Posts from — September 2012

Dagestan: Syria comes to Russia
by F. William Engdahl – Voltaire Network – 13 September, 2012

The assassination of the most respected Sufi religious leader in Dagestan, Russia’s volatile Caucasus, comes as Salafist jihadists in Libya murder a US Ambassador who was actually a key player in ousting Gaddafi and bringing the Salafist Muslim Brotherhood and Jihadists into power. Throughout the entire Islamic world today, a wave of hate is being unleashed in the name of Islamic fundamentalism that could bring a new world war. This is the consequence of the Greater Middle East Project put in play in 2010 and earlier by circles in Washington, London and Tel Aviv. Manipulating religious fervor is an explosive cocktail as F. William Engdahl shows here.

Part I: Syria comes to the Russian Caucasus

On August 28 Sheikh Said Afandi, acknowledged spiritual leader of the Autonomous Russian Republic of Dagestan, was assassinated. A jihadist female suicide bomber managed to enter his house and detonate an explosive device.

The murder target had been carefully selected. Sheikh Afandi, a seventy-five-year old Sufi Muslim leader, had played the critical role in attempting to bring about reconciliation in Dagestan between jihadist Salafi Sunni Muslims and other factions, many of whom in Dagestan see themselves as followers of Sufi. With no replacement of his moral stature and respect visible, authorities fear possible outbreak of religious war in the tiny Russian autonomous republic. [1]

The police reported that the assassin was an ethnic Russian woman who had converted to Islam and was linked to an Islamic fundamentalist or Salafist insurgency against Russia and regional governments loyal to Moscow in the autonomous republics and across the volatile Muslim-populated North Caucasus region.

Ethnic Muslim populations in this region of Russia and of the former Soviet Union, including Uzbekistan, Kyrgystan and into China’s Xinjiang Province, have been the target of various US and NATO intelligence operations since the Cold War era ended in 1990. Washington sees manipulation of Muslim groups as the vehicle to bring uncontrollable chaos to Russia and Central Asia. It’s being carried out by some of the same organizations engaged in creating chaos and destruction inside Syria against the government of Bashar Al-Assad. In a real sense, as Russian security services clearly understand, if they don’t succeed in stopping the Jihadists insurgency in Syria, it will come home to them via the Caucasus.

The latest Salafist murders of Sufi and other moderate Muslim leaders in the Caucasus are apparently part of what is becoming ever clearer as perhaps the most dangerous US intelligence operation ever—playing globally with Muslim fundamentalism. …more

I couldn’t find a Department of State briefing on the killing of residents in Bahrain who suffocated via US Military grade CS Gas fired into their homes. One can only imagine a death as horrible the one suffered by US Ambassador Chris Stevens as he suffocated to death just like the Bahrainis who met with a similar gruesome end. Phlipn – out.

[excerpt from DoS briefing on killing of Ambassador Chris Stevens in Libya – full text HERE

So let me give you a little bit of the chronology to the best of our knowledge. Again, the times are likely to change as it becomes a little bit more precise, but this is how we’ve been able to reconstruct what we have from yesterday.

At approximately 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time yesterday, which was about 10 p.m. in Libya, the compound where our office is in Benghazi began taking fire from unidentified Libyan extremists. By about 4:15, the attackers gained access to the compound and began firing into the main building, setting it on fire. The Libyan guard force and our mission security personnel responded. At that time, there were three people inside the building: Ambassador Stevens, one of our regional security officers, and Information Management Officer Sean Smith. They became separated from each other due to the heavy, dark smoke while they were trying to evacuate the burning building. The Regional Security Officer made it outside, and then he and other security personnel returned into the burning building in an attempt to rescue Chris and Sean. At that time, they found Sean. He was already dead, and they pulled him from the building. They were unable, however, to locate Chris before they were driven from the building due to the heavy fire and smoke and the continuing small arms fire.

At about 4:45 our time here in Washington, U.S. security personnel assigned to the mission annex tried to regain the main building, but that group also took heavy fire and had to return to the mission annex. At about 5:20, U.S. and Libyan security personnel made another attempt and at that time were able to regain the main building and they were able to secure it. Then, due to continued small arms fire, they evacuated the rest of the personnel and safe havened them in the nearby annex.

The mission annex then came under fire itself at around 6 o’clock in the evening our time, and that continued for about two hours. It was during that time that two additional U.S. personnel were killed and two more were wounded during that ongoing attack.

At about 8:30 p.m. our time here in Washington, so now 2 o’clock in the morning in Libya, Libyan security forces were able to assist us in regaining control of the situation. At some point in all of this – and frankly, we do not know when – we believe that Ambassador Stevens got out of the building and was taken to a hospital in Benghazi. We do not have any information what his condition was at that time. His body was later returned to U.S. personnel at the Benghazi airport.

Iran says Israeli threats to strike “foolish”
al Akhbar – 14 September, 2012

An aide to Iran’s supreme leader said Israel’s military threats endanger Israeli citizens, and that Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was ready to strike back against any Israeli aggression.

Yahya Rahim-Safavi, military adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the increasing threats from Israel to strike Iranian nuclear facilities were “foolish,” the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) reported on Friday.

“The boldness and foolishness of Israeli officials in threatening the Islamic Republic, have put Israeli citizens one step away from the cemetery,” he said.

“If, one day, the Israeli regime takes action against us, resistance groups, especially Hezbollah … will respond more easily,” Safavi, a former commander in chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said.

Israel’s far-right leader Benjamin Netanyahu has made increasing hints in recent weeks that Israel could strike Iran and has criticized US President Barack Obama’s position that sanctions and diplomacy should be given more time.

The heightened rhetoric has stoked speculation that Israel may attack before US elections in November.

