organization:white house

Obama Golfed With Oil Men As Climate Protesters Descended On White House
▻http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/20/obama-climate-protest_n_2719338.html

WASHINGTON — On the same weekend that 40,000 people gathered on the Mall in Washington to protest construction of the Keystone Pipeline — to its critics, a monument to carbon-based folly — President Obama was golfing in Florida with a pair of Texans who are key oil, gas and pipeline players.

Obama has not shied away from supporting domestic drilling, especially for relatively clean natural gas, but in his most recent State of the Union speech he stressed the urgency of addressing climate change by weaning the country and the world from dependence on carbon-based fuels.

“We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy and the most severe drought in decades and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence,” Obama said in the speech, last week. “Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science — and act before it’s too late.”

But on his first “guys weekend" away since he was reelected, the president chose to spend his free time with Jim Crane and Milton Carroll, leading figures in the Texas oil and gas industry, along with other men who run companies that deal in the same kinds of carbon-based services that Keystone would enlarge.

Beltway Foreign Policy - NYTimes.com
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/19/opinion/global/roger-cohen-the-end-of-foreign-policy.html

“IT is not going too far to say that American foreign policy has become completely subservient to tactical domestic political considerations.”

This stern verdict comes from Vali Nasr, who spent two years working for the Obama administration before becoming dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. In a book called “The Dispensable Nation,” to be published in April, Nasr delivers a devastating portrait of a first-term foreign policy that shunned the tough choices of real diplomacy, often descended into pettiness, and was controlled “by a small cabal of relatively inexperienced White House advisers.”

Nasr, one of the most respected American authorities on the Middle East, served as senior adviser to Richard Holbrooke, Obama’s special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan until his death in December 2010. From that vantage point, and later as a close observer, Nasr was led to the reluctant conclusion that the principal aim of Obama’s policies “is not to make strategic decisions but to satisfy public opinion.”

Et maintenant, la couverture américaine. Tu m’étonnes qu’Israël viole le droit international à chaque fois que possible :
▻http://news.yahoo.com/us-warns-syria-not-transfer-weapons-hezbollah-052920656.html

In the warning, White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said ’Syria should not further destabilise the region by transferring weaponry to Hezbollah.’

#wag_the_dog

U.S. Plans Base for Surveillance Drones in Africa - NYTimes.com
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/29/us/us-plans-base-for-surveillance-drones-in-northwest-africa.html?nl=todayshea

For now, officials say they envision flying only unarmed surveillance drones from the base, though they have not ruled out conducting missile strikes at some point if the threat worsens.

(…)

If the base is approved, the most likely location for it would be in Niger, a largely desert nation on the eastern border of Mali. The American military’s Africa Command, or Africom, is also discussing options for the base with other countries in the region, including Burkina Faso, officials said.

(…)

The plan could face resistance from some in the White House who are wary of committing any additional American forces to a fight against a poorly understood web of extremist groups in North Africa.

If approved, the base could ultimately have as many as 300 United States military and contractor personnel, but it would probably begin with far fewer people than that, military officials said.

Some Africa specialists expressed concern that setting up a drone base in Niger or in a neighboring country, even if only to fly surveillance missions, could alienate local people who may associate the distinctive aircraft with deadly attacks in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen.

Évidemment, les incultes locaux vont tout de suite confondre des Predators pas (encore) armés avec les Predators qui effectuent les frappes ciblées sur des « terroristes islamistes » au Pakistan, en Somalie et au Yemen. (Bizarre l’Afghanistan n’est pas mentionné.)

#drone

White House Raises ’We the People’ Signature Threshold to 100,000, Leaving Only a Single Response-Eliciting Petition on the Site
▻http://gawker.com/5976366/white-house-raises-we-the-people-signature-threshold-to-100000-leaving-only-

Late yesterday, the White House announced that it was raising the threshold of signatures needed to elicit a response through its “We the People” petition site to 100,000.

In its statement, the White House reminds Americans of the spin it put on the first threshold increase from 5,000 to 25,000 after just one month online: That the system’s popularity was “a good problem to have.”

