Syrians In Ghouta Claim Saudi Supplied Rebels Behind Chemical Attack 
“My son came to me two weeks ago asking what I thought the weapons were that he had been asked to carry,” said Abu Abdel-Moneim, the father of a rebel fighting to unseat Assad, who lives in Ghouta.Abdel-Moneim said his son and 12 other rebels were killed inside of a tunnel used to store weapons provided by a Saudi militant, known as Abu Ayesha, who was leading a fighting battalion. The father described the weapons as having a “tube-like structure” while others were like a “huge gas bottle.”Ghouta townspeople said the rebels were using mosques and private houses to sleep while storing their weapons in tunnels. “They didn’t tell us what these arms were or how to use them,” complained a female fighter named ‘K.’ “We didn’t know they were chemical weapons. We never imagined they were chemical weapons.”“When Saudi Prince Bandar gives such weapons to people, he must give them to those who know how to handle and use them,” she warned. She, like other Syrians, do not want to use their full names for fear of retribution.A well-known rebel leader in Ghouta named ‘J’ agreed. “Jabhat al-Nusra militants do not cooperate with other rebels, except with fighting on the ground. They do not share secret information. They merely used some ordinary rebels to carry and operate this material,” he said.“We were very curious about these arms. And unfortunately, some of the fighters handled the weapons improperly and set off the explosions,” ‘J’ said.

2 videos- 24-8-2013 Syria Leaked Video: Who is using chemical weapons against Syrian Civilians ???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb53ooT3Wng

Video- The Chemicals captured by Syrian Army in Jober http://www.islamicinvitationturkey.com/2013/08/26/video-the-chemicals-captured-by-syrian-army-in-jober/

FLASHBACK- Hacked e-mails reveal ‘Washington approved’ plan to stage Syria chemical attack
 Ryan KellerGovernment ExaminerJanuary 28, 2013

On Saturday, Cyber War News released a cache of e-mails allegedly hacked by someone in Malaysia from a British private defense contractor called Britam Defence.
One of the e-mails contains a discussion between Britam’s Business Development Director David Goulding and Philip Doughty, company founder. In the exchange, it’s revealed that there is a plan to unleash chemical weapons in Syria in order to blame it on the Bashar Al Assad regime to justify a direct intervention by U.S. and NATO forces in the country’s civil war. The plan, thought up by the government of Qatar according to the e-mail, is “approved by Washington.”

Phil
We’ve got a new offer. It’s about Syria again. Qataris propose an attractive deal and swear that the idea is approved by Washington.
We’ll have to deliver a CW (chemical weapon) to Homs, a Soviet origin g-shell from Libya similar to those that Assad should have.
They want us to deploy our Ukrainian personnel that should speak Russian and make a video record.
Frankly, I don’t think it’s a good idea but the sums proposed are enormous. Your opinion?
Kind regards
David

If this e-mail is authentic, it would confirm what has been reported in the past: that the al-Qaida connected Syrian rebels are planning to unleash chemical weapons as a false flag.
In June, Russia Today reported that Syrian rebels had acquired gas masks and chemical weapons from Libya and “allegedly plan to use it against civilians and pin the atrocity on the Bashar al-Assad regime.”
A Saudi company had further allegedly fitted 1,400 ambulances with a filtering system to protect passengers from gas and chemicals after Syrian rebels launch a chemical weapons attack using mortar rounds, all at the cost of $97,000 each. These ambulances, labeled with “Syrian People’s Relief,” would actually be carrying U.S. and NATO troops. According to Paul Joseph Watson:

The attack, which will involve the use of white phosphorus, sarin and mustard gas, will be launched on a heavily populated town near the Syria/Jordan border, possibly Daraa, after which the vehicles will pour in under the cover of humanitarian aid.
The ambulances…will operate under the guise of an aid mission to help the victims of the chemical weapons attack, but in reality are nothing short of armored personnel carriers.

A buffer zone will be created “that will lead to a NATO military intervention under the pretext of punishing Assad’s regime for the atrocity.”
In December, a video was posted online showing a member of the Syrian rebels testing chemicals on rabbits while jihadist chants go on in the background. In the video, containers labeled Tekkim are shown, which is a Turkish chemicals company. On the wall is a poster with Arabic writing on it that reads “The Almighty Wind Brigade (Kateebat A Reeh Al Sarsar),” according to the Syria Tribune.

A person wearing a lab mask then mixes chemicals in a beaker in the glass box, and we see some gas emitting from the beaker. About a minute later, the rabbits start to have random convulsions and then die. The person says: You saw what happened? This will be your fate, you infidel Alawites, I swear by ALLAH to make you die like these rabbits, one minute only after you inhale the gas.

Assad has maintained that he will not use chemical weapons in Syria’s ongoing war. It would seem unlikely that he would, considering that it would put the militaries of most of the world’s powers against him. Further, an official from within the Pentagon told NBC News that there was no evidence that Assad was planning such attacks.
Intervention in Syria is not about protecting civilians. The Assad regime is allied with the Iranian government, and by overthrowing it, the West has an advantage in an attack on the Islamic Republic.

