NPP PASTORS LICK WOUNDS

In the aftermath of the December elections, Pastors who either openly or indirectly supported the NPP are in a state of grief. In some cases these NPP Pastors even invoke God, lamenting how God could have sat down to allow the Electoral Commissioner to declare results that God did not want.

One of such self-anointed Pastors is “Reverend” Owusu Bempah, founder and General Overseer of Glorious Word Power Ministries International, in an abject state of bereavement, has been lamenting about what he claimed God told him in a vision that although Nana Akufo Addo would win the 2012 presidential elections, he would face difficulties in the aftermath.

Then there is the case of Pastor Mensah Otabil, another Overseer, this time, of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) whose hatred for the National Democratic Congress manifested itself in the run-up to the elections when he described NDC members as “evil” and a “sinister force” led by President John Mahama.

All that had happened was that some people that he perceived as members/supporters of the NDC were propagating his sermons. His anger was based on the fact that those sermons contained statements that indicted the position and posture of Nana Akufo Addo and the NPP. It may be recalled that just before the second round of the 2008 presidential elections, Pastor Otabil lent credence to a wild and vicious rumour that he was on a hit list of people to be assassinated if NDC won the elections.

Pastor Otabil followed his curses on the NDC by devoting a whole sermon, just before the 2012 elections, calling on people not to vote for people he classified as “evil” and “sinister forces”. He campaigned, in an apparent reference to the people of the Volta Region, that they should not be “persistently staying glued to one political party despite their under-performance”.

He added that political parties were bribing voters with food and money, as well as party Tee shirts and that people should shun them. This was in reference to the situation in which in the 2012 elections the ability of the NPP to give voters money and food was limited. Paradoxically, when the NPP was showering voters with food, cash, fertilizers, etc in 2008, he voiced no such objection.

Then there is the case of self-acclaimed “Prophet” Kofi Amponsah, who condemned people he called “evil forces from the North”, saying that they would fail by the power of God. He added: “this time around, God will rule” and the evil forces from the North would fail in the elections. His wishes were not fulfilled and he is reported to be inconsolable in Kumasi.

It appears funny that God appeared not to have listened to the prayers of these “Men of God”. It is also interesting that several of such Churches, in order to play on the psyche of Ghanaians to join them, always add the word “International” to the name of their Churches.

In the last 40 years, Ghana has witnessed a flood of “pastors”, “bishops” and “reverends” who always claim to have been called by God to preach and help people to go to Heaven, when the real intention is to take advantage of the gullibility of the poor or ignorant people to enrich themselves.

The method is to learn the skills of reading, preaching and a confident posture which helps in extracting money from vulnerable people.

As they tread this path, they are aware that although their eloquent preaching may in fact help people to turn away from their sins; the real aim is to profit materially in the process.

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Their trade grows out of the practice of abusing the norms of the traditional churches and adopting it to suit themselves.  As the times go on, they virtually elevate themselves to the status of saints and holy men. They assume that any criticism of their practice is an insult to God.

It is a similar pretence to being near God which made Nana Ampadu claim in 2008 that God had told him that Nana Akufo Addo would win the 2008 elections. Now it looks as if they may have four more years to pray to sway God to win the 2016 elections to their blessed “All-Die-Be-Die” politicians.  For the time-being they would have no choice but to get over their sorrows and see how to win more money from their congregation before the next general election season in four years.

EDITORIAL

Tired Of The Noise!

Since the results of the December polls were announced, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has made sure that Ghanaians have known no peace.

The airwaves have been full of loud and empty threats from leaders of the NPP some of who have said that they are determined to make Ghana ungovernable.

NPP Youth Organizer, Anthony Karbo

Hoodlums of the party have attacked journalists and media houses. They have destroyed public and private property and physically abused members and sympathizers of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The strategy of the NPP is very clear, they want to instigate unrest in the false hope that it will lead to some power sharing arrangement.

It is significant that in the face of all these provocations, the rest of the country has remained calm.

Unfortunately, this calmness is being misread by the NPP and its hoodlums. They think that it is a sign of weakness.

The insight has no difficulty with the NPP’s threat to go to court to seek redress for what it claims are electoral malpractices.

All citizens must be allowed to enjoy their democratic and constitutional rights which include recourse to the law courts.

However, hoodlums who are bent on destabilizing the country should not be allowed to have their way and to hold innocent peaceful citizens to ransom.

The security services must be encouraged to enforce the law and to guarantee the peace of innocent citizens.

The vast majorities of Ghanaians are tired of the noisy storms of the NPP and expect the security services to act promptly and decisively.

We are tired of all the empty noises from agents of neo-colonialism.

Final Statement of The 3^rdInternational Conference of Algiers on "The Right of Peoples to Resistance: The case of the Sahrawi People"

The 3^rd International Conference on "The Right of Peoples to Resistance: The Case of the Saharawi People" was held at Algiers, at Dar Diaf-Cheraga hotel, on 15^th and 16^th December 2012, following the joint invitation of the Algerian National Committee of Solidarity with the Saharawi People (CNASPS) and the Algiers' Embassy of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).

562 Participants representing 51 countries* attended and took part to the proceedings of this Conference, which has benefited from the contributions of Parliamentarians, Diplomats, Political Figures, Academics, Jurists, Intellectuals, Media Professionals, NGO's Representatives and Civil Societies.

A high-level Saharawi delegation was led by Mr. Abdelkader Taleb Omar, the SADR Prime Minister, who reiterated in his speech, the firm determination of the Saharawi People, the Polisario Front and the SADR to continue the struggle until to meet the legitimate claims for building a free and democratic State on its national soil.

