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Erdogan Family’s Ill-Gotten Wealth
Stephen Lendman
Earlier reports said he and son Bilal amassed tens of millions of dollars from colluding with ISIS to sell stolen Iraqi and Syrian oil, along with other dubious activities.
Germany’s Bild newspaper asked how he and family members amassed great wealth. His annual salary is modest, Bild saying:
“While their father earns some 50,000 euros per year, his children bathe in luxury. Where does it come from?” No “official data” explain it. His son Ahmet’s estimated net worth is around $80 million. How was it gotten, asked Bild? “(D)oes he get support from (his father’s) government?”
His younger son, Bilal, reportedly is involved in “shady and criminal deals.” Last fall, he fled to Italy, accompanied by armed guards, on the pretext of completing his doctoral dissertation.
Washington’s War on Yemen
Stephen Lendman
Obama waged naked aggression on Yemen throughout his tenure, along with bombing half a dozen other countries illegally, exceeding the worst of George Bush.
He’s a constitutional lawyer. In 2008, he admitted presidents don’t “have power under the Constitution (and international law) to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”
None existed throughout his time in office. Every country America attacked since WW II posed no threat to the nation’s security. Yet endless US wars of aggression rage in multiple theaters.
Yemen is Obama’s war, partnered with Saudi Arabia, other Gulf States and Israel, orchestrating terror-bombing, choosing targets to strike, committing slow-motion genocide against millions of affected Yemenis.
Horrific Israeli Mistreatment of Palestinian Children
Stephen Lendman
Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP) and the Addameer prisoner support and human rights group explain Israel arrests, prosecutes, imprisons and mistreats around 700 Palestinian children annually, some aged 12 or younger.
Virtually none are targeted and abused for anything more than a minor misdemeanor, most entirely innocent of any offense. Once charged, guilt is automatic.
With 50 times the Israeli Arab and Palestinian population, it’s the equivalent of America imprisoning around 35,000 children each year.
DCIP calls it “no way to treat a child. Help us end this,” explaining “(f)rom the moment of arrest, Palestinian children encounter ill-treatment and torture at the hands of Israeli forces. Three out of four experience physical violence during arrest or interrogation.”
“Israel is the only country in the world to automatically prosecute children in military courts that lack basic safeguard for a fair trial.”
How Islamic State Gets German Weapons
Said Al-Khalaki
Germany has been supplying weapons to Iraqi Kurdistan since October, 2014. That was a crucial moment that determined the further foreign political course of Germany. Feeling pressure from the United States, the Cabinet of Germany lifted a ban on weapons and military vehicles' supplies to crisis war-torn regions. According to German government officials, Germany realized the Kurds could stand up to ISIS terrorists. "The Kurdish fighters are manning the front line against the Islamic State", German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen stated. At the same time, Washington celebrated its victory as well: the White House had managed the Germans to dance to the U.S. tune. However, it has become known this January that black markets in Northern Iraq openly sell German weapons. Berlin demanded that the Kurdish leadership account for using supplied armory. The report revealed that a part of the weapons delivered by Germany to the Kurds fell into the hands of terrorists. Inside Syria Media Center focused on this issue deciding to find out the way military cargos were delivered to Iraqi Kurdistan.
Sweatshop Turkey
strong>Stephen Lendman
Turkey shamelessly exploits its Syrian refugee population. Hundreds of thousands of adults and children work for sub-poverty wages under deplorable conditions.
State-authorized sweatshops exist in many parts of the world, Turkey a notorious example, a hugely repressive police state, profiting from human misery.
London’s Guardian reported on Syrian child refugees in Turkey, many unable to go to school, forced to choose between harsh sweatshop labor or war at home.
They work 12 hours a day, six days a week, earning sub-minimum wage pay and no benefits. Syrian Relief Network (SRN) director Kais al-Dairi explained “irreversible” harm done to vast numbers of young Syrian refugee children.
