The Wikileaks Question

[vanlose kid]

WikiLeaks: Israel Discussed War on Hamas with Abbas and Egypt

by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

Israel consulted with Egypt and Abbas before the Cast Lead campaign against Hamas, WikiLeaks revealed. Documents also show that North Korea armed Iran, Iranian Revolutionary Guards smuggled arms to Hizbullah in ambulances, and Israel warned the United States 17 years ago that Iran would develop a nuclear weapon.

Most of the documents simply confirm reports previously published in media by unidentified sources, but the significance of the leaked cables is that they offer hard evidence.

It is generally assumed that Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, would be happy with any Israeli action that would weaken Hamas, despite their public statements against IDF counterterrorist actions. Hamas took over control of Gaza from Abbas’ Fatah movement three years ago in a bloody militia coup that embarrassed the Palestinian Authority and the United States, which trained Fatah armed forces.

During the three-week Operation Cast Lead war against Hamas two years ago, Abbas was uncharacteristically silent, and the WikiLeaks documents explain why.

In telegrams to U.S. deputy ambassador Luis Moreni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak “explained that the GOI [government of Israel] had consulted with Egypt and Fatah prior to Operation Cast Lead, asking if they were willing to assume control of Gaza once Israel defeated Hamas.”

Barak added that the answers were “not surprisingly” in the negative. The crowded and poor Gaza region has been considered an unwanted area even before the Six-Day War in 1967 when it was part of Egypt, which happily refused offers to take it back.

The North Korean-Iranian connection also has been known, and North Korean’s link with the Iranian axis was proven three years ago when Israel bombed a Syrian nuclear facility being built with North Korea's help. However, the WikiLeaks documents exposed a diplomatic cable from last February that Iran bought acquired 19 advanced North Korean missiles that were manufactured using Russian-based technology.

The Obama government then realized the accuracy of Israel’s warnings that Iran had far more advanced weapons than previously assumed.

The terrorist organizations' known use of ambulances and medical supplies to camouflage weapons, in violation of the Geneva Convention, was also proven by WikiLeaks. Red Crescent ambulances smuggled weapons into Lebanon for Hizbullah during the Second Lebanon War four years ago.

Israel previously has provided evidence that Hamas used the same technique in Gaza and that the Palestinian Authority smuggled suicide terrorists on ambulances during the Oslo War, also known as the Second Intifada, which began in 2000.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/140892

*

following the speculation on this thread i was wondering what the israelis find interesting in wikileaks. posted some of it.

edit: to note that i don't find alice's arguments supportable or convincing.

yes, the leaks support the israeli line, but they provide hard evidence that the israeli line is shared by arab muppets of the US -- the PA included. this also reinforces Chomsky's point in that other thread [ viewtopic.php?f=8&t=30389 ] re the disconnect between said ruling muppets and the street:

In the context of Israeli and US policymakers view of Iran shown in the cables, Chomsky said that the perspectives of the leadership stand in sharp contrast to the opinions of the populations they supposedly serve.

"[US Secretary of State] Hillary Clinton and [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu surely know of the careful polls of Arab public opinion," Chomsky said.

Specifically, the scholar noted the Brookings Institute's recent release of its annual poll on what Arabs think about Iran, the United States, and Israel.
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"The results are rather striking. They show that Arab opinion holds that the major threat in the region is Israel. That's 80 percent. The second major threat is the United States. That's 77 percent. Iran is listed as a threat by 10 percent. With regard to nuclear weapons rather remarkably, the majority -- in fact 57 percent -- say that it will have a positve effect on the region if Iran had nuclear weapons. These are not small numbers," he said.

the fact that neither the US ruling class nor their muppets nor the israelis in their own words show concern for the street is in plain view here -- a complete disregard for the people on all fronts.

this is rather significant.

*

[AlicetheKurious]

Every single "revelation" in those articles, including discredited lies issued by the Israeli government, has been published over and over in the Israeli press for years. Perhaps American diplomats simply swallow and then regurgitate Israeli disinfo in their "confidential cables". Perhaps they do, and there's simply no reason for the US to maintain its own intelligence agencies since all the cables released so far make it clear that the lamebrains employed by the US State Dept. never bother to question or independently corroborate anything the Israelis tell them, no matter how self-serving or outrageous or unsupported by evidence.