In his speech, Mr. Abdelkader Taleb Omar has brought out the responsibility of the United Nations vis a vis the Western Sahara issue. In this respect, he underscored commended the efforts made by Mr. Christopher Ross, the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General, to seek a fair and final solution to the conflict in Western Sahara, which would put an end to the sufferings endured by the Saharawi People and enable them to gain independence and sovereignty.

The SADR Prime Minister recalled to the audience, the ongoing violations of Human Rights, in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, extensively verified and sentenced, whose population is overwhelmed by Morocco's occupation administration.

Mr. Abd-el-Kader Taleb Omar emphatically denounced the non- implementation of the UN resolutions, which embody the will of the International Community, due to the delaying tactics of the Kingdom of Morocco in the negotiation process, as well as because of unjust and unjustifiable support provided to Morocco by some governments, encouraging the Moroccan authorities in their drift and criminal obstinacy.

The SADR Prime Minister strongly condemned the terrorist activities in the Sahel region. He clearly reaffirmed his country's support to the territorial integrity and unity of Mali and announced the total willingness of his government to contribute, in an African framework to the combat for eradicating terrorism in the region.

The participants to the Conference salute the intervention of the SADR Prime Minister, supporting the guidelines set out, and recall that the Western Sahara conflict remains a matter of decolonization, registered as such in the United Nations and stipulated in the resolution 1514 of the General Assembly; as outlined in the resolutions of the Security Council and the annual recommendations of the 4th UN Committee.

Mohammed Abdul Aziz

The Participants to the Conference clearly reaffirmed the Right of the Saharawi People to resistance against the illegal occupation of their territory by the Kingdom of Morocco, as stipulated in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter and the resolution 3163 of 1973 of the UN General Assembly.

The Participants to the Conference listened to the testimony of Sahrawi Human Rights activists coming from the occupied territories of Western Sahara on the repeated violations against human dignity, physical integrity and the Sahrawi People liberties. These daily violations committed by the Moroccan occupation administration, are obstructed by a media blackout organized with the complacency if not the complicity of European states.

The Participants to the Conference condemn the biased position of France, which has led to a deadlock in the settlement of the Western Sahara conflict.

 The Participants also denounced the unacceptable position of the Spanish Government as Spain discharges a historic responsibility in the Western Sahara conflict.

It was presented on this occasion, a report on the status of the Sahrawi prisoners who are suffering in the Moroccan jails, and on parodies of trials that are conducted for them, and a report on the Sahrawi missing persons.

The participants to the Conference heard with great reprobation a report on the large-scale systematic despoliation of the natural resources of Western Sahara.

After listening to a communication about the general situation of the Sahrawi refugees in the camps near Tindouf, the Participants deeply regret the multifaceted lack of the provided humanitarian aid, despite the commendable efforts of the UN agencies and Algeria.

In regard to all these facts, and after discussion, the Participants to the conference:

1.      Reaffirm the legitimacy of the national liberation struggle of the Saharawi People and their peaceful resistance against the Moroccan occupation. The Participants commend and encourage the Saharawi in this struggle for their freedom and dignity.

2.      Require from the United Nations the immediate implementation of its own resolutions related to Western Sahara, by organizing a referendum on self-determination accepted by both countries parties to 1991 settlement plan, and endorsed by the Security Council, that is answerable for by creating the MINURSO for this purpose.

3. Denounce the repeated violations of Human Rights committed by Morocco in Western Sahara, and called on the UN, the European Union, the African Union, international NGOs, and all Human Rights activists throughout the World, to promptly ensure, by all ways and means, the respect by Morocco of Human Rights, and demand the immediate release of all Sahrawi prisoners.

4.      Denounce the systematic looting by Morocco of the natural resources of Western Sahara, in flagrant contradiction with the provisions of the United Nations resolutions on permanent sovereignty of peoples over their natural resources.

5.       Request the United Nations, all its specialized agencies and the entire international community to provide a sufficient multifaceted humanitarian aid in favor of the Sahrawi refugees.

6. The Participants to the Conference strongly encourage Mr. Christopher Ross, the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General, to continue its mediation between the two parties of the Western Sahara conflict, and urge all States to provide their support and assistance so
as he would accomplish his mission whose objective is to find a solution graranteeing the auto determination of the Sahrawi People.

7.       The Participants pay tribute to all support committees to the just cause of the Saharawi People all over the world, which consistently and unconditionally support the fighting of the Polisario Front for freedom and dignity. In this context, the Participants grant a special mention to the international observers in charge of the Saharawi prisoners, as well as to the humanitarian players serving the Sahrawi refugees.

8.       The Participants at the conference address notably the President of the French Republic, Mr. Francois Hollande, requesting him to register, under his rule, in this conflict in particular, a political path worthy of France and its greatness, consistent with its landmarks and historical battles for freedom and Human Rights, by dispensing
justice to the Saharawi People, and in particular by facilitating the expansion of the mandate of the MINURSO to the protection and respect of Human Rights in the occupied territories of Western Sahara.

9.       The Participants to the Conference require from the Spanish Government a clear efficient political position in conformity with the resolutions of the UN Security Council, in favor of the Right to self- determination for the Saharawi People, with regard to the historic,
moral and political responsibility of Spain in the genesis of the conflict in Western Sahara.

10.             The Participants to the Conference call upon the European Union to stop all trade agreement concluded with the Kingdom of Morocco, which illegally exploit the natural resources of Western Sahara and to adopt a fair policy in favor of self-determination of the
Saharawi People.

The participants to the Conference pay tribute to the Swedesh MP'S for interpellation their government for official recognition of the SADR by Suede.