Obama: TTIP Necessary So As to Protect Megabanks From Prosecution
Eric Zuesse
On May 7th, Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten, or German Economic News, headlined, "USA planen mit TTIP Frontal-Angriff auf Gerichte in Europa” or “U.S. Plans Frontal Attack on Europe’s Courts via TTIP,” and reported that, “America’s urgency to sign TTIP with Europe has solid reason: Megabanks must protect themselves from claims by European investors who allege that they were cheated during the debt crisis. … The U.S. Ambassador to Italy has now let the cat out of the bag on this — probably unintentionally.”
In this particular case, the megabank that’s being sued isn’t American but German, Deutsche Bank, which the U.S. Ambassador to Italy has cited as his example to defend, perhaps so as to appeal to Germans to protect their megabanks against lawsuits from foreign investors (such as Italians) who complain. In that case it was investors in the Italian city of Trani, population 53,000. The smallness of the city was an issue the Ambassador raised against the suit’s having been brought there.
Why Obama Prioritizes Ousting Assad Over Defeating Syria’s Jihadists
Eric Zuesse
Dr. Christina Lin, a leading young scholar on jihadist groups, opened her April 8th commentary at Asia Times:
In a blunder reeking of the fallout caused by supplying Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to 1980s mujahideen in Afghanistan, civilian airline passengers are now under threat from Syrian jihadists armed with portable surface-to-air missiles (MANPADS). Reports say some American-backed jihadi groups are being equipped with US-made MANPADS. Indications are they’re obtaining these advanced weapons either directly or indirectly from the US or its Mideast allies in connection with a recent escalation in the fighting in Syria. On April 2, fighting broke out between western-backed al-Qaeda affiliates and the Syrian army, ending the Syrian ceasefire.
The groups that broke the ceasefire included al-Qaeda in Syria (al-Nusra), the Chinese Uyghur Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), The Levant Brigade, the Freemen of Syria (Ahrar al-Sham), Division 13, and other jihadi groups. According to AP, the US-trained and armed Division 13 is now fighting alongside al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham. The latter two are part of the Turkey/Saudi/Qatar-backed Army of Conquest.
House Speaker Ryan Withholds Trump Endorsement
Stephen Lendman
Neocon House Speaker Paul Ryan’s agenda should scare everyone. Last October, he succeeded John Boehner in a palace coup.
The former speaker wasn’t hardline enough for tea party Republicans. Ryan’s ascendancy lurched Washington further to the right.
He wants more spending for militarism and wars, less for social programs - endorsed privatizing Social Security and Medicare en route to ending them altogether.
He favors abolishing America’s social contract, everyone on their own sink or swim, tax cuts for the rich, and more generous corporate handouts. His ideal America is government and monied interests partnering for self-enrichment at the public’s expense, producing greater inequality than already, while cracking down hard on nonbelievers.
Phantom Free Syrian Army Rejects Peace
Stephen Lendman
The phantom FSA exists on paper alone. All anti-government armed groups are US-backed terrorists - death squads imported from scores of countries.
Syria is Obama’s war, orchestrated by Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. Its goal is replacing Assad with pro-Western puppet governance like the US controlled Iraqi regime, partitioning both countries, looting their resources and exploiting their people.
Illegally deploying hundreds of US special forces to northern Syria is part of the imperial scheme - on the phony pretext of aiding nonexistent “moderate rebels.”
Russia supports Syrian sovereignty and territorial integrity. How far it intends going to protect them remains to be seen. Washington won’t likely confront Moscow belligerently over Syria. At the same time, the presence of US combat forces on its territory with likely larger numbers coming risks making the nation more of a dangerous flashpoint for potential East-West conflict than already.
Russia Accuses Obama of Supporting Al Qaeda in Syria
Eric Zuesse
On May 4th, Russia’s Sputnik news agency headlined "Lavrov: US Tried to Include Al-Nusra Front Positions in 'Silent’ Period”, and reported that Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, speaking in Moscow about the lengthy negotiations between himself and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to agree on conditions for a Syrian ceasefire and peace talks to take place between Syria’s government and Syria’s rebels, said, "During the negotiations, our US partners actually tried to draw the borders of this ‘zone of silence’ to include a significant number of positions occupied by al-Nusra [Front]. We managed to exclude this as it is absolutely unacceptable.”
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