22 May 2013 — Information Clearing House
Syria: Turning Point in the Battle of Qusayr
By Radwan Mortada
Syrian government forces stormed the strategic town early on Sunday. Many opposition fighters fled, accusing their commanders of betrayal.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35042.htm
Syria Rebels Threaten to Wipe Out Shiite, Alawite Towns
By Dana El Baltaji
Communities inhabited by Shiite Muslims and President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite minority will be “wiped off the map” if the strategic city of Al-Qusair in central Syria falls to government troops, rebel forces said.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35044.htm
Syrian Rebels in Trouble
German Intelligence Sees Assad Regaining Hold
By Matthias Gebauer
Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, now believes the Syrian military of autocrat Bashar Assad is more stable than it has been in a long time and is capable of undertaking successful operations against rebel units at will.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35047.htm
Israel Heads Closer to War on Syria
By Stephen Lendman
Netanyahu said he’ll topple Assad if he responds to Israeli attacks. He suggested further bombings may follow. Allegedly they’ll target weapons transfers to Hezbollah.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35043.htm
Rand Paul: My Colleagues Just Voted to Arm the Allies of al Qaeda
By John Hudson
Paul said, addressing his Senate colleagues. “You will be funding, today, the allies of al Qaeda. It’s an irony you cannot overcome.”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35037.htm
The First Of Many?
British ‘Soldier Beheaded’ in London
By Daily Telegraph reporters
Two suspected terrorists were shot by armed police after attacking a pedestrian, believed to be a soldier, with a machete-style knife close to military barracks.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35046.htm
‘Don’t Interact, Don’t Talk, They Are Not Humans’ – Gitmo Guard’s Basic Orders
By RT
One of the methods used to extract information from Muslim inmates in Guantanamo was to apply sexual interrogation techniques, Terry Holdbrooks, former guard.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35045.htm
Bradley Manning Prosecutors Seek to Prove WikiLeaks Suspect ‘Aided Enemy’
By Ed Pilkington
Should Manning be found not guilty to having aided the enemy, he still faces a further 20 counts carrying an overall maximum sentence of more than 150 years.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35039.htm
When the Justice Department Pursues Reporters as Spies
By Kevin Gosztola
There is a wide surveillance state that the Justice Department has proven over recent years it will use to increase the likelihood that prosecutions of individuals will be successful.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35039.htm
Justice Department’s Overreaching on Leaks Threatens Freedom of the Press
By Gabe Rottman
There are a couple of angles here that make the Rosen warrant unique and uniquely troubling.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35038.htm
“Why Are We Not Calling This Facism?”
Interview With Chris Hedges
Video
Chris Hedges, Truthdig, joins Thom Hartmann. The AP scandal is just the latest example of an ongoing – and often corporate backed – assault on our most basic democratic rights.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35041.htm
50 Insurgents Including Three Taliban Leaders Killed in Helmand Clashes:
Around 50 insurgents including three Taliban leaders were killed during the three-day clash at Sangin district in southern Helmand province, local officials said on Wednesday. 18 other insurgents were injured in the clash.
Suicide blast in Ghazni province, 7 killed 13 injured:
Afghan policeA heavy explosion rocked eastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan late Wednesday evening. According to local authorities the incident took place after a suicide bomber detonated his explosives in Moqor district.
US-led foreign forces kill two seminary students in Afghanistan:
US-led foreign soldiers stationed in Afghanistan have shot and killed at least two seminary students in the war-torn country, reports say.
Fact or fiction:
40 Syrian soldiers killed in Idlib province:
Pro-rebel activists say: Forty Syrian soldiers and pro-regime militiamen were killed in fighting with rebels who captured an army camp near the town of Nayrab in the northwestern province of Idlib on Wednesday, a watchdog reported.
Turkey shuts border, battle rages for Qusair:
Turkey has shut its last border crossing near forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Syria’s opposition has urged rebels to reinforce the town of Qusair near Lebanon as Assad’s forces press a four-day assault.
Syria rebels in plea for weapons to hold Qusayr:
“If we lose Qusayr, we lose Homs, and if we lose Homs, we lose the heart of the country,” said one rebel fighter.
