by Stephen Lendman

Washington notoriously points fingers the wrong way. It whitewashes its own crimes.

Its latest Country Reports on Terrorism 2013 omits the world's leading sponsor. More on it below.

Terrorism is what they do, not us, it's claimed. Reasons why imperial wars are waged are suppressed.

Might justifies right. Nations are destroyed to free them. Lives and freedoms lost don't matter. They're small prices to pay.

Mind manipulation turns truth on its head. People are convinced wrongs are right. Wars are glorified in the name of peace.

Peaceful countries become cauldrons of violence. Instability rocks them. Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Yemen and others are US imperial victims.

So is Ukraine. It's a global flashpoint. Potentially it's worst of all. It threatens to spin out-of-control. It risks regional conflict. Possible East/West confrontation looms.

Washington bears full responsibility for numerous world hot spots. Imperialism works this way. It instigates violence. It fosters instability.

It promotes state-sponsored terrorism. It's what we do, not them. More on this below.

On April 30, the State Department issued its "annual assessment of trends and events in international terrorism…" It covers the period January 1 - December 31, 2013.

"It includes a strategic assessment, country-by-country breakdowns of counterterrorism efforts, and sections on state sponsors of terrorism, terrorist safe havens, and foreign terrorist organizations."

It bears repeating. The world's top sponsor by far is omitted. None in human history compare.

Washington uses Al Qaeda and similar groups strategically. They're allies and enemies at the same time. They're core elements of American imperial wars.

Tina Kaidanow is US ambassador-at-large and coordinator for counterterrorism. In 2013, terrorism evolved rapidly, she said.

"The international community’s successful efforts to degrade al-Qaida, or AQ, senior leadership in Pakistan, coupled with weak governance and instability in the Middle East and Northwest Africa have accelerated the decentralization of what we refer to as al-Qaida core," she added.

"This has led to the affiliates in the AQ network becoming more operationally autonomous from AQ core and increasingly focused on local and regional objectives."

"The past several years have seen the emergence of a more aggressive set of AQ affiliates and likeminded groups, most notably in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Northwest Africa, and Somalia."

"Iran's state-sponsorship of terrorism and Hezbollah's activities are also of significant concern," she claimed.

"Interdictions in the past year have found Iran attempting to smuggle arms and Iranian explosives to Syria, to Yemen, and also to arm Shia opposition groups in Bahrain."

"And the IRGC Qods Force, Hezbollah, and Iraqi Shia militant groups have all been providing a broad range of critical support to the Assad regime since the start of the conflict."

Fake Washington-hyped terror threats persist. It's done to generate fear. America's only enemies are ones it invents. Demagogic duplicity claims otherwise. It turns truth on its head.

Inconvenient truths are buried. Michael Parenti exposed the terrorism trap. He did so post-9/11. Wars are waged "to keep the world safe for the Fortune 500," he said.

"To make sure that the transnational corporations and international global finance capital continues to control the land, labor, resources, and markets of most of the world, and ultimately, all of the world on terms that are extremely favorable to them."

"The goal is to destroy, to obliterate, to thwart any social movement or national leader who is trying for an alternative way of using the land, the labor, the natural resources, the markets, the capital of his or her country."

To institute a homeland police state apparatus. To destroy freedom in the name of stability. To lose both at the same time. To continue waging war on humanity.

To claim it's about spreading democracy. To tolerate it nowhere. To crush it wherever it emerges. To institute Washington rules. To enforce hardline rule.

To demand absolute obedience. To tolerate no outliers. To ravage humanity in the name of saving it. To make planet earth unfit to live on.

State-sponsored terrorism defines US policy. Demagogic duplicity conceals it.

US law calls "international terrorism" activities involving:

(A) "violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or of any State;"

(B) are intended to -

(i) "intimidate or coerce a civilian population;

(ii) influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or

(iii) affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and

(C) occur primarily outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States...."

The US Army Operational Concept for Terrorism (TRADOC Pamphlet No. 525-37, 1984) called it "the calculated use of violence or threat of violence to attain goals that are political, religious, or ideological in nature....through intimidation, coercion, or instilling fear."

Merriam-Webster calls it "the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion."

The Oxford Dictionary calls it "the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims."

In his book "Terrorism, Theirs and Ours," the late Eqbal Ahmad called state-sponsored terrorism most important of all.