 
REGARDING THE SO CALLED CHEMICAL ATTACKS IN SYRIA http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/94894-at-least-1300-dead-in-chemical-bombing-near-damascus
 Specialists in the impact of chemical weapons said the video evidence was not entirely convincing. [[[["At the moment, I am not totally convinced because the people that are helping them are without any protective clothing and without any respirators,"]]]]] said Paula Vanninen, director of Verifin, the Finnish Institute for Verification of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
[[[[ "In a real case, they would also be contaminated and would also be having symptoms."]]]] John Hart, head of the Chemical and Biological Security Project at Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said he had not seen the telltale evidence in the eyes of the victims that would be compelling evidence of chemical weapons use. [[[["Of the videos that I've seen for the last few hours, none of them show pinpoint pupils... this would indicate exposure to organophosphorus nerve agents," he said.]]]] Gwyn Winfield, editor of CBRNe World magazine, which specializes in chemical weapons issues, said the evidence did not suggest that the chemicals used were of the weapons grade that the Syrian army possesses in its stockpiles. "We're not seeing reports that doctors and nurses... are becoming fatalities, so that would suggest that the toxicity of it isn't what we would consider military sarin. It may well be that it is a lower-grade," Winfield told Agence France Presse.
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 Syria: The predictable and false "chemical" attack
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 [ed notes:in haaretz dirty war criminal moshe yaalon  israhells defense minister claimed Assad used chemical attacks several times against Syrian citizens,but here are quotes from experts in same article ...  http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.542849
Dan Kaszeta, a former officer of the U.S. Army's Chemical Corps and a leading private consultant, pointed out a number of details absent from the footage so far: "None of the people treating the casualties or photographing them are wearing any sort of chemical-warfare protective gear," he says, "and despite that, none of them seem to be harmed." This would seem to rule out most types of military-grade chemical weapons, including the vast majority of nerve gases, since these substances would not evaporate immediately, especially if they were used in sufficient quantities to kill hundreds of people, but rather leave a level of contamination on clothes and bodies which would harm anyone coming in unprotected contact with them in the hours after an attack. In addition, he says that "there are none of the other signs you would expect to see in the aftermath of a chemical attack, such as intermediate levels of casualties, severe visual problems, vomiting and loss of bowel control." Steve Johnson, a leading researcher on the effects of hazardous material exposure at England's Cranfield University who has worked with Britain's Ministry of Defense on chemical warfare issues, agrees that "from the details we have seen so far, a large number of casualties over a wide area would mean quite a pervasive dispersal. With that level of chemical agent, you would expect to see a lot of contamination on the casualties coming in ,and it would affect those treating them who are not properly protected. We are not seeing that here."
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[ed notes:keep in mind i posted this two days ago..just when un inspectors arrived in Syria...  SYRIA FALSE FLAG ALERT... Marines prepare for improvised explosives carrying WMD  http://thenakedfacts.blogspot.com/2013/08/syria-false-flag-alert.html
MOSSAD FRONT DEBKA- Chemical warfare looms over Syria. Israel passes atropine to rebels http://thenakedfacts.blogspot.com/2013/08/mossad-front-debka-chemical-warfare.html

August 19, 2013
CIA Confirms Role in 1953 Iran Coup
Documents Provide New Details on Mosaddeq Overthrow and Its Aftermath.Marking the sixtieth anniversary of the overthrow of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq, the National Security Archive is today posting recently declassified CIA documents on the United States' role in the controversial operation. American and British involvement in Mosaddeq's ouster has long been public knowledge, but today's posting includes what is believed to be the CIA's first formal acknowledgement that the agency helped to plan and execute the coup.

The explicit reference to the CIA's role appears in a copy of an internal history, The Battle for Iran, dating from the mid-1970s. The agency released a heavily excised version of the account in 1981 in response to an ACLU lawsuit, but it blacked out all references to TPAJAX, the code name for the U.S.-led operation. Those references appear in the latest release. Additional CIA materials posted today include working files from Kermit Roosevelt, the senior CIA officer on the ground in Iran during the coup. They provide new specifics as well as insights into the intelligence agency's actions before and after the operation.
This map shows the disposition of bands of "ruffians," paid to demonstrate by coup organizers, early on August 19, 1953. The bands gathered in the bazaar and other sections of southern Tehran, then moved north through the capital. Thug leaders' names appear at left, along with the estimated size of their groups, and their targets. (Courtesy of Ali Rahnema, author of the forthcoming Thugs, Turn-coats, Soldiers, Spooks: Anatomy of Overthrowing Mosaddeq in Four Days.) Also, the public release of these materials is noteworthy because CIA documents about 1953 are rare. First of all, agency officials have stated that most of the records on the coup were either lost or destroyed in the early 1960s, allegedly because the record-holders' "safes were too full."[2]
[ED NOTES;CLICK LINK FOR MORE..IF I WAS IRANIAN GOVT ID BRING LEGAL ACTION AGAINST ZIONIST RAN US GOVT,AND USE THESE FILES TO CONTINUE EMBARASSING THSOE ZIONIST IN US GOVT SABOTAGING IRANIAN ECONOMY THRU ILLEGAL SANCTIONS..PROFESSOR BOYLE HAS SPOKEN ABOUT IRANS RIGHT TO SUE US GOVT AS WELL IN PAST...

Ankara Spy Chief Discloses Smuggling of 2 WMD Cargos to Georgia, Bulgaria Via Turkey
Head of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Hakan Fidan disclosed that two cargos of the poisonous Sarin gas which had been smuggled from Libya to his country have continued their path to Georgia and Bulgaria.
“Fidan made the disclosure at a security meeting attended by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 9,” a member of the Turkish security community told FNA on the condition of anonymity. “During the meeting, Erdogan asked Fidan to immediately follow up on the case of the sarin gas cargos transferred from Libya to Turkey.” “But, Fidan said that the two sarin gas cargos have already been transferred to Georgia and Bulgaria from Turkey making Erdogan confused,” the source added. “Then, the Prime Minister asked Fidan to collect all the relevant information to be given to Russia and the European Union,” he continued. According to the source, the Turkish prime minister has warned his security and intelligence bodies at the meeting that any use of these chemicals would be more tragic for Turkey than causing problem for other countries. On May 30, Turkish media reported that the country’s security forces had confiscated two kilograms of sarin in addition to artillery from raids at the homes of 12 members of the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front. The raids occurred in Adana, a southern city situated 93 miles (150 km) from the Syrian border. Reports further suggested that the group were planning an attack on the city of Adana itself. The arrests occurred just weeks after 52 people were killed and hundreds were injured during car bomb attacks in Reyhanli on May 11. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov in a press conference in Moscow on May 31 urged Ankara to investigate the arrests and unveil the details. Sarin is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the UN Resolution 687. When providing information to Swiss TV on May 5, Carla Del Ponte stated that a report by the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on chemical weapons in Syria indicated that foreign-aided Syrian opposition had used the agent.