The Participants to the International Conference pay a special tribute to Algeria and to His Excellency Mr. the President Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA, for the Algerian constant political position, based on the historical and intangible principles and on the International legality.

The Participants to the International Conference thank Algeria, land of hospitality, for hosting with brotherhood and friendliness, this important meeting and for granting all facilitations to the success of this event.

The Participants to the International Conference also commend the Algerian National Committee of Solidarity with the Saharawi People and the SADR Embassy in Algiers which efficiently organized the proceedings of this event. The Participants to the Conference thank especially the staff and the Algerian youth volunteers for their
availability and dynamism to the success of their work.

The Participants at the International Conference ask the co- organizers to turn to the World Heads of State, the multilateral organizations and the international NGOs to use their power in order to put an end to the ordeal of the Saharawi People so as to enable
them to freely choose their destiny.

Algiers, on December 16^t\ 2012

(*) Participating countries:

The SADR, ALGERIA, CANADA, ARGENTINA, CHILE, PERU, SENEGAL, TUNISIA, MAURITANIA, SWEDEN, SLOVENIA, CROATIA, GHANA, MEXICO, HUNGARY, ITALY, RUSSIA, SPAIN, BELGIUM, HOLLAND, FRANCE, CONGO BRAZZAVILLE, MALI, GUINEA, TOGO, PALESTINE, LEBANON, YEMEN, BURUNDI, CUBA, RWANDA, SOUTH AFRICA, VENEZUELA, COTE D'IVOIRE, CHAD, EGYPT, SYRIA, NIGER, MOZAMBIQUE, ANGOLA, COMOROS, BURKINA FASO, ZIMBABWE, TANZANIA, USA, GREAT BRITAIN, BENIN, CONGO KINSHASA, PORTUGAL, FINLAND, NIGERIA.

We will make this country ungovernable!

By Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey

NPP Secretary Mr Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie

“If they make the wrong move by arresting any of our officers, they will know no peace and this country will suffer for that. We are not scared to be arrested but if they try to arrest any of us we will make this country ungovernable.” Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, General Secretary, New Patriotic Party

In most established democracies, the concession speech has over time assumed the reputation of the swan song of an unsuccessful competitive Presidential campaign. Typically, a losing candidate will precede a public concession by privately conceding to the winning candidate through a telephone call. In Ghana’s 20 year democratic run, two traits have proved somewhat elusive, namely voluntary resignations of troubled public officials and spectacular concessions of the type seen in American presidential elections. In the aftermath of the emerging issues from Ghana’s 2012 Presidential run, the decision of the New Patriotic Party to contest the results in court, Ghana’s democracy may yet experience one of the reasons why a losing candidate may refuse to concede – suspicion of electoral fraud.

Other reasons often adduced for refusal to concede may be ill will generated during the campaign and/or the losing candidate simply being a sour and intemperate loser reflective of one bent on winning power at all costs.

But why should the NPP’s Nana Akufo-Addo concede defeat to His Excellency John Mahama when he strongly suspects that the latter has been the unworthy beneficiary of ill- gotten votes? In its aftermath, I have heard attempts to compare Akufo-Addo’s conduct to that of late former President John Mills.

I reckon this is a bit misplaced for the simple reason that Akufo-Addo is not Mills. Mills… Mills, especially in 2004, amidst similar suspicions of electoral fraud and goaded on by calls to resist the announced results, opted to sacrifice what some may call his democratic and constitutional rights to contest election results in Ghanaian courts on the alter of peace. Against popular opinion within his own party to stage public protests inter alia, he chose to concede and in the process, earned himself the title of Asomdweehene aka King of Peace. If Mills preferred the title of peace monger to asserting his rights, why should people attempt to box Akufo-Addo, a political slugger, into the same space of ‘peace’ when he doesn’t belong –not in 2008 and not in 2012?

The laws do allow the NPP to go to court and we must all exercise restraint in allowing them to exercise that right. Some might even argue that in doing so, they are pushing the frontiers of democratic practice in Ghana even further. It is just the history of violent elections in Africa that I assume makes some people nervous whenever there appears to be lack of closure to any electoral contest. In Ghana, Akufo-Addo’s right to contest is not in dispute.

Akufo Addo, Defeated NPP Presidential Candiadte

Asserting this right however and incitement of one’s supporters unto civil disorder and acts of violence upon the goading of its leaders is another matter.

The leadership of the NPP, whose conduct we keenly observe, is choosing to position itself and the party in a problematic manner and in the process, threaten our collective sense of comfort. Legally contesting elections ought not to result in attacks on journalists (which leadership is now belatedly contesting), ought not to result in lynching of opponents or threats thereof, ought not to result in smashing of cars and ought not to result in illegal conduct.

Perhaps, in the current anger, the party does not really appear to care a hoot about strategically losing the battle and winning the war of Presidential electoral politics one day. In not caring, the party’s General Secretary has stated for example that an arrest by security forces will amount to a wrong move and in the process, the New Patriotic Party is able and willing to make Ghana, which has enjoyed peace for so long that it has probably taken it for granted, ungovernable!

Of course, if exciting its core fan base is the aim of the NPP, they might well continue with their current conduct. One question however remains. Where will all the above leave the NPP in the event that their legal challenge remains unsuccessful? Will the party have generated goodwill in the public mind or will the party have alienated itself further? When it is all over, will we remember the party for guaranteeing or threatening our peace and security? Will their leaders be commended for a gallant legal contest or for operationalizing their candidate’s ‘all die be die’ values and principles? Will it be easier then to entrust them subsequently with our mandate or be more suspicious? Why is it that whenever Ghana’s electoral commission announces that Akufo-Addo has lost an election, the first question of many people is –will he concede? The people in eight out of the ten regions that continue to vote against the NPP will ask themselves why this party is not creating the opportunity to reflect that perhaps, just perhaps, they lack broad and deep national appeal and focus on evolving strategies to attract more supporters instead of pursuing a course that may well cement the reasons why people voted against them in the first place.