“A decision has been taken to respond and the response will be very great,” Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a TV interview this month in reference to any attack on Iran. …source

Bahrain: blocked UN website after Oral Intervention given by Prominent Human Rights Activist at the Human Rights Council
September 14th, 2012 – BYSHR

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) expresses its deep concern regarding the blocking of the UN (http://webtv.un.org) Website after the oral intervention given by Mr.Mohammed Al-Maskati-President of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights 0n 13 September 2012 at the Human Rights Council (Session 21) which was focused on reprisals.

Dozens of Bahraini citizens have informed the BYSHR that they could not enter the Web Site of the UN after the intervention of Mr. Maskati at the Human Rights Council. ( Mr.Al-Maskati intervention: http://byshr.org/?p=1168)

This blocking means that the people of Bahrain will not be able to lively follow up the UPR discussion on Bahrain scheduled on 19 September 2012.

Mr. Al-Maskati intervention at the Human Rights Council dealt with reprisals against human rights defenders in Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. Mr. Al-Maskati also talked about the threats received by Mr. Al-Maskati during his intervention during the meetings of the Human Rights Council.

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights believes the blocking part of the on-going campaign of attacks directed toward human rights defenders in Bahrain including Mr. Maskati himself which aimed at preventing them from continuing their legitimate human rights work. …more

Pillay Condemns Bahrain’s “Reprisals and Intimidation” against Critics
14 September, 2012 – POMED

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay included Bahrain among the 16 nations accused of allowing government members to undertake “reprisals and intimidation against individuals” critical of regimes. Pillay said, “People may be threatened or harassed by government officials, including through public statements by high-level authorities. Associations and NGOs may see their activities monitored or restricted. Smear campaigns against those who cooperate with the U.N. may be organized. Threats may be made via phone calls, text messages or even direct contacts. People may also be arrested, beaten or tortured and even killed.” The report ranges from June 2011 to July 2012 and cites additional cases in Algeria, Iran, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan, among others.

Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists called for the immediate release of Ahmed Radhi, a freelance journalist who was first detained four months ago after making critical comments about Bahraini-Saudi relations. Radhi now faces terrorism and other anti-state charges. CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said ”Bahrain must halt this practice of prosecuting critical journalists for their dissenting views.”

Finally, Mehdi Hassan writes that “While the fighting in Syria is debated in the corridors of the United Nations building and reported on the front pages of the world’s newspapers, the unrest in Bahrain is quietly ignored by our leaders,” and he calls the approach of the U.S. and U.K. “a moral disgrace.” …source

Shia towns in Syria under months-long blockade by Wahhabi insurgents
Voltaire Network – 14 September, 2012

More than 80,000 Shia Muslim in the northwestern Syrian towns of Nebbol and Az-Zahra’ are suffering from starvation under a siege imposed by Wahhabi terrorists.

The extremists are reportedly affiliated with the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA), which has been fighting against the government forces over the past year.

The blockade has caused grave food and medical shortage in the towns, some 20 km away from the flashpoint city of Aleppo.

The towns had a population of 60,000 Shia Muslims but have been hosting an additional 15,000 displaced Shias taking refuge in there.

Thousands of others including families of the opposition escaping conflicts and Sunni Muslims refusing to join the anti-government camp have also fled to the towns.

In late June, insurgents practically cut off roads to Nebbol and Az-Zahra’ after clashes spilled over to Aleppo, accusing the residents of supporting Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

The armed gangs have threatened to kill the people who tried to directly or indirectly enter basic needs for the people in the besieged towns.

Bread is a rarity due to lack of flour and patients are in dire need of medicine, while the residents live under constant threats of massive cleansing operations by the insurgents.

Syria has been the scene of deadly unrest since mid-March, 2011, and many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

Damascus blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists and says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside. It accuses certain Western and regional countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, of arming and funding the insurgents. …more

Bahrain Attends Session On Harassment and Reprisals
13 September, 2012 – BNA

Geneva – (BNA) Bahrain today affirmed Bahrain’s commitment to continue cooperation with the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and all UN agencies.

“The Kingdom is keen on preserving its precious record to maintain security and stability and consolidate human rights”, Bahrain Permanent Representative to the UN office and other international organisations Dr. Yusuf Abdulkarim Bucheeri said.

He affirmed Bahrain’s resolve to continue promoting equality between citizens, beyond any discrimination on the basis race, language, religion, gender or personal opinion.

Dr. Bucheeri voiced Bahrain’s stance as he led the Kingdom’s delegation to attend a discussion session on intimidation and reprisals against people and organisations that cooperate or co-operated with the UN and its representatives.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 21st session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC)`. He pointed out Bahrain’s strides in providing an arsenal of laws guaranteeing personal and religious liberties, freedom of opinion and publishing as well as the right to set up NGOs and trade unions.

He highlighted legislations guaranteeing equality between all citizens before the law in rights and duties – being an essential guarantor to ensure the stability of Bahraini society.

Addressing the session, he also affirmed Bahrain’s full cooperation with local and international watchdogs to promote human rights and basic liberties.

“Bahrain has allowed human rights watchdogs to visit jails, attend trials and launch their periodic reports in the Kingdom”, he said, deploring the one-sided approach adopted by human rights watchdogs.

“Some watchdogs are not evenhanded in dealing with the information they get, hearing one party and ignoring official replies”, he said, describing the approach as premeditated partiality.

Dr. Bucheeri urged the UN to rely on credible sources when documenting allegations of harassment and reprisals – especially when it comes to audio visual media, blogs and social websites. …source

Critical Bahraini journalist detained for four months
13 September, 2012 – Committee to Protect Journalists

New York, September 13, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the ongoing imprisonment of Ahmed Radhi, a freelance journalist who was first detained four months ago after making critical comments about Bahraini-Saudi relations. Radhi now faces terrorism and other anti-state charges which he says were lodged after he was abused and forced into making a false confession.