Goyim hit by the ‘Jewish’ diseases
On August 11, 2013, Jewish Daily Forward reported that several non-Jewish (Goyim) young kids in United States and Europe have died as result of Tay-Sachs degenerative disease, commonly known as the “Jewish disease”. “Tay-Sachs is probably the best known “Jewish” disease. As many as one in 25 Ashkenazi Jews is a carrier of the defective recessive gene. Today, the majority of babies born with the disease are not Jewish. Of the approximately 15 new infantile Tay-Sachs cases diagnosed in United States each year “maybe one is from a Jewish family”. The disease leades to paralysis, blindness, seizures and eventually total incapacitation and death,” said the report. A study conducted by Dr. Arnold A. Hutchnecker (died 2001), a New York psychiatrist, for the American Psychiatric Association, entitled, Mental Illness: The Jewish Discease, published on October 25, 1972 – concluded “although all Jews are not not metally ill, mental illness is highly contagious and Jews are the principal sources of infection”. “The world would be more compassionate towards the Jews if it was generally realize that Jews are not responsible for their condition,” Dr. Hutchnecker said. “Schizophrenia (mental disease) is the fact that creates in Jews a compulsive desire for persecution“. Dr. Hutchnecker pointed out that mental illness peculiar to Jews is manifested in their inability to differentiate between right and wrong. He said that, although Jewish canonical recognizes the virtues of patience, humility and integrity, Jews are aggressive, vindictive and dishonest. Is it possible that Benjamin Netanyahu may had volunteered for Hutchnecker’s study! In other words, Dr. Hutchnecker was suggesting that Germans, Palestinians, Lebanese and all other victims of Zionist Jews – should forgive the Jews for not knowing why they kill the Goyim. For some strange reasons, however, the Jewish lobby did not like Hutchnecker. On his death, NYT and other Zionist media outlets, only mentioned that president Nixon and Gerald Ford were among his patients. In the 1950s, Hutchnecker suggested that mental health certificates should be required for political leaders, similar to Wasserman test demanded by states before marriage. How many US lawmakers, who prefer Israeli interests over American interests, do you think will pass such test? 

Colombia’s air force sprays indigenous land with pesticides ‘indiscriminately’ : Christian Aid Colombia http://colombiareports.com/colombias-air-force-sprays-indigenous-land-with-pesticides/
Christian aid Colombia on Friday accused the Colombian air force of spraying harmful pesticides “indiscriminatly” over north west Colombia, in an effort to eradicate coca crops. According to reports from the Thomas Reuters foundation, the air force started their campaign on July 22 by “spraying illicit crops” near Alto Guayabal in the department of Choco. Colombia is the only country in the world that allows the aerial spraying of herbicides in the war against drugs. Many organisations, such as Christian Aid and AIDA oppose the use of such harmful chemicals because of the damaging effect to local settlements and environment. The country manager of Christian Aid Colombia, Thomas Mortensen, told the media that “the local Embera community has reported that the aerial spraying has contaminated their water and crops and is causing community members, including children, to fall sick. This is a clear violation of their rights.” According to news reports, the Embera people have previously approached the government in 2012 to ask for help eradicating the coca crops in their area, but have been wholly opposed to aerial spraying. Mr Mortensen added that “the Colombian authorities could have worked with the indigenous communities to manually eradicate the coca in the area and protect the Embera community from outsiders.” In May this year, Colombia was actually recognized as the first country in Latin America to declare indigenous sacred land to be of “national and cultural interest.”
MORE: Colombia making ‘great strides’ protecting indigenous lands: lobby group
The Embera are one of thirty four indigenous groups thaat are considered at risk of physical or cultural extinction. While Colombia’s constitution recognises them and their rights, they are often disregarded by (govt), mining companies and paramilitary groups.
Sources
Chemical spraying threatens indigenous community in Colombia (Thomas Reuters Foundation)
Chemical-spraying of indigenous people’s land threatens children’s futures