These are the issues the good people will be reflecting upon and in 2016, I reckon that voters will ask themselves what relationship these concerns have with their electoral choices.  Of course, all the reflections above are still without prejudice to NPP’s rights to a legal contest. They must assert their rights. We will however watch the party and document the conduct and pronouncements of its leaders and supporters very carefully. As Maya Angelou said poignantly, people may forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel.   And the current conduct is entrenching a very sour taste in our mouths.

In its anger in defeat, let the NPP pause to reflect. The recent attempts of Elizabeth Ohene et al to reign in their supporters, while commendable, is seriously at risk of becoming too little too late.

As for John Mahama, congratulations are due. We must however position ourselves to put him under serious pressure in the cause of delivering on manifesto pledges. Real work that transforms our country beckons and focus without distraction will do him and Ghana good.

NPP’s Chain Of Lies

By Margaret Jackson

It has now become lies galore in full force. The NPPs lying machine has been well oiled and is currently churning out lies at every turn of event just to gain some sympathy from the Ghanaian populace. In fact some of the lies look so childish that even my niece of 12 years will never pause to believe them, yet the NPP folks are spilling those lies in droves.

Former President Kufuor

So many fat misrepresentations have been made by the NPP following their defeat in the just ended polls.  Last week, the police acting on a tip-off conducted a search in the premises of the La Monte Guest House, near the NPP head office.

According to the police they were tipped-off that a group of persons were offloading boxes suspected to contain ammunition into the said house.

Yet the NPP folks raised hell and deceived many Ghanaians into believing that the police had raided their research office where their officials were conducting forensic audits of the 2012 elections. They even went as far as lying that the police had taken the evidence they were gathering to challenge the results of the 2012 elections in court.

Even when the police issued a statement denying that they had raided the headquarters of the NPP, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, NPPs Chair and Akufo-Addo’s Campaign Manager Boakye Agyarko would not budge.

Jake, in a press conference insisted that the police raided their offices and took vital information they were piecing together to challenge the declaration of President John Mahama as winner of the just ended poll. The NPP even went as far as falsely claiming that the police took away some sheets of paper and laptops belonging to the party and that the so-called raid was ordered by President Mahama.

Jake added that they would let the public know in due course details of all what the police took away. Boakye Agyarko, also told Joy News that the police and soldiers in full riot controlled gear "manhandled" the NPP officers who were at the searched premises. It’s a week now but Jake and Agyarko are nowhere with their so-called evidence against the police. This is because the police came out forcefully to deny that they did not take anything from the house they searched.

A day after the election results were declared and NPP’s dejected vice-presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was sitting somewhere minding his own business, some people who wanted to play mischief claimed that his family house had been ransacked by some men in military uniforms.

The one who narrated the so-called incident to the police, Lariba Abudu, stated that those who came to the house claimed they were looking for a man who they suspected entered the house. The issue is also more than a week now and even Bawumia himself is yet to comment on it. End of the story.

Not to be left out of the web of lies as usual is the ubiquitous Sammy Awuku, a deputy Communications Director of the NPP. He came out making a wild allegation that some armed macho men on unregistered motorbikes and an unregistered vehicle are attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to him. Yet he is yet to provide any credible evidence to back that false claim.

NPP MP Kennedy Agyepong

We next land at the doorstep of the NPPs War-Monger-in-Chief, Kennedy Agyapong who came out last week accusing the National Communications Authority (NCA) of illegal jamming of the transmissions of Net 2 TV, Oman FM and Ash FM. Even when the NCA stated that it has no such machines to jam transmissions, Agyapong will have none of it. The rest is now history.

The Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr. Kwadwo Afari Djan, who continues to be at the receiving end of the NPP also got another twist of the NPP lying spirit. Some leading figures of the NPP informed supporters of the party at a rally that Afari Djan had ran away to the United States after he had announced the results but he had been deported back to the country to come and sort out the issues concerning the election results. One wonders when these NPP folks would stop lying.

Over the past weekend another NPP trick was floated into the public domain with the announcement that the offices of Gloria Akuffo, NPPs lead counsel which is expected to challenge the December 7 election results in court, had been broken into, ransacked with some vital documents and a laptop taken away.

But it has turned out that three offices including that of Blay and Associates, Precious Minerals Resources Limited and the International Commercial Bank were broken into. And that the police are yet to establish if anything had been stolen from those offices. Buy why would Gabby Otchere Darko break the news on his Facebook Wall instead of informing the police?

We are living in dangerous times with the NPP who virtually controls the press saying anything that they think will stick in their favour. But Ghanaians can never be fooled again by this looting brigade. Their chain of lies are not selling. In fact nobody is buying them.

US-Israel ties, on-going tragedy

By Jim Dean

The history of America's involvement with Israel has been an ongoing tragedy. The Palestinians have of course suffered the most, having been invaded by legions of atheist and communist Jews, primarily from Eastern Europe. And yes, they claim 'God gave us the land'.

Israeli Premiere Nyetanyahu

They teamed up with the 5th column Zionists already there who had been carefully and methodically laying plans for taking over the land and doing to the Palestinians what they claimed the Nazis had done to them--killing and kicking the Palestinians out to make more lebensraum (growing space) for more Jews.