“Bahrain must halt this practice of prosecuting critical journalists for their dissenting views,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “Authorities should release Ahmed Radhi immediately.”

Radhi, a contributor to several local news websites, has been imprisoned since May 16, when he was held for several days without a lawyer present and without his family’s knowledge of his whereabouts, the reports said. He was last in court in Manama on August 30, when his detention was extended for 15 days, according to news reports. Although that extension appears to be running out, his next scheduled date was not immediately clear.

The case dates to May, when in press interviews Radhi made comments criticizing a proposed union between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, news reports said. Radhi posted the comments on his Twitter and Facebook accounts, saying the union would justify the occupation of Bahrain by Saudi troops, which had been sent in March 2011 to stifle popular protests. The journalist’s family has said they believe his detention is a result of the public comments he had made, according to the Bahrain Center of Human Rights.

On June 16, a local court charged Radhi with “igniting a flame to achieve a terrorist purpose,” “possession of flammable substances (Molotovs),” and “participation in assembly to disturb public security and using violence to achieve that,” according to news reports. Radhi has told the court that he was tortured into making a confession and made to sign papers he had not read, the human rights group said. No evidence has been provided to support the allegations, the group said.

In a June letter to the human rights center, Radhi said security forces had beaten and blindfolded him and subjected him to physical and psychological torture to force him to confess to the charges brought against him, the Bahraini human rights group reported. In addition to his freelance work, Radhi has also worked for the pro-government daily Al-Ayyam and as a correspondent for the Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar TV before the government withdrew his accreditation, news reports said. …more

Radical Allies and Moderate Subversives: U.S. Foreign Policy Threatens America’s Interests in the Gulf
13 Septemebr, 2012 – Anna Therese Day – Huffington Post

Just weeks ago, Nabeel Rajab, the “Gandhi of Bahrain,” spent his birthday in a prison cell. Originally “jailed for a tweet,” Rajab, the renowned president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, now faces up to three years in prison for allegedly inciting violence among protesters against the Bahraini monarchy. Bahrain has been engulfed in turmoil since early 2011 when the US-backed Al-Khalifa regime launched a violent crackdown against the nation’s popular non-violent reform movement. The regime has since selectively targeted the island’s ethnic-majority, its Shia population, and has gained a terrifying reputation for using brutal torture tactics on those citizens detained. Recently, Bahrain’s appeal courts upheld the sentence of 20 other opposition activists, ignoring domestic and international outcry.

In the Spring of 2011, I met Rajab and his family in their home in Bahrain. His then nine-year-old daughter, Malak, joined us for the interview. Just hours before our arrival, masked state security forces raided the Rajab’s family compound in the middle of the night, bombarding the grounds with teargas and forcing their way into the Rajab’s home with heavy weaponry. Needless to say, little Malak was far too traumatized to attend school that day.

Now Malak joins her brother, 15-year-old Adam, and her mother, Sumaya, to demand justice for her father whose appeal verdict will be announced on Thursday, September 27th. This date comes after the Bahraini court decision to postpone his hearing this week, a move that his lawyers claim was an attempt to prolong his jail-time. A countless number of international human rights organizations have joined in this call to action, and nearly 20 members of U.S. Congress demanded Rajab’s release in a letter to the King of Bahrain. Following his August 16th sentence, U.S. State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland called on Bahrain to “vacate” the charges against Rajab and called for “the government of Bahrain to take steps to build confidence across Bahraini society and to begin a meaningful dialogue with political opposition and civil society.”

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

These condemnations from the State Department, however, are not reflected in U.S. policy toward the Bahraini monarchy. Despite the well-documented violence against its citizens, the U.S. Department of Defense resumed arms sales to Bahrain, rekindling a relationship that sold $200 million worth of weaponry to the regime in 2010. American companies added further insult to injury by hosting international oil and natural gas conferences and the 2012 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, amidst the curfews and kidnappings that characterized daily life for the majority of Bahraini citizens. This gaping distance between America’s actions and words continues to send a far louder message to Bahraini civilians than the lip-service of the U.S. Department of State.

Bahrain’s Radical Regime, Moderate Subversives

Rajab is famous throughout not only the Middle East and North Africa, but also internationally for his tireless human rights advocacy and his pioneering commitment to using social media for social justice. Identified by Al Jazeera as “the informal leader of the Bahraini uprising,” Rajab responded that he plans to “forever remain in civil society” when I asked him about any potential political aspirations. Throughout the entirety of the uprising, his commitment to reform has been as steadfast as his tactics have been innovative. …more

From Arab Spring to Autumn Rage: The Dark Power of Social Media
New America Media – Andrew Lam – 14 September, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO–In 2010 Time Magazine’s prestigious Person of the Year title went to two individuals. While its readers picked Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, Time’s editors picked Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook.

“Facebook is now the third largest country on earth and surely has more information about its citizens than any government does,” the magazine noted. “Zuckerberg, a Harvard dropout, is its T-shirt-wearing head of state.”

Assange, founder of the whistleblower website WikiLeaks, on the other hand, undermined entire nation states’ public narratives of themselves by providing a platform where individuals can anonymously whistle blow and show their government’s dark underbellies by uploading top secret documents. Spy agencies can only look on with envy and alarm.

In 2011, a fruit vendor made the cut. Mohammed Bouazizi, a Tunisian who set himself on ablaze protesting police corruption, became literally the torch that lit the Arab Spring revolution that spread quickly throughout the Middle East. Bouazizi achieved this in his very public death because many who had cell phones saw it and the subsequent videos kick-started the uprising. The revolution took all governments by surprise.

