NATO: "Kill Qaddafi!"

As we have predicted (see Libya Time Zero pdf) despite that the UN mandate authorized NATO's intervention in Libya in respect of protecting civilians by enforcing a no - fly zone now it is becoming clear that the civilians of the "other side" characterized as regime's supporters are the one at risk as not being innocent enough to be protected from the on going bombing. NATO after 100 days of war with 12,000 sorties flown in 5,000 attack missions and hit over 2,400 targets first admitted that there were casualties among civilians and now the US Admiral Samuel J. Locklear has confirmed that NATO forces are trying to kill Muammar Qaddafi. It is more than obvious that when Obama claimed that the regime change is not the ultimate goal of NATO's involvement in Libya he was just making a "negative affirmation".
From a totally neglected organization during the Yugoslavia war the UN has now "promoted" to a tool of enforcing a regime change by war without any respect on human lives.
The Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox insisted that strikes in Libya are not intented to kill Qaddafi but he refused to answer whether a RAF gunner who found Gaddafi in his sights should shoot him.

Athens erupts

Πηγή: Greekcity 30/6/2011

Violence escalated in central Athens on Wednesday after Parliament approved a new package of austerity measures with reports of dozens of protesters and police officers being injured in running battles.
Red Cross volunteer doctors told Skai TV that some 500 people were treated for injuries and breathing problems, as police came in for criticism for making heavy use of tear gas. More than 30 protesters were taken to the hospital. Police defended their use of chemicals, saying that some 500 rioters were intent on causing trouble at various spots in central Athens.

Libya conflict: France air-dropped arms to rebels

Πηγή: BBC News
29 June 2011 Last updated at 15:37 GM

France has air-dropped weapons to rebels fighting Col Muammar Gaddafi's troops in Western Libya, the French military has confirmed.

Light arms and ammunition were sent to Berber tribal fighters in the Nafusa mountains in early June, it said.

Earlier, a report in Le Figaro newspaper said the arms included rocket launchers and anti-tank missiles.

France, a leading force in the Nato operation in Libya, did not inform its allies about the move, Le Figaro said.

"We began by dropping humanitarian aid: food, water and medical supplies," said Col Thierry Burkhard, spokesman for the French general staff.

"During the operation, the situation for the civilians on the ground worsened. We dropped arms and means of self-defence, mainly ammunition," he told AFP news agency.

U.S. can't justify its drug war spending, reports say

 Πηγή: Los Angeles Times

By Brian Bennett, June 09, 2011

Government reports say the Obama administration is unable to show that billions of dollars spent in the anti-drug efforts in Latin America have made a significant difference.

Reporting from Washington— As drug cartels wreak murderous havoc from Mexico to Panama, the Obama administration is unable to show that the billions of dollars spent in the war on drugs have significantly stemmed the flow of illegal narcotics into the United States, according to two government reports and outside experts.

The reports specifically criticize the government's growing use of U.S. contractors, which were paid more than $3 billion to train local prosecutors and police, help eradicate fields of coca, operate surveillance equipment and otherwise battle the widening drug trade in Latin America over the last five years.

The Divided States of Europe

Πηγή: Stratfor

June 28, 2011 | 0848 GMT

By Marko Papic

Europe continues to be engulfed by economic crisis. The global focus returns to Athens on June 28 as Greek parliamentarians debate austerity measures imposed on them by eurozone partners. If the Greeks vote down these measures, Athens will not receive its second bailout, which could create an even worse crisis in Europe and the world.

It is important to understand that the crisis is not fundamentally about Greece or even about the indebtedness of the entire currency bloc. After all, Greece represents only 2.5 percent of the eurozone’s gross domestic product (GDP), and the bloc’s fiscal numbers are not that bad when looked at in the aggregate. Its overall deficit and debt figures are in a better shape than those of the United States — the U.S. budget deficit stood at 10.6 percent of GDP in 2010, compared to 6.4 percent for the European Union — yet the focus continues to be on Europe.

Libya Clashes Escalate But a Diplomatic Compromise Looms

Πηγή: ΤΙΜΕ

Posted by TONY KARON Monday, June 27, 2011 at 12:35 am

As NATO's war in Libya entered its 100th day on Monday, an end to the conflict may be in sight -- but not necessarily a decisive one. Military and diplomatic signs point increasingly towards some measure of compromise by both sides in shaping an outcome that neither the regime nor the rebels would have countenanced when their struggle began. Rebel forces who have been consolidating their hold on villages in mountains to the West of Tripoli launched a furious assault Sunday on the approaches to the capital, but were repelled by forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. The regime appears unable for the foreseeable future to restore control over those -- slowly growing -- parts of the country where rebel forces have broken Gaddafi's iron grip, yet the rebels and their NATO backers so far appear unable to deal the regime's forces a knockout blow. And while the rebel forces may be growing in confidence, the commitment of the Western allies that have enabled rebel advances is clearly finite.

Congress investigating botched Fast and Furious ATF operation

Πηγή: newsytype

By Sam Hoober June 10, 2011

Ann ATF sting operation called "Fast and Furious," in which gun store owners sold firearms to gun smugglers so the guns could be traced, is being investigated by Congress. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
A sting operation by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms called “Fast and Furious” has been revealed to have gone horribly wrong. The ATF allowed guns to be purchased for distribution to Mexican drug cartels in the hopes of making a huge bust. Instead, the operation flooded the Southwest with illegal firearms.