Generations of Israeli Lobby fellow travelers have worn the sordid mantle of 'Palestinian holocaust Deniers', to coin a phrase, with no shame whatsoever. Golda Meir was their Hebrew Klan Grand Dragon. She produced a low cost and instant holocaust hat trick. “There are no Palestinian people,” she said.

One of the main tasks of Israeli espionage has always been to protect Israel from judgment day for their crimes against humanity against the Palestinian people. To them this is a war, and they take no prisoners. When are we going to figure this out, when it comes to dealing with them?

Today I begin a series of articles to pin the holocaust tails on their correct donkey. I am going to use sources with which the general public is unfamiliar, the declassified American Intel files on Israel. And yes, these have been open since the early 1980's, but might as well have been in a library on the moon.

President Barack Obama

Israeli penetration into not only our media and publishing, but also our political arena has virtually banished these documents from the historical narrative. The fear is that they could be used to deprogram pro-Israeli zombies and expose all the treasonous Americans who have aided and abetted the Israelis in hiding their crimes.

Let us start at the beginning. A crime against an entire people, to holocaust them from their own land, has to have a plan. Here it is.

In March, 1948, a Joints Chiefs of Staff paper on Force Requirements for Palestine,
anticipating the termination of the British Mandate, predicted that the Zionist strategy will seek
to involve [the United States] in continuously widening and deepening series of operations
intended to secure maximum Jewish objectives...

a)Initial sovereignty over a portion of Palestine,
b) Acceptance by the great powers of the right to unlimited immigration
c) The extension of Jewish sovereignty over all of Palestine
d) The expansion of Eretz Israel into Transjordan and into portions of Lebanon and Syria, and
e) The establishment of Jewish military and economic hegemony over the entire Middle East.

The JCS paper added ominously: All stages of this program are equally sacred to the fanatical concepts of Jewish leaders. The program is opening admitted by same leaders, and has been privately admitted to United States officials by responsible leaders of the presently dominant
Jewish group...the Jewish Agency....(Taking Sides, 1983...Stephen Green)

This Intel report is the Rosetta Stone for everything that Israel has done since before its so called birth, but which was more like letting a Frankenstein monster loose on the land. We had loyal Americans who saw the trap back then, yet we walked right into it. Why have we done it, and for whom?

In ten years of sharing this declassified Intel with Americans, including active duty officers and veterans, I have never met a one who was aware of it. Welcome to the free country of the United States, where people are not very free to know a lot of things the Israeli Lobby people don't want them to know.

We also have early reports of the Zionist pre 1948 war 5th columns in Europe shopping all over the continent for chemical and poison gas munitions they could use for their Neo-Exodus. This was the one to drive out the Palestinians, and not the Hollywood Soviet style propaganda film version where 5,000 Zionists held off the Arab hoards.

These American Intel declassified files are filled with report after report of Zionist treachery on a scale that gives truth to a long list of negative stereotypes. Hence, corporate media will not touch this material with a ten foot pole. Now you know why. Much of that has been to steer attention away from their own record of horrors so they could continue to play the perennial victim.

In late 1949, when I was born, US Army Attaché in Tel Aviv Colonel Andrus filed a report citing 'wanton killing of Arabs....denying access to their own land'. The same thing continues today through American support of our almost blank-check support of arms and ammo to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

This makes both the Palestinians and American children and grandchildren co-victims of Israeli aggression, at the hands of our own government. The last Gaza attack was a perfect example, with the Pentagon now pushing through an almost USD 700 million restocking of munitions for the next Palestinian November turkey shoot.

Earlier in 1948 the Zios began making their mark on terrorism history by blowing up the Semiramis Hotel on January 5th. A bomb, 175 pounds of dynamite, caused it to disappear with 23 civilians killed, including the Spanish consul. This act is still celebrated in Israel. Can you feel the love?

US consul General Robert Macatee sent a delegation to the Jewish Agency official Golda Meir, asking her to take special care to protect our own consular people. He did not know then that the Haganah terrorist group had blown up the hotel, and that Golda was a member. Israel has a long history of elevating their terrorists to top political positions.

Israeli President Shimon Perez

Later, the new American consul Thomas Wasson began reporting things like the Zionists using Red Cross convoys as screens for moving weapons and ammunition around and that Israeli soldiers were firing on Arab positions from the Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. Nasty, nasty.

American media like the New York Times censored out the weapons and ammunition part of the story, spinning it like a wanton murder of doctors and nurses. This particular attack had actually been in retribution for the Irgun's Deir Yassin massacre in which 20 of Golda Meir's Haganah people participated.

The Jewish Agency had refused the pleas of the Red Cross to remove their troops from the Hadassah Hospital, despite the Arab League's agreeing to allow unarmed soldiers to remain. The unfortunate Consul Wasson was assassinated by a sniper soon after, the first of many Israeli killings of American personnel while enjoying American aide.

Any Jewish Agency friendship toward America at the time was just a pretext to get desperately needed financial and military aid if they could. The Zios played the Americans off against the Soviets, a game they became even more adept at as the decades went by with the Jonathan Pollard spy case being their peak until they had our Congress performing like trained seals.

The American public never knew that the Zionist main military logistics bases for training and resupply for the 1948 war were in Czechoslovakia with the Soviets supporting them. This included weapons and motor pool maintenance, medical staff, and refurbishing their fast growing air force with all foreign pilots.

At one point American pilots and mechanics were flying all the Czech-made arms shipments down to Lebanon for the Israelis. Many of these were personally observed by our Military Attaché there.

Besides paying in gold and hard currencies which the post WWII Czechs needed, the Zionists also traded espionage goods through them back to the Soviets. Their biggest coup at the time against America was delivering by a new US Army jeep mounted radar system which the Soviets were just thrilled to get. Disloyal American Jews handled the stateside theft.