Convicted Filmmaker’s Many Aliases

This year no doubt Time can add “Nakoula Basseley Nakoula,” aka “Sam Bacile,” as a major contender. An unknown amateur filmmaker until this week, fanned the flames in the Middle East with incendiary video clips. In effect, the film mocked and insulted the prophet Mohammed and turned the whole Arab Spring of 2011 into Autumn Rage of 2012 Against the USA.

Nakoula/Bacile is currently in hiding and may in fact be fictitious. Much evidence now points to him as a Egyptian Coptic Christian, who allegedly holds grudges against Islam. On Thursday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that Nakoula was convicted two years ago on federal charges of financial fraud.

The jury is out on who instigated the violence against U.S. workers in Libya, resulting in the death of the American ambassador and three other personnel. The attack was carefully planned, it was reported, and not the mere work of angry protesters – but few doubt that the film has a direct effect in stoking a combustible anger in the Middle East against what many consider as yet another American act of profanity against the sacred.

In the global age, it seems that not only dictators or overzealous elected heads of state with power of preemptive strikes can direct history to the edge of an abyss, but also fruit vendors and lousy filmmakers.

If Zuckerberg is a kind of head of state of the third largest country and Julian Assange has become the equivalent of a CIA institution gone rogue, then Bouazizi, a private individual, has become the modern equivalent Joan of Arc.

Soon, too, the director of Innocence of Muslim, whoever he is, will become a kind of knuckle headed hater, who nevertheless emerged with the extraordinary power to incite violence against America. That would make Al-Qaeda, by comparison, seem tongue-tied.

For all its planning, for all its propaganda and brainwashing of the illiterate and easily duped to blow themselves up – merely to garner dwindling media attention in the West –Al-Qaeda hasn’t achieved what an inane video has. The film and its 13-minute YouTube trailer quickly undermined much of the United States’ soft diplomacy in a region it considers of utmost important.

In a blog for the Boston Globe, a friend of slain Ambassador Chris Stevens shared her shock with this headline: “How Could Chris Stevens Die Because of a YouTube clip?” Alas, the answer is: Why not? In our information age, the break up of a virtual friendship can lead to suicide, and misinformation can create a real lynch mob, half a world away. …more

Real man behind pseudonym of Sam Bacile traced
by News Desk – 14 September, 2012 – Blitz

Finally United States’ authorities and its intelligence agencies have identified the real culprit, the director of the most controversial anti-Islam movie named innocence of Muslims. Nakoula Basseley Nakoula used pseudonym and falsely claimed to be an Israeli Jew. Police rushed to the residence of the producer of the movie – Nakoula Basseley Nakoula as well as a production company named “Media for Christ” on Hamilton Road in Duarte, California to keep watch. According to police sources, “Media for Christ” was affiliated with making the film that has been a trigger for anti-US violence and protest in several countries.

Basseley Nakoula aka Sam Basil pleaded no contest in 2010 to federal bank fraud charges in California and was ordered to pay more than US$ 790,000 in restitution and serve 21 months in prison. Meanwhile, Nakoula told the Associated Press in an interview outside Los Angeles that he was manager for the company that produced “Innocence of Muslims.” He denied he directed the film and said he knew the self-described filmmaker, identified only as “Sam Bacile.”

According to California law enforcement officials, Nakoula, who is also known to authorities as Bacily Nakoula, was frightened for his life and “scared of retaliation” against his family. But the cell phone number that the US media contacted to reach the filmmaker who identified himself as “Sam Bacile” traced to the same Southern California address where they found Basseley Nakoula. Following this discovery, law enforcing agencies were sure of the real identity of Sam Bacile and were also convinced that it was none but Nakoula Basseley. Nakoula was the main culprit behind the entire incident. Several actors in the movie say they were duped, and are now distancing themselves from the film that was cited as a spark to the violence in Libya that resulted in the murder of the United States’ ambassador to that country.

Though Sam Basile claimed himself to be a citizen of Israel, it was later confirmed by the Israeli authorities that such claim of the man was “totally false”. It was also confirmed when FoxNews.com’s research on public and private databases, business filings, and people finding services came up empty on that name. The Associated Press first reported that they spoke with Sam Bacile via phone as he was remaining incognito in an undisclosed location following the violence in Libya. “Bacile” said that he was sorry for the death of the U.S Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and blamed his death on the “no good” security systems in place at the embassies. When Bacile’s legitimacy began to be questioned, the AP traced the phone number they had called to Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a Coptic Christian in California. An attorney for Nakoula, listed as James Henderson Sr., did not respond to FoxNews.com’s request for comment. On his legal website, the Santa Monica-based lawyer is described as a specialist in “white collar criminal defense and federal criminal violations.”

Pastor Terry Jones of Gainesville, Fla., who burned Qurans on the ninth anniversary of 9/11, said he spoke with the movie’s director on the phone on September 12. He said he has not met the filmmaker in person, but the man contacted him a few weeks ago about promoting the movie.

Pastor Terry Jones said, “I have not met him. Sam Bacile, that is not his real name,” Jones said. “I just talked to him on the phone. He is definitely in hiding and does not reveal his identity. He was quite honestly fairly shook up concerning the events and what is happening. A lot of people are not supporting him.”

Another of the film’s promoters, Steve Klein 62-year-old Vietnam Veteran who resides in rural California and heads up a group called Concerned Citizens for the First Amendment, which is on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of California Active Anti-Muslim Groups, told reporters that he did not know Steve Bacile’s “real name,” and that they only met once and spoke for about an hour. In 1977 he founded Klein founded Courageous Christians United, which has reportedly staged protests outside mosques and abortion clinics.

