Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Thursday 5 February 2015

Op-Ed Articles
  
Genghis Khan-style Cruelty of Isis

By Robert Fisk

The tens of thousands of Sunni Muslims who had demanded the pilot be freed now know what their fellow Muslims in Syria and Iraq had in mind for him.


Putin Prefers a Bad Peace

By Israel Shamir

The West presents Putin as a bloodthirsty warmonger with grand imperial ambitions. The reality is that Putin wants a stable, federalized Ukraine-anything else would be too costly for Russia.


Editor Of Major Newspaper Says He Planted Stories For CIA

By Ralph Lopez

Ulfkotte said the aim of much of the deception was to drive nations toward war.


'Saudi Princes Planned To Down Air Force One With Missile':

By RT and Agencies

The meeting discussing the plan to down Air Force One allegedly took place at the kingdom's embassy in Washington DC.


HRW Claims US 'Most Powerful Proponent of Human Rights'?

By Joe Emersberger

HRW tries its best to put a positive spin on the legacy of an amazingly repulsive U.S. ally.


The Sociopath as Hero

By Paul Edwards

"the Global War on Terror" has imbued them with the same hateful, furious, kneejerk, Nazi-style "patriotism" that Kyle embodied.


American Sniper Has Warped Americans' Fragile Little Minds

Video

How does modern propaganda work? How effective is it? Adam blows these issues wide open with an incredible series of man on the street interviews.


Putting the Terror Threat In Perspective

By Washingtons Blog

There Are Far Fewer Terror Attacks Now Than In the 1970s.


Harper's Anti-terror Legislation Threatens Rights Of All Canadians

By Peter Ewart

Even clicking on a particular site, could result in a person being put under scrutiny.


Israel Has Neutralized The PA: Hanan Ashrawi

David Hearst Interviews Hanan Ashrawi

You cannot just label everybody a prostitute and an anti-Semite if you dare to criticize Israel.


Alberto Nisman's Death and AMIA: Who Cares About the Truth?

By Ezequiel Adamovsky

Although he is portrayed as a man who died looking for the truth, Nisman was far from being a justice hero.


My Post Cyberpunk Indentured Servitude

By Barrett Brown

Journalist Barrett Brown looks back in anger at the government's trumped up charges against him as he starts a 63 month prison sentence.


How Reality TV Is Teaching Us to Accept the American Police State

By John W. Whitehead

When that painful reality sinks in, it will hit with the force of a SWAT team crashing through your door, a taser being aimed at your stomach, and a gun pointed at your head.

       
      

Hard News
    



Chad kills 'more than 200' in Nigeria:
Chad's army says it has killed more than 200 militant Islamists and lost nine men during a battle to recapture a key town in north-eastern Nigeria.


70 civilians, six troops 'killed in Boko Haram rampage in
Boko Haram fighters killed nearly 70 civilians and six soldiers in an onslaught on the Cameroonian border town of Fotokol on Wednesday, a Cameroonian security source told AFP.


At least 21 killed in machete attack in northeast Congo:
At least 21 people were killed overnight in the town of Mayangose in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo by machete-wielding assailants, a civil society leader said on Wednesday.


16 Libyan troops killed near Islamist hub, oil terminal:
Clashes between Islamist fighters and Libyan soldiers erupt around eastern Islamist stronghold of Derna, close to a key oil terminal.


Gunmen Kill 12 in Raid on Remote Libyan Oilfield:
Gunmen killed 12 people, including two Filipino and two Ghanaian nationals, after storming a remote Libyan oilfield, a Libyan official said Wednesday.


U.S. kills alleged, senior Shabaab leader in Somalia: government:
A U.S. missile strike launched in Somalia last week killed Islamist group al Shabaab's mastermind behind attacks at home and abroad, the Somali government said on Wednesday.


Egypt court: 230 sentenced to life in prison:
They sentence was handed down by Jugde Mohammed Nagy Shehata, the same judge who jailed the Al Jazeera journalists and sentenced 183 suspected Islamists to death on Monday.