 Foreigner Terrorists overtly attacking with chemical weapons in Syria http://www.islamicinvitationturkey.com/2013/08/08/foreigner-terrorists-overtly-attacking-with-chemical-weapons-in-syria/ 
Experts on arms control policy, confirmed by multiple independent sources, indicate that Syria has been hit, in recent days, by at least four tactical nuclear weapons.In addition, a Syrian Army brigade suffered massive casualties from a Sarin gas attack.Not only are these attacks pushing the world to the brink of war but they coincide with a threat against America “from within,” Pentagon, DHS, AIPAC, drug cartels and key leaders of extremist GOP and Tea Party factions. There is no “Al Qaeda threat,” the whole thing is a deception and cover, which has allowed President Obama to put in place needed defenses against a coup that was only days away. WMD Use in Syria The chemical weapons were traced to the Republic of Georgia and delivered to Israeli-led Al Qaeda forces inside Syria by units of the Turkish Army. Israel, unable to field credible conventional forces, is attempting to destroy the fighting ability of the Syrian Army through attrition, not simply “shock and awe,” but nuclear, chemical and even biological weapons. Crisis Looming
Last week, IDF Military Intelligence told their American counterparts that Russia had delivered eight nuclear weapons to Syria as a deterrent to further WMD attacks by Israel. The US contacted Russia though official diplomatic channels. Russia, when asked, denied transferring nuclear weapons to Syria but indicated it had “special weapons” in theatre, with naval and air forces, if their “vital interests” were threatened. Israel then reached out to Saudi Arabia, asking them to promise Russia a payment in excess of $1 trillion to abandon both their interests in Syria and to work to isolate Iran. Russia was told they would receive their payment when they introduced a resolution to the Security Council to enact a “no fly zone” over Syria. Israel and Saudi Arabia received assurances that China would not exercise her veto at the Security Council if Russia either introduced or supported the measure. There has been no leak from Kremlin sources as to the position President Putin will take. Israeli Collapse Israel is desperate, under pressure by the US to come up with a peace plan with the Palestinians who, themselves, now “smell blood” and are unwilling to settle for a smile, handshake and knife in the back as they had before. Israel’s use of nuclear weapons against Syria is far from a demonstration of power, it is a sign of, not just weakness but collapse. Israel is so “forgotten” even the weekly holocaust hand wringing marathons are going unnoticed. The whole idea behind the victimization hysteria that constitutes the social fabric of Israel is failing. Israel’s continually changing scenario, always trying to “brand an evildoer,” is no longer having success with Iran. Iran’s newly seated popular government, progressive by Western standards, makes fear mongering by Netanyahu’s Likudist fanatics less than credible. Background In early May, Israel lost a Dolphin submarine to a Russian built homing torpedo dropped from a Syrian helicopter. Approximately 48 hours later, Israel hit a Syrian command center with a tactical nuclear weapon. Video of the attack, when examined by nuclear weapons experts, led to one conclusion. This was a nuclear weapon. Since then, Israel has lost one F16 with two crewmembers to their S300 air defense system. However, sources indicate that the US, prior to Bush (43) leaving office, had supplied, not only latest variants of Generation III and IV tactical nuclear weapons, yields as low as 10 tons of TNT, some with no residual radiation whatsoever. This has allowed Israel to attack Syria’s “soft targets” using terrain following missiles that can avoid the S300 radars, which are stretched thin. Israel has been applying a “full court press,” using every intelligence asset available to defeat the S300 system through tracking the mobile radar and launch systems. However, based on very limited conventional striking power, Israel has only its newfound mini-nukes, Sarin gas and unconfirmed use of bio-toxins to lash out with. Official sources concurred and in an interview with Colonel Jim Hanke, former Defense Attaché to Israel, it was revealed that Israel has long prepared for such attacks on Syria, even to the point of carefully mapping target sites in reference to fault lines that lead into Israel.Were a nuclear weapon or massive penetrator/bunker-buster to be used carelessly, it could spread massive earthquakes across Israel.
[ed note click link for rest

Colombia Watch ...
Death threat made against trade union leader after denouncing actions of multinational oil company

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Three farmer activists killed in one week

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Canada Must Stand Up for Human Rights in Colombia: Ken Neumann USW

USA Backed FSA Terrorists Dumping Much Needed Flour For Bread http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b35_1375632255

Pentagon Reverses Position and Admits U.S. Troops Used White Phosphorus Against Iraqis in Fallujah
The U.S. government has now admitted its troops used white phosphorus as an incendiary weapon against Iraqis during the assault on Fallujah a year ago. Chemical weapons experts say such attacks are in violation of international law banning the use of chemical weapons. We speak with columnist George Monbiot and the news director of RAI TV, the Italian TV network that produced the film “Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre.” [includes rush transcript] The U.S. government has now admitted its troops used white phosphorus as an incendiary weapon against Iraqis during the assault on Fallujah a year ago. Chemical weapons experts say such attacks are in violation of international law banning the use of chemical weapons. Peter Kaiser, of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, said, “Chemicals used against humans or animals that cause harm or death through the toxic properties of the chemical are considered chemical weapons.” White phosphorus is often compared to napalm because it combusts spontaneously when exposed to oxygen and can burn right through skin to the bone. The Pentagon”s admission comes after a week of denials that it used white phosphorus as a weapon in Fallujah. While reporters have noted the use of white phosphorus since the war began, it only became a major story last Tuesday when Italian state broadcaster RAI TV aired the documentary “Fallujuah: The Hidden Massacre.” On that same day Democracy Now aired an excerpt of the documentary and interviewed Lt. Col. Steve Boylan, the director of the Pentagon’s Combined Press Information Center in Baghdad. During our show Boylan denied the claims made in the documentary that white phosphorus was used as a weapon to target Iraqis. Lt. Col. Steve Boylan interviewed on Democracy Now, Nov. 8, 2005.. But the Pentagon was caught in a lie after it was revealed that an official Army publication called Field Artillery magazine had disclosed that the Army had in fact used white phosphorus as a weapon. The magazine, in its March-April issue, reported “[White Phosphorus] proved to be an effective and versatile munition… [and] as a potent psychological weapon against the insurgents in trench lines and spider holes.” The magazine went on to report “We fired “shake and bake” missions at the insurgents, using WP [White Phosphorus] to flush them out and HE [high explosives] to take them out.” On Tuesday, Lt. Col. Barry Venable, another Pentagon spokesperson, admitted on the BBC that white phosphorus was used as an offensive weapon to target insurgents. Lt. Col. Barry Venable interviewed on BBC. The Pentagon has defended its use of white phosphorus by claiming it is a not chemical weapon and that it was only used against Iraqi insurgents, not civilians. However even this would have been illegall according to the Army’s own rules of combat. In 1999 the Army published a handbook that read, “It is against the law of land warfare to employ WP against personnel targets.” An Iraqi human rights team has reportedly gone into Fallujah to investigate the use of white phosphorus as a weapon by U.S. forces. Maurizio Torrealta, News Editor for the Italian state broadcaster RAI and co-producer of the documentary “Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre.”
George Monbiot, a columnist for the Guardian of London. He published an article titled “The US Used Chemical Weapons in Iraq–And Then Lied About It.” Note: We contacted Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col Barry Venable yesterday but he refused to come on the program.
TRANSCRIPT This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. AMY GOODMAN: While reporters have noted the use of white phosphorus since the war began, it only became a major story last Tuesday when Italian state broadcaster, RAI TV, aired the documentary, Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre. On that same day, Democracy Now! aired an excerpt of the documentary here in the United States and interviewed Lieutenant Colonel Steve Boylan, the director of the Pentagon’s Combined Press Information Center in Baghdad. During our broadcast, Boylan denied the claims made in the documentary that white phosphorus was used as a weapon to target Iraqis.
LT. COL. STEVE BOYLAN: I know of no cases where people were deliberately targeted by the use of white phosphorus. Again, I did not say white phosphorus was used for illumination. White phosphorus is used for obscuration, which white phosphorus produces a heavy thick smoke to shield us or them from view so that they cannot see what we are doing. It is used to destroy equipment, to destroy buildings. That is what white phosphorus shells are used for. AMY GOODMAN: That was Lieutenant Colonel Steve Boylan, speaking on Democracy Now! last Tuesday. But the Pentagon was caught in a lie after it was revealed that an official Army publication called Field Artillery magazine had disclosed the Army had, in fact, used white phosphorus as a weapon. The magazine in its March/April issue reported, quote, “White phosphorus proved to be an effective and versatile munition and a potent psychological weapon against the insurgents in trench lines and spider holes.” The magazine went on to report, quote, “We fired ‘shake and bake’ missions at the insurgents using W.P. [white phosphorus] to flush them out and H.E. [high explosives] to take them out.” On Tuesday, Lieutenant Colonel Barry Venable, another Pentagon spokesperson, admitted on the BBC