“He’s not Israeli… His name is a pseudonym,” Klein told the magazine. “All these Middle Eastern folks I work with have pseudonyms. I doubt he’s Jewish. I would suspect this is a disinformation campaign.”

Doubts mounted as well about the provenance of the film, Innocence of Muslims. Several Hollywood and California film industry groups and permit agencies said they had no records of the project. It was also learnt from various sources that some Americans from the Middle Eastern countries had funded this project.

Meanwhile, it is also learnt that the same film was released in a small cinema hall in Los Angeles last year, when it was named as ‘The Innocence of Bin Laden’. But the movie failed to draw more than 10 audiences during the single show, and the authorities of ‘Vine Theater’ cinema hall in Los Angeles had to pull down the movie from any further shows.
Bacile’s film was dubbed into Egyptian Arabic by someone he doesn’t know, but he speaks enough Arabic to confirm that the translation is accurate. It was made in three months in the summer of 2011, with 59 actors and about 45 people behind the camera. It is also learnt that a large number of female and male actors in the so-called movie were casted from American under-ground porn film industry. One of the male actors named Tim Dax had earlier worked for gay porn films. …source

Congress was warned about Libya last month
Posted By Kevin Baron Thursday, September 13, 2012 – 11:57 AM Share
While Washington vacationed in August, the non-partisan Congressional Research Service issued a now prescient-sounding report warning that Libya’s security concerns were an “immediate priority” that might require far more attention and resources than the United States had given it.

“Libya’s security remains a function of Libyans’ self-restraint rather than the capability of security authorities,” CRS warned.

That self-restraint broke down severely this week as, according to U.S. officials, an apparently coordinated attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi emerged from a crowded protest, leading to the death of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and others. It was the apex of a string of concerning violent incidents dating back months.

The author of the report, Christopher Blanchard, specialist in Middle Eastern affairs, on Thursday told the E-Ring, “Security has deteriorated since the election [in July] and the government has not appeared able to stop attacks on religious buildings or an ongoing string of assassination attacks on former regime security officials. The attacks on the U.S. offices in Benghazi were the latest and most severe in a series of attacks on foreign diplomatic facilities and international organizations in Libya.”

“This incident underscores what the State Department itself said in its late August travel warning: militia groups outside of state control are active in Libya and pose a direct threat to Libyans and foreigners.”

According to Blanchard’s report, which is titled Libya: Transition and U.S. Policy and dated August 9, 2012, Libyan security is severely hampered by several factors, as the country continues to emerge from civil war and moves haltingly toward unifying its governance and security institutions and ad-hoc groups.

U.S. officials and outside experts, CRS stated, already harbored significant concerns over loose security at the country’s borders and “hundreds of suspected weapons sites,” in addition to massive proliferation of small arms, shoulder-fired MANPADS rockets, and “heavy weaponry” in and just outside of Libya.

The combination of those factors, CRS surmised, specifically worried counterterrorism and arms-trafficking experts, citing “unexploded ordnance, explosive remnants, and looted weaponry.”

The precarious security situation is made worse by the existence and state-reliance on militia groups across the country, only some of which have willingly integrated, to various degrees, with official security forces.

“Security concerns remain the immediate priority, as a series of isolated armed conflicts and attacks on international targets in several cities have raised serious questions about the ability of the interim authorities to ensure order,” wrote Blanchard. “As of August 2012, militia groups remained active and influential, with some acknowledging and participating in government efforts to assert central security authority. Public displays of weapons, attacks on international targets, and isolated armed clashes underscore the threats posed by some groups. Security officials continue to rely on irregular forces to provide security in much of the country.”

The report continues, “Libyans’ initial euphoria at the downfall of Muammar al Qadhafi has settled into an uneasy mix of hope and fear about the country’s future.”

By August, CRS concluded, “popular patience has waned.”

On Thursday, Blanchard said Libya’s limited “ability to provide security creates a dilemma for U.S. decision makers.” If the U.S. targets “hostile groups” or even provides direct security support for the Libyan government to do so, it may “inflame local opinion and undermine the image of the recently elected government among some Libyans.”

And any expansion of U.S. assistance would take time and money, both of which are “politically controversial…in both countries.” …more

Mr Blowback rising in Benghazi
By Pepe Escobar – 13 September, 2012 – Asia Times

“Daddy, what is blowback?”

Here’s a fable to tell our children, by the fire, in a not so-distant post-apocalyptic, dystopian future.

Once upon a time, during George “Dubya” Bush’s “war on terra”, the Forces of Good in Afghanistan captured – and duly tortured – one evil terrorist, Abu Yahya al-Libi.

Abu Yahya al-Libi was, of course, Libyan. He slaved three years in the bowels of Bagram prison near Kabul, but somehow managed to escape that supposedly impregnable fortress in July 2005.

At the time, the Forces of Good were merrily in bed with Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in Libya – whose intelligence services, to the delight of the Bush administration, were doing their nastiest to exterminate or at least isolate al-Qaeda-style Salafi-jihadis of the al-Libi kind.

But, then, in 2011, the Forces of Good, under new administration, decided it was time to bury the oh so passe “war on terra” and dance to a new, more popular groove; humanitarian intervention, also characterized as “kinetic military action”.

So al-Libi was back from the dead – now fighting side by side with the Forces of Good to topple (and eventually snuff out) “evil” Col Gaddafi. Al-Libi had become a “freedom fighter” – even though he was openly calling for Libya to become an Islamic Emirate.

The honeymoon didn’t last long.

In September 2012, for the first time in three months, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, aka The Surgeon, released a 42-minute video special to “celebrate” the 11th anniversary of 9/11, finally admitting the snuffing out of his number two.

