By Adam G.
Nasser
University of
Ghana
 |
| Jerry Rawlings |
On Saturday,
October 12, 2013 the UDS finally conferred an honorary doctorate degree on Flt.
Lt. Jerry John Rawlings at a Special Congregation in Tamale.
The citation accompanying
the conferment eulogized his unique contribution to the establishment of the
UDS in 1992 at a time of formidable opposition from a section of the Ghanaian intellectual
elite. Even the international donor community at that time opposed the
establishment of another public university and vowed never to provide assistance
for a project they believed was a quixotic enterprise. The government of the
NDC, under the leadership of Flt. Lt. Rawlings persevered, and time has
eventually proved the skeptics wrong, and decisively so. The UDS has blossomed
into a mature university with a current student population of more than 20,000.
The ceremony on the award of the honorary degree was part of a series of events
marking the 20th anniversary celebrations of the University. It was
Rawlings’ day, and knowing his penchant for always sounding discordant notes,
many in the audience waited in nervous suspense, especially as His Excellency
President John Mahama was going to be present at the occasion.
The
subsequent Daily Graphic report on the event was a sanitized account of what
really happened. Jerry Rawlings almost ruined the joy of the occasion with his
trademark loquacious diatribe. Going off his prepared speech and in a direction
tangential to the occasion, he went on a tirade reminiscing about June 4, 1979
which he singlehandedly continues to glorify as the flagship event in Ghana’s
political history. Returning almost monotonously to the theme of the recent election
petition, he had some justifiable and well-deserved praises for Justice Atugba.
But in a somersault in rational discourse, he commended Nana Akufo Addo for
announcing his acceptance of the Supreme Court ruling and stepping back from
the brink of the abyss towards which he had pushed the entire nation. It was the
metaphorical equivalent of congratulating an arsonist for putting out his own
fire.
The worst
part of Rawlings’ vituperations was his direct attack on the leadership of
President Mahama. It was completely unnecessary, and the occasion was also
wrong. The Chairman of the UDS Council and his colleagues, together with the
Vice Chancellor and his staff had put in so much effort to let the event
happen. More importantly His Excellency President Mahama had given maximum
support to the decision by the Council of UDS to confer the long-over-due
honorary degree. The President had even insisted on being present at the
ceremony to add a graceful dimension to the occasion. A considerable part of
Rawlings’ speech was deliberately abrasive and condescending to His Excellency
President Mahama. Placing himself on a moral high ground, he pontificated about
corruption in the corridors of political power in Ghana and alleged that President
Mahama had surrounded himself with a coterie of venal people.
While we are
on this topic, it is important to call to question the sanctity of this holy
pedestal that Rawlings often arrogates to himself when he sermonizes on matters
relating to corruption and integrity. One critical question which comes up in
this regard is whether he can measure up to the standards which were used to
condemn and execute by firing squad such officers as Air Vice Marshall Boakye,
General Utuka, Colonel Feli and others. Certainly those military tribunals
would not have tolerated an explanation from let’s say General Kutu Acheampong that
a family friend took care of the school fees of his ward attending one of the
most expensive universities in Europe. And on the questions of probity and
accountability, it would be very difficult for Rawlings to confirm in all honesty
that all the money and resources which were mobilized and expended to secure
his victory in the 1992 and 1996 elections were clean.
It may be
true that Rawlings could well come clean on the corruption index; otherwise, the
fine-tooth-comb investigations into his tenure as Head of State by the NPP
administration would have yielded some incriminating evidence with which to
deflate his moral authority. This was something the National Reconciliation
Commission failed to do. Others have argued that such brazing and courageous ranting
and raving about corruption in high government places cannot be coming from
someone who is corrupt himself. They may simply be the tantrums of someone with
an excessive obsession for power which, until recently, he wielded in almost
unrestrained quantity.
But whatever
the case may be, in the final analysis Rawlings’ legacy would be judged not necessarily
by his record of apparent incorruptibility, but more importantly by the extent
of his success or otherwise in transforming the socio-economic fortunes of the
country he ruled for a cumulative period of almost twenty years. From the
tumultuous chaos following the June 4th mutiny, to the
fire-and-brimstone days of the PNDC and except the NDC era, he ruled with the
unchallenged power of an autocrat. A leader with a vision would have taken
advantage of this unique opportunity to lay a solid foundation for an
independent national socio-economic transformation. Kwame Nkrumah’s Seven Year
Development Plan contained such a vision, aborted only by the reactionary coup
of 1966. Unlike Rawlings, Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia and Lee Kuan Yew of
Singapore used analogous experiences of political authority and longevity in
office to transform their hitherto underdeveloped countries into economic
giants.
Returning to the
Special Congregation of the UDS and Rawlings’ irreverent attitude towards
President Mahama, the only rational explanation for this type of conduct is the
frustration associated with power dispossession disorder. For most of the
nineteen years that he was at the apex of political power in Ghana, his word
was law, and the style of leadership he evolved was anchored on absolute power.
The introduction of multiparty democracy put some limits to this hitherto
unbridled power, much to his chagrin and resentment. His mind was, and still is
stagnating in its militant thirties and is unlikely to grow beyond that age. That
was why he found it very difficult to reconcile himself to the limitations
imposed on his hitherto unchallenged powers by the 1992 constitution. His
frustrations occasionally translated into violent aggression and direct
physical assault against anyone who disagreed with him, as was the case when he
belaboured his then Vice President Kwaw Akah with punches to the upper body and
kicks to the groin and other delicate parts of the poor man’s anatomy.