Grassroots Groups Wary of Haiti’s 'Attractive' Mining Law
(Haiti Grassroots Watch) - As the government works on preparing “an attractive law that will entice investors”, Haitian popular organizations are mobilizing and forming networks to resist mining in their country. Already one-third of the north of Haiti is under research, exploration, or exploitation license to foreign companies. "We in Baie de Henne are against any eventual mining because we will not profit one bit. It will have harmful impacts that destroy our fertile lands and our fruit trees and dry up our aquifers.” -- Vernicia Phillus, a member of the Tèt Kole women’s group Some 2,400 square kilometers have been parceled out to Haitian firms fronting for U.S. and Canadian concerns. Some estimate that Haiti’s mineral wealth – mostly gold, copper, and silver – could be worth as much as 20 billion dollars. The awarding of permits behind closed doors, with no independent or community oversight, has angered many in Haiti, who fear that the government is opening the country up to systematic pillage. But the head of the government mining agency told Haiti Grassroots Watch (HGW) his concern is to assure that Haiti is made more “attractive” to potential investors. “We need an attractive mining law,” said Ludner Remarais, head of the Mining and Energy Agency. “A mining law that will entice investors.” The current law is obsolete, according to Remarais. Haiti’s “gold rush” has been going on for the past five years or so, since the price of gold and other minerals rose. Until last year, the government and the companies cut their deals behind closed doors. After an investigation revealed that 15 percent of the county was under contract, on Feb. 20, 2013 the Haitian Senate adopted a resolution demanding all activities cease in order to allow for a national debate and for analysis of all contracts. “We are scrupulously respecting the decision,” Remarais said, but he added that the resolution does not annul the rights already acquired. Local resistance in the gold-rich regions Peasant, human rights, food sovereignty and environmental organizations are worried about the disastrous effects the mining industry could have on water quality, farmland, and on the affected regions in general and have formed the national Collective Against Mining to assist local associations with information and consciousness-raising sessions. On Jul. 5, over 200 farmers from the area around the Grand Bois deposit – about 11 kilometers south of Limbé, in the North department – got together to discuss the mining operation and their futures. They spoke of their worries for three hours in sweltering tin-roofed church. “When someone talks about mining, our history makes us think of slavery, of the takeover of our farmlands,” said Willy Pierre, a social sciences teacher from a nearby school. “We could lose our fertile fields. We will be forced off our land. Where will we live?” The Grand Bois deposit is rich in gold and copper, according to tests carried out by the Canadian mining company Eurasian Minerals. Eurasian owns the license given by the BME to its Haitian subsidiary, Société Minière Citadelle S.A. During the meeting, many people said they were nervous. “This mining business should be a lesson for all of us,” warned Jean Vilmé, a farmer from the Bogé region of Grand Bois. “Not only will those of us who live around the mineral deposit perish, the entire country will be swallowed up!” Two weeks earlier about 50 members of local and national organizations met in Jean Rabel, an impoverished town in the Northwest department with poor roads and no water system or health facilities. Participants watched and debated a video on mining in Haiti and discussed their next steps. Earlier that month, some 60 representatives of the associations in the collective organized a day-long meeting at Montrouis, northeast of the capital. Of particular concern are the protection of ground water, food sovereignty, agricultural land, biodiversity, health, and land ownership. Clébért Duval, a member of the peasant association Tèt Kole Ti Peyizan Ayisyen (“Small Haitian Peasants Working Together”) from Port-de-Paix, noted that a state that is working in favor of its people could use mineral resources to “change the conditions of the popular masses, peasants, vulnerable people, and could give this country a new face”. However, he said, “If the state is a predator that is working for the multinationals, for the capitalist system which, since it is in crisis, is taking over the riches of poor countries to fight the crisis, then that state will always encourage mining. All the money that should go to the people will go to the foreign firms, except for a few crumbs for the local guys who are serving as go-betweens. The mining companies will get all the riches, just as they have in the past.” Many rejected the officials’ arguments that mining is important for the country’s development and economy. “In 2012, some companies did prospecting,” said Vernicia Phillus, a member of the Tèt Kole women’s coordination in Baie de Henne. “They took away soil and rock samples. Each person who worked for them got between 200 and 250 gourdes (4.65 to 5.81 dollars) a day. “We in Baie de Henne are against any eventual mining because we will not profit one bit. It will have harmful impacts that destroy our fertile lands and our fruit trees and dry up our aquifers.” Government and World Bank also organizing In early June, the Haitian mining agency and the World Bank organized a “Mining Forum” aimed at developing “the mining sector in a way that makes it a motor for the country’s economic takeoff.” Most of the speakers were from foreign institutions and from mining companies. Parliamentarians, local elected officials, independent geologists and researchers, representatives of the people from the regions concerned, and grassroots organizations did not address the room. One of the meeting’s principle objectives was allegedly to sketch out the general contours of a new mining law for the country, even though World Bank officials said they had kicked off that process earlier this year, according to media reports.During the Jun. 3-4 forum, Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe said that his government was working with “competent experts who have [Haiti's] national interests at heart”, according to the Associated Press. But World Bank involvement with the law appears to be a conflict of interest. In 2010, the International Finance Commission (IFC), a branch of the bank, invested about five million in Eurasian Mineral’s Haiti operations, receiving Eurasian shares in exchange. The World Bank is often criticized by organizations like Mining Watch Canada, Earthworks, and others for being lax where the protection of poor countries is concerned, and for its role in the “continuation of colonialism” in Africa, Asia, and Latin America through its important loans to mining companies. In March, the U.S. government representative to the World Bank abstained in a vote to approve a bank loan for 12 billion dollars to a mining operation in the Gobi Desert, citing concerns over potential negative environmental impacts. The bank loans were approved anyway, according to Inter Press Service. Asked about an eventual new law that would be “attractive” and capable of “enticing investors”, the director of DOP, a member of the Collective Against Mining, said he was concerned. “Mining legislation that is ‘attractive’ will open the country up for ‘business,’” wrote attorney Patrice Florvilus on Jul. 14, 2013, making reference to the government’s slogan “Haiti – Open for business.” “Business, without considering the deleterious effects on community life and on the environment, which is already deteriorating at a worrying pace,” he added.In a Jul. 22 note, the Collective wrote the following: “We want a truly national law and international conventions that protect life, water, land, and the environment, and that outlaw mining which brings with it pollution, destruction, contamination, and more hunger.”Please also see other Haiti Grassroots Watch stories on the issue: Dossier #18 and Dossier #27

