position:operative

US drone strikes being used as alternative to Guantánamo, lawyer says- http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/02/us-drone-strikes-guantanamo

The lawyer who first drew up White House policy on lethal drone strikes has accused the Obama administration of overusing them because of its reluctance to capture prisoners that would otherwise have to be sent to Guantánamo Bay.

John Bellinger, who was responsible for drafting the legal framework for targeted drone killings while working for George W Bush after 9/11, said he believed their use had increased since because President Obama was unwilling to deal with the consequences of jailing suspected al-Qaida members.

“This government has decided that instead of detaining members of al-Qaida [at Guantánamo] they are going to kill them,” he told a conference at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Le petit jeu idiot qui circule en ce moment sur les réseaux sociaux : opposer l’arrestation de Michel Samaha (hier) à la libération de Shadi Mawlawi (fin mai), lui aussi accusé de terrorisme (mais dans « l’autre » sens). Ce qui revient à jouer la carte confessionnelle (du genre : le sunnite dingue est libéré, l’ancien ministre chrétien est humilié). Bon sang que c’est dangereusement bête…

Pour mémoire :
http://www.lbcgroup.tv/news/30626/who-is-shadi-mawlawi

Investigations into the case of Shadi Mawlawi have not yet proven that the detainee maintains any organizational link with al-Qaeda despite his support for the organization and its ideology and despite his online interaction with people in Afghanistan. The investigation was also not able to say with certainty that Mawlawi was in the process of plotting terrorist acts on Lebanese territory. However, they only revealed that the detainee supports rebels in Syria and went to Syria several times to take part in combat operations or to deliver funds.    

25-year-old Shadi Mawlawi, who was imprisoned for his Islamist links, is still detained by the military judiciary along with a Jordanian citizen suspected of being a member of al-Qaeda.

Historical Dynamics & contingent conditions of #religion | Gene Expression | Discover Magazine
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/08/historical-dynamics-and-contingent-conditions-of-religion

Many cognitive psychologists have observed that universal religions often result in fictive kinship. Note here that the important point is not the propensity toward supernatural belief; that’s modal human cognition. Rather, it is the specific theological and institutional character of a religious organization which allows them to successfully compete with other “firms,” and if theautocatalytic dynamics are dominant these will result in the extinction of “weaker” religious organizations in the face of “stronger” ones over time via the choice of individual actors along the filaments of a social network.

Exactly Which “Terror Plots” Are Relevant to the Bulgarian Bombing?
http://www.fpif.org/blog/exactly_which_terror_plots_are_relevant_to_the_bulgarian_bombing

So an arrest of a “suspected” Hezbollah operative who is “suspected” of a plan to kill Israeli tourists is the equivalent of an actual terrorist attack that has killed Israeli tourists? Bibi Netanyahu talked about the case on Fox News Sunday as though the Lebanese man arrested in Cyprus had done everything that was done in Burgas except actually detonate the bomb. So has the Israeli press.

But as I reported earlier this week, the Cyprus case is far murkier than Netanyahu and those U.S. officials have been suggesting. A senior Cypriot official told Reuters, “It is not clear what, or whether, there was a target in Cyprus.” Furthermore, the Cypriot investigators believe the Lebanese they suspected of planning to harm Israeli tourists was acting alone, which doesn’t make it sound like a Hezbollah operation at all. And perhaps most significant of all, there has no sign of a bomb or even of materials with which to make a bomb in conjunction with the Lebanese detainee. The Cypriot government has not yet decided whether there is enough evidence to prosecute the man on any violation of Cypriot laws.

Lanny Breuer — USDOJ’s Assistant Attorney General — Alleged Lack of Integrity Source (Yet Again) of Even Greater Concern Amid Newest Revelations Involving Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Ophelia Basgal — Board Member of CaliforniaALL

TLR has learned that a recent abrupt move by a politically-connected litigation boutique firm is the subject of an intense and comprehensive examination that the septet of James Brosnahan, Tony West, Chris Young, Annette Carnegie, Ophelia Basgal, Judy Johnson, and Jeff Bleich was somehow involved in improperly transferring money from Cal Bar Foundation to Barack Obama’s coffers.

As matters presently stand, prima facie evidence creates the appearance of a sophisticated financial scheme executed in 2008 involving Democratic party operatives James Brosnahan of Morrison & Foerster, Jeffrey Bleich of Munger Tulles & Olson (the current U.S. Ambassador to Australasia and friend of President Obama), Assistant Attorney General Derek Anthony West (aka Tony West), and Chris Young, as well as others to misuse the $780,000 originating from the California Bar Foundation.

According to the sources, in 2007-2008:

–James Brosnahan, the self proclaimed “mastermind behind the Democratic Party” (and former prosecutor of Caspar Weinberger), while associated with Morrison & Foerster executed from behind the scenes a scheme known as CaliforniaALL, which collected “hush-hush” sub rosa funds totaling approximately $780,000 from the Foundation of the State Bar of California.

–Chris Young, while associated with Morrison & Foerster, served as Barack Obama’s Northern California Deputy Finance Director.