Fortunately,
such arrant tempestuousness at the highest echelons of power has given way to
levelheaded and self-controlled leadership. This is the mould in which
President John Mahama is cast. It was this demeanor that he presented to the
Ghanaian electorate in the 2012 presidential election under the NDC banner, and
won.
Yes,
President John Mahama was not the answer to the prayers of the Rawlingses, but
he received the most votes from the masses of the people. On account of that,
he is the President of the Republic of Ghana today, with a solid legitimacy. In
spite of this, President Mahama has not let his spectacular rise to the
presidency get into his head. He has tried to remain as simple as is practicably
permissible by the protocol and security demands of the presidency. He has also
bent backwards to breaking point just to accommodate the irascible nature of
Rawlings, granting him all the necessary respect and courtesies. But in
response to any gesture of goodwill from President Mahama, Rawlings’ handshake always
goes beyond the elbow.
As founder of
the NDC, Rawlings has unrestricted access to all the party’s structures and
officials, and to the President himself. He could have availed himself of
alternative platforms to point out those things he went public with at that
Special Congregation. He chose not to do that in a deliberate attempt to expose
President Mahama to public ridicule, challenge his authority and to draw attention
to the Rawlings colossus which he considers to be the permanent centre of
political gravity in Ghana.
But in the
final analysis it is President Mahama who has to decide on the type of working
relationship he would like to have with Flt. Lt. Rawlings. The president should
realize by now that no matter how far backwards he is prepared to lean over in
order to accommodate Rawlings, nothing short of total submission to him will
suffice. This, of course, is not an option. While it is in the nature of President
Mahama to float like a butterfly, he has the capacity to sting like a bee. And
he should.
Editorial
STOP MOROCCO
The
Colonial occupation of Western Sahara by Morocci is clearly an affront to the
conscience of the world and all peace-loving people have a responsibility to
protest against this injustice to the Saharawi people.
Over
the last few weeks, the Socialsit Forum of Ghana has been collecting signatures
as part of the campaign to free the Saharawi people from the indignity of
colonial occupation.
The
Insight identifies itself fully with this campaign and call on all freedom
loving Ghanaians to join in.
The
Saharawi people have a right to self determination.
Development Of “Critical
Infrastructure” In Ghana- The Role Of Offshore Companies.
 |
| His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama |
By Peter Kofi
Amponsah
Rapid economic
development requires access to Capital, Technology, and Market. This must be
Ghana’s top priority at the moment.
The kind of
money that we need is not 300 or 500 million dollars, but billions of dollars.
In fact, we need between 4 and 6 billion dollars at a time. We must borrow from
whoever is prepared to lend us money, and then adopt a credit utilization
strategy. Once we borrow to put the necessary infrastructure in place, the
economy will expand exponentially, and our ability to quickly repay the loans
will not be a problem at all.
There was a
marked extension of bank loans to developing countries in 1973-75. The
quadrupling of the price of crude oil, and the Western world energy and
economic crisis, promoted a fourfold increase in the total current account
deficit of the oil-importing developing countries- from $11 billion in 1973 to
$45 billion in 1975.
Many
developing countries, not having the funds to pay the new ‘oil bills’ were
forced to resort to the international market to borrow on commercial terms; the
creditors, furthermore, welcomed the appearance of a new category of borrowers
in the shape of countries with practically unlimited financial needs.
In the second
half of the 1970s the annual flow of money to Third World countries, mainly from
private foreign sources, was between $40 billion and $44 billion, compared with
$11 or $12 billion in the late 1960s. See New Times No 43, October 1983, p. 18.
This was also
the period during which the Acheampong’s government managed to obtain sufficient
loan for the construction of Ghana’s second Hydroelectric Dam at Kpong. Were it
not for the fact that the VRA could not supply the 130MW of power required by
the Integrated Iron and Steel Project at Opon-Manse in the Western Region, that
project would also have been a reality by now.
This makes
adequate and reliable electric power supply a top priority in any economic
development programme. But this issue will be dealt with in another paper.
Commercial
banks were encouraged by their governments, which were worried that the
tendency of oil exporters’ favourable balance of payment on current account to
grow ( increased from $7 billion in 1973 to $68 billion in 1974) would be
maintained for an indefinite time, owing to the real limits of OPEC members
absorbing purchasing capacity.
The banks in
which OPEC members had placed the greater part of their financial surpluses
were encouraged by governmental agencies to recycle these funds. From mid-1970s
to the second jump in the oil prices (in 1979) the bank loans advanced to
developing countries rose steeply.
In the end
their total foreign debt jumped from $86 billion in 1971 and $173 billion in
1975 to $262 billion in 1977 and $390 billion in 1979, increased by a factor a
little under five in nine years. In the same period, moreover, their debts with
commercial banks rose from $10 billion to $123 billion, more than twelve-fold.
Developing
countries’ total external debt reached $812.4 billion in 1984, of which a
little less than $100 billion consisted of short-term loans, while only 11
countries had had to reschedule their debts between 1976 and 1979, the number
rose to 39 between 1980 and 1982. See Financial Times 21/3/1984.
On the whole,
according to approximate estimates, some 1,500 American banks involved in lending
to developing countries had put around $130 billion into that business. See The
Economist, 26/2/1983, page 62.
The liquidity
position of the biggest Western banks actively involved in international
financing have been directly affected by the financial difficulties of the
developing countries, and that many of these banks’ possibilities of normal
functioning depended on the solution of the developing countries’ payment
problems.
