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Julian Assange: Western Newspapers Hesitant To Publish Israel-Related Leaks

by on Thursday, December 23, 2010 at 12:28 pm EDT in Middle East, Politics, WikiLeaks, World

In a new, largely unreported Al Jazeera interview (with Julian Assange’s responses overdubbed in Arabic), the WikiLeaks founder reveals that he intends to release 3,700 documents pertaining to Israel.

2,700 of these documents, he said, originate from within Israel, and include “Sensitive and classified documents” on the 2006 military excursion into Lebanon (which resulted in the deaths of over 1,200 Lebanese — mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis — mostly soldiers).

The documents also contain information on Mossad assassinations, including the murder of Hamas militant Mahmud al-Mabhuh in Dubai, as well as “a Lebanese military leader in Damascus by sniper bullets.”

The Peninsula , a Qatari newspaper, translated a small portion of the interview into English.  When the interviewer confronted Assange about an accusation (apparently lodged by a former colleague of his) of having cut a secret deal with Israel not to publish their secret files, Assange responded:

This is not true. We have been accused as being agents of Iran and CIA by this former colleague who was working for Germany in the past and was dismissed from his job after we published American military documents related to Germany.

We were the biggest institution receiving official funding from the US but after we released a video tape about killing people in cold blood in Iraq in 2007, the funding stopped and we had to depend on individuals for finance.

The Jerusalem Post published the following on Assange’s revelation as to why we haven’t seen more Israel-related leaks:

Assange said only a small number of documents related to Israel have been published so far because newspapers in the West that had exclusive rights to publish the material were hesitant to publish sensitive information about Israel …

“The Guardian, El-Pais and Le Monde have published only two percent of the files related to Israel due to the sensitive relations between Germany, France and Israel. Even New York Times could not publish more due to the sensitivities related to the Jewish community in the US,” [Assange] added.

It’s rather astonishing to think that the New York Times would publish sensitive information on its own country, the United States of America, but would refrain from publishing sensitive information on a foreign country, Israel.  What are we to make of that?

This unfortunately will continue to be a huge problem for WikiLeaks, OpenLeaks, and other whistleblower groups.  By giving the main stream media exclusive rights to the leak information — essentially the power to serve as middlemen between the documents and the discerning public — they are effectively allowing the corporate-owned media establishment to serve as ideological gatekeepers.

And as we learned from the run-up to the Iraq war, and a long string of other failures over the last decade, the establishment media most often chooses complicity over serving as a check on government power.

In the spirit of promoting true transparency, whistleblower groups should never again entrust just a few major publications in the main stream media to play such a vital role.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101223/wl_mideast_afp/usdiplomacywikileaksisraelassange

WATCH: Cenk Uygur Interviews WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange On Dylan Ratigan Show

by on Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at 9:09 pm EDT in Politics, WikiLeaks, World

The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur conducted a terrific interview today with Julian Assange on MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan Show.

They covered a wide range of topics including: Assange’s role as a publisher/member of the press, 1st Amendment Rights, the main stream media’s gradual shift from demonizing WikiLeaks to now somewhat defending the whistleblower group; and political personalities who continue to demagogue Assange as a ‘high-tech terrorist’, and call for his murder.

They also discussed alleged leaker, Private Bradley Manning, and his inhumane mistreatment over six months of solitary confinement.

WATCH:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Karl Rove On Obama Extending Bush Tax Cuts: We’re All Supply-Siders Now!

by on Sunday, December 19, 2010 at 4:47 pm EDT in Politics, Tax Policies

The new tax cut bill, signed into law Friday by President Barack Obama, will surely come back to haunt him in his 2012 reelection campaign.  His quick capitulation to the Republicans, and aggressive advocacy for this fiscally irresponsible bill helps to further erode his credibility to one-time supporters.

First came his health care ‘reform’ bill — a backroom giveaway to BigPharma and the health insurance industry.  Then came his watered-down financial reform plan, his escalation in Afghanistan, his refusal to close Guantanamo Bay, his green-lighting the assassinations of American citizens abroad without trial, his complicity in shielding Bush war crimes, etc. etc.

Extending George W. Bush’s destructive ‘supply side’ tax policies only solidifies this President’s reputation as one who has no core principles to speak of.

Candidate Obama promised his supporters repeatedly that he would end, once and for all, the deep tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans.  To extend these tax cuts at a time when we are engaged in two wars, and with deficits skyrocketing, poses a serious threat to our country’s fiscal health.

Moody’s recently threatened to downgrade the United State’s AAA credit rating if this tax bill was signed into law.  The effects of a credit downgrade during a deep recession could be quite significant:

For the United States, a loss of the top Aaa rating, reduce the appeal of U.S. Treasuries, which currently rank as among the world’s safest investments.

“From a credit perspective, the negative effects on government finance are likely to outweigh the positive effects of higher economic growth,” Moody’s analyst Steven Hess said in a report sent late on Sunday.

After Obama announced his plan, Treasury prices fell sharply in volatile trade last week and yields have hit a six-month high, in part due to concerns over the effect the package will have on government debt levels.