As for violations of illegal arms imports, these were huge and all tracked by American intelligence. In June of 1948, the US Military Attaché reported a Belgian firm's preparing to export 10 tanks, 26 US armored cars,and 64 halftracks.

The FBI collected tens of thousands of pages of field reports on these shipments. Some of them were organized by American state governors aiding the Zios for their own personal financial and political benefit, despite their being in violation of American law. This corruption continues today with our own Congress effectively being an occupied territorial cow for the Israeli Lobby to milk at will, and they do, they do.

As the Cold War was heating up, the Zionists got very good political advice on how they could scare the Americans into thinking the Soviets might take over Palestine using the Zios if the US did not get their own aid program in action.

We have seen the same treachery play out over and over, in Iraq with the bogus WMD tales, an invention of Israeli Intel and their Neocon partners. We now have the bogus threat of Iranian nuclear weapons programs, which has kept oil prices way above recession level rates, making us all
'Petro-Palestinians'. Think about that for a moment. Who would do such a horrible thing?

All this continues on with Israel sitting smugly back enjoying US military funding of nuclear bomb proof facilities for their nukes and air force command staff. You can add to that our Patriot missile batteries, each shot costing the American taxpayers USD 3 million while their kids are on food stamps.

This is a national disgrace, with treason being committed against the country right out in the open, behind the scenes in the halls of Congress and sometimes even in the White House.

Veterans Today has verified through multiple sources that Israel had at least one top spy on the Bush National Security Council. That particular investigation was stopped, which would indicate that Bush had approved the Israelis being given top secret information, but why?

More to come on all this.

West Africa, next stop for war on terror

 By Ramzy Baroud

France is insisting on ‘rapid’ military intervention in Mali. Its unmanned drones have reportedly been scouring the desert of the troubled West African nation - although it claims that the drones are seeking the whereabouts of six French hostages believed to be held by al-Qaeda.

The French are likely to get their wish, especially following the recent political fiasco engineered by the country’s strong man and coup leader Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo. The Americans also covet intervention, but one that would serve their growing interests in the Sahel region.

African countries are divided and have no clear alternative on how to restore Mali’s territorial integrity - and equally important political sovereignty - disjointed between Tuareg secessionists and militants in the north and factionalized army in the south.

The current crisis in Mali is the recent manifestation of a recurring episode of terrible suffering and constant struggles. It goes back much earlier than the French officials in particular wish to recall. True, there is much bad blood between the various forces that are now fighting for control, but there is also much acrimony between Mali and France, the latter having conquered Mali (then called French Sudan) in 1898.

After decades of a bitter struggle, Mali achieved its independence in 1960 under the auspices of a socialist government led by President Modibo Keita. One of his very early orders of business was breaking away with French influence and the Franc zone.

Former colonial powers rarely abandon their ambitions, even after their former colonies gain hard-earned freedom. They remain deeply entrenched by meddling in various ways that destabilize the former colonies. Then, when opportune, they militarily intervene to uphold the status quo. In 1968, Keita was ousted from power, and few years later in 1977, he died in a lonely cell. His death ushered in mass protests, compelling few cosmetic gestures towards a new constitution and half-hearted democracy.

Turmoil defined Mali for many years since then, even after the country achieved a level of political stability in 1992. At the time it was believed that Mali was fast becoming a model for democracy, at least in the West Africa region. Few years later, thousands of refugees from the ever-neglected and under-represented Tuaregs began returning to their towns and villages mostly in the vast desert region in northern Mali.

That return was introduced by a peace agreement signed between Tuaregs and the central government. Little on the ground has changed. Various bands, some homegrown, others fleeing fighting in neighboring countries, especially Algeria, found haven in Mali’s north and west. At times, they fought amongst each other, at times they served some unclear agendas of outside parties, and at times they created temporary alliances amongst themselves.

While France attempted to keep Mali in its sphere of influence - thus its decision in 2002 to cancel over a third of Mali’s debt - the United States was also taking interest in Mali’s crucial position in the Sahel regions and the prospects created by the un-governability of the northern regions.

Of course, the all-inclusive definition of al-Qaeda served as the ever-convenient ruse to justify American involvement. Al-Qaeda has been used by Washington to rationalize the establishment of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM). It was set up in 2008 to manage US military interests in the whole continent with the exception of Egypt. The US State Department claimed that AFRICOM “will play a supportive role as Africans build democratic institutions and establish good governance across the continent.”

The importance of the al-Qaeda narrative to the American role in the Sahel was highlighted in the last presidential debate between President Barack Obama and his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney. To flex some political muscles, perhaps Romney warned of “al-Qaeda type individuals” threatening to turn Mali into a new Afghanistan.

Other western experts on the Sahel dispute the analogy, however claiming that Mali is descending into a Sudan-like model instead. Either way, the people of Mali are currently suffering the consequences of the burgeoning conflict, which reflects a convoluted mix of foreign agendas, extremist ideologies and real grievances of Malian tribes in the north and west.

The south of the country is not exactly an oasis of stability. The ongoing territorial struggle and political volatility are threatening the whole country, which has been battling a cruel famine and pitiless warlords. The most dominant faction in the Malian army is led by US-trained Army Capt. Amadou Sanogo, who on March 22 led a coup against President Amadou Toumani Toure. Sanogo’s reasoning - blaming Toure for failing to stamp out growing militant influence in the north - sounded more like a pretense than a genuine attempt at recovering the disintegrating country.