Total balance
of the ten leading US banks’ loan investments in the Third World countries was
nearly 70% higher than their aggregate share and reserve capital which meant in
practice that they would not only lose all their own funds in the event of
complete suspension of developing countries' payments but would also not be
able to settle with their own creditors. See International Herald Tribune. 21
March 1983.
A statistical
centre was set up under the BIS in Basel to which banking institutions must
communicate detailed data about all foreign loans they and their foreign
affiliates grant, plus a list of the borrowers in accordance with existing
agreements.
In the
mid-80s, a need arose among private commercial banks to get detailed
information on the financial position of potential debtor states. For that
purpose an International Finance Institute (IFI) was founded in Washington as a
business organisation. From the standpoint of its founders (commercial banks
and bankers associations), the Institute would help avoid situations when
separate banks continued to lend to debtors, especially on a short-term basis,
without possessing the requisite information about the scale of the borrower’s
obligations. This was a substantial factor in the sharpening of the problem of
servicing the foreign debt of many countries.
In addition
to its information function, the IFI has begun to perform a function even more
important for commercial banks, viz, to estimate the potential risk of granting
loans to a country. The Institute originally had 37 members, but later more
than 1400 banks had been invited to take part in its work.
The steep
growth of financial indebtedness has drawn greater attention to guarantees of
the solvency of borrowers so as to protect creditors’ interests.
Legislation
relating to this situation which has considerably increased lenders
opportunities to evaluate debtors’ solvency under credit agreement
(transactions) and to take defensive measures in relation to insolvent debtors,
has been in place for more than two decades in all Western countries.
A number of
orders and special instructions were issued for that purpose in 1980-85 in the
USA, Great Britain, Japan, and other Western countries, which set definite
limits for national banks to the totals of foreign loans granted, limited the
banks’ involvement as lenders on the international foreign exchange markets for
a certain period, and introduced a regime for accounting for banks and other
juridical persons involved in credit operations.
Most of these
laws and regulations work against the developing countries, and therefore many
banks, to circumvent these laws and regulations in granting big loans to
developing countries have to operate through off-shore companies most of which
are owned by the banks themselves such as the case of the controversial
Presidential jet. The fact of the matter is that the company involved in that
transaction, by which I mean the transaction involving either the sale or lease
of the Presidential Jet in question to the Government of Ghana, was an offshore
company suspected to be owned by the HSBC Bank itself. Without off-shore
companies, it will be extremely difficult for us to obtain private loans of
required amount for our development. This is because offshore companies are not
affected by these limitations mentioned above.
A number of
measures have now been adopted to strengthen the dollar whose position depend
in the view of most specialists, primarily on the influx of capital into the
USA.
The transfer
of considerable funds (including OPEC countries investment reserves) from the
USA and West European banks to banks in South-East Asia, Australia and Oceania
was a big problem for the US.
Consequently,
the US has been forced to develop a system the essence of which is to permit US
banks to render international banking services for foreign customers so as to
attract bank deposits from abroad that were being directed to offshore banks in
London, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Bahamas, and the Cayman Islands, where
taxation is lighter and reserve requirements are often not enforced at all.
In the light
of the above, I strongly suggest that we must find a way of dealing with
offshore companies which have special, proven relationships with major banks.
This is the main secret behind the rapid economic transformation of the four
Tiger Club of Asia.
The
experience of the Asian countries has demonstrated that we cannot overcome our
economic lag by relying mainly on the international monetary credit
organizations set up by the West. We
need to take other measures to help solve development problems, promote
economic integration and the expansion of trade and economic ties among the
developing countries.
The emergence
of China as the world’s largest foreign currency reserve holder and also the
most reliable lender to the developing countries, has sent the IMF and the West
back to the drawing board. Heavy amount of loans to the developing countries
which previously could only be obtained through offshore companies with
considerable efforts can now be easily provided by China.
China has
about 3.2 trillion dollars at the moment and needs to invest part of this huge
reserve in productive assets in the developing countries before something
happens to the US dollar.
Ghana needs
to take advantage of this situation before it is too late, and with the
adoption of credit utilization strategy as I explained above, the repayment of
any amount of money borrowed for this
purpose will not be a problem.
We need
adequate capital for comprehensive and nation-wide development of road and rail
systems. (2) Massive Air and Sea Transportation Facilities. (3) Adequate and
reliable electric power supply. (4) State-of-the-art and nation-wide
telecommunication infrastructure. (5) Nation-wide development of efficient
water supply system. These five main areas constitute a “critical
infrastructure” considered as indispensable in the development of any modern
economy.
However, of
these five areas, electric power supply remains the number one priority. Once
these systems are put in place, the economy will expand exponentially, and the
ability of the country to generate enough foreign exchange to repay whatever
money that was borrowed will not be a problem at all. As I have already said above, this was the
method employed by the Four Tiger Club of Asia, which do not have even a
fraction of the natural resources that we have.
We need to
constantly replenish and sharpen our knowledge base as we grapple with the
radical changes underway in the global economy. Knowledge and ideas are
critical to development. We need more innovative research, and more new ideas.
E-mail: cwsi2008@gmail.com
Biological Attack
Polio is back
from the brink of extinction -- ravaging the battlefields of Syria and
spreading across the Middle East.