Syria Kurds advance, face 'no resistance' near Kobani: activists;
Syrian Kurdish forces made fresh advances Wednesday near the flashpoint town of Kobani, bringing the number of villages they have recaptured from ISIS to 50, activists said.


Oops They Did it Again: 'Moderate' Syrian Rebels Join Jihadists:
The Harakat Hazzm group had been on the receiving end of Washington's largesse due to its status as a "non-jihadist" faction fighting to overthrow Assad. It was created last year and had ties to the US-created Free Syrian Army.


Brutal killing shows Islamic State suffering setbacks;
The sick way Islamic State terrorists burned Jordanian pilot Lt. Moaz Kasasbeh alive should not be misunderstood: It means the organization has suffered defeats in battle and is letting out its frustration in brutal and vicious acts that go beyond even its past depravities.


Jordan, shaken by ISIS killing, executes 2 inmates:
Following the pilot's death, Jordan launched what it said would be a tough campaign against ISIS. Jordan executed Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad al-Karbouly, two Iraqis linked to Al-Qaeda. Another official said they were executed by hanging. Authorities said the pair would be buried later in Jordan.


Jordan pilot was killed one month ago: State TV:
It said the captured airman had been killed by the group on Jan 3, before the militants offered to spare his life and free a Japanese journalist in return for the release of a female would-be suicide bomber on death row in Jordan.


Father of murdered Jordan pilot demands revenge:
Safi al-Kassasbeh says Jordan's execution of two al-Qaeda-linked prisoners is not sufficient to avenge his son's death.


UAE halted Isis air attacks after pilot capture:
The United Arab Emirates has suspended its air attacks against the Islamic State in Syria since the capture of a Jordanian pilot who was burned alive by the jihadi group, it has emerged.


Yemen suicide bomber kills 5:
Security officials say a suicide car bomber has targeted a military base in central Yemen, killing at least five troops.


Pentagon loses track of weaponry sent to Yemen in recent years:
Chaos in the functionally leaderless country has seen Houthi rebels reportedly take control of Yemeni military's arms depots and bases


Who Are the Billionaires Attacking Obama's Iran Diplomacy?:
Former AIPAC spokesman Josh Block has turned the pro-Israel advocacy group into one of the shrillest opponents of diplomacy with Iran. But, according to documents obtained by The Nation, two of the groups' billionaire underwriters may have their own anti-Obama impetuses.


UN: In 2014, Israel demolished 1,177 Palestinians' homes in the occupied West Bank:
Israel destroyed 590 Palestinian buildings in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2014, displacing 1,177 people, according to a new study by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).


Ex-Mossad boss: Fear-mongering Netanyahu is antithesis of Churchill:
He's leading Israel to a third intifada, and his calling Iran's nuclear drive an existential threat is a 'terrible mistake'


Danger of anti-Semitic 'spillover' in US criticism of Israel:
In a meeting with The Times of Israel staff Wednesday, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations Executive Vice Chairman/CEO Malcolm Hoenlein sounded the alarm against rising anti-Semitism worldwide, including in the United States.


Character assassination:
New Greek finance minister accused of anti-Semitism :
Many members in Syriza, Greece's new ruling party, have expressed extremely hostile opinions of Israel in the past.


September 11 conspirator Moussaoui says Saudi royals backed al Qaeda:
A former al Qaeda operative imprisoned for life for his role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has told lawyers for victims of the attacks that members of the Saudi royal family supported the Islamic militant group.


No Saudi-Russian talks to bump up oil price in return for disowning Assad - Moscow:
Moscow denies a report claiming that Saudi Arabia had offered to adjust its oil production and create a crude price rise in exchange for Russia withdrawing support for Syrian President Bashar Assad.


25 militants killed in airstrikes in Pakistan;
At least 25 suspected militants have been killed in renewed army airstrikes in northwestern Pakistan's Khyber Agency and South Waziristan, said the Pakistani army press office.


Four soldiers killed in Pakistan bomb attack:
Four Pakistani troops were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb planted by the Taliban in a restive northwestern tribal area Tuesday, officials said.