It remains unclear who Sanogo’s backers are, especially since France and the US are relatively tolerant of his political transgressions and violent conduct. Sanogo’s coup came shortly before elections, scheduled for last April. While the African Union (AU) reacted assertively to the coup by suspending Mali’s membership, western powers remained indecisive. Despite a half-hearted handing over of power from the coup leaders to a civilian government of President Dioncounda Traore, Sanogo remain firmly in charge. In May, the junta struck again, retaking power, as pro-Sanogo mobs almost beat president Traore to death inside his presidential compound.

Sanogo, empowered by the lack of decisiveness to his conduct, continued to play some political game or another. A short lived “national unity government” under Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra was more or less toppled when Diarra was arrested by Sanogo’s men. He was forced to concede power and install a little known government administrator as his predecessor.

Sonogo’s political show continues, especially as the West African regional grouping (ECOWAS), along with the AU remains focused on what they perceive as a more urgent priority: ending the territorial disintegration in the north and west.

The conflict in the north is in a constant influx. Alliances change, thus the nature of the conflict is in perpetual alteration. Large consignments of weapons that were made available during NATO’s war in Libya early last year, made their way to various rebel and militant groups throughout the region. The Tuaregs had received support from the ousted Libyan government and were dispersed during and following the war. Many of them returned to Mali, battle-hardened and emboldened by the advanced weapons.

Fighting in the north began in stages, most notably in January 2012. Sanogo’s coup created the needed political vacuum for Tuaregs' National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) to declare independence in the north a mere two weeks later. The declaration was the result of quick military victories by MNLA and its militant allies, which led to the capture of Gao and other major towns.

These successive developments further bolstered Islamic and other militant groups to seize cities across the country and hold them hostage to their ideologies and other agendas. For example, Ansar al-Din had reportedly worked jointly with the MNLA, but declared a war "against independence" in June, as soon as it secured its control over Timbuktu. Al-Tawhid wa al-Jihad, along with AQIM made their moves. The allies soon became bitter enemies.

Last September, rebels from various groupings in control of the north began advancing onto other strategic areas in the center and south-west parts of the country. Their territorial advances are now made against government-held towns and areas that are still controlled by Azawad Tuareg rebels.

There is now semi-consensus on the need for military intervention in Mali, although some differences persist over the nature and scope of that intervention. Sanogo himself has little interest in seeing other West African powers jockeying for influence in Bamako, which could threaten his thus far unchallenged rule. Moreover, it is unclear how affective military force can be, as the territorial fragmentation, many militant groupings and political discord throughout the country are almost impossible to navigate.

The stability of West Africa is surely at stake. The chances of a political solution are all but completely dissipated. The growing chaos will likely benefit interventionist states - France and the US in particular. A long-drawn new “war on terror,” will justify further intervention in West Africa and more meddling in the affairs of ECOWAS countries.

A few years ago, a new “scramble for Africa” was unleashed due to China’s growing influence in the continent. It was heightened by a more recent North African turmoil caused by the so-called Arab Spring. Opportunities are now abound for those ready to stake more claims over a long exploited region.

Kumasi Shoe Factory begins production January 2013

Source: Daily Graphic

Kumasi Shoe Factory

The defunct Kumasi Shoe Factory is set to begin production in January, 2013, following its take-over by the Ghana Armed Forces.

Installation of equipment has been completed while test production is in progress.

In an interview with Graphic in Kumasi, the Public Relations Officer of the company, Ms. Vida Dela Gavor, said actual production would begin in January 2013 by which time, the factory hands would have completed training.

The new footwear producing company would be the sole supplier of boots for personnel of all the public security services including the Police, Ghana Armed Forces, Ghana Immigration Service, the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, National Security and the Ghana Prisons Service.

It would also supply boots to private security agencies.

The shoe factory, which was the footwear division of the erstwhile Ghana Industrial Holding Corporation (GIHOC), situated at Kyirapatre in Kumasi, was set up by the Dr. Kwame Nkrumah-led CPP Government to produce boots for personnel of the public security services, and the general public.

The company was however left to collapse after the overthrow of the Nkrumah regime until the current government took steps to have it revived.

The company is now under the direction of the Defence Industries Holding Company (DIHOC) and  currently has 36 workers.

They are made op of administrative staff and 30 factory hands are on a six-week intensive training on the boots production processes.

Ms Gavor said the first of three-line production machines have been installed and tested, waiting for the take off

According to the PRO, the company planned to engage a total of 1,500 workers when at full production.

Ms Gavor said the company would not eject any of the 15 institutions that have been occupying the premises following the collapse of the Kumasi Shoe Factory.

However, a new agreement was being negotiated with them to ensure cordial relationship.

PREZ MAHAMA DEMANDS BETTER EPA DEAL FOR ACP COUNTRIES

President John Dramani Mahama has described as unfortunate, the deadlines set for the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA), explaining that it will adversely impact the economies and trade systems of other nations. 

According to him, the EPAs in their present form appear to undermine rather than promote regional economic integration.

In an address at the just ended 7th ACP Summit of Heads of State and Governments in Malabo, Equitorial Guinea, President Mahama said the insistence on outright liberalisation and discontinuation of customs revenue collection under the EPA also undermines a major source of revenue, which is critical to the development of many African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.

Mr. Mahama, who is the immediate past President of the ACP, told his colleague Heads of State and that despite the long and difficult decade of negotiations, there was still a long way to reaching an agreement. 

He noted that even the Caribbean region that had successfully reached a deal with the EU was still struggling with how to go about implementing its own EPA.

The summit was on the theme: “The Future of the ACP Group in a Changing World: Challenges and Opportunities.” 