His number two was none other than Abu Yahya al-Libi – targeted by one of US President Barack Obama’s cherished drones in Waziristan on June 4.

An immediate effect of al-Zawahiri’s video was that an angry armed mob, led by Islamist outfit Ansar al Sharia, set fire to the US consulate in Benghazi. The US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, was killed. It didn’t matter that Stevens happened to be a hero of the “NATO rebels” who had “liberated” Libya – notoriously sprinkled with Salafi-jihadis of the al-Libi kind.

Stevens was rewarded by Washington with the ambassadorial post only after “evil” Gaddafi was finally sodomized, lynched and killed by, what else, an angry mob.

So finally the blowback serpent was able to bite its own tail.

Terra, terra, terra

What happened in Benghazi may have been just an out-of-control protest against a crude, amateur, made-in-California movie produced and directed by an Israeli-American real estate developer and certified Islamophobe (an identity now being reported as a guise), financed with US$5 million from unidentified Jewish donors, depicting Islam “as a cancer” and Prophet Muhammad as a womanizer, a pedophile and most of all, a fraud. The movie was duly promoted by wacko Florida pastor and Koran-burning freak Terry Jones.

Yet the killing of the US ambassador in Libya is just an hors d’oeuvre to what may happen in Syria – where scores of “freedom fighters” supported by the CIA, the Turks and the House of Saud are al-Qaeda-linked, either via the supposedly reformist Libya Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) or acronym-infested subcontracting gangs such as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) or al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM).

So how will Washington “bring the perpetrators to justice” in Libya? After all this is the same gang that was hailed as “heroes” when they sodomized, lynched and snuffed out “evil” Gaddafi.

Asia Times Online has been warning for over a year about blowback in Libya – and potentially in Syria, where medieval Saudi sheikhs frantically issue fatwas legitimating a widespread massacre of “infidel” Alawites. This is all a rerun of the same old 1980s’ Afghan jihad movie; first you call them “freedom fighters”, but when they attack us they revert to being “terrorists”.

Now we have NATO-armed Salafi-jihadis in Libya, and House of Saud-financed and Turkey-based Salafi-jihadis in Syria – deploying “terra” antics such as suicide bombers to bring down the Assad regime – all wired up and ready to roll. It certainly adds a new meaning to Obama’s “kinetic action” gig. …more

If it were not so tragic it would be laughable that US foreign policy can be blown like a leaf in the wind by a fanatical Zionist-Christian Pastor and Moronic movie producer. Really? they managed to push US foreign policy to the ‘tipping point’ for an entire region with a ‘no-budget’ movie. Do Blasphemers and Apostates start ‘unholy wars’. Phlipn – out.

Quran-burning Pastor Terry Jones promotes anti-Islam film
Voltaire Network – 13 September, 2012

Pastor Terry Jones, whose Quran-torching escapade in 2011 brought him hatred in the Islamic world, has reportedly promoted Innocence of Muslims, a controversial low-budget movie that sparked anti-American protests in Libya and Egypt.

Innocence of Muslims’ director Sam Bacile said he had received some $5 million from a “hundred of Jews” to shoot the film and called Islam “a cancer.” However, he denounced allegations that his movie was religious, saying it was a political one.

Pastor Terry Jones announced he was going to show an Innocence of Muslims fragment during a prayer service.

In 2011, Pastor Jones rose to prominence after staging several public Quran burnings. The first of these dubious events ran off in March 2011, triggering a wave of unrest in Afghanistan, which claimed the lives of more than a hundred people.

Mass protests erupted Tuesday in Egypt’s capital of Cairo and in Libya’s Benghazi. In Cairo, demonstrators climbed the wall of the US Embassy to then shred and burn the American flag. In Benghazi, several armed men assailed the US Consulate, killing the US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans. …source

Russia fears ‘chaos’ after US mission killings: Putin
13 September, 2012 – The Daily Star

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday the Middle East region was at risk of descending into “chaos” following a deadly attack on the US mission in Libya and violence in Egypt and Yemen.

“We are afraid that the region may descend into chaos, which is essentially what is happening already,” the Russian leader said in comments broadcast on state television from his summer residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

…source

U.S. embassies attacked in Yemen, Egypt after Libya envoy killed
13 September, 2012 – By Mohammed Ghobari, Edmund Blair – Reuters

SANAA/CAIRO: Demonstrators attacked the U.S. embassies in Yemen and Egypt on Thursday in protest at a film they consider blasphemous to Islam and American warships headed to Libya after the death of the U.S. ambassador there in related violence earlier in the week.

Hundreds of Yemeni demonstrators broke through the main gate of the heavily fortified compound in eastern Sanaa, shouting “We sacrifice ourselves for you, Messenger of God”. Earlier they smashed windows of security offices outside the embassy and burned cars.

“We can see a fire inside the compound and security forces are firing in the air. The demonstrators are fleeing and then charging back,” one witness told Reuters. A security source said at least 15 people were wounded, some by bullets. An embassy spokesman said its personnel were reported to be safe.

In Egypt, protesters hurled stones at a police cordon around the U.S. embassy in central Cairo after climbing into the embassy and tearing down the American flag. The state news agency said 13 people were injured in violence which erupted on Wednesday night after protests on Tuesday.

Islamist gunmen staged a military-style assault on the U.S. consulate and a safe house refuge in Benghazi, eastern Libya on Tuesday. The U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans died in the assault, carried out with guns, mortars and grenades. Eight Libyans were injured.

U.S. President Barack Obama vowed to “bring to justice” those responsible and the U.S. military moved two navy destroyers towards the Libyan coast, in what a U.S. official said was a move to give the administration flexibility for any future action against Libyan targets.