Documents also show that North Korea armed Iran, Iranian Revolutionary Guards smuggled arms to Hizbullah in ambulances, and Israel warned the United States 17 years ago that Iran would develop a nuclear weapon.

Thanks to WikiLeaks, the Israeli press can keep repeating the same dubious talking points it always has, but now it can attribute them to WikiLeaks instead of to Israeli government or intelligence sources.

That's called "intelligence laundering", a Mossad specialty.

From Haaretz, back in 2008:

While Barak was working out the final details with the officers responsible for the operation, Livni went to Cairo to inform Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, that Israel had decided to strike at Hamas.

At the time, the Egyptian authorities were furious and raged that the Israelis had deliberately timed Livni's visit to implicate them in Israel's attack on Gaza. Now, golly gee whiz, along comes WikiLeaks and proves that Israel was telling the truth!

Were the Egyptians informed? Though I'm no fan of the Egyptian government (on the contrary!) I doubt it. The Israelis may give their Egyptian stooges orders but I would be surprised to learn that they tell them any secrets. On the other hand, Livni's visit was timed just immediately before the Israelis started bombing, so its purpose was clearly to make it appear that the Egyptians were complicit, whether they actually were or not.

The Israeli press has for years been chock-full of articles like the one below, which literally freak out the Egyptian regime and further isolate it from the rest of the Arab world and from the Egyptian people, something which places the regime even more at the mercy of Israel by increasing its abject dependence on the US for its very survival. This is textbook psychological warfare; behind the superficially friendly tone is an unmistakable threat:

Prayer for the health of the rais
* Published 01:02 26.05.10
* Latest update 01:02 26.05.10

Both Obama and Netanyahu understand that Israel's most important ally in the Middle East is Egypt, and they are doing everything possible to keep it that way.

Of all the world's statesmen, the one closest to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. They have met four times since Netanyahu returned to power, and unlike U.S. President Barack Obama, Mubarak has no qualms about shaking Netanyahu's hand in public. "Ties are much closer than they seem," said a highly placed Israeli source. Referring to the peace process, an Obama administration official said "Mubarak tells people he is sure Netanyahu will do the right thing."

The wonderful friendship stems from the leaders' shared concerns about Iran. Netanyahu is anxious about that country's nuclear program, while Mubarak fears the Islamic Republic's potential to undermine his own regime. Israel and Egypt cooperate to enforce the closure of the Gaza Strip, in order to reduce weapons smuggling and weaken the Hamas government there.

This collaboration cannot be taken for granted. Mubarak had dismal relations with previous Likud prime ministers, from Menachem Begin to Ariel Sharon, and Netanyahu's cabinet includes powerful ministers who have vigorously condemned Mubarak in the past. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman berated the rais (leader ) for refusing to visit Israel, and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz issued a stern warning over what he called the "Egyptian threat." Now, however, they are keeping quiet. This testy cabinet, which scuffled with Turkey over a television program and with Sweden over a newspaper article, is taking Egypt's honor seriously, turning a blind eye to the hostile Egyptian press and even to Cairo's diplomatic campaign against Israel's nuclear program.

Israel is conceding a valuable public-relations card, refraining from calling out Egypt over its own responsibility for the dire situation in Gaza. Netanyahu is willing to absorb international censure over the "siege," keeping mum over the fact that Gaza shares a border with Egypt and that that country too could take better care of the unfortunate Palestinians. He knows that any such remarks would stir Cairo's wrath, and would rather see Israel castigated abroad than irk Mubarak.

The Israel-Egypt peace treaty was signed several weeks after the fall of the Shah of Iran, and since then Cairo has replaced Tehran as Israel's regional ally and energy supplier. The peace agreement enabled Israel to cut its defense budget, obviating the need for a large, costly security force in the Negev. Time and again, the treaty has stood the test of wars and intifadas raging on Israel's other fronts.

Mubarak, Egypt's longest-serving leader since Mohammad Ali, in the 19th century, is responsible for this stability. But at 82, his time is running out, and there is no clear successor. Were Israel's leaders given one wish, they might ask that Mubarak be granted immortality. "Let him stay with us," says the Israeli source.