By Laurie Garrett
As the
annual hajj came to its end in early October, and hundreds of
thousands of pilgrims departed Saudi Arabia having honored the highest
traditions of Islam, the kingdom cautiously breathed a sigh of relief: No epidemic erupted among the roughly 1.4 million visitors. But though it may have seemed that
attentions were focused on concern over the possible spread of the Middle East
respiratory syndrome MERS -- a disease that has affected more than 135 people
in eight countries, killing 45 percent of those infected -- for months
Saudi health authorities have been keeping a nervous eye on another disease,
polio, which is spreading rapidly across the Middle East, most recently inside
war-torn Syria.
Though Saudi
Arabia has been polio-free for decades, its Ministry of the Hajj has always
borne special responsibility for the health and safety of all religious
pilgrims to the holy city of Mecca. In Muslim tradition Crown Prince
Abdullah, himself, is the custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, accountable for any
tragedies that befall sacred visitors.
Given the
intense religious significance of Saudi Arabia's responsibilities, all possible
disease outbreaks among pilgrims are a concern for the government. But it has
been a long time since the Ministry of the Hajj had to take a position that
stands diametrically opposite to the stance held by some followers of the
faith: when it came to polio, the Kingdom stood firmly against Muslim
extremism. This year, the ministry insisted that all pilgrims be fully
immunized against polio, and bring proof of vaccination as part of their visa
application process. Given that Muslim extremists -- the Taliban and some
al-Qaeda adherents -- oppose polio vaccination, and have executed immunizers,
the Saudi position was gutsy.
Whether it
was successful, however, we'll have to wait and see. The hajj has ended, and
hundreds of thousands of pilgrims are now returning to their homelands all over
the world. Because the incubation time for polio can be as long as 35 days Saudi authorities will not be sure that their
measures worked until mid-November.
Nonetheless,
it's clear that polio -- which just two years ago was on the verge of
eradication, with active cases confined to just three countries -- is
resurgent, and the news is grim.
For the first
time in 16 years, wild polio viruses are spreading in war-torn Syria, causing paralysis in afflicted children. On
Oct. 19, the regime's Ministry of Public Health declared a polio emergency and
the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed a "hot
outbreak" that is actively expanding around Damascus. In the last
week, polio cases have been identified in Ethiopia, Somalia, and among about a
dozen Somali refugees in Kenya. As of Oct. 16, the number of 2013 active polio cases found in
the three "endemic nations" (Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria) are
far outnumbered by the toll in new outbreaks outside those countries: 99
children have contracted the disease in endemic nations, versus 197 in outbreak
areas like the Horn of Africa, which had been free of polio. And in
mid-October the United Nations Security Council called upon Khartoum and
Juba to carry out mass vaccination campaigns after three cases of polio were
found in the new nation of South Sudan.
Polio is not
a mysterious disease -- how it is spread among people and the role vaccination
can play in its prevention are well understood. The world has struggled for
decades to eradicate polio -- a global effort that has cost billions of dollars
and millions of man hours. Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates added his
weight and wealth to the polio campaign a few years ago, noting this summerthat, "We're raising the money to
get it done by 2018. When these problems leave the rich world, they're out of
sight, out of mind.... Polio is where we have a very concrete plan. It's
raising $5.5 billion -- of which the [Bill & Melinda Gates] Foundation
is going to give $1.8 billion. If we get credibility from the polio
success, we can be more articulate about a malaria or measles elimination
plan."
But politics
and religion can foil even the best technology and financing.
Victory seemed near in 2011 when vaccination coverage reached
levels sufficient in most of the world to stop spread of the virus (which
typically occurs through fecal transmission from infected individuals into
water supplies or via close contact with others). By early 2011, polio was
confined to Pakistan, northern Nigeria, and Afghanistan -- all areas in which
distrust of government and Western health services in Muslim communities was high.
Backed by the Rotary Club International, Gates, and the Global Alliance of
Vaccine Initiatives (GAVI), health officials worked closely with leadingimams worldwide to assuage fears about immunization and
counter false claims that the vaccines would either sterilize children or give
them AIDS. The WHO was finally full of optimism about the polio fight.
But that
summer, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency narrowed its 10-year search for
Osama bin Laden to a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. In hopes of confirming
bin Laden's presence behind the compound's fortifications, American recruited
Pakistani physician Dr. Shakil Afridi to carry out a fake hepatitis B
immunization effort in the area. The scheme called for Afridi to gain entry to
the compound, needle-immunize the children inside, and bring the used syringes
to CIA operatives for DNA identification of the youngsters. Afridi never
managed to get permission from the compound's sentries, and the effort failed.
When the CIA
scheme was reported in July 2011 by the Guardian, it spurred outcry from public health leaders
(myself included)
regarding the peril posed by linking the agency's efforts to already
politically sensitive vaccination campaigns. Horribly, the backlash unfolded as
we had predicted. Today, polio is spreading in Somalia and
Pakistan in areas where Taliban and other Islamist extremist groups have
managed to contort the entire CIA/hepatitis saga: Collusion in immunization
efforts is, they claim, tantamount to supporting the CIA, U.S. drone attacks,
and a laundry list of other perceived American sins against Islam. Never mind
that the polio vaccine is oral, no needles are used, and the Afridi/CIA scheme was
all about those needles -- the "Big Lie" has spread. To date,
extremists in Pakistan have waged countless attacks on polio immunization
workers -- most of them, unpaid female volunteers -- and their security
details, killing at least 20 of them since December 2012, and injuring
many more in bomb, knifing, and gun assaults.
The Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia this summer issued unique health requirements for umrah and
hajj pilgrims hoping to avoid spread of disease, after the WHO in May called
upon all travelers worldwide to get vaccinated. Among them was insistence on
polio vaccination, including a requirement of valid certification from local
health authorities. Which meant that those waging attacks on polio vaccinators
(allegedly in the name of Islam), could not engage in the religion's most holy
ritual unless they could prove that they were fully immunized.
But the
Islamic world now faces a genuine crisis with polio, as radical factions
continue to attack vaccinators and decry immunization as a dangerous Western
scheme. The full extent of the Somali outbreak is not known, as foreign health
professionals now find the country too dangerous. Even the die-hard war zone
physicians of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) gave up on Somalia in Augustciting the deteriorating
security atmosphere. MSF workers have suffered stolen medical supplies,
kidnappings, violence of all kinds, and other atrocities. The organization's
departure left Somalia's health system in a shambles, undermining an already
fragile network of public health clinics that had served as the primary centers
of child vaccination. The United Nation's child health program, UNICEF,
distributes vaccine supplies to Somalia, but has pulled its personnel back to
Kenya. (Somali refugees have carried the virus into Kenya and Ethiopia.) And
since June, when al-Shabab attacked a U.N. complex in Mogadishu, there has been
a steady outflow from the country of both humanitarian organizations and Somali
refugees. Last month's al-Shabab attack on a Nairobi shopping mall has further
cemented belief that the nation's security situation is unraveling, putting all
forms of public health -- including polio control -- in a tailspin.
Across the
Arab Spring regions of the Middle East, the public health situations have
spiraledout of control, with outbreaks and
failed vaccination efforts noted this year from Morocco to the Iranian borders,
Alexandria to Lake Victoria.
And now, some
seven million Syrians are now displaced, scattered across Syrian territory and
neighboring nations of Turkey, Kurd-controlled Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan. At
least 1 million of them are children under 12 years of age, according to
UNICEF. Inside Syria, the public health situation has deteriorated so markedly
that the population is now beset by the return of most vaccine-preventable
diseases, including measles, hepatitis B, whooping cough, and polio. More than
a third of the nation's hospitals have been bombed to smithereens, another 20 percent have
sustained sufficient damage to render them useless, and some 15,000 health
professionals have fled the nation. On Sept. 15, a group of doctors and Nobel
laureates issued a plea to the world, saying Syria's healthcare was "at the breaking point."
This month, Jordan will launch a
costly national child immunization program to stop the spread of measles and
polio from the encampments of Syrian refugees to the rest of the nation. Lebanon and Turkey are
anxiously watching as the Syrian refugee populations within their borders swell
to the point of bursting and illnesses spread. For Lebanon, the situation is
especially dire: not only does the added Syrian population increase the
country's human population by 25 percent, but
it brings with it many of the same factions and disputes that were behind
Lebanon's bloody civil war in the 1980s. And Israel, which has been conducting
a mass immunization campaign, vaccinating approximately
850,000 children since August 2013 -- when polio viruses were discovered in sewer systems located in several parts of the
country -- is far from completing its efforts on this front.
Indeed, the
core of the polio crisis remains in radical Islamist areas of Pakistan and
these attacks on immunizers have been brutal, security details have been unable
to protect themselves, much less the healthcare workers, and there is
discussion of issuing a global travel advisory regarding the dangers of contracting
polio in the country.
The Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia practices Sharia law, under Sunni Wahabbi interpretations. As
the home of the Islamic world's most sacred sites, and birthplace of the
Prophet Mohammed, Saudi Arabia can set standards for Muslims worldwide. Having
issued a decree over the summer calling upon all pilgrims to the hajj to
demonstrate they had received valid polio immunization, authorities took an
important step: Riyadh signaled that regardless of what shenanigans Afridi and
the CIA were involved in two years ago, protecting children from permanent
paralysis merits support for vaccination. We can only hope that the Saudi
health decree will be heard and heeded across the Muslim world -- before it is
too late and polio spreads to under-vaccinated regions of Africa, Asia, perhaps
even Europe. Given the shocking decline in child immunization compliance across
much of Europe and the United Kingdom, driven by false claims that vaccines
cause autism, many children may be especially vulnerable were polio to be
reintroduced to the region.
Syria: The shocking truth
 |
| Free Syria Army rebels murder young children with hammer |
By
Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey
Luckily
for President Obama, President Putin is an experienced politician, a seasoned
diplomat, an honest statesman and a responsible player of the international
community who does not spend his time cavorting with terrorists to destabilize
countries and who does not stage false flag operations with his special forces
to create excuses for war.
Luckily
for President Obama, President Putin was astute enough to provide him with a
ladder to start climbing down after a pathetic display of sabre-rattling more
befitting of a ten-year-old squeaking threats from a tree-top at his neighbor
before running inside sniveling to mommy upon being stung by a wasp.
However
this is not a laughing matter and the more we look, the more we see the dark
cloud looming on the horizon, a cloud which incriminates the Obama regime in
Washington as it promises to uncover the lies, skullduggery and sheer
dishonesty behind the failed campaign to attack Syria... because the policy to
back the Syrian opposition terrorists was failing.
Firstly
let us take a look at the "evidence" Obama and Kerry were peddling.
For a start, John Kerry makes his mark under Peter's Principle as a failed
Presidential candidate. As a diplomat and statesman, as US Secretary of State,
he is either an incompetent jackass or else he is a barefaced, blatant liar,
either case rendering him totally unfit for the job.