[…]

Which would be fine, if there weren’t just one petition with over 100,000 signatures currently on the site

The Brennan nomination: A government of torturers and assassins - World Socialist Web Site

►http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/01/09/pers-j09.html

The Brennan nomination: A government of torturers and assassins

9 January 2013

“He has worked to embed our efforts in a strong legal framework,” President Barack Obama declared Monday during an appearance in the East Room of the White House. “He understands we are a nation of laws. In moments of debate and decision, he asks the tough question and he insists on high and rigorous standards.”

The president was describing his nominee as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, John Brennan, who currently serves as Obama’s homeland security and counterterrorism adviser. He also lauded Brennan’s “integrity” and “commitment to the values that define us as Americans.”

US #drone attacks ’counter-productive’, former Obama security adviser claims | World news | guardian.co.uk
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/07/obama-adviser-criticises-drone-policy

The United States’ use of drones is counter-productive, less effective than the White House claims, and is “encouraging a new arms race that will empower current and future rivals and lay the foundations for an international system that is increasingly violent”, according to a study by one of President Obama’s former security advisers.

Michael Boyle, who was on Obama’s counter-terrorism group in the run-up to his election in 2008, said the US administration’s growing reliance on drone technology was having “adverse strategic effects that have not been properly weighed against the tactical gains associated with killing terrorists”.

Civilian casualties were likely to be far higher than had been acknowledged, he said.

Obama proposes Social Security cuts - World Socialist Web Site

►http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/12/20/pers-d20.html
20 December 2012

Fiscal cliff talks get down to business

The cuts in Social Security and other critical social programs proposed Tuesday by the Obama White House as part of negotiations with House Speaker John Boehner over the so-called “fiscal cliff” mark a watershed in US social policy.

Obama has publicly proposed to cut future benefits for Social Security recipients, underlining the bipartisan agreement that the working class and the elderly, not Wall Street or the super-rich, must pay for the crisis of American capitalism.

U.S. Terrorism Agency to Tap a Vast Database of Citizens - WSJ.com
►http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324478304578171623040640006.html

Top U.S. intelligence officials gathered in the White House Situation Room in March to debate a controversial proposal. Counterterrorism officials wanted to create a government dragnet, sweeping up millions of records about U.S. citizens—even people suspected of no crime.

Et l’article complet sur Youhou :
►http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/u-terror-agency-tap-citizen-034700666.html

Over 25,000 Sign White House Petition to Build Death Star | NextMovie
►http://www.nextmovie.com/blog/white-house-petition-death-star

A real-life Imperial Death Star came one step closer to reality today when a petition on WhiteHouse.gov (via Buzzfeed) reached the necessary 25,000 signatures to get a response from the Obama administration.

Originally posted by “John D” in Longmont, Colorado in mid-November, it didn’t take long for the Emperor to sway enough citizens to sign it.

Nearly half of the US threatens to secede — RT
►http://rt.com/usa/news/us-secede-petition-government-540

As the saying goes: if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Some Americans upset with the results of Election Day don’t quite agree, and now residents from 20 states have filed petitions with the White House to secede from the country.

Russian P.M. Medvedev ‘Glad’ Romney Lost

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said he is glad the U.S. presidential election had not been won by “someone who considers Russia enemy number one,” according to the official Russian news agency — a clear reference to Mitt Romney.

Another top official expressed the same sentiment. Alexey Pushkov, chairman of the State Duma’s powerful international affairs committee, said on his Twitter account that it was good the White House would not be occupied by someone who regards Russia as “the enemy.”

Obama’s victory was “better for the outside world,” he said.

Medvedev and Pushkov were alluding to comments first made by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney last March, when he called Russia “our number one geopolitical foe.”

Romney at the time was criticizing Obama for suggesting to Medvedev that he would be willing to make concessions to Russia on missile defense in Europe during a second term in the White House.

“This is my last election,” Obama told the Russian. “After my election I have more flexibility.”