Το κόστος συμμετοχής των ελληνικών Ε.Δ. στην Λιβύη

Μετά από σχετική επερώτηση του προέδρου της Κ.Ο. του Σύριζα κ. Α. Τσίπρα, το Υπουργείο Εθνικής Άμυνας διευκρίνισε (18/4/2011) ότι το λογιστικό  κόστος της συμμετοχής των ελληνικών δυνάμεων στην Λιβύη αρχικά είχε υπολογιστεί σε 6 εκατομμύρια ευρώ και στην συνέχεια τείνει να μειωθεί σημαντικά μετά από την εμπειρία του πρώτου μήνα. Το συνολικό κόστος της συμμετοχής των ελληνικών δυνάμεων στο εξωτερικό για το 2010 ανήλθε στα 121.823.500,00€ (μειωμένο σε σχέση με το 2009) ενώ υπάρχει πρόβλεψη για περαιτέρω μείωσή του κατά το 2011.
Παρόλα αυτά η προβλεπόμενη μείωση παραμένει ένα ερωτηματικό αφού φέτος προστέθηκε το ανωτέρω ποσόν της μέχρι τούδε διαρκούσης Λιβυκής σύρραξης.

Libya War Costs U.S. $715 Million So Far

Πηγή: Newsmax

Thursday, 16 Jun 2011 08:27 AM

WASHINGTON – The United States has spent more than $715 million for military and humanitarian operations in Libya since unrest began in the north African country earlier this year, the White House said Wednesday.

The figures came in a report that the White House sent to Congress insisting that President Barack Obama did not exceed his powers in ordering US military action in Libya.

"The cost through June 3, 2011, for DoD (Department of Defense) military operations and humanitarian assistance efforts in Libya is $715.9 million," it said.

Libyan conflict will cost taxpayers £260m

Britain’s war in Libya could cost taxpayers £260 million, ministers have admitted.

An RAF Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon jet lands at the Gioia del Colle Nato Airbase in southern Italy Photo: REUTERS

Πηγή: The Telegraph




By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent

12:36PM BST 23 Jun 2011

The Ministry of Defence has published figures on the cost of airstrikes and naval operations against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

British attacks on Libya began in March. The MoD has budgeted for a six-month operation.

Service chiefs have publicly warned that they are worried about the impact on their forces if the conflict in Libya stretches beyond six months.

Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, told MPs that the cost was made up of £120 million in fuel and other operating costs for aircraft, warships and submarines.
Another £140 million will be required to replace the missiles and bombs that have been used in Libya.

Gordon Duff: Libya And The CIA, The Unseen Partnership

"Our president, the leader of the free world, said, 'A what? That's hard! A no fly zone is r-r-r-really hard!' " Giuliani said to laughter. (AP)

Πηγή: Veterans Today


LIBYA’S STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

GWENYTH TODD (Clinton Advisor on Libya and the Middle East): “At that meeting (State Department), one of the agenda items that came up was how we could silence the (Lockerbie) victims’ families by possibly discrediting them – by saying that perhaps they were greedy and that they just wanted money…. and I walked out in disgust. I was outraged”.

By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER/Senior Editor

Today, Libya’s Colonel Gaddafi is fighting to stay in power, subject to renewed UN sanctions and a NATO air assault. Few know his checkered history and the decades of “cooperation” between Libya and the covert operations of the United States, Britain and Israel, assassinations, arms dealing and, most of all, drugs.

From Monster Makeover (complete transcript below):


GWENYTH TODD: “According to Israeli lobbyists to whom I spoke, Israel felt no threat from Libya’s nuclear programme in the late 90s and beyond. And if it had been a serious concern, Israel would have made it very clear that we needed to keep the sanctions on”.

Americans are flabbergasted, and they should be, at the strange bedfellows the Libyan crisis has uncovered, a Washington divided, not by politics but something baser exposed, signs of past sins and a flood of Gaddafi cash meant to mold public opinion now as it had for decades.

Kadhafi : "La bataille se poursuivra jusqu’à l’au-delà"

Πηγή: gnet

Publié le Jeudi 23 Juin 2011 à 09:19

AFP - Le dirigeant libyen contesté Mouammar Kadhafi a une nouvelle fois affirmé qu'il se battrait jusqu'à la mort dénonçant les raids de l'Otan ayant tué des civils et provoqué des divisions au sein de l'Alliance.

Le conflit semble s'enliser plus de quatre mois après le début de la révolte qui s'est transformée en conflit armé, M. Kadhafi refusant de quitter le pouvoir malgré l'isolement, les sanctions et l'intervention militaire internationale, alors que les combats entre rebelles et forces loyalistes marquent le pas.

LIBYE: LA GUERRE A COÛTÉ 87M € À PARIS

Lefigaro.fr
20/06/2011 | Mise à jour : 09:06

En 80 jours d'opérations, le surcoût de la guerre en Libye pour la France se monte déjà à 87 millions d'euros, explique ce matin le général Pontiès, porte-parole adjoint du ministère de la Défense, au Parisien. Une somme qui comprend le coût des primes attribuées aux personnels envoyés sur place ainsi que la consommation des munitions. Par exemple, un missile de dernière génération Scalp coûte 500.000 à 800.000 euros l'unité, tandis que l'heure de vol d'un Rafale est évaluée à 13.000 euros.

Military professionals versus government ideologues in Israel

Πηγή: Foreign Policy

Posted By Yoram Peri,  Friday, June 17, 2011 - 6:37 PM

The Israeli public has not yet grasped the profound significance of retired Mossad chief Meir Dagan's recent statement about Israel's security problems. It revealed a fundamental split between the upper echelons of the professional defense establishment and the more ideologically driven government politicians over both foreign policy and the assessment of real threats to Israel's very existence.

Dagan blamed the government for its failure to adopt a political initiative in light of the Palestinians' diplomatic offensive. He called on Israel to renew negotiations with the Palestinian Authority and to respond positively to the Arab League's initiative for a comprehensive peace with the Arab states. Most importantly, he warned against an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, calling it "military adventurism" on the part of the Benjamin Netanyahu-Ehud Barak duo.