If the bill becomes law, it will “adversely affect the federal government budget deficit and debt level,” Moody’s said.

Moody’s believes this tax bill will add an additional $700 to $900 billion in new national debt.  A downgrade in the US credit rating could push interest rates upwards, thereby prolonging this deepest of all recessions.

The President never even attempted to make a compelling case to the American people for Keynesian economic principles — the ones he ran on; the ones he was elected on — but instead cowardly embraced the failed trickle down policies that helped to create much of our country’s problems: including runaway debt, and redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the highest earners over the last 30 years.  His Democratic party still controls the Presidency and both Houses of Congress, and yet he is too timid to use the bully pulpit to promote any progressive policies.

The irony is, he will personally wear the new debt this bill creates around his neck like a noose.  And the blame for it will be leveled by the very Republicans to whom he capitulated.  After all, they were blaming him for Bush’s debt just ONE MONTH after he was sworn in as President.

The Republicans will shamelessly pick up where they left off a month ago: screaming that Obama has created runway deficits, and pointing out the urgency for government spending cuts.

Having caved in on extending Bush’s tax cuts for the richest 2%, he will be forced to offset the new debt by cutting important programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.  In addition, new government spending cuts will ‘trickle down’ to impact state budgets, in the form of more layoffs for school teachers and police officers.

Instead of writing the epitaph on Bush’s failed ‘trickle down’ economic policies, Obama has instead resurrected them from the grave.

So we as a country — governed by a Democratic President — will continue to endure a deepening divide between the rich and the poor, and will continue to watch our national debt escalate in a way that won’t create a single job, but will only threaten our country’s most cherished social programs.

Karl Rove is jumping for joy over this turn of events.  After the signing of the bill, he jubilantly Tweeted:

Judging by remarks from Geithner, Hoyer & others celebrating Bush tax cut extension; we’re all supply-siders now!

Perhaps Obama should tap Rove to run his 2012 Presidential Campaign.  They appear to be on the same page on just about every issue.

Neocon David Frum Distorts Reality To Push An Anti-Palestinian Narrative

by on Saturday, December 18, 2010 at 12:17 pm EDT in Middle East, Politics, World

Former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum just posted pure pro-Israel propaganda on his blog, Frum Forum.  In it he attempts to outline why a UN Security Council recognition of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders would be counterproductive. First, he disingenuously blames the failure of the latest rounds of peace talks on the […]

WATCH: Colorama’s New Single, ‘Candy Street’

by on Friday, December 17, 2010 at 8:26 pm EDT in Arts & Entertainment, Music

The Independent revealed today that Edwyn Collins, a longtime favorite of mine, picked British band Colorama’s ‘Box’ as his favorite album of 2010. Having never heard of the band before, I clicked over to YouTube and found this single ‘Candy Street’ from the aforementioned album.  I absolutely love it — it’s very catchy. Now, keep […]

Is AIPAC’s Iron Grip Over The US Congress Waning?

by on Friday, December 17, 2010 at 2:43 pm EDT in Middle East, World

A new column by Josh Ruebner, who heads US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, gives a behind the scenes look at what actually transpired in the latest AIPAC-sponsored Congressional Resolution which condemns any unilateral measures to declare or recognize a Palestinian state. AIPAC, of course, would have you believe (this message came via twitter) […]

WATCH: Funny David Sedaris Interview With Jon Stewart

by on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 11:23 am EDT in Arts & Entertainment, Books, comedy, Writing

Here’s a very funny Daily Show clip with Grammy Award-nominated comedian/author David Sedaris — promoting his new book, “Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk.”  Sedaris’s joke at the end of the interview is hilarious! ENJOY! The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c David Sedaris www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire […]

Time Magazine’s 2010 Person Of Year: People Vote Julian Assange, Establishment Crowns Mark Zuckerberg

by on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 10:00 am EDT in Politics, WikiLeaks, World

Here’s how Time Magazine’s Managing Editor Richard Stengel, in his letter, leads up to his justification for the 2010 Time Magazine’s Person of the Year Award: There is an erosion of trust in authority, a decentralizing of power and at the same time, perhaps, a greater faith in one another. Our sense of identity is […]

EU Releases Official Statement On Middle East Peace

by on Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 3:46 pm EDT in Middle East, World

I’ve taken the liberty to highlight just a few interesting points: The [EU Foreign Affairs] Council adopted the following conclusions: 1. “The EU believes that urgent progress is needed towards a two state solution to the IsraeliPalestinian conflict. We want to see the State of Israel and a sovereign, independent, democratic, contiguous and viable State […]

Julian Assange Of WikiLeaks Granted Bail; Swedish Prosecutors Appeal

by on Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 2:29 pm EDT in Politics, WikiLeaks

Moments ago, a British Court decision granted WikiLeaks’ leader Julian Assange bail, inciting loud and exuberant cheers from a mob beyond the courthouse doors.  The decision came with some strict conditions:  £200,000 (approximately $315,900 US) in security, £40,000 (approx. $63,180 US) in surety from two people, ‘a curfew, daily reporting to police, and a surrender […]