One
of the photos he was waving around as evidence to incriminate President
Al-Assad was taken in Iraq in 2003. Remember Colin Powell's lies? It seems to
be a question of which US Secretary of State can lie the most.
Secondly
let us examine the photographic evidence being used by Obama to underline his
failed military strike campaign. The United Nations Human Rights Council has
apparently confirmed what Russia has been saying all along, that videos and
photographs apparently showing victims of a chemical attack in Ghouta on August
21 were fabricated. International experts had presented their evidence to the
XXIV Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on September 9.
The
same evidence has confirmed suspicions that the ones using chemical weapons
that night were indeed the terrorists supported by the West.
Thirdly,
the USA was made aware in 2012 by the Iranian Foreign Ministry that the Syrian
terrorists were in possession of chemical weapons, so John Kerry's statement
they were not is another blatant lie. There are also photographs of the
western-backed Syrian terrorists firing such weaponry from artillery pieces.
Fourthly,
and here is the bombshell, reports of hacked emails supposedly sent among US
military officials show that the USA was not only aware of, but possibly privy
to, such chemical weapons strikes, which were described as a "successful
operation" and which apparently reveal that the video evidence of children
was staged by US intelligence.
Fifthly,
Obama hid behind these images of children, so where are the images of Syrian
soldiers caught up in this attack and where are the images of the Syrian rescue
services caught up in this attack? What would US firefighters think if someone
armed terrorists and instigated an attack against them?
Sixthly,
Obama's claims that this is the first use of chemical weapons this century is
baloney. The first use of chemical weapons was in Kosovo and later, on a
massive scale, Iraq. The horrific birth defects centred on Fallujah General
Hospital and other hospitals especially in Anbar Governorate, apart from other
regions in Iraq, have been exposed in a recent campaign launched by Dr. Samira
Alaani, a pediatrician, who reveals that for every 1,000 live births in Iraq
there are 144 babies born with deformities. The problem is growing worse as
time goes on. She calls for the research undertaken by the Iraqi Health
Ministry and the World Health organization to be released. It was promised at
the beginning of 2013. It is now September 12. Where is it?
Seventhly,
why did the Syrian "Revolution" begin exactly when the huge natural
gas field was destroyed off Syria's coast?
Eighthly
why does the Islamic cleric who launched this revolution in Dera'a now live in
Benghazi, Libya?
Ninthly,
several movements have been launched for the Nobel Peace Prize to be taken away
from President Obama who since he received it has launched his forces illegally
into Libya, which was an act of intrusion forbidden under international law, he
has increased the number of murderous cowardly drone strikes, Guantanamo Bay
concentration and torture camp remains operating despite his lies and now in
Syria the USA is unanimous with supporting Islamist terrorists.
Moral:
President Obama does not have a leg to stand on in his neo-conservative elitist
dream to take Syria by force and install a US-friendly regime to give the USA
control over the country's resources before the upcoming attacks against
Lebanon and Iran.
An American nobody
 |
| John McCain |
Dear Mr.
Sudakov, President Putin and the People of Russia,
My name is
Bridgette.
I live in the
United States of America.
I work a lot,
raise my daughter on my own, smoke too much, talk too loud, wear my pajamas all
day when I am home, and love staying at nice hotels when I have some
extra money.
I am a
nobody. No one special and not very important to anyone but my dog most days.
I also a
nobody who is not afraid to stand up when people like John McCain and Butch
McKeon falsely claim to speak on my behalf so please allow me to speak for
myself.
When we heard
of President Obama's "red line", American's fought hard against our
leaders in Washington, DC. According to our congressmen and women, their
phone's were flooded with calls 10 to 1 against any action in Syria, with the
exception of humanitarian aid. I believe the American voice has never been so
strong and so loud so our politicians and President had no choice but to stand
down.
President
Putin, who is obviously very sharp, saw the strength and the rationale of our
people in action and very respectfully addressed us personally via the NYT.
Despite DC's phony posturing, we got it. We understand his comment on
exceptionalism. It is good we all strive for exceptionalism, but it is never
good to think ourselves exceptional.
For President Putin's respect and intelligence, I am grateful.
For President Putin's respect and intelligence, I am grateful.
Our leaders,
however, resorted to and responded with lies, insults, and childish
name-calling. For this I am very sorry. Mr. McCain not only insulted the
President of russia but the Russian people as well by thinking you are foolish
enough to believe his tirade. Don't feel too bad or alone, we get a daily dose
from him and DC everyday. If the stakes weren't so high we could all sit back,
grab a beer and enjoy the show together but unfortunately he is name calling
like a child during a very dangerous time for us all.
John McCain
states that he is more pro-Russian than "the regime who misrules the
Russian people today". He can say a lot of things of President putin, but
your President's unyielding love for his Country is obvious to all.
Strike one
Mr. McCain.
He then
rambles on, "I believe you (The Russian People) should live according to
the dictates of your conscience, not your government's". I suppose he
forgot the overwhelming majority of calls to the House and Senate (99%
according to Congressmen themselves) on Syria were against any US action
yet he still insists on war. Please repeat yourself Mr. McCain.
Possibly the
best..."President Putin terrorizes and even assassinates those who oppose
him". Edward Snowden Mr. McCain? You remember, The young man you want dead
or in solitary for life for exposing your treasonous corruption?
Strike two
and three Mr. McCain.