Killing Democracy One File at a Time: Justice Department Loosens FBI Domestic Spy Guidelines

Πηγή: Global Research By Tom Burghardt While the Justice Department is criminally inept, or worse, when it comes to prosecuting corporate thieves who looted, and continue to loot, trillions of dollars as capitalism's economic crisis accelerates, they are extremely adept at waging war on dissent. Last week, The New York Times disclosed that the FBI "is giving significant new powers to its roughly 14,000 agents, allowing them more leeway to search databases, go through household trash or use surveillance teams to scrutinize the lives of people who have attracted their attention." Under "constitutional scholar" Barack Obama's regime, the Bureau will revise its "Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide." The "new rules," Charlie Savage writes, will give agents "more latitude" to investigate citizens even when there is no evidence they have exhibited "signs of criminal or terrorist activity."

Kenneth Waltz: Η Ελλάδα “γεωστρατηγικό κλειδί” της Ανατολικής Μεσογείου

Πηγή: strategy on May 09, 2011


Η θέση της Ελλάδας έχει αποδυναμωθεί λόγω της δεινής οικονοµικής της κατάστασης ωστόσο παραµένει χώρα – κλειδί με σηµαντική γεωστρατηγική θέση στην περιοχή της Ανατολικής Μεσογείου, επηρεάζοντας κράτη όπως η Ρωσία και η Τουρκία, τόνισε ο οµότιµος καθηγητής του πανεπιστηµίου Berkeley της Καλιφόρνια, Keneth Waltz, που επισκέπτεται τη χώρα μας. Ο κορυφαίος επιστήμονας των Διεθνών Σχέσεων χαρακτήρισε την εμπλοκή των ΗΠΑ σε έξι πολέμους, την τελευταία 20ετία (από το 1993), ως «μη απαραίτητη» και υποστήριξε ότι η δολοφονία του Οsama Bin Laden ήταν «ατυχής» καθώς δεν έχει να προσφέρει τίποτα στον αγώνα κατά της τρομοκρατίας. Οι δηλώσεις του Κenneth Waltz έγιναν κατά τη διάρκεια συνέντευξης Τύπου, επ΄αφορμής της αναγόρευσής του σε επίτιμο διδάκτορα του Τμήματος Διεθνών και Ευρωπαικών Σπουδών του Πανεπιστημίου Μακεδονίας, απόφοιτος του οποίου είναι και ο γράφων.

Greece's Economic Crisis and Natural Resources

Austerity measures is one way of coping with the unprecedented economic crisis. The exploitation of National wealth like oil and gas is the other. To this direction this article is just a reminder. On January the Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou met with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tavyip Erdogan to hold private talks for several hours regarding hydrocarbons in the Aegean Sea, fuelling speculation of a major disagreement over territory and ownership rights. The spending reduction policy implemented day by day by itself is only serving the EU to buy time for it's effort to avoid a possible domino effect following the Greece's default. Facing an economic annihilation Greece has to do something about it's possible natural resources without any more delays...

Πηγή: A. Mavromatidis, V. C. Kelessidis, D. Monopolis, 2004, A review of recent hydrocarbon exploration in Greece and its potential, Paper presented at the 1st International Conference on Advances in Mineral Resources Management and Environmental Geotechnology, 7-9 June, Chania, Greece

Πηγή: Oil and gas worldwide. Offshore oil treasures in eastern Mediterranean sea

NATO Incorporates Libyan Experience For Global War Template

Πηγή: Global Researc

By Rick Rozoff, 

June 18, 2011

As the West’s war against Libya has entered its fourth month and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has flown more than 11,000 missions, including 4,300 strike sorties, over the small nation, the world’s only military bloc is already integrating lessons learned from the conflict into its international model of military intervention based on earlier wars in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq.

What NATO refers to as Operation Unified Protector has provided the Alliance the framework in which to continue recruiting Partnership for Peace adjuncts like Sweden and Malta, Istanbul Cooperation Initiative affiliates Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates and Mediterranean Dialogue partnership members Jordan and Morocco into the bloc’s worldwide warfighting network. Sweden, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates also have military personnel assigned to NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in the nearly ten-year-long war in Afghanistan. In the first case, troops from the Scandinavian nation has been engaged in their first combat role, killing and being killed, in two centuries in Afghanistan and has provided eight warplanes for the attack on Libya, with marine forces to soon follow.

Obama Overruled Lawyers on Libya

Πηγή: Outside the Beltway
By James Joyner · Saturday, June 18, 2011

President Obama overruled his top legal advisors in deciding that the Libya operation does not amount to “hostilities” under the War Powers Act. (In fairness, he had other top lawyers on his side.)

NYT (“2 Top Lawyers Lost to Obama in Libya War Policy Debate“):


President Obama rejected the views of top lawyers at the Pentagon and the Justice Department when he decided that he had the legal authority to continue American military participation in the air war in Libya without Congressional authorization, according to officials familiar with internal administration deliberations.

Jeh C. Johnson, the Pentagon general counsel, and Caroline D. Krass, the acting head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, had told the White House that they believed that the United States military’s activities in the NATO-led air war amounted to “hostilities.” Under the War Powers Resolution, that would have required Mr. Obama to terminate or scale back the mission after May 20.

Greece: What Would Happen If it Defaulted?

Πηγή: The Wall Street Journal

By Dave Kansas MAY 24, 2011, 11:59 AM ET


Eurocrats insist that Greece will not default on its sovereign debt obligations, but the markets think otherwise.

As politicians and policy makers haggle, analysts are trying to game-out what would happen in the event Greece defaulted. Moody’s Investors Service in a note this morning tried to put a little meat on the default scenario, and it made for some pretty dark reading.

Let’s break it down, with a little Translation Time.

Moody’s: Moody’s Investors Service has explored possible Greek default scenarios in order to assess the impact on the country’s sovereign rating, the consequences for Greek banks and the possible paths of credit contagion to other European sovereigns, which are discussed in a Special Comment published today.

TT: Leading with “contagion” surely gets attention. If Greek defaults, it won’t be an Athens-only affair. Seatbelts, tighten ‘em.