Obama said security was being increased at U.S. diplomatic posts around the globe and on Thursday the U.S. consulate in Berlin was partially evacuated after an employee fell ill on opening a suspicious envelope.

About 1,000 Bangladeshi Islamists tried to march on the U.S. embassy in Dhaka after protests earlier in the week outside U.S. missions in Tunisia, Sudan and Morocco.

…more

If a Muslim producer had made a movie in the US trashing the Zionists, the ADL would have already sent hit squads after everyone involved. Congress would be hostage in the election year. A Muslim movie producer would have never made it off the launch pad, because Muslims in America are systematically denied even their basic civil rights.

Exactly what did the USG think was going to happen? Explode and implode Arab countries in ‘democracy wars’ in order to bolster US hegemony over Middle East oil? Deny Arab Rights on a Global Scale and use ‘bought off’ Monarchs and Tin-cup Dictators who are hopelessly hooked on a perpetual supply of arms to keep them in power. Secretary Clinton sets the tone for American dissonance saying, “How can this happen in a country we helped liberate, in a city we helped save from destruction?”. One of her Ambassadors and his colleagues lay dead and with the Consulate ablaze in Benghazi. You may be that incompetent Secretary Clinton but you are certainly not that naive. This is an easy one to figure out Madam Secretary, the only ones you fool with you bull-shit narrative of America-the-Benevolent are the ignorant US public you and the complicit US media machine keep that way.

One day it won’t just be Arabs trashing Embassies and Attacking Our Ambassadors, it will American Citizens trashing and attacking Police Stations and Federal Buildings all Across the US. Not because anyone really wants it this way, but because the Wealthy and Powerful have stolen Democracy from the American People and now they are trying for the ‘hard sale’ of ‘US Democratic’ values and ideal(gag-me) in the Middle East and the Arabs aren’t having any of it. Oh don’t get me wrong the Arabs want democracy, just not the one that is tailored to suit the US Imperialists who keep blowing shit up and assassinating people with Drones. Phlipn – out.

Bahrain: Detained Bahraini activist Zainab Al-Khawaja faces 13 cases
14 September, 2012 – IFEX – Bahrain Center for Human Rights

(BCHR/IFEX) – The Gulf Center for Human Rights and Bahrain Center for Human Rights express their grave concern over the information received regarding the ill-treatment of detained human rights defender Zainab Al-Khawaja in prison in Bahrain, as well as the continued exploitation of the judicial system to punish human rights defenders and hinder their peaceful and legitimate human rights work. Al-Khawaja is facing up to 13 cases, in addition to a 3 months’ imprisonment sentence issued against her on trumped-up charges.

By not taking enough measures to prevent torture on its territory, Bahrain has violated the entire Convention against torture, which they signed and ratified in 1998. The state of Bahrain is furthermore continuously ignoring the UN “Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners”, which since its creation in 1955, sets out the minimum standards regarding for example clothing, hygiene, food, inspections and medical services for prisoners, which creates very severe consequences for prisoners like Zainab Al-Khawaja.

Chain of judicial harassment against detained human rights defender Zainab Al-Khawaja and ill-treatment in prison

Activist and human rights defender Zainab Al-Khawaja has been detained since 2 August 2012 following her arrest while protesting alone at the Al Qadam roundabout. Her leg was in a cast following an injury she sustained previously when security forces shot her with tear gas canisters at close range.

Zainab Al-Khawaja currently has thirteen cases against her, 7 of which are currently in court.

In September 2012 alone, the court will be holding sessions for three of the charges that Zainab faces, notably:

1- Damaging the King’s photo on May 2012, for which the next hearing session will be on 26 September 2012. She is currently in detention for this case.

2- Participating in a demonstration that was not previously authorized and entering a restricted zone, which is the “pearl roundabout area,” in February 2012. The next hearing for this case will be on 25 September 2012.

3- Assembling on AbuSaiba roundabout in December 2011, and inciting hatred against the regime, for which the next hearing will be on 26 September 2012.

Zainab has already been sentenced in several other cases, resulting in fines and prison time. She has also been detained for several weeks on several occasions, and in one case, she was sentenced to 3 months imprisonment on 22 May 2012 for charges of assembly and disrupting traffic in Aali in November 2011. On that occasion, she stood to stop the riot police from attacking the mourners of a man killed by the regime of Bahrain (see video online). On 10 October 2012, the court of appeal will be hearing this case as the sentence has not yet been carried. On 16 October 2012, the court of appeal will hold session on the case of insulting an official at the military hospital, for which the court has previously acquitted Zainab but the public prosecution has appealed against the acquittal. On 1 November 2012, the court will hold a session on the case of disrupting traffic near the financial harbour in April 2011. …more

A heartbreaking story from Jau prison in #Bahrain: Rape of a detainee by a prison officer
14 September, 2012 – Twitlonger – Zahraa

On one night the officer in charge came to the prison, opened the cells and started threatening the prisoners there, it was something unusual but the detainees stayed silent while he shouts. They didn’t know that he was checking the detainees for his pervert needs.

Then he ordered to close all the cells but one, he chose a good looking young man and ordered him to take off his cloths, the detainee refused to do that, this happened in front of all the detainees there! The officer insisted and asked him again and again for several times and the detainee kept refusing. The officer then ordered the other policemen to take the detainee out of the cell, his cell mates tried to prevent them from doing that but they couldn’t stop them.

The officer raped the young man in the prison and all other prisoners could hear his screams for help! The other detainees went mad and in an attempt to make him stop they started to make noises and hit their heads in the doors, one of them was hysterical and passed out while trying to break the door.

The young man was out of his cell bleeding, other detainees where screaming and crying for help, “Allahu Akbar | God is great” they shouted but there’s no one who could help!

