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War Whore

Propaganda Alert!: US fears uncoordinated Israeli strike on Iran

Netanyahu and Barak
© Ariel Hermoni, Defense MinistryNetanyahu and Barak. Planning attack?
Washington concerned Israel will mount military operation against Islamic Republic, State Department official says. US consequently putting greater pressure on Security Council to impose harsher sanctions on Iran.

Fearing an uncoordinated Israeli attack against Iran, the United States is working on several levels to pressure the UN's Security Council into imposing harsher sanctions on Iran, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday.

A senior US State Department official said there was growing concern among Obama administration officials ahead of an IAEA report set to be published in November indicating considerable progress in Tehran's development of its military nuclear program.

The US is concerned that the report may trigger Israeli actions against the Islamic Republic which may not necessarily be in line with US interests in the region.

Bad Guys

Markets fall on as Greece announces referendum on euro bail-out

George Papandreou
© Reuters/Francois LenoirGeorge Papandreou has announced that there will be a Greek referendum to approve the EU bail-out deal which would impose a 50pc haircut on its creditors
Global stock markets dropped sharply as investors sold off shares after Greece's shock decision to hold a referendum on its eurozone bail-out package thratened to intensify the region's debt crisis.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares dropped more that 2pc, with markets in Germany falling, France, Spain and Italy sliding between 2.7pc and 4pc.

Andrew Lim, banking analyst at Espirito Santo in London, said: "If Greek voters reject the unpopular bailout plan it could result in a "hard default", which could force banks to take losses of about 75pc on their Greek sovereign bonds, trigger payouts on credit default swap insurance contracts, and raise the threat of a systemic risk.

"If we get a hard default in Greece, it will exacerbate the situation with Italy and Spain. It just increases the problem of Italy going down the same route, and that's the real risk.

The fall in Europe followed big falls on Wall Street overnight and in Asia, with surveys showing China's manufacturing remained sluggish also weighing on sentiment.

Bad Guys

European Banks Sink on Greek Vote Bombshell

bank vault
French banks and other lenders exposed to Greece and other weak euro zone countries slumped on Tuesday after Greece's leader said he would put a bailout plan to a referendum, raising the risk of a disorderly default.

The European bank index was down 6.1 percent at 133.2 points.

The index gave up all the gains made on Thursday, when banks staged their biggest rally for 18 months after EU leaders and banks agreed to write off half Greece's debt as part of a wider euro zone rescue plan.

If Greek voters reject the unpopular bailout plan it could result in a "hard default", which could force banks to take losses of about 75 percent on their Greek sovereign bonds, trigger payouts on credit default swap insurance contracts, and raise the threat of a systemic risk, said Andrew Lim, banking analyst at Espirito Santo in London.

Bad Guys

Greek vote would be on euro membership: Finnish minister

A Greek referendum on the bailout deal would be a vote on its euro zone membership, a Finnish minister said in a TV interview on Tuesday.

Greece's Prime Minister George Papandreou on Monday called the unexpected referendum, citing the need for wider political backing for the fiscal measures and structural reforms demanded by international lenders.

The vote is seen bringing uncertainty back to markets and threatening Europe with a new crisis after euro zone leaders only last week agreed on the last-minute bailout deal.

"The situation is so tight that basically it would be a vote over their euro membership," Alexander Stubb, the Finnish minister of European affairs and foreign trade, said in an interview with Finnish broadcaster MTV3.

Bad Guys

Germans warn of Greek euro exit after referendum gambit

Share trader Robert Halver
© Reuters/Kai PfaffenbachShare trader Robert Halver reacts as the German share prize index DAX reaches a six percent loss during the afternoon trading session at Frankfurt's stock exchange November 1, 2011.
Germans expressed fury and frustration on Tuesday at the Greek prime minister's shock decision to call a referendum on a new financial rescue package, political leaders saying it could plunge Greece into bankruptcy and force it out of the euro zone.

George Papandreou stunned his own people and his European colleagues with the announcement on Monday evening, only days after European leaders had agreed the outlines of a second bailout for Athens at marathon summit talks in Brussels.

The move hammered markets and prompted leaders of the big euro zone countries to hastily arrange a crisis meeting with Papandreou on Wednesday in Cannes, a day before the start of a G20 summit.

"Everyone is asking why Papandreou is doing this? Why now? Is he messing with us?" the top-selling tabloid Bild said on its website.