Moody’s: Moody’s did not comment on the likelihood or the desirability of a debt restructuring, but focused more narrowly on some of the credit implications of different default scenarios.

Obama, we're at war. Stop insulting us.

Πηγή: Foreign Policy
Posted By Stephen M. Walt  Thursday, June 16, 2011 - 1:20 PM


Not that FP has suddenly become joke central, but there's an old joke that runs like this:

An accountant, a social scientist and a lawyer are seated in a room. A guy walks in and asks them: "how much is 2 + 2?" The accountant whips out a calculator, pencils and paper, scribbles for awhile, and then says: "The answer, sir, is 4." The social scientist grabs her laptop, fires it up a few minutes, and then says "Well, as you know this is not an exact science, but I can say with a 95% level of confidence that the answer is between 3 and 5."

The lawyer, meanwhile, gets up, looks under all the chairs, checks in the closet, opens the door to the room and looks both ways down the hall. Then he comes back, sidles up to the guy who asked the question, and whispers:

"I don't care. How much do you want it to be?"

Greece: Pick up your Butcher

The present clashes in Athens are usually analyzed in conjunction with the economic issues and the possible - or inevitable - bankruptcy. In this manner the deeper political roots of this fast growing unprecedented uprising are downplayed or ignored. The hart of the problem is the lack of confidence between government or parliamentary representation and society. A major crack in the ice of political accountability. The fact that an ex - prime Minister managed to easy the entry of Greece in the Eurozone by means of a secret mega - loan from Goldman Sachs is used to underline the misbehavior inter-graded with the Greek characteristics of a rather regressive nation mentality. But this action was not hidden only from the EU but from Greek people as well. Mr. Simitis by that time in view of the forthcoming Olympic Games summarized his alleged political success using the slogan: "Powerful Greece, Powerful Economy" which promised "Better Living Standards". The next government of "New Democracy" had promised that the many floating scandals including "Siemens" and the stock - exchange bubble, the hard - trick of PASOK's "user - friendly" socialism or the greater national massive deceit with the Minister of Economics urging people to put money in the bubble should be punished. Instead of this nobody took the blame and Greece was literally left unprotected to the subsequent summer fires that consumed a great part of the country's forest land. Additionally more scandals popped up with a Minister claiming that having money in off - shore companies while serving the public is not illegal but fair enough. Then Mr. Papandreou came on stage stating that "money do exist as billions were swiftly raised to support the banks to cope with the global economic crises" and that "we shall act in favor of the poor, the low and the middle classes".
But who was to take advantage of this Aegean stable? The "Greece - Eurozone" fraud made the Olympic Games a feasible business from which Siemens had the lion's share while Greece was left with an approximately 15 billion euros loss. Even more the euro offered the "opportunity" to the governments of lending more money while the logistic books were masking the real economic situation from people. More importantly the problems of Greece with her neighbors increased. To the Greece - Turkey disputes and the on - going heavy spending on army the name on the new born "Macedonia" and the Imia crises with three dead officers and the lowering of the Greek flag from this isled stemmed the downgrade of the Greece's geopolitical role underlying the weaknesses. Thousand of illegal immigrants roared into Greece without any consistent and responsible domestic or European policy based on some serious study of the impacts on the society and safety. Lastly the millions of euros that Greece took from the EU as a boost on her economy were spent unchecked without any plan for a real change on the production base of the country as the EU intended to induce a critical reduction on Greece's agriculture sector. Furthermore the hard euro rendered Greece as depraved from devaluation policies an expensive country for tourists that could go to Turkey or other low currency countries for vacations. But beyond tourism and agriculture what else could possibly Greece offer as a national economic base alternative? Being helpless and incapable of even claiming the Exclusive Economic Zone in the Aegean which could give her a major boost by the natural gas and possible oil she is now facing the possibility of a clearance sale of Nation Wealth.
This is far more than an economical problem. It is a high and crucial political one concerning not only Greece which is now the back - door of instability but the whole EU. And this is the only playing card left in her hands. She has to play it hard risking on the change of her geopolitical function in the Aegean and upgrading her role as a crossroad between East and West. She should leave everything behind and build new strategical alliances knowing that this is her last bid on the table. Biding with Russia and China is the only hopeful option as they are starving for lebensraum while having low interest rate capitals.
Picking up the butcher that will slay you is not a pleasant decision but remains the ultimate right of self - defense.

Top Barack Obama donors net government jobs

Πηγή: POLTICO

By FRED SCHULTE, JOHN ALOYSIUS FARRELL AND JEREMY BORDEN -- IWATCH NEWS | 6/15/11 4:37 AM EDT





Telecom executive Donald H. Gips raised a big bundle of cash to help finance his friend Barack Obama’s run for the presidency.

Gips, a vice president of Colorado-based Level 3 Communications, delivered more than $500,000 in contributions for the Obama war chest, while two other company executives collected at least $150,000 more.
After the election, Gips was put in charge of hiring in the Obama White House, helping to place loyalists and fundraisers in many key positions. Then, in mid-2009, Obama named him ambassador to South Africa. Meanwhile, Level 3 Communications, in which Gips retained stock, received millions of dollars of government stimulus contracts for broadband projects in six states — though Gips said he had been “completely unaware” that the company had received the contracts.

More than two years after Obama took office vowing to banish “special interests” from his administration, nearly 200 of his biggest donors have landed plum government jobs and advisory posts, won federal contracts worth millions of dollars for their business interests or attended numerous elite White House meetings and social events, an investigation by iWatch News has found.

