Not So Fast, Mr. President: How Obama Got It (All) Wrong in Libya and How to Fix It

By Susan Lindauer
Former U.S. Asset covering Libya at the United Nations during the Lockerbie negotiations

See New Videos of War Crimes and Victims Families on www.obamaslibya.com 

In the U.S. battle with Libya, Americans are witnessing the consequence of gutting U.S. Intelligence during the Iraqi War, when President Bush drove out CIA officers and Assets who criticized his War policy.  In my case, I got slapped with the Patriot Act and thrown in prison on a Texas Military Base, while Republican leaders reinvented the entire story of my work on 9/11 and Iraqi Pre-War Intelligence. It was not pretty.

The consequences for intelligence gathering and policymaking are not pretty, either.  Last week President Obama demonstrated the most stunning ignorance by declaring that Libya—of all countries— has some link to terrorism. Obama was trying to justify NATO’s War against Gadhaffi’s government. However his argument exposed whopping gaps in the intelligence base from which his Administration has been drawing.

This time it’s not Obama’s fault. When Assets got forced out by Bush and Cheney, a lot of deep knowledge got shoved out the door with us.

Egypt and Iran After Mubarak

By Brian Downing

The remarkable rising against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has roused interest throughout the world. Interest is especially keen in Iran, where official statements and propaganda have been aimed at the so-called Arab Street for many years now. Egyptians did not need a foreign agit-prop campaign to know Mubarak was brutal and corrupt, that he had acquiesced to various US and Israeli policies, and that their futures were not bright. Nonetheless, Iran will seek to take advantage of the new situation, and interaction between the two countries will be critical for years to come.

The Conflict With Sunni-Arab States
For decades now, there has been a low-level conflict between Iran and several Sunni-Arab states. The origin of the conflict goes back centuries and involves both sectarian and geopolitical elements. Its more immediate cause was Ayatollah Khomeini’s call for Islamic revolution in 1979 and Iraq’s invasion the following year, which was backed by many Sunni Arab states.

Conflict and Opportunity in Post-Mubarak Egypt

By Brian M. Downing
Counterpunch

Hosni Mubarak’s thirty-year rule in Egypt is nearing an end and though the denouement of events there is still unclear, the new polity is almost certainly to be shaped by the military institutions and popular sentiments. This is causing considerable dismay in Jerusalem and Washington. National security institutions tend to think in worst-case scenarios, but recent events in Egypt present opportunities for the long sought after solution to the Palestinian problem. Image

Tahrir Square breaks into song; plus the video that started the Egyptian Revolution

Aljazeera.net Feb 4, 2011
11:36pm Amid cries for Mubarak’s immediate departure, demonstators – led by a guitarist off camera – break into song during the “Friday of Departure”. Al Jazeera cannot verify the authenticity of any Youtube videos.

Translation: Let’s make Mubarak hear our voices. We all, one hand, requested one thing, leave leave leave … Down Down Hosni Mubarak, Down Down Hosni Mubarak … The people want to dismantle the regime …. He is to go, we are not going … He is to go, we won’t leave … We all, one hand, ask one thing, leave leave.

Targeting Iran: Is the US Administration Planning a Nuclear Holocaust?

By Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research

The US and its allies are preparing to launch a nuclear war directed against Iran with devastating consequences. This military adventure in the real sense of the word threatens the future of humanity.

John Pilger: There Is a War on Journalism

Decmocracy Now! Interview With John Pilger:

John Pilger, award-winning investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker. He began his career in journalism nearly half a century ago and has written close to a dozen books and made over fifty documentaries. He lives in London but is in the United States working on a forthcoming documentary about what he calls “the war on the media.” It’s called The War You Don’t See.

TRANSCRIPT

AMY GOODMAN: It’s been a week since Rolling Stone published its article on General Stanley McChrystal that eventually led to him being fired by President Obama. In a piece called “The Runaway General,” McChrystal and his top aides openly criticized the President and mocked several top officials. Joe Biden is nicknamed “Bite me.” National Security Adviser General James Jones is described as a “clown.” Ambassador Richard Holbrooke is called a “wounded animal.”