Robert Gates, the US Secretary of Defence, has been caught joking with General David Petraeus about bombing Libya while on a visit to Afghanistan.


Apparently unaware of an open microphone, Gen Petraeus greeted Mr Gates at Kabul airport joking: "Welcome back, sir, flying a little bigger plane than normal ... you gonna launch some attacks on Libya or something?"

The US Defence Secretary responded to the comment by laughing and replied, "yeah, exactly".

Gates, who arrived on Monday for a two-day trip, visited Camp Leatherneck in Helmand after issuing a public apology over a Nato air strike last week that targeted insurgents but killed nine young boys who were collecting firewood in eastern Afghanistan.

"This breaks our heart," Mr Gates told a news conference on Monday at the presidential palace in Kabul, as US-backed President Hamid Karzai looked on.

If it looks like a Nazi and acts like a Nazi...

The US news media protects Michael Chertoff.

Why?

He has done more damage to the US than any person I can think of, living or dead.

His record speaks for itself:

The two main players in releasing the Pentagon Papers were Daniel Ellsberg and United States Senator Mike Gravel.

Senator Gravel is the person who read the Pentagon Papers into the Congressional Record. This act made the papers public record, so that they could not be censored by the government. He was the only member of Congress courageous enough to do so.

Both Ellsberg and Gravel - like many other high-level former officials in the government and intelligence services (including many well-known whistleblowers) - support a new 9/11 investigation. Ellsberg says that the case of a certain 9/11 whistleblower is "far more explosive than the Pentagon Papers". (Here's some of what that whistleblower says.) He also said that the government is ordering the media to cover up her allegations about 9/11.

And he said that some of the claims concerning government involvement in 9/11 are credible, that "very serious questions have been raised about what they [U.S. government officials] knew beforehand and how much involvement there might have been", that engineering 9/11 would not be humanly or psychologically beyond the scope of those in office, and that there's enough evidence to justify a new, "hard-hitting" investigation into 9/11 with subpoenas and testimony taken under oath (see this and this).

FDR Data Exceeds Capabilities Of A 757, Does Not Support Impact With Pentagon

Flight Data Recorder Expert Dennis Cimino has confirmed that the data being provided through the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is missing crucial information, which according to Dennis, should be present and link the data to a specific aircraft and fleet. The NTSB provided three sets of data through the FOIA for what they claim is from American 77, N644AA. A csv file, an animation reconstruction and a raw data file. Rob Balsamo of Pilots For 9/11 Truth along with numerous other aviation experts, including trained Aircraft Accident Investigators have analyzed these files and determined they do not support an impact with the Pentagon. The data also exceeds the design limitations and capabilities of a standard 757 by a wide margin. This is based on data, precedent and numerous verified experts, including those who have actual flight time in the aircraft reportedly used for the 9/11 attacks (See - "Flight Of American 77", "9/11: Attack On The Pentagon" and "9/11: World Trade Center Attack" at Pilotsfor911Truth.org for full detailed analysis and interviews).

One file in particular, the compressed binary raw file alleged to be a direct data dump from the Flight Data Recorder, was recently analyzed by an alleged computer expert. He has claimed to decode 4 more seconds worth of data, above and beyond the NTSB decode, although the "additional" data has not been verified by anyone. The claim was made that the reason the NTSB did not decode this "additional" data is because the software used by the NTSB, along with the software used by the manufacturer of the FDR (L3 Communications), has an alleged "bug". If correct, this has grave consequences for Flight Safety as Flight Data is used in the promotion of safe flight through changes in regulation and procedure. The NTSB and L3 have been contacted, along with an Aviation Safety Report being filed with NASA. There hasn't been any reply confirming such a "bug".

An official with Iran's Revolutionary Guard has said that Iran welcomes hackers who are willing to work for the Islamic Republic.

"Regarding the cyber issue, we welcome the presence of those hackers who are willing to work for the goals of the Islamic Republic with good will and revolutionary activities," said Brigadier General Gholamreza Jalali, adding that those hackers who he said are working against people will be dealt with.

Jalali, who heads the country's Passive Defense Organization, made the comments in an interview with "Bultannews," a website said to be close to the Intelligence Ministry.