John McCain
also refers to President Putin's time in the "evil" KGB. I wonder if
he is aware of the USA's CIA, FBI, NSA and Military special operatives. Maybe
he thinks the men he sent to Benghazi in September of 2012 were passing out
lollipops to the Syrian rebels. Maybe that's why our leaders ordered our
Military to stand down as they watched our men being slaughtered in real
time....they wanted to send purple lollipops instead of the red one's to the
'rebels'. Sarcasm aside, The US has much blood on our hands.
Strike four.
I love my
Country and it pains my heart to know how compelled I am to publicly call to
light the lies of a fellow American, but my heart would be more broken if I did
not. I can walk around or over a small mound of lies, but cannot see past the
mountain of untruth's blocking my entrance to Washington, DC.
John McCain's
words are so disrespectful and so full of arrogance on every level, I am
ashamed to be grouped in his rant. I cannot apologize for another's actions as
I cannot control anyone else, but I hope Russia understands that this American
does not stand behind those in DC who falsely speak for me.
I try not
speak for others but I did take a look at Senator McCain's facebook page today
where He bragged about his op-ed in Pravda. he promptly got a good old American
smack-down in just about every response left concerning his ridiculous rant.
Russia, you
are a strong Country. Your President did well for you and is leading with
dignity. I hope you have all the successes personally, and as a Sovereign
Nation, that you absolutely deserve.
Thank you for
your time,
Bridgette
An American nobody
An American nobody
Syria: The Faces Behind The Terror
 |
| Syrian rebels opens the skul of a baby with machete |
By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich
In her extraordinarily bold and direct speech
addressed to the Irish Parliament, Clare Daly (TD, Dublin North) called Obama a
“war criminal”and “hypocrite of the century”.
In describing the fawned reception of Obama in
Ireland akin to pimping and prostituting of that nation, Ms. Daly hit the nail
on the head. Sadly, America dwarfs Ireland and elsewhere in the undignified
category of prostitution – the 29 standing ovations from Congress in May 2011
for war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu attests to this tragic fact.
While Daly was quite right in censuring Obama for
his criminal policies, including aiding terrorists in Syria, it is worthwhile
noting that Obama is merely a willing instrument; the faces and factors behind
his handlers and the policies merit greater scrutiny and exposure.
Backing and arming the so-called Syrian opposition
distracts from the threat posed by Israel and its expansionist agenda by
internalizing the enemy in order to weak the State. As former Israeli
Intelligence Chief, Amos Yaldin told the audience at the Israel Policy Forum in
February 2013:
“And this military [Syrian], which is a huge threat
to Israel , is now also weakening and, in a way, disintegrating. We still have
risk from Syria– a risk of being an AlQaeda country, a Somalia-type country —
but from military point of view, each one of these are less dangerous than the
Syrian regular army.”
Perpetuating adversaries to kill each other is a
time-tested tactic – one which was used during the bloody eight year Iran-Iraq
war; a war which according to Leon Wieseltier[i]was a “distraction” when Israeli
boots were on the ground in Southern Lebanon. In that war, the United States
was providing arms and intelligence to both sides. When asked what the logic
was in aiding both sides in the bloody war, a former official replied: “You had
to have been there”[ii]. But why Syria ?
The Need for Water
The primary goal of the early Zionist leadership
was to control and secure the region’s waters. At the Paris Peace Conference of
1919, Chaim Weizmann declared that ‘it was of vital importance not only to
secure all water resources feeding the country, but to control them at the
sources – and the development of these waters became the primary aim of the
Yishuv as a whole[iii]. This policy remained in place. As Israel ’s third Prime
Minister Levi Eshkol put it, water was “the blood flowing through the arteries
of the nation”.
As previously stated (Here and Here), the chaos we
witness in Syria today has been in the making for years with the aid and
backing of Israel-firsters in order to accommodate Israel’s agenda – expansion
and control of regional water supplies while weakening its adversary/ies.
Israel faced one of its worst droughts in 1990-91.
A second more serious drought in 1998, forced it to turn to water rich Turkey .
Turkey and Israel engaged in serious negotiations starting in May 2000 to
import 50 billion cubic meters of fresh water from Turkey using tanker ships,
but using tankers was not cost effective for the transport of water. Alternate
plans were suggested.
In September 2000, the same year that young Bashar-al
Assad succeeded his father as President of Syria, a strategy paper entitled
“The Geopolitics of Water” by the Institute for Advanced Strategic and
Political Studies (IASPS) opined that “Since extensive water planning proposals
will necessitate the establishment of pipelines and energy grids stretching
across borders, a political and military structure that can ensure the safety
and security of the carriers will be the prerequisite to effective water
sharing” ….. “But an effective regional system would require political-military
cooperation against Syria ”.
How to achieve this?
Israeli-Firsters to the rescue
Media mogul Haim Saban became involved in politics
in the mid 1990’s with a view to support Israel . Saban professes that his
greatest concern is the“protection” of Israel . At a conference in Israel ,
Saban described his method of influencing American politics : ‘Make donations
to political parties, establish think tanks, and control media outlets’. (Saban
penned an opinion piece in The New York Times in support of President Obama in
his 2012 re-election bid).
It was no surprised therefore that in 2002, Saban
pledged $13 million to start a research organization at the Brookings
Institution called the Saban Center for Middle East Policy. Saban Center would
play an important role in propping up Syrian opposition (as it did in
fermenting unrest post-2009 Iran elections with their June 2009 publication
titled: “Which Path to Persia ? Options for a New American Strategy Towards
Iran “[1]). In 2006, Time Magazine revealed that that the US had been
agitating, funding, and supporting “opposition” in Syria . According to the
Time, the U.S. was “supporting regular meetings of internal and diaspora Syrian
activists” in Europe . The document bluntly expresses the hope that “these
meetings will facilitate a more coherent strategy and plan of actions for all
anti-Assad activists.”