The prison officer didn’t get enough! He ordered to punish the detainees by bringing another guy to rape him! Once he opened another cell, there was a huge fuss and the police used force to make the detainees calm down. He also used special forces to interfere and beat the detainees, and then they took the injured ones to get medical treatment in another prison – Alqalaa – medical facility.

The detainees started a hunger strike to make the prison authority know that this is not acceptable. They were punished by cutting off the electricity and water, and preventing them from having family visits for several weeks. …source

Bahrain jailing human rights defenders
12 September, 2012 – World Without Torture

Nabeel Rajab, co-founder of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (at right), and Zainab Al-Khawaja (at left), a Bahrain human rights activist. Photos by Conor McCabe; available via Flickr through Creative Commons License.

The repression against protesters and human rights defenders in the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain has been ongoing during the last 18 months. Beginning with the violent crackdown during the Arab Spring protests, the Bahraini state has been arresting, torturing and detaining human rights defenders, like Abduhadi Al-Khawaja.

Recent reports have emerged from the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) that the judicial harassment of human rights defenders Zainab Al-Khawaja and Nabeel Rajab has been stepped up to detain them on trumped-up charges for their legitimate protests activities against the state. In addition to supporting the work of human rights defenders, we at the IRCT are concerned for their safety; Bahrain has long established a pattern of torturing detainees, and we fear for the safety of Ms Al-Khawaja and Mr Rajab in light of their continued detention.

In our statement, we are echoing the call from BCHR for the Bahrain government to:

1. Immediately release detained human rights defenders Nabeel Rajab and Zainab Al-Khawaja and drop all charges against them, as it is believed that these measures have been taken against them solely due to their legitimate and peaceful work in the defense of human rights, and the exercise of freedom to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression in accordance to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

2. Immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience and activists including leading human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja;

3. Immediately put an end to the practice of torture and the ill-treatment of prisoners in Bahrain and bring those responsible to justice;

4. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Bahrain are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals, and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.

We also reiterate our call to the international community to put real pressure on the government of Bahrain to stop the ill-treatment of human rights defenders and to to release them immediately as it is believed that they have been targeted solely for their legitimate human rights activities. …source

Bahrain: Students’ rights gravely violated through sham trials, expulsions and unfair detention
12 September, 2012 – Bahrain Center for Human Rights

More than a year and a half following the start of the revolution in Bahrain, university students are still being subjected to sham trials, unlawful imprisonment and prevention from continuing their studies. The Bahrain center for human rights (BCHR) is gravely concerned over these continuous violations of human rights against university students.

Sham Trials

On Thursday 06 September 2012, the high criminal court ruled in the cases of 96 defendants accused in the 13 March University of Bahrain thug attack incident which included students, staff, administrators and a security guard. The court upheld sentences of 84 students, reduced prison sentence against 3 to 3 months’ imprisonment and acquitted 9 [1].

The lawyer S. Mohsen Al Alawi stated to the BCHR, in a previous statement, that some of the accused students were not present in the university on 13 March 2011 and others were from the Isa Town campus while the said events took place at the Sakheer campus. He said that “the judge refused the defense’s request to call upon public figures that stated on Bahrain Television (BTV) that they were present in the University of Bahrain, like the university president and head of Riffa police station”.

Lawyers provided the court with photos of well-known figures from the university incident who were holding weapons, bars and clubs. Even though criminal procedure law allows the court to accuse new defendants when their relation to the case is proved, the judge did not respond to lawyers’ requests. …more

EXCLUSIVE: British Parliament to Investigate Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Human Rights Abuse
12 September, 2012 – Bahrain Freedom Movement

The Foreign Affairs Select Committee will hold an inquiry into the human rights abuses perpetrated by Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Labour MP and committee member Ann Clwyd has announced.

In a briefing on Bahrain, Clwyd said: “Eric [Lord Avebury, joint vice-chair of the Parliamentary Group on Human Rights] and I have raised the question of Bahrain over and over again in the House of Lords, House of Commons and obviously we’re not satisfied with the answer we’ve had.”

During the same briefing, activist and acting president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BHCR) Maryam Al-Khawaja called on the UK to discussdiplomatic and economic sanctions against Bahrain and to end the sale of arms.

She told MPs that the Bahrain government, which has been clamping down on pro-democracy protests since February 2011, has only become “emboldened by inaction from the international community”.

“There needs to be real pressure on the Bahrainis from allies like UK to allow UN special rapporteurs into the country, which they have not been doing,” she added.

Al-Khawaja explained that Bahrain has thus far granted access to only one rapporteur, torture expert Juan Méndez, and even his permission was subsequently revoked.

The speaker continued by highlighting the fact that Bahrain has closed its borders and made it impossible for journalists and NGOs to gather information in the country. She also pointed out the importance of a discussion on diplomatic and economic sanctions on Bahrain.

“I think it’s about time [to see a discussion],” she said, welcoming Denmark’sproposal to begin discussions regarding sanctions against Bahrain in the international community.

“Unlike Russia, the UK does speak about human rights and democracy and the need to uphold those things, and yet they continue to support a regime like Bahrain who continues to commit human rights violations almost on a daily basis.

“The majority of human rights violations are still on-going. The Bahraini regime has reached a point where they believe they have acquired international immunity.”

Lord Avebury talked about the controversial presence of Prince Nasser, leader of Bahrain’s Olympic delegation, in the UK during the London 2012 Games.

Nasser is alleged to have personally tortured Bahraini athletes who protested against the regime

“We wrote a letter to the Foreign Office asking for him to be excluded as a person whose presence in the UK is non-conducive to the public good and we sent testimonies from two persons who said to have been tortured by Prince Nasser and this was rejected by the Foreign Office,” he said. …source