Federal Judge To Vets Sick From Chemical Weapons Testing: Get In Line http://www.mintpressnews.com/veterans-chemical-weapons-testing/166075/
Thousands of U.S. military veterans exposed to chemical weapons such as mustard gas and lewisite as part of the military’s secret weapons testing programs may be entitled to updated information from the government about the health hazards they may face, but a federal judge ruled on Wednesday that veterans won’t be able to receive government-funded health care from providers outside the Department of Veterans Affairs system. In Oakland, Calif., Chief U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled this week that although the VA is struggling to keep up with all of the physical and mental issues facing veterans today, the government is immune from lawsuits that would require it to pay private medical bills. The veterans “have not shown that the care is inadequate or that they are unable to address any inadequacies through the (VA) system,” Wilken said. Eugene Illovsky is a lawyer for the plaintiffs, which included Vietnam Veterans of America, Swords to Plowshares, other organizations and individual veterans. He said, “The VA system is a rationed system,” and that “we’re going to try to keep fighting on the issue as best we can.” It is not yet known whether the groups will appeal Wilken’s ruling. The U.S. first began testing the potential health effects of chemical weapons on soldiers during World War I. The program expanded during World War II to include more than 60,000 veterans. However, the Defense Department and VA have long refused to share the findings.During the Cold War, the testing expanded to include psychiatric drugs such as LSD, in addition to chemical and biological substances. The Pentagon says it stopped testing chemical weapons on live subjects in 1975 and that all participants consented to the program, but government officials have acknowledged in recent years that they did not provide full information to the subjects about the chemicals or their possible effects. Illovsky applauded Wilken’s ruling that “the Army has an ongoing duty … to provide test subjects with newly acquired information that may affect their well-being.” Exposure to many “contaminants of concern” can cause serious medical conditions such as cancer and may result in death. In a post for Veterans Today from 2010, veteran Robert O’Dowd, who served in the 1st, 3rd and 4th Marine Aircraft wings during the 1960s and slept in a radium-226-contaminated workspace, wrote that many veterans wanted information about contaminants because they want to “connect the dots of serious illness” and share the findings with their medical care provider. Dowd also took issue with the military’s claims that the veterans voluntarily participated in the chemical programs. “No one in their right mind would voluntarily live and work on a Superfund site,” he wrote. “For the most part, veterans are not provided the choice of military assignments.”