Discussing Mubarak's successor remains taboo in Israel. But no great imagination is required to understand that after 40 years of quiet on our southern border, Israelis dread "the Iranian scenario" - the rise of an Islamic regime in the world's largest Arab state, just over the border and armed with advanced U.S. weapons. The danger posed by Tehran looks like an innocent joke compared to a hostile Egypt run by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Adam Shatz, a journalist who is a fierce critic of Israel, published an article in the current issue of London Review of Books in which he compared the political environment in Egypt today with that of the twilight of the Shah's rule in Iran, 30 years ago. Israeli experts disagree. Egypt's intelligence and security services wield a tight grip on the country, they argue, and they, together with the army, will pick the next leader. None of these experts is willing to say whether it will be Mubarak's son, Gamal; intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, or perhaps some anonymous army general.

By all appearances, Obama won't repeat the mistakes of Jimmy Carter, who encouraged the fall of the Shah over the issue of human rights. Obama understands that Egypt is the West's most important bulwark against Iran's rising influence, and is taking steps to bolster the current regime rather than fantasizing about democratization. Netanyahu can only hope that Obama continues this policy. In the meantime, he may wish his dear friend the rais many more healthy years. Link

yes, the leaks support the israeli line, but they provide hard evidence that the israeli line is shared by arab muppets of the US...

Exactly as the Israelis have been saying for years!!

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Wednesday defended his disclosure of classified U.S. documents by singling out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as an example of a world leader who believes the publications will aid global diplomacy.

"We can see the Israeli Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu coming out with a very interesting statement that leaders should speak in public like they do in private whenever they can," Assange told Time Magazine in an interview on Wednesday, days after his online whistleblower published thousands of secret diplomatic cables. Link

This is supposed to demonstrate that WikiLeaks is not a Mossad psyop... how?

[vanlose kid]

I think its very ...sluggish to blame a man who is running away from the USA in being a stooge who is playing a psyops game. He is likely to be protected for a while by the UK, but where else can he go ?

That might account for the "pro bibi slant", because Israel CAN protect him from the USA, if he gives something, while none of those who speak high and mighty here, can do that.

I think that's a test for the UK, which so far is playing dumb and slow, allowing him to escape.

My proposal for him is to take a "crash conversion" with the local Rabbi, make aliya under law of return, put on a yarmulke and join a settlement , there are so many runaways, fugitives and outright criminals here, he will mingle in the crowd,and soon be forgotten, before he appears again with one of those biblical names that converts adopt here...

Other places he can go to, is Namibia, which for a nice amount will give him refuge (one big fat fish had already done that and escaped the mighty long hand of the FBI).

I wouldnt recommend Canada....

*

[JackRiddler]

I'm wondering if we should have one thread for Wikileaks meta-debate and another for archiving cables and stories on the cables we each find interesting.

[Stephen Morgan]

--It's naive to believe that it's possible for hackers to intercept documents on a poorly-secured network, or to have received documents from a source inside the gov't, unless they release documents we like, like David Shayler

"View first unread post The fact that you're not dead yet proves you are an enemy."

[JackRiddler]

.

Reasons I Will Miss the Internet: No. 481.

MinAgain:

"Canada is a Robin to the U.S.’s Batman."

Okay, so Cuba is obviously the Joker in this analogy, but who is Catwoman? Mexico or Venezuela?

SorosBot:
Hm; someone who the US alternates between fighting and fucking on a regular basis when he isn't secretly sexing Superman (come on guys, we all know what's going on between you two, you don't have to hide it); maybe France?

CapeClod:
I think England is Alfred the Butler.

(Comments to a snarky Assange story at
http://wonkette.com/431487/julian-assan ... ore-431487)

.

[justdrew]

SPIEGEL ONLINE
12/01/2010 12:39 PM
Former WikiLeaks Activists to Launch New Whistleblowing Site

A group of former members of WikiLeaks is planning to launch its own whistleblowing platform in mid-December, according to a German newspaper. The activists criticize WikiLeaks for concentrating too much on the US and want to take a broader approach.

Julian Assange is the public face of the whistleblowing organization WikiLeaks, and Sunday's publication of the leaked US diplomatic cables will have raised his profile even higher. In fact, the former hacker is now a leading candidate for Time magazine's "2010 Person of the Year."

But former members of the organization have criticized his supposedly autocratic leadership style. "I am the heart and soul of this organization, its founder, philosopher, original coder, organizer, financier and all the rest. If you have a problem with me, piss off," Assange famously wrote to one internal critic.

Now a group of former WikiLeaks activists are planning to launch a whistleblowing platform of their own in mid-December, according to a report in the Wednesday edition of the German newspaper Die Tageszeitung. The group stresses that the as-yet-unnamed platform should not be seen as a competitor to WikiLeaks but as a different approach, the newspaper wrote.