As the US moves closer to India, Pakistan looks to Russia:
Islamabad's military and political leaders are seeking to warm ties with Moscow that have been frosty since the cold war


Obama seeks $1bn from Congress for aid to Pakistan:
The Obama administration has asked the US Congress to provide more than $1 billion in civilian and military aid to Pakistan, including a six-fold increase in foreign military financing.


20 militants, 1 soldier killed in eastern and northern Afghan provinces:
A total of 21 people including one Afghan security person and 20 Taliban militants had been killed in the eastern Nangarhar and the northern Takhar provinces since Tuesday night, officials said, APA reports quoting Xinhua.


Cancer epidemic underway in Fukushima - Rates up 6,000% says head of cancer research center -
"This is definitely a holocaust... everything's being swept under the rug" - "Very, very frightening... my family members are brainwashed"


5 killed in deadly rocket attack on hospital in rebel-held Donetsk in Ukraine:
At least five people are reported dead after the shelling of a hospital in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. Eyewitnesses say at least one shell hit the building in territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists.


Hundreds of Demonstrators Attack Ukrainian President's Office:
Protesters are demanding that the defense minister and attorney general resign, while intense clashes continue in eastern Ukraine.


US-backed program for retraining Ukrainian military men will start in March - ambassador;
US military aid to Ukraine this year will be $120 million, including a new $75 million, the funds will be used for training Ukrainian military men, US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt has stated.


Bravado, resentment and fear as Ukraine calls men to war:
"It was either serve or go to prison ... he's promised to come back," she said, declining to give her surname.


If Russia is Ukraine's enemy then why are 1.2 million Ukrainian men seeking refuge in Russia?;
Ukrainian men of conscription age are seeking refuge in Russia in numbers that increased by 20,000 in one week, the press service of the Russian Federal Migration Service (FMS) said on Monday. Who is invading who?


Pope: Stop fratricide violence in Ukraine, stop pushing for 'victory':
Earlier the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill thanked the Holy See for taking a balanced stance on the Ukrainian conflict and calling for peace in that troubled land.


Donetsk Authorities Claim NATO Ammunition Found in Ukraine;
The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) forces have found ammunition used exclusively in NATO countries that the Ukrainian Army is not usually equipped with, Deputy Donetsk Militia Commander Eduard Basurin said Tuesday.


Hacked documents reveal Ukrainian military in dire conditions:
The papers contain information about catastrophic situation inside the Ukrainian armed forces, such as extremely low morale, arms smuggling, and attempts by Ukrainian commanders to force their soldiers to fight the pro-Russian militia.


Moscow hopes for thorough investigation into failed coup in Macedonia - foreign ministry:
Macedonia's leadership said leader of the biggest opposing Social-Democratic Union and foreign intelligence services were involved in the failed attempt


ISIS vows attacks on France, calls Muslims to join new 'caliphate':
The video, reportedly seen by AFP, shows a masked individual surrounded by armed fighters calling on French Muslims to take up the cause for the creation of an "Islamic caliphate," which has taken root in parts of Iraq and Syria.


Colombian Court Investigates Ex-President Uribe over Massacre:
 A Colombian court ordered an investigation into the actions of former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Tuesday for allegedly allowing a group of paramilitaries to use a helicopter in order to assassinate 15 peasants in the province of Antioquia October 22, 1997.


US Embassy Bribing Venezuela Officials to Topple Government:
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused officials at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas of conspiring to bribe people close to the Venezuelan government, including current and former ministers and military officials, in order for them to conspire against the Bolivarian government.


Whistleblower John Kiriakou, only person jailed over CIA torture program, is out of prison:
Former CIA official John Kiriakou was today released after two and a half years in prison. He exposed the Bush-era war-on-terror torture program, and for that act of bravery became the only American to serve time in connection with it.


Johann Hari: Everything We Know About the Drug War & Addiction is Wrong:
Over the past four years Hari has traveled to the United States, Mexico, Canada, Uruguay and Portugal to research his new book, "Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War of Drugs." His findings may surprise you