 Why water should be on the table http://jfjfp.com/?p=46608&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-water-should-be-on-the-table
 COMPARING WATER USE
Both absolutely and proportionately, Israelis use a far greater amount of the region’s total water resources. Settlers use nearly 600 litres of water each day. Palestinian water use does not even meet the minimum daily standard of 100 litres as recommended by the World Health Organisation.
VIOLATIONS OF PALESTINIANS’ RIGHT TO WATER
With no piped water, Palestinian boys fetch it to load onto their water carrier, a donkey. Photo by Issam Rimawi / APA images.
While Israelis and settlers get continuous water supply from Mekorot all year-round at subsidized prices, Palestinians face these situations:
• Irregular water supply across the West Bank, particularly in the water-scarce summer months.
• Depleted/contaminated/salinated water in Gaza because of over-extraction of the Coastal Aquifer – due in part to the fact that Palestinians are not allowed to develop or repair water infrastructure.
• Water distribution network losses of 30 –50% because of deteriorating networks and leaky pipes in dire need of repair.
• No piped water at all for 215,000 Palestinians in 150 West Bank villages (26% of West Bank households).
• Many Palestinians must buy water – either from Mekorot, or from private suppliers selling expensive and unregulated trucked water. Even within the oPt, Mekorot’s prices are different for Palestinians and Israeli settlers.
SINCE THE SECOND INTIFADA: IN THE NAME OF “SECURITY”
• Destruction of water infrastructure. The Israeli army have bulldozed pipelines and destroyed at least 15 wells in the West Bank and Gaza since September 2000 – eliminating the largest water source for many Palestinian villages and towns. Between March and May of 2002 alone, the World Bank, UNDP and USAID estimate that damage to West Bank water supply and sewerage infrastructure by the Israeli military reached US$7 million.
• Limited access to trucked water. Israel’s policy of ‘closure’ severely limits access to water carriers in a context where more than a third of all Palestinians rely on buying water from private or municipal tankers for their water needs.
• Increased price of water. Water tankers delayed at checkpoints raise their prices by almost 80% because of the increased transportation time due to closure. With 70-90% of the workforce unemployed, Palestinians spend as much as 39% of their household expenditure on purchasing water.
• Ban on drilling wells. In October 2002, Israeli infrastructure minister Effi Eitam banned Palestinians from drilling for water and placed a freeze on the issue of future permits for wells.
• Separation from water sources. In June of 2002, the Israeli government authorized a plan to build a ‘security wall’ – more accurately referred to as a ‘Separation Wall’ or ‘Apartheid Wall’ – with electric fences, trenches and security patrols along the entire 220 mile length of the West Bank. However, the Wall is not being built along the ‘Green Line’ (the de facto pre-1967 border between Israel and the West Bank) – but rather inside the West Bank.
The Wall separates thousands of Palestinians from their land and water sources. In the first phase of the wall, several agriculture-dependent villages in the northern West Bank will lose access to 30 groundwater wells.
• Increase in water-borne diseases: Recent surveys have found infection rates from waterrelated diseases as high as 64% in certain communities in the West Bank. A recent study shows that over a quarter of rural households in the West Bank has a member suffering from diarrhoea; over half of these households had not had adequate bathing water for over two weeks
POLLUTION OF PALESTINIAN WATER SOURCES BY ISRAEL
• Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza are mostly located on hilltops and dump manure, untreated sewage and wastewater into the valleys – polluting Palestinian water sources and agricultural land. According to 1997 figures from the West Bank, settlers were 6 times more polluting that Palestinians (300,000 settlers produced 30 mcm of wastewater a year, while in the same period, 1,870,000 Palestinians produced 31 mcm of wastewater).
• Highly polluting Israeli industries are being relocated to the West Bank (again, on hilltops) to avoid Israeli environmental regulations. At least 200 industries in 7 industrial zones in the West Bank send untreated industrial effluents and wastewater into Palestinian streams and agricultural land.
• In February 2001, Israel discharged 3.5 million cubic meters of untreated wastewater mixed with rainwater into northern Gaza strip towns.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
The Palestinian Hydrology Group (PHG) haslaunched the Palestine Water for Life Campaign to promote worldwide awareness of the water and sanitation situation in Palestine, as well as todevelop coordinated, comprehensive responses to the water crisis among donor, development, relief, human rights, and other NGOs. Please visit the campaign website at www.phg.org/campaign for more information about how you can support their efforts.
The Palestinian Environmental NGO Network (PENGON) has initiated the Apartheid Wall Campaign to raise awareness of andorganize opposition to the “Separation Wall” which is threatening Palestinians’ access to and control over their own water resources. Learn more about the Campaign and how to support PENGON at www.pengon.org.
 Nurturing Water Apartheid in Palestine Israel’s water company Mekorot Factsheet by Stop the Wall
 

SANTOS HE'S OPTIMISTIC AND A LIAR'' http://prensarural.org/spip/spip.php?article11522
It was in part about being a country fair where their lies have soared. The most cynical were the following: "I am optimistic because we begin to repay thousands of peasant victims in Colombia". There are more than 5 million victims, many of whom have been denouncing that assistance to  victims have been coopted by a unit of politicians and eternal formalities. This year they have killed more than 70 leaders of restitution of lands, among them José Segundo Turizo, on July 15.
"I'm optimistic," said Santos, because it broke the trend of economic inequality and "we are no longer the second most unequal country in the region". But a recent study by the international NGO Save the Children confirmed that we are the third most unequal country in the world for children. And in areas such as Catatumbo, 60% of its inhabitants has unsatisfied basic needs, according to Governor Edgar Díaz.
"I'm optimistic," echoed Santos, because nearly 9 million children and young people are studying free. However, the President forgets that, according to the World Bank, in recent years fell the weight of education in the GDP. In the South of Bolivar, in 11 municipalities around 18 thousand children lasted almost a semester without school; in Córdoba, 12 municipalities with 17 thousand children without education, and similar situation arose recently in Caquetá, when teachers and parents came out to demand the right to education for more than 9,500 children.
In terms of higher education, Santos also said his optimism, announcing the creation of 300 thousand new places, I guess that you delivering the Icetex credits to the poor. However, the contributions of the nation have decreased in the last 10 years, from 0.51% to 0.39% GDP. You will forget the President that we are among the five countries with less coverage in higher education of Latin America? Remember that only 37% of young people are in institutions of higher education? Do not there will be given account that National University, our Alma Máter, is - literally - falling to pieces?
The cynicism of Santos continued to refer to its achievements in the field of health: universal coverage, expansion of the plan's benefits and control the prices of medicines. Their euphoria allowed him to forget "death rides", the corruption that round to the health system and the EPS. According to the Comptroller's Office, half of the health resources have been appropriate inappropriately and over 4.5 billion pesos have been focused on recovery. We have the prices of higher drugs in the world, and promises to go out of the health crisis, untouched of course the sacred dogmas of the free market, religion they profess the members of his Cabinet.
But his most bravura expressed it when he says to lead a Government that "dialogues", while continuing its constant stigmatization to protest democratic and social, that today extends explicitly to Senator Jorge Enrique Robledo, opponent of the Government. The President forget prosecuted about 100 citizens and citizens recently for his involvement in the protests in Antioquia, Valle del Cauca, Caldas, Chocó, Risaralda and Santander. And it passes unnoticed deaths of four peasants, more than 50 wounded in the area of Aguas Claras (Ocaña) at the hands of the ESMAD and the four committees which, in the midst of improvisation and indifference, have traveled to Tibu to listen to the proposals that the peasant movement has been working since 2009 for legal recognition as a peasant reserve area.
Not so, Mr President. You try to make peace in Havana while restrained,still punishes and seeks to silence the social protest in Colombia. That is not typical of a ruler who called himself Democrat. I accept you to be optimistic, but not liar.