"As many people as possible should have access to as many documents as possible," the former Germany spokesman for WikiLeaks, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, told the newspaper.

Domscheit-Berg criticized WikiLeaks for concentrating on publishing material about the US while other information was neglected. "There was a lack of transparency about how decisions had been reached," he told the newspaper. "That's why I trust this organization as little as I would trust another organization with similar problems."

Domscheit-Berg has written a tell-all book about his experiences with WikiLeaks, titled "Inside WikiLeaks," which will be published in German by the Berlin-based publisher Econ Verlag in January 2011. A spokeswoman for the publisher told SPIEGEL ONLINE that there were no immediate plans to publish an English version, but that it was "entirely possible" that the book might be translated.

'We Wish Them Luck'

Back in September, Domscheit-Berg, at the time the second-best known member of WikiLeaks, announced in a SPIEGEL interview that he was leaving the organization out of dissatisfaction with how Assange was running the project. "Unfortunately we've reached a dead end," he said. "Julian Assange reacted to any criticism with the allegation that I was disobedient to him and disloyal to the project."

For its part, WikiLeaks has said it would welcome rivals. "There is some indication that Daniel and some others are setting up a similar venue, and we wish them luck," said Kristinn Hrafnsson, a WikiLeaks spokesman, in an interview quoted by the Wall Street Journal in early November. "It would be good to have more organizations like WikiLeaks."

Meanwhile pressure is increasing on Julian Assange in relation to an alleged sex offence. Interpol announced early on Wednesday that it had issued a "Red Notice" asking people to contact the authorities if they had information on his location, which is currently unknown. Assange is wanted for questioning in Sweden over the alleged crime, which he denies. Interpol stressed that the "Red Notice" is not an international arrest warrant.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,732212,00.html

[Nordic]

I'm wondering if we should have one thread for Wikileaks meta-debate and another for archiving cables and stories on the cables we each find interesting.

I think that's a great idea. If any of the cat-herders here could pull that off it would be a good thing.

[Ben D]

Brzezinski is being cautious but what he is implying resonates with my own intuitive sense.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/government_programs/july-dec10/weakileaks2_11-29.html%20-

How Will New WikiLeaks Revelations Affect Diplomatic Candor?
Excerpt.

ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI: It's not a question of worry. It's, rather, a question of whether WikiLeaks are being manipulated by interested parties that want to either complicate our relationship with other governments or want to undermine some governments, because some of these items that are being emphasized and have surfaced are very pointed.

And I wonder whether, in fact, there aren't some operations internationally, intelligence services, that are feeding stuff to WikiLeaks, because it is a unique opportunity to embarrass us, to embarrass our position, but also to undermine our relations with particular governments.

For example, leaving aside the personal gossip about Sarkozy or Berlusconi or Putin, the business about the Turks is clearly calculated in terms of its potential impact on disrupting the American-Turkish relationship.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Just criticizing the people around...

ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI: And the top leaders, Erdogan and Davutoglu and so forth, are using some really, really, very sharp language.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But this is 250 -- it's a quarter-of-a-million documents.

ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI: Precisely.

JUDY WOODRUFF: How easy would it be to seed this to make sure that it was slanted a certain way?

ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI: Seeding -- seeding it is very easy.

I have no doubt that WikiLeaks is getting a lot of the stuff from sort of relatively unimportant sources, like the one that perhaps is identified on the air. But it may be getting stuff at the same time from interested intelligence parties who want to manipulate the process and achieve certain very specific objectives.

[2012 Countdown]

Wikileaks: Obama Administration Secretly Worked To Prevent Prosecution of War Crimes By The Bush Administration

JONATHAN TURLEY
Res ipsa loquitur ("The thing itself speaks")

One of the little reported details from the latest batch of Wikileaks material are cables showing that the Obama Administration worked hard behind the scenes not only to prevent any investigation of torture in the United States but shutdown efforts abroad to enforce the Geneva Conventions and the Convention Against Torture. This includes threatening the Spanish that, if they did not derail a judicial investigation, it would have serious consequences in bilateral relations. I will be discussing these cables tonight on Countdown.

For two years, President Obama has worked to block the investigation of torture under the Bush Administration — even as both Dick Cheney and George Bush publicly admit to ordering waterboarding of suspects.

David Corn in Mother Jones has an interesting posting today on the issue.

