cell had high Iran links
November 13, 2011 – Yahoo News – AP

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — An alleged Iranian-linked terror cell had contact with the Tehran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard and planned attacks against high profile sites, including Saudi Embassy and a Gulf causeway linking Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, authorities in Bahrain claimed Sunday.

The allegations from Bahrain’s public prosecutor seek to strengthen charges of ties between the suspected underground group and Iran. Bahrain’s Sunni leaders have accused Iran of encouraging Shiite-led protests that erupted in February on the island kingdom.

The report in the Bahrain News Agency, however, gave no further information on the suspects or other details to back up the allegations. …more

Bahrain girl teen protester re-arrested in spite of health conditions
14/11/2011 – Bahrain Freedom Movement

Holding up a banner with photos of injured anti-government protesters, women protesters stand in public on February 19, 2011 to bring attention to human rights abuse by Bahrain military security officials. Image: Al Jazeera English/cc

(WNN) Manama, BAHRAIN: Following the late September arrest of 38 women and 7 girl protesters during a pro-reform rally at a local shopping center in Bahrain’s capital city of Manama, one teenager has been re-arrested in spite of her ongoing health conditions and hospital stay.

Seventeen-year-old Ashwaq Al Magabi suffers from a severe form of sickle cell anemia. The fatal disease can cause chronic pain, weakness and deteriorating damage to the bones, kidneys, lungs, eyes, heart, and liver. Ashwaq was sentenced in Bahrain’s penal court 26 days following her first arrest on October 19,2011. Her current sentence includes six months imprisonment.

In March 2011 Bahrain officials set up a military tribunal court, called the ‘National Safety’ court, to handle cases involving government reform protesters and human rights activists, in what Human Rights Watch called a “travesty of justice.”

Following international outcry by global governments as well as human rights groups, Bahrain’s Attorney General, Dr. Ali Fadl al-Buainian, asked that cases involving medical personnel who were arrested during the past months of reform protests and unrest in Manama be transferred to civilian courts October 7.

“All civilian cases should be tried before civilian courts,” said a spokesperson for the Foreign Office to the UK Mission to the United Nations on October 6.

On May 13, 2011 the U.S. Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission House Committee on Foreign Affairs brought Bahrain Center for Human Rights Director of Foreign Relations, Ms. Maryam Al Khawaja, before the Congress as part of a special expert panel brought to share her insights into the situation of human rights abuse in Bahrain.

“We have reason to believe that many of those who are being held incommunicado detention are being subjected to torture, and this, of course, raises high concern for their well being and for their lives,” said Maryam during the U.S. Congress hearing last May. …more

Bahrain TV station struggles as signal blocked
By Simon Atkinson, BBC News

WATCH: It’s your cue: LuaLua TV is using technology to make sure that although the service is blocked in Bahrain, every effort is made to broadcast as widely as possible

Rim Abdolah delivers her news bulletin with admirable gusto for a woman who knows hardly any of the target audience is watching. The Lualua TV presenter has been with the station since its launch in July.
Aimed at people in Bahrain, it carries news and talk shows about the country.

But since its inception, it has only managed to reach to televisions in the Gulf kingdom for four hours – before the signal was blocked.

“As a broadcaster I’m very upset and frustrated because we try to work hard to put our work out to let everyone see it, especially in Bahrain,” Miss Abdolah says.

“But it’s very disappointing, no-one in Bahrain can see us.”

Reports from the satellite provider show the signal is being blocked from within Bahrain.
Screens Presenter Rim Abdolah is frustrated that the channel is blocked in Bahrain

While not officially blaming the country’s government, station management say it is hard to see who else would intervene.

Miss Abdolah’s pink headscarf stands out brightly against the blue backdrop of the news studio.

And while it was intended to run the channel from Bahrain’s capital Manama, it failed to get a licence there.

So instead, it operates thousands of miles from the Gulf, in a two-storey industrial unit on a drab north London estate – with cables running through the front door to a satellite dish in the car park.

The station was formed in the aftermath of pro-democracy protests earlier this year, which ended after Bahrain called in the Saudi military to crush the uprising. Bahrain protest The station was formed in the aftermath of pro-democracy protests in Bahrain

Several people were killed in clashes with security forces, while hundreds of people were detained including doctors, teachers and opposition leaders – many of whom allege they have been tortured and now face military trials.

Thousands of demonstrators had gathered for several days in the centre of Manama, inspired by the popular uprisings which toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt.

They demanded a greater say in government and an end to what the majority Shias said was systematic discrimination against them in jobs and services. …more