–Tony West, while associated with Morrison & Foerster, served as Barack Obama’s California Co-Chair of the California Finance Committee.

–Susan MacCormac, while associated with Morrison & Foerster, legally created the entity known as CaliforniaALL and served as its legal counsel.

–Annette Carnegie, while associated with Morrison & Foerster, served as a board member of the California Bar Foundation during the period of the sub rosa transfer of the above-referenced $780,000.

–Jeffrey Bleich, while associated with Munger Tolles & Olsen, served as a member of both the Board of Governors and the California Bar Foundation’s board during the period of the sub rosa transfer of $780,000. Bleich is a friend of President Obama who presently serves as the U.S. Ambassador to Australia. Verizon Communications (which heavily contributed to CaliforniaALL) is a client of Munger Tules & Olson, where Bleich serves as partner.

Please continue @:
http://lesliebrodie.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/lanny-breuer-usdojs-assistant-attorney-general-alleged-lack-

Betsy Andreu and Frankie Andreu Hereby Ask To Comment on Prima Facie Showing Keker & Van Nest’s Chris Young and USDOJ’s Tony West Part of Financial Scheme Rendering West Susceptible to Extortion by Lance Armstorng ‘s Legal Team of Keker & Van Nest

Please see story @:

http://lesliebrodie.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/betsy-andreu-and-frankie-andreu-hereby-ask-to-comment-on-pri

USFDA’s Jeff Novitzky — Investigator of Seven-time Tour de France Lance Armstrong — Hereby Ask to To Comment on Prima Facie Showing Keker & Van Nest’s Chris Young and USDOJ’s Tony West Part of Financial Scheme Rendering West Compromised.

Please see article @:
http://lesliebrodie.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/usfdas-jeff-novitzky-investigator-of-seven-time-tour-de-fran

AND ALSO @:

http://tinyurl.com/USDOJTONYWEST

Jeff Bleich (Friend of Barack Obama – U.S. Ambassador To Australia – California Bar Foundation Board Member – Munger Tolles & Olsen Partner) Asked Comment on Prime Facie Showing of Conspiracy to Embezzle $780,000 from Cal Bar Foundation Involving Himself, DOJ’s Tony West, Keker & Van Nest’s Chris Young, MoFo’s James Brosnahan to Embezzle $780,000 from Cal Bar Foundation, vis-a-vis Sham Non-Profit Entity CaliforniaALL, to Election Campaign of Barack Obama.

Please see story @:

http://lesliebrodie.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/jeff-bleich-friend-of-barack-obama-u-s-ambassador-to-austral

Pierce O’Donnell Convicted of Crime Involving Moral Turpitude — Headed to Federal Prison; Remains Under Scrutiny in Scheme Involving Democratic Party Operatives Joe Dunn, Tom Girardi, Jim Brosnahan

As was reported HERE earlier, O’Donnel is still under extreme scrutiny in connection with the strong prima facie showing by which money
which was “laundered” through and/or misappropriated from the California Bar Foundation was used to launch “Voice of OC” — a newly-created online publication which State Bar of California Executive-Director Joe Dunn had launched with the help of Democratic Party operatives Thomas Girardi of Girardi & Keese and James Brosnahan of Morrison & Foerster.

Please see more @:
http://lesliebrodie.blog.co.uk/2012/03/24/pierce-o-donnell-convicted-of-crime-involving-moral-turpitude-h

KSFO’s Rabbi Daniel Lapin, Barbara Simpson, Brian Sussman Hereby Asked to Opine on Democratic Party Operative — Voice of OC’s Joe Dunn — Refusal to Abide by IRS Regulations

Please see @:

http://lesliebrodie.posterous.com/ksfos-rabbi-daniel-lapin-barbara-simpson-bria#

Bin Laden discovered ‘hiding in plain sight’ - The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/bin-laden-discovered-hiding-in-plain-sight/2011/05/02/AFEljUbF_story_1.html

A crucial break appears to have come on May 2, 2005, when Pakistani special forces arrested a senior al-Qaeda operative known as Abu Faraj al-Libbi, who had been designated bin Laden’s “official messenger” to others within the organization. Libbi was later turned over to the CIA and held at a “black site” prison where he was subjected to the harsh methods that the George W. Bush administration termed “enhanced interrogation techniques.”

L’administration américaine a le plaisir de vous fait savoir, par l’intermédiaire du Washington Post, que la torture légalisée par l’administration Bush, pratiquée dans des « sites noirs de la CIA », ça donne d’excellents résultats pour lutter contre le terrorisme.

#torture #ben_laden

Non, le grotesque n’est jamais (jamais) un obstacle.

Mossad to apologize to UK for using fake British passports - Ynetnews
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4004271,00.html

Incoming Mossad Chief Tamir Pardo is set to apologize to the British authorities for the use of forged British passports during the assassination of senior Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, the Telegraph reported.
 
According the report, Mossad sources told the newspaper that Pardo will promise that Israeli agents will never use fake British passports again.