It is worthwhile mentioning here that America ’s
support of the so-called “opposition” which includes criminals, terrorists, and
foreign fighters to effect regime change underscores America ’s stark
hypocrisy. According to 18 USC § 2385 -Advocating overthrow of Government
(Cornell Law), advocating the overthrow of the government, ‘organizing or help
or attempt to organize any society, group, or assembly of persons who teach,
advocate, or encourage the overthrow or destruction of the government of the
United States or the government of any political subdivision therein, by force
or violence’bears serious consequences including fines and prison sentence of
up to 20 years.
What is most revealing about the abovementioned
Time Magazine piece of 2006 is that America ’s efforts to aid the opposition
and undermine Assad were run through a foundation operated by Amar Abdulhamid,
a Washington-based member of a Syrian umbrella opposition group known as the
National Salvation Front (NSF). Abdulhamid was a visiting Fellow at the Saban
Center (2004-2006) before moving on to the Neocon-run National Defense of
Democracies.
When in 2008, Israel-firster Dennis Ross met with
the “opposition” to discuss “Syria in Transition”, Saban’s fellow – Amar
Abdullhamid was present. In February 2009, Dennis Ross joined the Obama
Administration team. In April 2009, the US funded, London-based Baraada TV
started its anti-Assad propaganda into Syria (The epicenter of the uprisings’
was Baraada over water distribution). Baraada TV’s chief editor, Malik
al-Abdeh, is a cofounder of the Syrian exile group Movement for Justice and
Development headed by Anas al-Abdah who was in attendance at the 2008 meeting
with Dennis Ross.
It came as no surprise that John McCain who was a
member of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI) formed to rid Iraq of
Saddam Hossein, and a cheerleader for the Libya intervention, the Egyptian
opposition to Mubarak, for bombing Iran, and so on…..visited Syrian
“opposition” (via Turkey) in order to encourage more bloodshed. And expectedly,
he was de-briefed — not at the White House, but at the Saban Center!
Soon after McCain’s presentation at the Saban Center
, the White House disputed UN’s account and claimed that that Syria had crossed
the ‘red line’ and used chemical weapons.
It is not the intention of this article to exclude
the plethora of other individuals, think tanks, forums, and media pundits who
have institutionalized Israel’s policies and promoted them as ‘America’s
interests’; these are too numerous to mention here. However, a notable other
Israel supporter must be named.
The
Evangelical Factor
While various groups in Washington perpetuate and
support Israel ’s aggressive and expansionist policies — at a cost to America ,
non have the zeal and the zest of the Evangelicals who support Israel to death.
According to the dispensational model, a time of turmoil lies ahead, but
believers will be “raptured” away before it begins. This period of tribulation
will culminate in the final battle at Armageddon, a valley northwest of
Jerusalem .
The close association between American evangelicals
and Israel has been a clear goal of Israeli politicians, especially those in
the Likud party. According to Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum of AJC, “the evangelical
community is the largest and fastest-growing bloc of pro-Jewish sentiment in
this country”[iv]. Israel and Jewish organizations continue to rely on the
support of Evangelicals to justify Israel ’s occupation of Arab land even as
Christian Zionists zest for evangelizing Jews remains a point of tension.
For example, within days of the June 1982 invasion
of Lebanon (with a green light from Reagan), full-page ads appeared in leading
papers requesting Evangelical support for the invasion[v]. In 1998, when
Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington , he met with Jerry Falwell and numerous
fundamentalist Christians before meeting with President Clinton. Similarly, as
recently as April 2013, Pat Robertson warned that brokering peace between
Israel and Palestine would bring punishment on America.
It has been alleged that funds raised in America by
right wing Christians is funneled to West Bank settlements. The mayor of Ariel
on the West Bank had estimated that two thirds of all Jewish settlements were
funded by Christian Zionists.[vi]
Building for Armageddon?
While Evangelicals (not all) are rupture-ready and
encourage Israel ’s expansionist agenda, Israeli politicians are not yet
Armageddon-ready; at least, not yet.
In March 2013, Business Insider revealed that the
United States is spending hundreds of millions of dollars building bunkers in
Israel due to be completed 900 days from February 13, 2013. The project called
Site 911 “will have five levels buried underground and six additional
outbuildings on the above grounds, within the perimeter. At about 127,000
square feet, the first three floors will house classrooms, an auditorium, and a
laboratory — all wedged behind shock resistant doors — with radiation
protection and massive security. Only one gate will allow workers entrance and
exit during the project and that will be guarded by only Israelis”.
Each door of the facility will have a detailed
description of the mezuzahs written in“in-erasable ink”.
This should be heartwarming news to Americans whose
taxes are spent on such projects while the bridges at home are crumbling.
The Future
The political establishment and the media has
pimped out the nation. The list of conflicts awaiting us is long and bloody.
Syria will not be the last conflict. This has been
a brief and incomplete overview of what drives our nation, and where we are
headed, the handlers and the willing instruments (in the words of Clare Daly,
pimps and prostitutes).
We continue to sink our head in sand and hope for a
hero – for ‘something to happen’. There is only one hope for the future, and
the only one power that can alter this destructive path: “We, The People".