A lethal 'non-lethal' weapon (Corporate Watch, link): "With tear gas a prominent weapon used to repress the recent uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, the multi-billion global market has been expanding. Reported incidents of tear gas-related deaths and injuries have prompted critique of its classification as 'non-lethal' and renewed calls for a ban on its use."

Listen to Black Agenda Radio on the Progressive Radio Network, with Glen Ford and Nellie Bailey – Week of 7/17/13Obama Turns Federal Workers Into Snitches
President Obama’s “Insider Threat Program,” which profiles potential whistleblowers in the federal workforce, “is straight out of fascist models of government and behavior,” said Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, of the No FEAR Coalition. Obama’s executive order requires federal managers and employees to view as “suspect” workers that are under stress, going through divorce, or experiencing money problems. “I think the Obama administration views whistleblowers as terrorists,” said Coleman-Adebayo. “Therefore, he’s put the Gestapo on us.”
 Newark Activists: “Hands Off Social Security”
Newark, New Jersey-based Peoples Organization for Progress holds its seventh demonstration against President Obama’s planned cuts in Social Security benefits, with a 25-hour vigil on Tuesday at the agency’s Newark offices. “We say to the Obama administration and the Republicans in Congress, ‘Hands Off Social Security,’” said POP chairman Larry Hamm. “For folks on fixed incomes,” the projected yearly loss of “$500 or $600 is a lot of money, and could be the difference between eating and not eating, or not being able to get a prescription filled.”

Haiti Cholera Update: The UN Doesn’t Budge
 Following the UN’s rejection of a demand for compensation for Haiti Cholera victims earlier this spring, the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti challenged the interpretation and application of Article 29 of the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities, and formally requested a meeting with UN officials to discuss Petitioners’ claims.The Plaintiffs asked for the UN to respond within 60 days.  That period ended on July 6, and sadly but perhaps unsurprisingly, the UN has not budged.  The UN responded to claimants, reiterating that the claims would involve a review of political and policy matters.  The other communication forthcoming during this period was a July 5 letter under the signature of Ban Ki-Moon to Maxine Waters, a Member of Congress.  This letter responds to a separate letter by Congresswoman Waters about the cholera epidemic, and reiterates that the UN has determined the claims are not receivable under Section 29 of the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities.Criticism of the UN’s response to the Cholera claims has been widespread. As I noted in an earlier post, the reliance on Article 29, which distinguishes between public and private claims, is questionable.   In a recent paper on the topic, Professor Frederic Megret notes that one of the problems of the public / private distinction is that due to the “internal, confidential and unilateral” character of the review boards’ procedure the UN has never provided a clear definition of public or private.  A guide to UN practice is available here.The lawyers for the plaintiffs state that they will now file a case against the UN in a domestic court.   I predict this will be an uphill battle.  Although the UN could and sometimes does waive its immunity under Section 2 of the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities, its posture thus far suggests it will not do so here.  Assuming the UN asserts its privileges and immunities as an affirmative defense before a domestic court, it will probably be successful   There are some decisions in which courts are amenable to limiting the immunities of IOs where there is no available forum, employment cases such as Waite and Kennedy are an example.   If a court were to follow the “no reasonable alternative” reasoning in the Haiti case, the plaintiffs might have a shot.A recent case against the UN in the Netherlands involving the massacre at Srebrenica illustrates the strength of the UN’s privileges and immunities. In the Mothers of Srebrenica judgement, the Hague Court of Appeals affirmed the UN’s absolute immunity, but found the Dutch state responsible under international law.  This was a compelling set of facts to safeguard IO immunities to be sure:  a peacekeeping mission, the use of force, and an alternative respondent:  the Dutch state.The takeaway, I believe, is that domestic courts will not provide a satisfactory alternative either. One mechanism that is available – at least in theory –  to the plaintiffs is a request for an ICJ advisory opinion under Article 30 of the Agreement, if someone else takes up the cause:

SECTION 30. All differences arising out of the interpretation or application of the present convention shall be referred to the International Court of Justice, unless in any case it is agreed by the parties to have recourse to another mode of settlement. If a difference arises between the United Nations on the one hand and a Member on the other hand, a request shall be made for an advisory opinion on any legal question involved in accordance with Article 96 of the Charter and Article 65 of the Statute of the Court. The opinion given by the Court shall be accepted as decisive by the parties.

Under this provision, a UN organ could make the request, although again, this seems unlikely.

Absolute immunity   The University of Birmingham’s Rosa Freedman argues that 5,000 Haitians are “being denied their fundamental rights” by the UN’s insistence that it is immune from having to compensate victims of a cholera epidemic triggered by its peacekeepers: “By invoking absolute immunity, the UN has either ignored or missed the point that all individuals have rights to access a court and a remedy. Those rights are being denied by the UN’s absolute immunity coupled together with its refusal to hear those claims within its own tribunals. The Organisation that created the modern system of international human rights law, and that is tasked with protecting and promoting those rights, is denying fundamental rights to these 5,000 individuals from Haiti. By failing to provide compensation to the victims of cholera in Haiti, the door has been opened for a successful human rights-based challenge to the UN’s absolute immunity – one that may have far-reaching implications and one that is long overdue.”