Iraq: Forced Liberators on hire

Mr. Dana Rohrabacher

The Iraq war is the ugliest story of our era. From the beginning to the end and aftermath the whole is an exemplary case of deceit, fraud, democratic deficit and lack of transparency. These characteristics are reflected to the subsequent controversy stemming all the key - facts of the story. The "well - documented" Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) turned to be Weapons of Mass Deception for the justification of a war where the only real objective was oil and maybe the extermination of Saddam who like Qaddafi was up to quit using dollars in the oil trade. The famous "food for oil" programme turned to be the biggest scandal in the history of the UN involving bribes, kickbacks and black payments with the Iraqi money while the investigations were highly controversial as the person that formed the definitive report, Mr. Paul Volker was by that time the representative of the UN Association in the States. Furthermore, a magnetic bomb was attached on the car of the head of Iraq's independent Board of Supreme Audit Ehsan Karim taking his life. In England the expert of biological warfare employed by the British Ministry of Defense and formerly a UN weapon inspector in Iraq Mr. David Kelly was found dead after discussing with a BBC journalist about the British government's dossier on the WMD of Iraq. He allegedly committed suicide while taking his usual walk in the park using his own Knife to cut his veins albeit without leaving any fingerprints. The same foggy atmosphere surrounds the death toll of Iraqi children caused by the long standing embargo (100,000 - 1,700,000) and of the civilians following the final invasion, a number that had to be changed (increased) after the Wikileaks unsanctioned disclosure of the Iraq War Logs, consisting the biggest leak in the history of the USA.
On top of these events, last Sunday (12/6) while on a congressional delegation visiting in Baghdad, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher a defender of Bush administration's program of extraordinary rendition said that Iraq should repay USA for the war that President Bush have started in 2003 as a total of around $ 3 trillion have been spent already. In the same line he withdrew his support from the Libyan rebels for not accepting to repay the costs of the US air campaign there. The Iraqis denounced the idea of paying back their forced liberation and nation building which is yet in the stage of "bombing is like shopping" and the government asked him to leave the country. Obviously this story before its final spiraling into the memory hole will have the opportunity to turn even more ugly...

La campagne pour un audit de la dette publique grecque: Apres ses débuts encourageants, il s’agit maintenant de transformer l’essai…

Πηγή: Ελληνική Επιτροπή Ενάντια στο Χρέος

par Yorgos Mitralias

En Grèce, tout a changé en un temps record. Début 2010, pratiquement personne ne parlait de la dette publique. Quelques mois plus tard, cette même dette publique dominait tout, occupant le devant de la scène sociale, politique et économique, et prenant d’assaut la vie quotidienne et même l’équilibre psychique de l’écrasante majorité des grecs !

L’explication est facile : l’avalanche des mesures d’austérité et autres déréglementations profondes du marche du travail qui, jour après jour, tombaient sur la tète de la malheureuse population étaient justifiées par les contraintes imposées par l’abyssale dette publique grecque. Subitement, cette dette publique totalement inconnue et « exotique », car réservée exclusivement aux lointains pays du Tiers Monde, devenait familière et surtout, un véritable père Fouettard évoqué par les gouvernants pour assagir une population « trop dépensière, paresseuse et turbulente »…

California fighting back on Colombia free trade act

Πηγή: California Progress Report  
By Tim Robertson
24 May 2011

Since 2005, more than half the trade unionists murdered in the world have been killed in Colombia. That's more in Colombia alone than in the other 190+ countries combined. Just last year, 51 more trade unionists were murdered bringing the total since 1986 to over 2700. Unfortunately, President Obama is ignoring these facts to push for the long-stalled Colombia Free Trade Agreement, a relic of the Bush Administration, in a move that can only be seen as an affront to his union base.

Not only is Colombia the most dangerous place in the world for union activity, an implied complicity with Colombia's government, in particular the Department of Administrative Security (DAS), has led to an approximate 96% impunity rating. Could you imagine the U.S. response if over the course of 2010, there were one CEO murder per week in Colombia with little investigation and few convictions or punishments? It certainly wouldn't be to liberalize trade rules.

Sadly, the President knows and understands the plight of unionists, peasant leaders, Afro-Colobians, and other organizers in Colombia. He even campaigned against the FTA because of such violence.

Financial Crime and Corruption

Financial Crime and Corruption PDF,by Sam Vaknin, Ph.D.

US-Russian deal for two rulers who survived the Arab revolt

Πηγή: DEBKAfile Exclusive Report May 29, 2011, 10:56 PM (GMT+02:00)

Although 2,300 kilometers separates Libya from Syria, Muammar Qaddafi and Bashar Assad have this in common: Both Arab leaders look like surviving the revolts against them and neither is buckling under the pressures thrown at them by the United States and Europe - albeit in different forms and varying measures.
debkafile's military sources report that Sunday, May 29, there were solid signs that Assad and his army was recovering control of most parts of Syria, excepting only the Homs area of central Syria.
Elsewhere, after three months of battling the regime, the opposition is finding it harder to get protesters out on the streets for big rallies. Sunday, Syrian forces backed by tanks and heavy machine guns killed three civilians and wounded scores in the central towns of Talbiseh and Rastan and villages around Homs. Otherwise, most Syrian cities were calm.

Anonymous vs. NATO: Get your popcorn ready

Πηγή: Foreign Policy

Anonymous vs. NATO: Get your popcorn ready
Posted By Joshua Keating Thursday, June 9, 2011 - 4:22 PM

Anonymous has responded to a recent NATO report which suggested that the "hacktivist" collective would be "infiltrated" and "persecuted" if its illegal actions continued, CNET reports. Among other measures, the NATO document, issued earliler this week, speculated about whether the organization's Article 5 on mutual defence could be invoked in response to a cyber attack. The groups responded with a warning:

Our message is simple: Do not lie to the people and you won't have to worry about your lies being exposed. Do not make corrupt deals and you won't have to worry about your corruption being laid bare. Do not break the rules and you won't have to worry about getting in trouble for it.

Do not attempt to repair your two faces by concealing one of them. Instead, try having only one face - an honest, open and democratic one.

