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'US spies in Libya before Obama aid bid'


Press TV
Fri, 01 Apr 2011 04:36 UTC
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Hi, we're the Libyan revolutionaries. We spontaneously uprose and spontaneously acquired these hardcore weapons.
US intelligence operatives had been on the battlefields in Libya before President Barack Obama signed an order allowing covert assistance to the opposition forces, officials say.

With the battles in Libya taking on the theme of a shadow intelligence war, two US officials have stated that American Special Forces and CIA operational teams were dispatched to the conflict-torn Libya to make contacts with anti-regime forces and to organize and train them, Reuters reported on Thursday.

"They're trying to sort out who could be turned into a military unit and who couldn't," said Bob Baer, a former CIA operative in the Middle East, adding that the operatives may have entered Libya through neighboring Egypt and are lightly equipped.

Another US government source also stated that the Obama administration is mulling over plans under which US Special Forces with experience in the Afghan war would collaborate with CIA officers in efforts to provide training to Libyan opposition fighters.

Comment: It seems that Libya was crawling with US and UK spies in the run-up to this latest controlled 'civil war':

British "diplomat" captured along with SAS unit in Libya was MI6 spy

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Monkey Wrench

UK: Our man in Washington helped with Gaddafi son's 'dodgy' PhD: Ex-Blair aide 'collaborated' with tyrant's family

Michael Seamark
The Daily Mail
Sat, 02 Apr 2011 21:54 UTC
Sir Nigel Sheinwald gaddafi
© Reuters
Curious: Sir Nigel Sheinwald (left), who was handed his Washington post by Tony Blair, offered Saif Gaddafi'active assistance' with his 429-page PhD thesis during his time at LSE

Sir Nigel Sheinwald showed 'profound interest' in Saif Gaddafi's studies

Colonel Gaddafi's son was given help with his 'dodgy' PhD thesis by Britain's ambassador to the United States.

Last night's extraordinary revelation provides further evidence of the close links between the Blair government and the Libyan tyrant's murderous regime.

His son Saif, 38, has become notorious for tirades and threats against Libyan rebels.

The doctorate awarded him by the London School of Economics was already thought suspect because he followed it with a £1.5million donation.
And now the Mail has learnt that Sir Nigel Sheinwald, who was handed his Washington post by Tony Blair, offered Gaddafi junior 'active assistance' with the 429-page work.

Saif Gaddafi
© Reuters
Saif Gaddafi
Sir Nigel was at Mr Blair's side for the first meeting with Colonel Gaddafi in 2007 that resulted in a massive BP oil contract. When the Mail asked him whether he had had a hand in Saif's PhD his staff replied on his behalf that the idea was 'ludicrous'.

However, a senior source at the London School of Economics confirmed that Sir Nigel had shown a 'profound interest' in Saif's academic studies and offered 'active assistance' in his work.

Comment: Sir Nigel actions are not surprising, given his past. Psychopathic governments attract those of the same ilk to work in them.

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Nuke

Japan - Damage to reactor called severe

David E. Sanger and David Jolly
boston.com
Sat, 02 Apr 2011 07:49 UTC
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© Atsushi Taketazu/Yomiuri Shimbun via Associated Press
An evacuation center in Onagawa, northeastern Japan, housed displaced victims yesterday, three weeks after the devastating earthquake and tsunami. About 16,000 remain missing.
Washington - Energy Secretary Steven Chu said yesterday that roughly 70 percent of the core of one reactor at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan had sustained severe damage.

His assessment of the damage to Reactor No. 1 was the most specific yet from a US official on how close the plant came to a full meltdown after it was hit by a severe earthquake and massive tsunami March 11.

Japanese officials have spoken of a "partial meltdown'' at some of the stricken reactors. But they have been less than specific, especially on the question of how close No. 1 - the most badly damaged reactor - came to a full meltdown.
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Nuke

This isn't going to get any better: Radioactive water leaks from Japan nuclear plant


boston.com
Sat, 02 Apr 2011 07:40 UTC
Image
© AP Photo/Lee Jin-man
Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan, center at right, bows with other officials for the victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami-destroyed town of Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, Saturday, April 2, 2011.
Tokyo - Japanese nuclear official says highly radioactive water is leaking from a damaged nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean.

Nuclear safety spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama says the air above the leak contains 1,000 millisiverts of radioactivity. Exposure to 500 millisiverts over a short period of time can increase the risk of cancer.

The water was seeping Saturday from a crack in the containment for a maintenance pit on the edge of the nuclear site.

The Fukushima Dai-ichi plant has been spewing radioactivity since it was hit by a tsunami three weeks ago.

This is a breaking news update. AP's earlier story is below.
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Dollar

Slash and Burn capitalism: Big Business Stock Buyback Plan - Guess Who's Winning?

Mike Whitney
OpedNews
Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:00 UTC
This has gotta be a joke. According to a new report by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased by $69-billion (7-percent), while personal income rose by only $38-billion (3-percent) in February. So consumers are back to their old ways again -- spending more than they earn?

Er, not exactly. The truth is, consumer spending is slowing down because food and energy are taking a bigger chunk out of the old paycheck. After factoring in inflation, personal consumption is up just 3-percent while real income fell to 1-percent. So, inflation makes the numbers look a lot different.

The reason all this matters, is because consumption is 70-percent of GDP, so if the consumer is on the ropes and getting pummeled by stagnant wages and inflation at the same time, then you can bet the economy is headed for the dumpster. Of course, a good portion of the blame for this mess goes to Ben Bernanke, whose miracle QE2 elixir has kept the stock market bubbly while commodities and food prices have skyrocketed. That's the real source of the problem -- an uneven policy that rewards the investment class while leaving the worker-bees (you and me) fending off soaring prices.