It includes "torture, burning of villages, destruction of entire peoples, (and) genocide" on a massive scale.

It's called "self-defense," protecting "national security," and/or "promoting democracy." Doing so conceals America's dark side. War on humanity follows.

"Who will define the parameters of terrorism, or decide where terrorists lurk," asked Ahmad?

"Why none other than the United States, which can from the rooftops of the world set out its claim to be sheriff, judge and hangman, all at one and the same time."

Martin Luther King called America "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today." He did so for good reason.

It's more menacing than ever. At stake is humanity's survival. Aggression is called humanitarian intervention. Freedom is crushed for our own good.

Big Lies substitute for truth. They proliferate to advance America's imperium. Mind manipulation convinces people to go along.

Eastern Ukrainian freedom fighters are called terrorists. US-led NATO takes full advantage.

Eastern European deployments continue. Doing so encroaches provocatively closer to Russia's borders.

Georgia and Russia share a common one. Its Defense Minister Irakli Alasania wants more NATO troops deployed internally.

He calls them "defensive actions," saying:

"(T)his is something we need to put in Georgia and Russians will understand that you are serious."

Americans and Europeans must work together, he stressed. It's "important for the United States to show leadership…to make sure (NATO's) next steps will be an adequate response to what's happening in Ukraine."

"We are talking about the Membership Action Plan, but we don’t really know how these discussions will end up, while, honestly, in fact after (developments in) Ukraine we should be talking about accession talks of Georgia and other aspirants to NATO."

According to NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow:

"We need to step up our support for defense reforms and military modernization of Russia's neighbors, and not just of Ukraine, but also Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan."

On April 27, Mossad-connected DEBKAfile (DF) headlined "Russian and Ukrainian armies shaping up for initial military clash over Slavyansk," saying:

"The outcome will determine who controls the Donetsk region and possibly all of East of Ukraine…"

"(I)t might be the last straw that undermines (Kiev's) shaky rule." Ukraine's military is no match against Russia's.

"Its threat to blockade the more than a dozen towns where separatists are entrenched in official buildings is unconvincing."

DF sees no broad international coalition for a "strong stand" against Russia forthcoming. Obama may be largely on his own.

On April 30, the Wall Street Journal headlined "Americans Want to Pull Back From World Stage, Poll Finds."

"Nearly Half Surveyed in WSJ/NBC Poll Back Anti-Interventionist Stance That Sweeps Across Party Lines."

Only 38% of Americans approve how Obama handles foreign policy. It's the low water mark of his presidency.

According to Democrat pollster Fred Yang:

"The juxtaposition of an America that wants to turn inward and away from world affairs, and a strong feeling of powerlessness domestically, is a powerful current that so far has eluded the grasp of Democrats and Republicans."

"The message from the American public to their leaders in this poll seems to be: You need to take care of business here at home."

Public support for Obama's handling Ukrainian crisis conditions dropped to 37%. In March it was 43%.

On April 30, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Washington isn't "concerned (about) the fate of Ukraine…but (has) a strong desire to prove (it) decides how things should be - always and everywhere."

Lavrov wants US officials to "discipline" putschists it elevated to power. Do it instead of sanctioning Russia, he stressed.

Moscow urges constructive dialogue, he added. "US and EU representatives have blocked this initiative," he said.

"We’ll continue to call for the full implementation of the Geneva Declaration, which our partners are trying to distance themselves from."

"But we cannot decide for the self-defense forces. Those people live under a constant threat coming from Kiev that the military and armored vehicles will be used against them; under constant threat from the extremists."

At the same time, Russia bashing persists. Eight Republican senators introduced hostile legislation.

If enacted, it'll strengthen NATO, enhance missile defense for offense, provide military aide to Ukraine, and sanction Russia's banking and energy sectors.

On Wednesday, coup-appointed president Oleksandr Turchynov said Ukraine's military went on full alert.

"Special tactical exercises" were held. Military forces were deployed on Kiev streets.

On Tuesday, Moscow's UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said Kiev, "encouraged by Western 'friends,' is persistently pushing the country towards a catastrophe."

US imperialism bears full responsibility. State terrorism defines it. War on humanity persists.

Ukraine is in the eye of the storm. Flashpoint conditions risk spreading things out-of-control.

Obama's latest imperial adventurism risks global war. He's mindless about what's potentially unfolding.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com

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