Syrian opposition calls upon rebel fighters to save embattled Qusair:
The Syrian National Coalition (SNC) sought to bolster on Wednesday embattled rebel fighters in Qusair, who for a fourth day in a row came under fierce assault from forces
Propaganda?
Iranian soldiers fighting for Assad in Syria, says (Anonymous) State Department official? :
An unknown number of Iranians are fighting inside Syria, the official said, citing accounts from opposition forces supported by Western and Arab governments. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity
Iranians joining Hezbollah in key Syria battle, US says:
His information was based on reports from commanders of the rebel Free Syrian Army, but he was unable to give any estimates of how many Hezbollah fighters or Iranians were involved, and what exact role the Iranians were playing.
Video –
Israeli Jeep Used by FSA Found in Part of Qusayr Liberated by the Syrian Army :
Syria and Israel in exchange of fire:
Israel returned fire after one of its military vehicles was hit by shots from Syria, Israel’s defence forces say. Media reports say no-one was hurt. Syria says it destroyed an Israeli vehicle which it says crossed the ceasefire line into territory its forces control.
Video shows Russian S-300 missiles defense system in action:
Video
White washing Al-Qaeda:
Rebel leader in hiding after disputed merger:
The Syrian rebel movement Jabhat al-Nusra, considered a terrorist organisation by the US state department, is in the process of being subsumed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.
Britain, France to drum up support to arm Syrian rebels:
French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron Wednesday said they would seek European support for their proposal to arm the “rebels” to fight Syrian government forces
Austria says peackeepers may quit Golan if EU arms rebels:
Vienna’s warning was aimed at Britain and other allies which want to help Syrian rebels by lifting an EU arms embargo – doing so, minister Gerald Klug told Reuters, would rob Austrian troops of their neutrality in a Syrian conflict that has already seen foreign peacekeepers come under fire and some even held hostage.
Syria parties ‘preparing for peace talks’: Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations-Arab League mediator:
“The Syrian people are building great hopes on the conference, as the opposition prepares itself to take part and likewise the Syrian regime prepares to take part in this conference,” he told reporters at the Arab League in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Tuesday.,
Assad’s departure urged as Friends of Syria meet:
“It is the longstanding view of the UK that Assad needs to go, and we have never been able to see any solution which involves him staying,” British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in Amman ahead of a Friends of Syria meeting to discuss a US-Russian proposal for peace talks. Qatar, a key supporter of the Syrian opposition, echoed that.
“Peace talks” are a setup : Kerry promises wider U.S. support for Syrian rebels if peace talks remain elusive:
The United States and its partners will widen support for the Syrian rebels, including the potential to send more weapons or take any measures short of sending U.S. forces, if diplomacy fails to end a civil war, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Wednesday.
Top Russian security official visits US, plays mailman for Obama and Putin:
The head of Russia’s National Security Council has arrived in the US on a two-day visit for top-level talks on key stumbling blocks in bilateral relations. He will also deliver President Putin’s response to a letter President Obama sent in April.
AL Qaeda Jabhat Al-Nusra steals food of Syrian civilians ;
Video –
Iraq: Gunmen kill 12 in Baghdad brothel:
Seven women and five men have been shot dead in a brothel in Baghdad, state and medical officials say. Unknown armed gunmen are said to have burst into the brothel in the well-to-do eastern district of Zayouna on Wednesday afternoon and opened fire.
Attacks in Iraq kill over 40, sectarian tensions high:
A series of bomb and gun attacks across Iraq killed more than 40 people on Tuesday, a day after over 70 died in violence targeting majority Shi’ites that has stoked fears of all-out sectarian war with minority Sunnis.
Former Deputy PM Warns of US, Israeli Plot to Disintegrate Iraq: –
Former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zoubaee rapped Israel and the US for supporting unrests in Iraq, warning that they have hatched plots to disintegrate the Muslim country.
Ten killed in sectarian clashes in Lebanon’s Tripoli:
Four people were killed overnight in fighting between Alawite supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Sunnis, who back the Syrian opposition. The death toll since fresh fighting broke out on Sunday includes two Lebanese soldiers.