Was Jalali trying to recruit new staff for the "Iranian Cyber Army" or for Iran's newly launched cyber police? Or for a new entity called the "Cyber War Base "? Jalali said the "base" will be launched in the near future and will fight against cyber attacks.

The French Ministry of Finance has reportedly confirmed that it has become the victim of an internet attack, targeting documents related to the French presidency of the G20 and international economic affairs.

Paris Match magazine, which broke the story, claims that more than 150 computers at the ministry have been infilitrated by hackers since December, and numerous documents stolen.

Budget Minister Francois Baroin confirmed in a radio interview that an investigation was taking place into the attacks, claiming that it was "probably the first time" that the French government's computer systems had been hit on such a scale. He told Europe-1 that it was documents about the G20 that especially interested the hackers.

France holds the rotating leadership of the G20 this year and is hosting a series of meetings aimed at improving relations among the world's top economies, including the US and China.

The British "diplomat" captured in Libya along with seven special forces soldiers was a Bond-style MI6 spy, The Sun can reveal.

He and his SAS team were released last night, 72 hours after a secret mission to make contact with rebel leaders went badly wrong.

Angry questions were being asked about alleged intelligence failures that forced them to surrender when surrounded and "suicidally outnumbered" by militia.

Despite Government claims it sent a "small diplomatic team", The Sun can reveal it was an MI6 secret agent and his special forces minders.

The government has also confirmed that the botched SAS mission was authorised by Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Their job was to contact opponents of Libyan tyrant Colonel Gaddafi after intelligence reports that the rebels were open to talks.

But the Brits found themselves surrounded by scores of militia armed with AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

Part I: Insurrection and Military Intervention: The US-NATO Attempted Coup d'Etat in Libya?

The US and NATO are supporting an armed insurrection in Eastern Libya, with a view to justifying a "humanitarian intervention".

This is not a non-violent protest movement as in Egypt and Tunisia. Conditions in Libya are fundamentally different. The armed insurgency in Eastern Libya is directly supported by foreign powers. The insurrection in Benghazi immediately hoisted the red, black and green banner with the crescent and star: the flag of the monarchy of King Idris, which symbolized the rule of the former colonial powers. (See Manlio Dinucci, 'Libya-When historical memory is erased', Global Research, Febraury 28, 2011)

US and NATO military advisers and special forces are already on the ground. The operation was planned to coincide with the protest movement in neighbouring Arab countries. Public opinion was led to believe that the protest movement had spread spontaneously from Tunisia and Egypt to Libya.

"The ultimate tyranny in a society is not control by martial law. It is control by the psychological manipulation of consciousness, through which reality is defined so that those who exist within it do not even realize that they are in prison. They do not even realize that there is something outside of where they exist." -- Barbara Marciniak, Content of Bringers of the Dawn, pg. 87, Chapter Eight.

For several years now, I've been watching the evolution of the virtual community. At first I had rather naïve, high hopes for its possibilities. I imagined it might spawn a viable counterculture that could become a global phenomenon bringing the People of Earth together in a way never possible before.

I have studied innumerable forums, social networks, blogs and news and information sites. On virtually every venue that allows reader comment or contribution I have found only one common factor: Conflict.

Homeland Security operation offered illicit "sex tourism" trips

In an aggressive bid to entice prospective "sex tourists," the Department of Homeland Security last year launched an undercover web site that purported to arrange trips from the U.S. to Canada, where clients could engage in sexual activity with minors, The Smoking Gun has learned.

The "Precious Treasure Holiday Company" web site was active until a few weeks ago when its Massachusetts-based web hosting firm removed the site from its servers, apparently in response to a complaint about its content. Now, visitors to precioustreasureholidaycompany.com are greeted with the message, "This site has been suspended."

After a year online, the DHS undercover site may have fallen victim to its own sleazy, overt come-on. As seen at right, the site's front page carried three symbols that an FBI intelligence bulletin has identified as being used by pedophiles. Additionally, the site's acronym, PTHC, is an allusion to "preteen hardcore" pornography. The site's carefully misspelled motto--"We Help Make Your Fantasy's Come True!"--also does little to mask its illicit intentions.