Human Rights Watch on Libyan Opposition abuses

Libya: Opposition Arbitrarily Detaining Suspected Gaddafi Loyalists

Respect Due Process Rights; Rein in Volunteer Security Groups


June 5, 2011

There is no excuse to delay the rule of law in areas under opposition control. The authorities should rein in volunteer security groups, establish a clear civilian authority for criminal justice, and make sure detainees get full due process rights.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

(Tunis) – Libyan opposition authorities are arbitrarily detaining dozens of civilians suspected of activities in support of Muammar Gaddafi, Human Rights Watch said today. The opposition authorities, which exercise control in eastern Libya and parts of the west, should provide the detainees with full due process rights or release them, Human Rights Watch said.

The authorities should also bring volunteer security groups that have formed in the east under a recognized civilian authority and investigate their alleged abuses, Human Rights Watch said. One detainee of a volunteer group was apparently tortured to death in custody.

GDC | Economist Conferences

Watch your ... debt watch and enjoy

GDC | Economist Conferences

Los(t) Indignados

A couple of days ago I happened to be ad mist the young "indignados" at Syntagma square, where some of them stay day and night living in tents. The summer is ante portes and the scene of many young people in the center of Athens looked like a joyful celebration. Some kiosks were shelling food and drink while a big screen was playing a movie that nobody watched. Guitars were scattered around mingling their music with laughters and shouts of the young protesters. In the center there was someone talking to the microphone surrounded by many people standing or siting on the pavement. While I was approaching to the circle I heard him describing how the other day along with a hundred people had managed to prevent the ministers from living the nearby Parliament by blocking the parking. I had just noticed that there was a long cue of people waiting for him to finish so that they could take in turns the microphone when he asked in a rather rhetorical way: "Would be it preferable if we just prevent them while they try to enter the building instead?. I guess that day they had already voted some bills that will degrade our living standards a bit more!.." he said. Everybody started to applause enthusiastically.
It is said that the big loans of Greece along with interest payments render every citizen in a debt of approximately 29,190 $ regardless of his age. This means that a four member family sums up to a 116,760 dollars total debt. The "metapoliteusis" in Greece aka the democratic reform and the subsequent governments of the liberal "New Democracy" and the socialistic "PASOK" have managed in 36 years to throw the state and the future in the garbage. This young enraged generations are right to doubt the accountability of their patrons in the political parties and look distastefully to the ECB and IMF. This is not to say that the European countries are unfair by looking after their billions nor the IMF. But lets leave apart the economy issue for a moment and consider where the domestic political framework combined with the EU has led  us now as all this was supposed to be something more than a plain accounting business.
To begin with, Greece became a state member carrying along many problems with her neighbor Turkey with which is in a long - standing cold war. Those problems and the subsequent army expenses not only grew bigger but new ones were added like the name problem concerning the new born "Macedonia" and the hundred thousands of immigrants that made their way inside the country. Greece stands on a crossroad. It is not by mere coincidence that in the past there was a war in North (Yugoslavia) and now in South (Libya). As a Southeast borderline of the West and the EU not only had to cope alone with those problems and keep spending a nice 4% of the GDP buying arms from USA and her European partners but also was obliged to swallow down the death of three officers in the Imia crises and lower silently her flag from this islet. When the EU was planing the creation of a European army she made it clear that a Greek - Turkish war was out of range. Even now as we speak Greece is unable to claim the Exclusive Economic Zone in the Aegean which could give her a major boost by the natural gas and possible oil. By being obliged to accept the waves of many thousands of immigrants for whom she hold responsibility as being the country of entrance a fact that was applauded by many Human Rights advocates backed by the EU policy she is now facing the other side of the coin namely the all growing criminality,as a logical consequence of the economic pitfall. Of coarse there were millions of euros that Greece took from the EU as part of the economic sustainability of the Union. But these money were spent unchecked and the governments failed to create a production base or new foundations functioning rather as contractors for several short term projects implying corruption and kickbacks as the Siemens scandal among others proves.
The Greek market is very small. The whole population of the country equals with a big town in the West. In fact those who are talking about liberating the market are talking about oligopolies should change hands from the State to some private businesses. The situation is not to get better in the near future regardless the political parties, the austerity measures or privatization. It seems that there is not any bearable solution for the middle and lower classes. The only way out would be to find another "protector" like China and offer him everything in order to cut the rope from our neck. Only such kind of a geopolitical table turn may give a glimpse of hope. But this is not going to happen. The whole political system has become a debt counter and the Greek people have signed the "memorandum" by the hand of the Minister of Economics while the Parliament was not a part of the process in the first place.
There is not any sunshine in the horizon for Greece. But yet it is summertime. One is feeling the joy with the youth seeing them full of life at Syntagma square but the same time he feels sorry for this foredoomed generation that is to be called los(t) indignados.

Young, Greek and unemployed

Πηγή: CNNmoney

By Dody Tsiantar, contributorMarch 2, 2011: 3:44 PM ET

ATHENS -- In Greek mythology, the god Cronus devoured five of his offspring to prevent them from overpowering him. Only Zeus, with his mother Rhea's help, escaped the fate of his siblings. Greece's youth, hit hard by the after effects of the debt crisis, may be feeling a bit like one of Cronus's unlucky children these days-as if they are about to be swallowed whole by an economic situation that is leaving many of them feeling hopeless about what the future holds.

The situation for many under the age of 35 in this country of 11 million is close to desperate. Unemployment for those between the ages of 15 and 24 rang in at an alarming 35.6% at the end of November, the latest statistics available. Youth unemployment, of course, is widely considered one of the drivers to the current unrest in the Middle East, It's also a global problem, according to the International Labor Organization, which called the growing number of the world's unemployed young people, "a lost generation" in a recently released report.