It provided the leaders the opportunity to discuss the implications of the global economic crisis on member states, ACP cooperation with the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China), intra-ACP cooperation and ACP-EU trade relations.

Mr. Mahama used the opportunity to call for greater cooperation and consensus building among member states. 

"Sooner or later, we will have to reach a trade agreement with Europe. This agreement should be reached in harmony, in fairness, in the spirit of mutual agreement and partnership," he noted.

President Mahama also urged ACP member states to strengthen their pursuit for economic reforms and deepening regional integration. 

He called for consensus building in mapping out innovative strategies and programmes to proffer solutions to some of the critical development challenges confronting the ACP member states.

He said it was time for developing countries to make a bold decision by taking the future of their people into their own hands.

"We need to leverage on our collective solidarity while pursuing new approaches that deepen regional integration to boost intra ACP trade and investment among ourselves," he said.

The ACP summit of Heads of State and Governments is an organisation that brings together 79 leaders from African, Caribbean and the Pacific to promote their mutual interest. Ghana was the President of the 6th ACP summit, handing over the mantle to President Theodoro Obian Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea.

Iran: US hardest case or troubled dream?

By Ismail Salami

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has recently described Iran as the hardest issue she has been dealing with as secretary of state.

Hillary Clinton

In 30-minute keynote address at the annual US-Israeli forum, Clinton clearly enunciated that she has failed to find a solution to the Iran issue.

“Iran is the hardest of the hard boards because of the dangers its behavior already poses and the geometrically greater danger that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose… It is an issue that has consumed a significant part of my time as secretary of state.”

What strikes fear into the heart of Washington is in fact the ever-increasing sway the Islamic Republic is gaining and that which can be used as a leverage to counter the influence of the United States and Israel in the region. In other words, Iran serves as an antidote to Washington’s venomous influence in the Middle East.

In all clarity, Clinton revealed that the US is seized with fear over a politically powerful Iran in the Middle East and that a nuclear Iran to be feared by everyone in the world is just the child of her brain.

“They are relentless in their desire to exercise influence and to build a very intimidating, even hegemonic presence in the [Persian] Gulf, and then you get to what they’re doing internally with the oppression of the Iranian people, and then you’ve got the nuclear program.”

Anyone with an inkling of political savvy is privy to the fact that Washington is no well-wisher and that wherever it pops up, it harbors some ulterior motives which may include political, military or material ones.

That Washington is intent to launch a military expedition in Iran and add a few more pages to its pitch-black history of violence and war is only a matter of grave speculation. However, it is manifest that the US is increasingly concerned about losing its military or political presence in the Middle East region in favor of a mightier influence i.e. Iran.

With this objective in mind, Washington has beefed up its espionage ops in Iran in order to stymie the spread of any such influence.

The recently seized US drone by Iranian military is to be seen as a celebration of military power for Iran on the one hand, and as a testimony to the ever-increasing US espionage and intel. ops within the Islamic Republic on the other.

Known as ScanEagle, drones of this nature are basically launched from large aircraft carriers.

In a Tuesday announcement, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said Iranian forces had “hunted down” the ScanEagle over the Persian Gulf after it violated Iranian airspace and had forced it to land electronically.

Just one day before the announcement, The Wall Street Journal reported that US intelligence agencies have stepped up spying operations on Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor.

Citing unnamed US officials, the paper said the increased US surveillance of Bushehr has been partly carried out by US unmanned drones operating over the Persian Gulf.

No wonder, the drone report was immediately denied by the US government. A spokesman for the United States Navy in Bahrain said that no American drones were missing.

“The US Navy has fully accounted for all unmanned air vehicles (UAV) operating in the Middle East region. Our operations in the [Persian] Gulf are confined to internationally recognized water and air space,” a spokesman for US Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain said, according to Reuters. “We have no record that we have lost any ScanEagles recently.”

The wall of denial is high indeed.

Foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast says Iranian airspace was violated eight times by the United States in October.

"In October we witnessed eight cases of airspace violations by the American fleet (US Navy) and we have told the UN ... of course we have announced our serious objection to the US," he said.

Besides, he warned that "Any country violating our territory will receive a severe response from Iran."

"We have written two separate letters to the (Security Council) and to the secretary general of the UN regarding the US violations, asking them to notify the US... to respect our sovereignty," he added.

Iran has officially filed a complaint against the US with the UN. In a pair of letters submitted by Iran’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Mohammad Khazaei wrote that the US Navy had carried out “illegal and provocative acts.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Tuesday that the US ScanEagle drone would be used as evidence against the US at international courts.

“We officially complained against such actions by the US and announced that we would defend our borders by any possible means,” Salehi said.

“We told the Americans that according to international conventions, we would not allow them to violate our borders, but unfortunately they did not comply… Of course, we had objected to the Americans before, but they claimed they were not present in our territories. We will use this drone as evidence to pursue a legal case against the US invasion at relevant international bodies,” he added.

Also, on December 4, 2011, Iran downed a US RQ-170 Sentinel spy drone, which was flying over the northeastern Iranian city of Kashmar.

In the same address, Clinton said that the US has “from the very beginning made it clear to the Iranians: We are open to a bilateral discussion and we have tried.”

One does not know what Clinton exactly means by ‘trying’ as all we have seen during the recent years is a literature of force, flying spy drone over Iranian airspace, the imposition of sanction after sanction, targeting the Iranian population and endangering the health of terminally ill Iranian patients who are in desperate need of imported medicine.

Aye, Mrs. Clinton, Iran is your hardest case and can be your worst nightmare as long as you keep imposing your brutal sanctions on the Iranian population and keep refraining from engaging in a meaningful dialogue with the Islamic Republic.