A “confidential” April 17, 2009, cable sent from the US embassy in Madrid to the State Department discloses how the Administration discarded any respect for the independence of the judiciary in Spain and pressured the government to derail the prosecution of Bush officials. Human rights groups around the world had called for such enforcement in light of Obama promise that no torturers would be prosecuted and Holder’s blocking of any investigation into war crimes.

The Association for the Dignity of Spanish Prisoners had filed a demand for prosecution with Spain’s National Court to indict former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales; David Addington, former chief of staff and legal adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney; William Haynes, the Pentagon’s former general counsel; Douglas Feith, former undersecretary of defense for policy; Jay Bybee, former head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel; and John Yoo, a former official in the Office of Legal Counsel. It had a compelled factual basis that these men ordered or facilitated war crimes — a record that has only become stronger since this confrontation.

American officials pressured government officials, including prosecutors and judges, not to enforce international law and that this was “a very serious matter for the USG.”

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) joined the embassy’s charge d’affaires in the secret campaign to block the prosection of Judge Baltasar Garzón.

Corn notes that, during an April 14, 2009 White House briefing, he asked press secretary Robert Gibbs if the Obama administration would cooperate with any request from Spain on the investigation and prosecution. Gibbs insisted that this was nothing but “hypotheticals” and did not disclose that in fact the Obama Administration was working diligently to block the Spanish case.

Just as many conservatives abandoned their principles in following George Bush blindly, many liberals have chosen to ignore Obama’s concerted efforts to protect individuals accused of war crimes. Under our treaty obligations, the United States has the primary responsibility to prosecute torture by U.S. citizens. That responsibility rests with the Executive Branch – the prosecuting authority of the United States. What is particularly disgraceful is that Obama would refuse to fulfill this responsibility under our treaties and international law and then demand the same hypocrisy from our allies.

http://jonathanturley.org/2010/12/02/wi ... istration/

[Simulist]

Just as many conservatives abandoned their principles in following George Bush blindly, many liberals have chosen to ignore Obama’s concerted efforts to protect individuals accused of war crimes.

Today's fake "left" and the real Right are just two boobs on a whore decked out to look like Lady Liberty.

[82_28]

Julian Assange Fired From IT Job At Pentagon

December 1, 2010 | ISSUE 46•48

ARLINGTON, VA—With officials describing his publication of sensitive U.S. State Department documents as "the last straw," Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was asked to resign from his position as the Pentagon's IT coordinator Monday. "We gave him his first warning after the whole Iraq and Afghanistan war diaries thing, and strike two was when he forwarded that video montage of Nicolas Cage yelling to the entire staff," Defense Department human resources director Curtis Shannon said. "But we just can't overlook this latest offense. Even if he's the only one who knows where the spare USB cables are." At press time, Assange had already been invited to interview for an IT position at the Central Intelligence Agency.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/julian ... gon,18572/

[seemslikeadream]

Thursday Dec 02, 201002:30 PM GMT
Are there really any WikiLeaks?
Thu Dec 2, 2010 2:24PM
Masih Ghorbani

Unlike the previous files which appeared on its website, the 'WikiLeaks' decided to get the new documents whetted and published by a veritable who's who of media outlets among them The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, El Pais and Der Spiegel over the week.


This apartheid selection by the WikiLeaks website casts doubt on the authenticity of the documents and reeks of a conspiracy only to be sought in the rotten policies of the US government which has long launched a mudslinging campaign against the Islamic Republic in order to destabilize the Iranian system and fan the flame of Iranophobia in the world. Though the documents randomly speak of different incidents, they are largely focused on the Islamic Republic and on the legendary notion that it is viewed by the Arab world as a threat to the world and the region.

The idea of demonizing Iran is not a new one and the release of the new documents should be viewed as a fresh attempt well suited to the interests of the US government. While the documents paradoxically reveal the multifarious efforts made by the US government to marshal up support for its smear campaign against the Islamic republic and justify a possible Israeli attack, they largely create a fear of Iran in the world.