In Spain alone, the youth unemployment rate is over 40%. But in Greece, the issue resonates within the broader context of the debt crisis that has plagued the country since December of 2009. And if you add in the unemployment rate for those between 25 and 34 -- 17.9% -- it becomes clear that Greeks under the age of 35 are bearing a disproportionate part of the burden stemming from the country's financial difficulties.
"It's one of the most serious problems facing this country," says respected columnist and journalist Stavros Lygeros of Kathimerini, the largest daily newspaper in Greece.
Even those with undergraduate and graduate degrees are not immune-many end up without jobs or with low paying ones that have nothing to do with their studies just to make ends meet. Take Lygeros's daughter, Nefeli, 27. The Columbia University and Goldsmith University graduate holds not one, but two, master's degrees in media and film studies. She's sent out 30 some resumes since she returned to Greece last year, but has come up dry, save an offer or two to take on non-paying internships. She's considering moving back to London, where she earned one of her degrees.
"I'm extremely sad and frustrated. I love my country, my family, my friends, my life is here," she says. "You spend all this money and make all this effort and you come back and you hear, 'You know what, there's nothing for you here.' And then they show you the door.' It's unfair. I feel like I have to choose between my personal life and my career."
Ioannis Feloukas, 34, a graduate of the London School of Economics with a Masters in Business Administration, can relate. He's sent out 787 resumes in Greece and 50 abroad. "I know exactly how many," he bemoans. "I've kept count." This is a man with eight years of experience too, in both the public sector, as a hospital administrator, and in the private sector, as a financial analyst.
Married and with a child on the way, he takes what he can get-odd jobs here and there, gathering statistics for various marketing and pharmaceutical companies to collect a mere 10 to 25 euros for each questionnaire he gets someone to fill out.
"It's a bad time to look for a job," he says. "If I could, I'd leave this country."
He isn't the only young Greek to feel that way. According to a recent survey published by To Vima, a left-of-center newspaper, four out of 10 Greek college graduates from the ages of 22 to 35 are actively seeking jobs abroad. And another study by the University of Macedonia found that nearly 85% of those who are in colleges abroad are opting to stay there.
Theo Nikolaou, 24, is one of them. He just completed a master's degree in international relations at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. He's not coming back, at least for now. Instead, he's accepted an internship at the BBC World Service in London. "My chances of getting a job relevant to what I want to do in Greece are pretty slim," he says. "For me, I think, I'll be heading home only for holidays."
Cynthia Spanou, 25, a Fulbright scholar pursuing a master's degree in electrical engineering at Columbia University does not expect to return any time soon either. "All my friends and relatives say, 'Don't come back. You won't find a job.'"
Little wonder so many young people in Greece seem to be walking around in a daze. "They seem to have no purpose or hope. They're lost," says adjunct professor of sociology Georgia Lagoumitzi of the students she sees wandering around the campus of the American College of Greece in the northern Athenian suburb of Aghia Paraskevi. "A generation is defined by its social consciousness and how it is impacted by a social event. This one will be defined by the economic crisis. It's a lost generation."
The socialist government of Prime Minister George Papandreou is aware of the problem, but believes Greece's brain drain has roots that go way beyond the current economic crisis. Though the other countries with employment problems mentioned earlier all have different root causes, their examples bear out how tricky it can be to keep a workforce aligned with a country's economic needs.
Education minister Anna Diamontopoulos points out that Greece's labor force is out of balance-with more university graduates than there are positions. "We have 30,000 more doctors than are necessary," for example, she says, adding that the government is about to begin a campaign to encourage more high school students to pursue vocational careers. "There is a demand for technical jobs, but we don't have the people. What we need is a shift in the way we approach the workplace."

Tell that to Konstantia Saksani, 24, a graduate of the Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences. Instead of pursuing her chosen career as a journalist, she sells clothes at a trendy shop in Athens for 900 euros a month and still lives with her parents. "My generation has to be the unluckiest. We started looking for work just as the crisis began," she says. "We don't have many options. We either go abroad, forget what we've studied, or go hungry." That and try to stay out of Cronus's way.

Greece: The very symbol of illegitimate debt

Ελλάδα: Το κατ' εξοχήν είδωλο του παράνομου χρέους

By Eric Toussaint. (You can read the whole article in pdf here (English).

Περίληψη: Το Ελληνικό δημόσιο χρέος αναφέρθηκε στους πηχαίους τίτλους των ειδήσεων όταν ο αρχηγός της χώρας αποδέχτηκε τα μέτρα λιτότητας που απαιτήθηκαν από το ΔΝΤ και την ΕΕ, δημιουργώντας πολύ έντονες κοινωνικές αναταραχές το 2010. Αλλά πώς δημιουργήθηκε το Ελληνικό χρέος? Όσον αφορά στην επιβάρυνση του ιδιωτικού τομέα, η αύξηση ήταν όψιμη: το πρώτο κύμα ήρθε περίπου με την ένταξη της Ελλάδας στην ευρωζώνη το 2001. Μια δεύτερη έκρηξη χρέους παρουσιάστηκε το 2007 όταν οικονομική βοήθεια που δόθηκε στις τράπεζες από την Ομοσπονδιακή Τράπεζα της Αμερικής, τις Ευρωπαϊκές κυβερνήσεις και την Ευρωπαϊκή Κεντρική Τράπεζα ανακυκλώθηκε από τους τραπεζίτες  διοχετευόμενη προς την Ελλάδα και άλλες χώρες όπως η Ισπανία και η Πορτογαλία. Όσον αφορά στο δημόσιο χρέος, η αύξησή του εκτείνεται σε μεγαλύτερη χρονική περίοδο. Προστιθέμενο στο χρέος που κληρονομήθηκε από την δικτατορία των συνταγματαρχών, δημιουργήθηκε την δεκαετία του 90 εξυπηρετώντας το κενό που δημιουργήθηκε στα δημόσια οικονομικά από την χαμηλή φορολόγηση των (ιδιωτικών) εταιριών και τις υψηλές αμοιβές (του δημοσίου). Επιπλέον, για δεκαετίες, πολλά δάνεια χρηματοδότησαν την αγορά στρατιωτικών εξοπλισμών, κυρίως από την Γαλλία, την Γερμανία και τις ΗΠΑ.  Δεν θα πρέπει να ξεχνάει κανείς και το χρέος που δημιουργήθηκε από τις κρατικές αρχές για την διοργάνωση των Ολυμπιακών Αγώνων το 2004. Επιπλέον, η σπειροειδής αύξηση του χρέους τροφοδοτήθηκε με δωροδοκίες από κύριους διεθνής «παίκτες» για να αποκτήσουν συμβόλαια, μέσα στους οποίους η Siemens αποτελεί την κορωνίδα.