The day after Obama’s re-election, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated him on his win, invited Obama to visit Russia next year, and “expressed his hopes for continued constructive work together,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

The following day, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told an international conference in Moscow: “We hope that President Obama after his re-election will be more flexible on the issue of taking into account the opinions of Russia and others regarding a future configuration of NATO’s missile defense.”

Writing on his Facebook page in October, Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion and leader of an anti-Putin movement, said Obama’s so-called “reset” of relations with Moscow “has been a disaster, giving Putin everything he wants despite his support of the Iranian nuclear program, arming [President Hugo] Chavez in Venezuela, protecting murderous [President Bashar] Assad in Syria, and increasing crackdowns here in Russia.

“Romney was criticized for calling Russia the U.S.’s top geopolitical adversary, but he was correct – although he should have specified it is Putin, and not the Russian people, who oppose peace and cooperation with the West.”

US criticises Europe over ’failure’ to label Hezbollah a terrorist organisation
►http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/us-criticises-europe-over-failure-to-label-hezbollah-a-terrorist-orga

White House counterterrorism chief John O. Brennan said Friday that European failure to join the United States in designating the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah a terrorist organization is undermining international counterterrorism efforts.

“Let me be clear,” Brennan said in a speech in Dublin, European resistance “makes it harder to defend our countries and protect our citizens.”

CIA seeks to expand drone fleet, officials say - The Washington Post
►http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-seeks-to-expand-drone-fleet-officials-say/2012/10/18/01149a8c-1949-11e2-bd10-5ff056538b7c_story.html

The CIA is urging the White House to approve a significant expansion of the agency’s fleet of armed #drones, a move that would extend the spy service’s decade-long transformation into a paramilitary force, U.S. officials said.

Obama officials’ spin on Benghazi attack mirrors Bin Laden raid untruths | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/20/obama-officials-spin-benghazi-attack

For a full week now, administration officials have categorically insisted that the prime, if not only, cause of the attack was spontaneous anger over the anti-Muhammad film, The Innocence of Muslims.

(…) most evidence from the start strongly suggested that the White House’s claims – that this attack was motivated by anger over a film – were false. From McClatchy:

“The head of Libya’s interim government, key US lawmakers and experts contend that the attack appeared long-planned, complex and well-coordinated, matching descriptions given to McClatchy last week by the consulate’s landlord and a wounded security guard, who denied there was a protest at the time and said the attackers carried the banner of Ansar al-Shariah, an Islamist militia.”

Indeed, Libya’s president has spent the week publicly announcing that there is “no doubt” the attack was planned well in advance and had nothing to do with the video.

Nuns become soldiers in the battle for the White House – USATODAY.com
►http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2012-09-09/nuns-election-politics/57706952/1

“They live in the suburbs. They’re professionals and managers in corporations. Romney is one of their neighbors or reminds them of their boss, so they’re very comfortable for them,” Reese said, and they don’t just vote on Catholic values, but on their pocketbooks. That’s why such Catholics helped Romney, a Mormon, defeat former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, a conservative Catholic, in the Michigan primary and others.

#religion

Amérique latine Etats Unis Intervention militaire

Map of U.S. Intervention in Latin America

►https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/727/t/10867/shop/item.jsp?storefront_KEY=777&t&store_item_KEY=3657

The bilingual, union-printed Map of U.S. Intervention in Latin America shows historical evidence of persistent, oppressive U.S. foreign policy towards Latin America under Republican and Democratic administrations. The map conveys a powerful message: to create real change in U.S. foreign policy, it’ll take more than a change in the White House - it requires more of the hard and continuous grassroots organizing that has brought about the victories that we are seeing throughout Latin America. Click here for a larger image of the map.

The Secret History of America’s Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran
►http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/the-secret-history-of-americas-t.html

In Bush’s second term, Cheney’s daughter, Elizabeth, a deputy assistant secretary of State, lectured US Foreign Service officers “including those fluent in Farsi” about “the nature of Iranian society and its government” even though she “had no background on Iran,” Crist writes. The lectures were delivered to the “Iran-Syria Working Group, an interagency body co-chaired by Cheney and Elliott Abrams, a neoconservative in the Bush White House.