Bernanke says we shouldn't worry about the higher prices because core inflation is still low (roughly 1%). That's easy to say for a guy who's never filled his gas tank in his life, but for everyone else inflation is a killer that forces them to cut their spending or shed more debt, neither of which is easy to do.
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Brick Wall

American Hypocrisy at it's Best: Obama Receives Transparency Award at Secret Meeting

Raven Clabough
New American
Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:00 UTC
coburnobama-t.001
© Unknown
Senate bill sponsors Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill discussing the Coburn–Obama Transparency Act, 2006
On Monday President Obama received an award for transparency, which ironically was given to him during a closed, unannounced meeting. Bestowed upon the President from a group of transparency advocates, the ceremony took place in secret, even though - as of two weeks ago - it was supposed to be open to the press.

According to Politico, the meeting was "inexplicably postponed" and rescheduled without notice for Monday "without disclosing the meeting on [the President's] public schedule or letting photographers or print reporters into the room."

Those present at the ceremony, which took place in the Oval Office, included Gary Bass of OMB Watch, Tom Blanton of the National Security Archive, Danielle Brian of the Project on Government Oversight, Lucy Dalgish of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and Patrice McDermott of OpenTheGovernment.org.

Gary Bass commented:
Our understanding going into the meeting was that it would have a pool photographer and a print reporter, and it turned out to be a private meeting." He adds, "He was so on point, so on target in the conversation with us, it is baffling why he would not want that message to be more broadly heard by reporters and the public interest community and the public generally.
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Dollar

While the Rich Get Richer, the Rest of Us Pay More for Less at the Supermarket

Tom Laskawy
Grist
Wed, 30 Mar 2011 19:31 UTC
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© rightardia.blogspot.com
The New York Times reports that food companies are embarked on a "stealth" strategy to hike prices by significantly shrinking packages without changing the price. For example, canned vegetables are down to thirteen from sixteen ounces (one shopper observed that she found an eleven ounce can of corn recently). Sugar is now sometimes sold in four pound bags instead of five.

This is nothing new - food companies have repeatedly responded to weak economies and rising commodity prices in this way - although this is perhaps the first time that some companies are greenwashing their shrinkage. Proctor & Gamble, for one, is trumpeting its new smaller packages (priced about the same as the old, of course) as "'Future Friendly' products, which it promotes as using at least 15 percent less energy, water or packaging than the standard ones."

And don't forget the health claims! Fewer crackers in a package means fewer calories - you may pay more per cracker, but it's better for you!
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MIB

Former MI6 chief on Mossad's ruthless and cunning ways: 'U.K. didn't always feel safe sharing intelligence with Israel'


Haaretz
Thu, 31 Mar 2011 06:43 UTC
Image
© Cate Gillon/Getty Images
Sir Richard Dearlove
Speaking at conference marking 60 years of U.K.-Israel ties, former MI6 chief says he has no doubt Israeli intelligence 'plays by a different set of rules' than those observed in London.

British intelligence wasn't always forthcoming with sharing information with its Israeli counterpart, former MI6 director Sir Richard Dearlove said in a conference Wednesday, adding that he felt Israeli intelligence played by a different set of rules than the U.K. agency.

Dearlove, the British spy chief from 1999 to 2004, said in a conference marking 60 years of British-Israeli diplomatic relations that he had "no doubt that Israel plays by a different set of rules than the rules that we observe in the UK."
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MIB

Libyan FM defects to Britain, collaborated with US since the 1980s


Press TV
Fri, 01 Apr 2011 06:24 UTC
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Moussa Koussa, long-time agent of the Axis of Evil
Defected Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa has reportedly been in contact with American authorities over counterterrorism issues.

The former senior official developed a close working relationship with Washington when he was the head of Libya's intelligence service a few years ago, former CIA official Vince Cannistraro told the prominent US radio broadcaster NPR.

On Wednesday, Koussa resigned as Libya's foreign minister and defected to Britain as troops loyal to ruler Muammar Gaddafi and opposition forces clashed in the North African country.

The CIA official was stationed in Italy in the late 1980s when Koussa was leading Libya's intelligence service.
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Pistol

Ivory Coast: Bloodbath Fear as Gbagbo Forces Prepare for Last Stand

Daniel Howden
The Independent, UK
Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:00 UTC
Pro-Gbagbo militiamen
© Getty Images
Pro-Gbagbo militiamen patrol in the empty streets of Abidjan
Fears were mounting of major atrocities in Ivory Coast last night as forces loyal to the Laurent Gbagbo prepared for a last stand in Abidjan.

After days of increasingly virulent anti-colonialist rhetoric from the state-controlled broadcasters, France deployed its troops to rescue French nationals from attack by young and violent supporters of Mr Gbagbo.

The news that the 1,000 strong French force had intervened underlined fears that the four-month crisis in the world's leading cocoa producer, sparked by the sitting president Mr Gbagbo's refusal to accept his defeat in landmark elections, had entered its critical phase.

Troops under the command of president-elect Allasane Ouattara were said to be "at the gates" of Abidjan, Ivory Coast's commercial capital, which has descended into chaotic violence in recent days. Supporters of the presidential rivals have carved up the city into warring neighbourhoods with armed militia controlling the streets. Witnesses spoke of people being pulled from cars and burnt alive and residents complained of being marooned in their homes by the fighting.
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