Bad Guys

Greek Government "On Verge of Imploding"

Greece's government looked on the verge of implosion on Tuesday ahead of a Friday confidence vote as a socialist deputy defected and another cadre called for early elections after the prime minister called a referendum on his EU debt rescue.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou called the referendum late Monday in a bid to secure approval of his disputed economic policies without early elections.

But the gambit backfired when a former deputy minister defected, reducing the ruling party's majority in the 300-seat parliament to 152 deputies.

Moments later, the head of parliament's economic affairs committee Vasso Papandreou called for an early ballot and a temporary unity government to "safeguard" the EU deal agreed last week to slash Greece's huge debt by nearly a third.

Che Guevara

Best of the Web: Libya, Getting it Right: A Revolutionary Pan-African Perspective

Image
Hero
Thousands of Indians, Egyptians, Chinese, Filipinos, Turks, Germans, English, Italians, Malaysians, Koreans and a host of other nationalities are lining up at the borders and the airport to leave Libya. It begs the question: What were they doing in Libya in the first place? Unemployment figures, according to the Western media and Al Jazeera, are at 30%. If this is so, then why all these foreign workers?

For those of us who have lived and worked in Libya, there are many complexities to the current situation that have been completely overlooked by the Western media and 'Westoxicated' analysts, who have nothing other than a Eurocentric perspective to draw on. Let us be clear - there is no possibility of understanding what is happening in Libya within a Eurocentric framework. Westerners are incapable of understanding a system unless the system emanates from or is attached in some way to the West. Libya's system and the battle now taking place on its soil, stands completely outside of the Western imagination.

News coverage by the BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera has been oversimplified and misleading. An array of anti-Qaddafi spokespersons, most living outside Libya, have been paraded in front of us - each one clearly a counter-revolutionary and less credible than the last. Despite the clear and irrefutable evidence from the beginning of these protests that Muammar Qaddafi had considerable support both inside Libya and internationally, not one pro-Qaddafi voice has been allowed to air. The media and their selected commentators have done their best to manufacture an opinion that Libya is essentially the same as Egypt and Tunisia and that Qaddafi is just another tyrant amassing large sums of money in Swiss bank accounts. But no matter how hard they try, they cannot make Qaddafi into a Mubarak or Libya into Egypt.

Bad Guys

Greece: Papandreou's Power Weakens as Lawmakers Rebel

George Papandreou
© Reuters/Francois LenoirGreece's Prime Minister George Papandreou sits in his car as he arrives at a European Union summit in Brussels October 26, 2011.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou's grip on power weakened before a confidence vote later this week as his decision to call a referendum on a new bailout package provoked a lawmaker rebellion.

Milena Apostolaki said she will defect from Papandreou's socialist Pasok party. With Kerdos newspaper reporting that Eva Kaili will also abandon Pasok, Papandreou would only control 151 seats in the 300-seat chamber. Six members of the party called on the premier to resign in a joint letter, Athens News Agency said today. Ministers are due to meet this evening.

Stocks fell, the euro tumbled and Italian bonds plunged on concern that the referendum, which blindsided Greek lawmakers as well as European policy makers, will push Greece into a disorderly default if the bailout is rejected. Austerity steps imposed by creditors have sparked a wave of social unrest in the past 18 months, undermining support for the government. Papandreou won his last major vote on austerity measures by 154 votes to 144 on Oct. 20.

Cult

Flashback Gaddafi Was Not Deliberately Killing Civilians, Victim of Conspiracy Between Western Powers and Rebels


A report by Human Rights Watch shows that Gaddafi was not deliberately killing civilians but rather targeting armed rebels fighters who were targeting his government.

Alan J. Kuperman, a professor at the University of Texas argued there is simply no evidence Gaddafi was targeting civilians, therefore there is no possibility Obama could have had evidence or reason to enter Libya and begin a military intervention.

"Civilians are caught in the middle," he said. "We didn't stop a bloodbath but we are prolonging and perpetuating the suffering of civilians in Libya."

Che Guevara

What You Don't Know About Gaddafi


Please join me on Facebook to fight media propaganda and help Libya against NATO's aggressions:

Sources:

In the Theater of the Absurd: US-NATO Support "Al Qaeda in Libya"

Libya, Getting it Right: A Revolutionary Pan-African Perspective