(via @angryarab)

Florida at the forefront as states plan fresh assault on voting rights
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/26/florida-assault-voting-rights

Voting rights groups are struggling to hold back a tide of new laws that are likely to make it harder for millions of Americans to vote in the presidential election in November and could distort the outcome of the race for the White House.

#élections

The UN would like the White House to please explain all the #drone killings | Death and Taxes
►http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/184803/the-un-would-like-the-white-house-to-please-explain-all-the-drone-

UN investigator Christof Heyns issued a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council ahead of a debate it’s scheduled to have later today, in which he called on the US to please explain the rash of drone killings which have escalated under President Obama, killing civilians along the way.
Reuters reports: “Citing figures from the Pakistan Human Rights Commission, he said U.S. drone strikes killed at least 957 people in Pakistan in 2010 alone. Thousands have been killed in 300 drone strikes there since 2004, 20 percent of whom are believed to be civilians.”

Patrick Cockburn : America is deluded by its drone-warfare propaganda (The Independent)
►http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/patrick-cockburn-america-is-deluded-by-its-dronewarfare-propaganda-78

As the US and its allies ponder what to do about Syria, one suggestion advanced by the protagonists of armed intervention is to use unmanned drones to attack Syrian government targets. The proposal is a measure of the extraordinary success of the White House, CIA and Defense Department in selling the drone as a wonder weapon despite all the evidence to the contrary. The attraction of the drone for President Obama and his administration five months before the presidential election is self-evident. The revelation that he personally selected targets from the top ranks of al-Qa’ida for assassination by remote control shows the President as tough and unrelenting in destroying America’s enemies. (...) Source: The Independent

Obama to U.S. Orthodox Jews: My administration is more attentive to Israel than to Palestinians
►http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/obama-to-u-s-orthodox-jews-my-administration-is-more-attentive-to-israel-th

U.S. President Barack Obama told a delegation of the U.S. Orthodox Jewish community at the White House on Tuesday that his administration is decidedly more attentive to Israel than it is to the Palestinians.

Pourquoi se gêner?

CNN contributor salutes Marines for urinating on dead Afghans
►http://rt.com/usa/news/cnn-urinating-loesch-marines-731

The video of American marines urinating on the corpses of Afghan civilians has prompted worldwide outrage, condemnation from the White House and the opening of a federal investigation. CNN’s Dana Loesch thinks the whole thing is pretty cool, though.

Loesch, the 33-year-old CNN contributor hired last year to offer political analysis for the coming election, is already giving the network their money’s worth. Speaking during her own syndicated radio program on Thursday, Loesch discussed the just-surfaced video that shows four Marines urinating on the corpses of slain Afghans, presumed to be civilians.

Her own insight seems to be a bit more harsh than the commentary that others are offering.

“I’d drop trou and do it too,” Loesch told listeners during the January 12 broadcast of The Dana Show. “I want a million ‘cool points’ for these guys. Is that harsh to say?” she asked.

brrrr... Tremblez !

Obama, Netanyahu discuss Iran war options
►http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/mar2012/iran-m06.shtml

Obama, Netanyahu discuss Iran war options
By Patrick Martin

6 March 2012

US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a two-hour meeting at the White House Monday, including a half-hour one-on-one discussion with no aides present. Their talks focused on the joint US-Israeli drive to target Iran for economic warfare and military assault.

The meeting was held in the aftermath of Obama’s appearance Sunday before the convention of the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the principal pro-Israel lobbying group, where he made an extraordinary pledge of support for Israel in any future military confrontation with Tehran.

#israel #iran #etatsunis

White House Petitioned to Investigate MPAA Bribery | TorrentFreak
►http://torrentfreak.com/white-house-petitioned-to-investigate-mpaa-bribery-120122

“Those who count on quote ‘Hollywood’ for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don’t ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to me when my job is at stake,” Dodd said.

Although it’s no secret that the movie industry has a powerful lobby in Washington, explicitly admitting that bribery is one of the tactics the MPAA uses to have their way wasn’t well received by the public. A few hours ago a White house petition was started to investigate Chris Dodd and the MPAA for alleged bribery.