Για αυτούς τους λόγους θα πρέπει η νομιμότητα του Ελληνικού χρέους να αποτελέσει αντικείμενο ενδελεχούς έρευνας κατά το παράδειγμα του Εκουαδόρ και της σχετικής εξεταστικής επιτροπής ερεύνης του δημοσίου χρέους το 2007 – 2008. Τα χρέη που χαρακτηρίζονται ως παράνομα ή απεχθή θα πρέπει να εκμηδενιστούν και η Ελλάδα θα πρέπει να αρνηθεί να τα ξεπληρώσει ενώ παράλληλα να απαιτήσει εκείνοι που τα υπέγραψαν να οδηγηθούν στην δικαιοσύνη. Μερικά ενθαρρυντικά σημάδια από την Ελλάδα δείχνουν προς την κατεύθυνση ότι το ζήτημα της επανεξέτασης του χρέους έχει καταστεί κεντρικό θέμα και η ανάγκη δημιουργίας μιας εξεταστικής επιτροπής κερδίζει έδαφος.

Παράγοντες που αποδεικνύουν τον παράνομο χαρακτήρα του δημόσιου χρέους

Πρώτο είναι το χρέος που συνήφθη από την στρατιωτική δικτατορία, το οποίο τετραπλασιάστηκε στο διάστημα 1967 – 1974. Το εν λόγω χρέος προφανώς είναι απεχθές1.

Στη συνέχεια έχουμε το σκάνδαλο των Ολυμπιακών Αγώνων του 2004. Σύμφωνα με τον Dave Zirin όταν η κυβέρνηση ανακοίνωσε υπερήφανα στους Έλληνες πολίτες το 1997 ότι η Ελλάδα θα είχε την τιμή να φιλοξενήσει τους Ολυμπιακούς μετά από επτά χρόνια, η αρχές των Αθηνών και η Διεθνής Ολυμπιακή Επιτροπή σχεδίαζαν να ξοδέψουν 1,3 δις δολάρια. Λίγα χρόνια μετά το κόστος τετραπλασιάστηκε σε 5,3 δις. Αμέσως μετά από τους αγώνες, το επίσημο κόστος άγγιξε τα 14,2 δις2 και σήμερα σύμφωνα με διάφορες πηγές, το πραγματικό κόστος ξεπερνάει τα 20 δις.

Πολλά από τα σχετικά συμβόλαια που υπογράφτηκαν ανάμεσα στις Ελληνικές αρχές και μεγάλες ιδιωτικές επιχειρήσεις εμπλέκονται σε σκάνδαλα και οδήγησαν στην αύξηση του χρέους. Ορίστε μερικά παραδείγματα που εμφανίστηκαν στις Ελληνικές ειδήσεις: Πολλά συμβόλαια υπεγράφησαν με την διεθνή Γερμανική εταιρία Siemens, τα οποία κατηγορούνται από τα Γερμανικά και τα Ελληνικα δικαστήρια, καθώς υποστηρίζεται ότι πληρώθηκαν προμήθειες και άλλες δωροδοκίες σε διάφορους πολιτικούς, στρατιωτικούς και κυβερνητικούς αξιωματούχους, ποσά που ανέρχονται σε ένα δις ευρώ. Ο διευθυντής της Siemens – Hellas3 που παραδέχτηκε πως «χρηματοδότησε» τα δύο μεγάλα κόμματα, πέταξε στην Γερμανία και τα Γερμανικά δικαστήρια αρνούνται την έκδοσή του στην Ελλάδα. Αυτά τα σκάνδαλα που πραγματοποιήθηκαν από την Siemens και τους διεθνής της συνεργάτες συμπεριλαμβάνουν πωλήσεις αντιπυραυλικών συστημάτων Patriot (1999, 10 εκατ. ευρώ σε δωροδοκίες), την ψηφιοποίηση των τηλεφωνικών κέντρων του ΟΤΕ (δωροδοκίες 100 εκατ. ευρώ), το «C41» σύστημα ασφαλείας που αγοράστηκε για τους Ολυμπιακούς και το οποίο δεν δούλεψε ποτέ, πωλήσεις εξοπλισμού στον ΟΣΕ, του τηλεπικοινωνιακού συστήματος Ερμής στον στρατό και πολύ ακριβών μηχανημάτων στα Ελληνικά νοσοκομεία.

Το σκάνδαλο των Γερμανικών υποβρυχίων (που παρήχθησαν από την HDW και αργότερα τα ανέλαβε η Thyssen) αξίας 5 δις ευρώ, τα οποία εξ αρχής είχαν την ατέλεια να γέρνουν προς τα αριστερά (!) και ήταν εξοπλισμένα με χαλασμένα ηλεκτρονικά. Επί του παρόντος διεξάγεται σχετική δικαστική έρευνα.

Είναι απόλυτα λογικό να συμπεράνουμε ότι τα χρέη που δημιουργήθηκαν από την σύναψη αυτών των συμβολαίων είναι παράνομα και πρέπει να ακυρωθούν.

Πέραν από τις προαναφερθείσες περιπτώσεις θα πρέπει να εξετάσουμε και την πρόσφατη δημιουργία του Ελληνικού χρέους.

Debt Crises Film (Part 2)