France “deeply concerned” by situation in Northern Lebanon:
At least two more people died Tuesday and several others were wounded in heavy exchanges of fire, while the Lebanese army was deploying reinforcements to try to calm the situation.
Sarkozy: If attacked, Israel will not be alone:
Former French president awarded honorary degree by Netanya college for support of Israel, Jewish people; Netanyahu: You are true friend to Israel
Palestinian Authority’s economy ‘isn’t strong enough to support a state,’ World Bank report says:
The bank noted that Israeli restrictions remain the biggest impediment to investing, creating high uncertainty and risk.
Biden Talks of ‘Outsized Influence’ of Jews: ‘The Influence Is Immense’:
“The truth is that Jewish heritage, Jewish culture, Jewish values are such an essential part of who we are that it’s fair to say that Jewish heritage is American heritage,” Biden said
Iran’s New Mobile Air Defense System “Impenetrable”;
Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi described Iran’s newly unveiled Herz air-defense shield as a very sophisticated system immune from enemy’s jamming.
Iran’s Ahmadinejad to contest poll bar on ally Mashaei:
Mr Mashaei and ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani have been excluded by the Guardian Council, which vets election candidates. The eight men cleared to stand are all considered conservatives.
Nigeria: Insurgents Fight With Libyan Weapons – Army:
The troops deployed to flush out Boko Haram insurgents from Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, yesterday, encountered intense resistance from sect members who were armed with sophisticated weapons from Libya.
No doubt Obama has the guys on his kill list:
US identifies suspected attackers on its Benghazi consulate in 2012:
Administration weighing its options as intercepts reveal identity and whereabouts of suspects in attack that left four dead
International law means nothing to rogue state: –
Why is Obama hesitating to kidnap the 5 Benghazi suspects?: The Federal Bureau of Investigation has identified five suspects believed responsible for last year’s attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Investigators believe they have enough information implicating the men – to justify having the military seize them as suspected terrorists. So far there isn’t enough evidence to ensure a conviction.
We don’t need no stinking badges!
UK Government ‘attempts to evade responsibility’ over part in Libyan torture:
Lawyers for the UK Government claimed yesterday (21 May) that it should not be held accountable in British courts for its role in the rendition and torture of Gaddafi opponents in 2004.
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/18413
FBI’ shoots Chechen dead in Florida, man questioned in Boston bombings – report:
A Chechen man was shot dead at his home in Orlando, Florida while an interview with law enforcers regarding the Boston Marathon bombings turned violent. The interviewee was said to have known Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the slain assailant in last month’s attack.
Top IRS official to invoke Fifth Amendment, decline to testify at House hearing:
Lois Lerner, the director of the IRS division that singled out conservative groups, is expected to invoke the Fifth Amendment Wednesday when she appears before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Fox News has learned.
CBS’ Sharyl Attkisson: My Computers Were Compromised, ‘Could Be Some Relationship’ To DOJ Scandals :
Attkisson has long been a thorn in the side of the White House, and a hero to conservatives, for her aggressive reporting on the incident in Benghazi and on the “Fast and Furious” controversy.
Rand Paul: Apple Deserves Apology From U.S. Gov’t: Rand Paul: Video –
At a hearing today about offshore tax shelters at the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, chided congress for holding the hearing and told Apple CEO Tim Cook he deserves an apology.
Apple’s Irish Tax Strategy Explained:
A new Senate report alleges that Apple (AAPL) blows through a loophole that capitalizes on the difference between U.S. and Irish rules regarding tax residency to avoid paying corporate income taxes.
$150 bn lost in tax havens enough to end extreme poverty twice over – report:
Oxfam, the UK based charity, estimates that some $18.47 trillion is being held by individuals in tax havens around the world. Of this some $7.18 trillion is in accounts situated in British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
Rand Paul says US Dangerously Close To Insolvency
– Video –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wp1BfAsPVI
Cost Of War
Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered In US War And Occupation Of Iraq “1,455,590“
Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America’s War On Iraq: 4,883
Number Of International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan : 3,315
Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan
Total Cost of Wars Since 2001
$1,441,302,827,878
The New Dark Age 
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