Among the baseless allegations is the facile sale of 19 missiles by North Korea to Iran, known as Musudan (also known as the BM-25), indicating that the Islamic republic is now capable of targeting Western Europe and Russia. Musudan, also known as Nodong / Rodong-B, Mirim and Taepodong-X, is a mobile intermediate-range ballistic missile developed by North Korea based on Soviet Union's R-27 Zyb (SS-N-6 'Serb'). The missile was first revealed in a military parade on 10 October 2010 celebrating the Korean Worker's Party's 65th anniversary. The claim, as revealed in a February 24, 2010 cable describing a US-Russian meeting, is nothing but a feeble accusation leveled against the Islamic republic as the missile has never been tested so there is no evidence if it is operational at all. Ergo, there is no proof if the missiles were ever shipped to Iran. Furthermore, experts view the Oct. 10 photographs of the Musudan as a mock-up.

Referring to the discussion described in the document, Michael Elleman, a missile expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies said, "The US side does not firmly say we have evidence that the BM-25 is in Iran. They don't present anything. I was a little surprised that they didn't come out more definitely."

"If you're claiming that there's a missile that can reach Western Europe from Iran, then you should be able to produce evidence," said Theodore Postol, a professor at MIT and a former Pentagon official. "But they can't. The Iranians love to show photographs of what they have because part of their game is to appear bigger than they are. There is no reason for the Iranians to keep it secret. I am kind of surprised at the American side's assertions."

The lie that the missiles were sold to Iran by North Korea was initially spread by Israel. David Fulghum of Aviation Week disclosed the new Pyongyang missile and said, “Israeli officials in particular have noted the first public emergence in North Korea of the BM-25/Musudan, a weapon that Israeli officials say has already been delivered to Iran. It is the first time the road-mobile, liquid-fueled intermediate range ballistic missile has been shown…”

On the other hand, attention was yet again forcibly drawn to Iran exactly the day after the publication of the documents by the elite news outlets when two Iranian academics were targeted by terrorists in Tehran. Dr Majid Shahriari who was on his way to Shahid Beheshti University was martyred when an unknown terrorist on a moving motorbike attached a bomb to his car. On the same day, in a similar attack, Dr Fereydoun Abbasi, another university scholar, was targeted by the terrorists but could escape the incident with minor injuries. Pertinent to this matter, in October 2010, the head of MI6 Sir John Sawers accused Iran of pursuing clandestine nuclear activities and emphasized that spying is an effective tool for stopping the country's nuclear program.

"Stopping nuclear proliferation cannot be addressed purely by conventional diplomacy. We need intelligence-led operations to make it more difficult for countries like Iran to develop nuclear weapons," he said in the first public speech by a serving UK secret intelligence service chief.

It is very naïve to ignore any relevance between the terror attack and what the chief of MI6 said.

After all, the terror attacks are obviously related to the hypothetical cable published by the New York Times and 'hyperbolized' by western media.

The news of the imaginary missiles travelled on the strength of the confidential US Department of State cables released by the WikiLeaks website and seen by The New York Times. Ironically, the paper has refused to publish the text of the cable if there is any at all. Aye, there is the rub; no one but The New York Times has seen the documents as no one has seen the missiles shipped to Iran with their physical eyes.

The gargantuan propaganda machine of the western media is exhausting every effort to color the truth about Iran and demonize a country which is treading on the right path but that which resists the powers-that-be seeking with all their might to stall its progress.

The threat narrative about Iran is now threadbare, a tall tale told by those who have the effrontery to insult the intellect of the international community.

MG/AKM

[smiths]

dont have time to link to it and not sure if its already posted but ...

the article i just read about Bank governor Mervyn Kings role in the formation of British government is pretty damn intersting

[Twyla LaSarc]

"The Pirate Bay Co-Founder, Peter Sunde, has started a new project which will provide a decentralized p2p based DNS system. This is a direct result of the increasing control which the US government has over ICANN. The project is called P2P-DNS and according to the project's wiki, this is how the project is described: 'P2P-DNS is a community project that will free internet users from imperial control of DNS by ICANN. In order to prevent unjust prosecution or denial of service, P2P-DNS will operate as a distributed and less centralized service hosted by the users of DNS. Temporary substitutes, (as Alpha and Beta developments), are being made ready for deployment. A network with no centralized points of failure, (per the original design of the internet), remains our goal. P2P-DNS is developing rapidly.'"

When I saw RAW speak about ten years ago, he was insisting that the internet would not be turned off or coralled, that the internet would constantly rebuild itself to thwart censorship and control. I was very skeptical at the time and I still worry, certainly the whole netfilx/comcast thing is a sign o' the times, but is cool to perhaps see that the internet may be more adaptable than I could imagine back in 2000.