"Greatest Threat To World Peace: The United States of America" Global Research

Over 12 years into the so-called “Global War on Terror,” the United States appears to be striking terror into the hearts of the rest of the world.

In their annual End of Year survey, Win/Gallup International found that the United States is considered the number one “greatest threat to peace in the world today” by people across the globe.

The poll of 67,806 respondents from 65 countries found that the U.S. won this dubious distinction by a landslide, as revealed in the chart below.

The BBC explains that the U.S. was deemed a threat by geopolitical allies as well as foes, including a significant portion of U.S. society.

Predictable in some areas (the Middle East and North Africa) but less so in others. Eastern Europe’s 32% figure may be heavily influenced by Russia and Ukraine, but across most of Western Europe there are also lots of figures in the high teens.

In the Americas themselves, decades of US meddling have left an awkward legacy. Its neighbours, Mexico (37%) and Canada (17%), clearly have issues. Even 13% of Americans see their own country as a danger.

By Sarah Lazare

Global Research, January 01, 2014

CommonDreams.org

Region: USA

Theme: US NATO War Agenda

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May 2014 Become A New Year of Enlightenment and Successful Efforts for Peace On Earth!

May everyone see his or her possibility to contribute to this wishful thinking in the year ahead, so that together we will eventually become strong enough to implement the noble  project 'peace by peace'.

The first piece of  peace begins in the minds and hearts of people. Therefore let us be prepared to stretch out our hand to those who have been  denigrated and labelled as enemies for us. Enemy images can be and must be shred. Reality must be looked at afresh without preconceptions.
Let us celebrate unity for the most nobel causes on earth:  Solidarity for a modest but good life. NO to war propaganda and arms expenditures. Let us  defy the distortation of language and  the renaming of  violent aggression as "humanitarian intervention" or "responsibility to protect".  ONE HUNDRED YEARS are enough! We want no more wars, no more power over other nations, no more of exploiting the natural riches of others for free. May there be peace on earth and may it be furthered by us.

The Mainstream Now Admits that the Syrian Rebels Have Chemical Weapons

News | 31.12.2013 | 06:53

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh wrote an extensive investigative piece last week featured in the London Review of Books, which details the Obama administration’s “cherry-picking” of intelligence related to the August 21 Damascus chemical attack. “Whose sarin?” was originally intended for the Washington Post, but neither the Post nor Hersh’s usual New Yorker Magazine published it – presumably because its allegations and conclusions are too explosive and embarrassing for those already heavily invested in the accepted narrative of D.C. official sources. Read the following bombshell revelation from the first paragraph: Most significant, he [Obama] failed to acknowledge something known to the US intelligence community: that the Syrian army is not the only party in the country’s civil war with access to sarin, the nerve agent that a UN study concluded – without assessing responsibility – had been used in the rocket attack. In the months before the attack, the American intelligence agencies produced a series of highly classified reports, culminating in a formal Operations Order – a planning document that precedes a ground invasion – citing evidence that the al-Nusra Front, a jihadi group affiliated with al-Qaida, had mastered the mechanics of creating sarin and was capable of manufacturing it in quantity. When the attack occurred al-Nusra should have been a suspect, but the administration cherry-picked intelligence to justify a strike against Assad. Hersh goes on to detail an intelligence community revolt, involving high-level officers, against the administration claim that only the Assad regime could have been responsible for the August 21 incident. Hersh has extensive intelligence and military contacts based on his decades long career covering war going back to Vietnam (it was Hersh that exposed the My Lai Massacre). His reporting of intelligence community push-back begins with the following: But in recent interviews with intelligence and military officers and consultants past and present, I found intense concern, and on occasion anger, over what was repeatedly seen as the deliberate manipulation of intelligence. One high-level intelligence officer, in an email to a colleague, called the administration’s assurances of Assad’s responsibility a ‘ruse’. The attack ‘was not the result of the current regime’, he wrote. In mid-November, Philip Giraldi, a former CIA officer who writes on foreign and defense affairs for The American Conservative first broke the story of a threatened mass resignation by top intelligence analysts over Syria chemical weapons claims. “Quitting Over Syria,” while written by an insider who keeps extensive intel community contacts, got no exposure in major network news, failing to reach the mass of Americans. Giraldi’s reporting was consistent with Hersh’s recent revelations: With all evidence considered, the intelligence community found itself with numerous skeptics in the ranks, leading to sharp exchanges with the Director of Central Intelligence John Brennan and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. A number of analysts threatened to resign as a group if their strong dissent was not noted in any report released to the public, forcing both Brennan and Clapper to back down. This led to the White House issuing its own assessment, completely divorcing the process from any direct connection to the intelligence community. The spectacle of CIA Director George Tenet sitting behind Secretary of State Colin Powell in the United Nations, providing him with credibility as Powell told a series of half-truths, would not be repeated. The American public had no knowledge of this internal conflict and dissent within the intelligence community while it was happening, and few know of it today. More surprising is that while the ongoing UN investigation was center stage throughout September, the final UN findings on chemical weapons usage in Syria were published this last Thursday (12/12), yet received little focus in major American media reporting or analysis. While major media has perhaps “moved on” – the UN report contains some damning information related to the rebels and chem weapons: “The United Nations Mission remains deeply concerned that chemical weapons were used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arabic Republic, which has added yet another dimension to the continued suffering of the Syrian people,” the report says [emphasis LR's]. The report states that chemical weapons were “probably used” at five sites in Syria during the two-and-a-half year long conflict. Most significant is that at two sites, the victims were Syrian government soldiers, and at another, the victims were regime soldiers and civilians (for initial BBC reporting go here). While the purpose of the investigation was not to establish the culprit in each attack, the report identifies the victims in three out of the five incidents as regime soldiers. This is a tacit UN admission that the rebels possess and have used chemical weapons. Even the generally pro-rebel and very establishment New York Times had to admit the following on Thursday: Chemical weapons were used repeatedly in the Syria conflict this year, not only in a well-documented Aug. 21 attack near Damascus but also in four other instances, including two subsequent attacks that targeted soldiers, the United Nations said in a report released Thursday. And concerning the first reported usage of chemical weapons in the entirety of the Syrian conflict, the NYT admits that Syrian soldiers were on the receiving end: The report said the panel had corroborated “credible allegations” that chemical weapons were used in the first reported attack — a March 19 episode involving soldiers and civilians in Khan al-Assal in the country’s north. For those that did their homework while questions of Syria chemical attacks were the hot topic in August and September, credible allegations of rebel chemical weapons are nothing new. Last May, Carla Del Ponte, a top UN human rights investigator and former UN Chief Prosecutor and veteran International Criminal Court prosecutor - was the first to accuse the rebels using Sarin gas against regime forces and civilians (see here, here, and here). Del Ponte’s assertions, based upon her information gathering team on the ground, caused a row in Europe, but it seems the only major American outlet to cover the story was the LA Times. During a Swiss-Italian TV interview, she was convinced enough to be very blunt in her assessment, saying, “I was a little bit stupefied by the first indication of the use of nerve gas by the opposition.” Revelations of the deep divide within the U.S. intelligence community over the August 21 chemical attack and Obama’s push for intervention, along with the just release UN report confirming that CW were used against regime troops in the majority of attack sites, should get common sense Americans questioning everything they were ever told by establishment sources concerning chemical weapons and Syria. globalresearch.ca

Wahhabism, an Anti-Islamic Ideology

"Wahhabism is an anti-Islamic ideology invented by the Brits in early days of Al Saud in Arabia and used to distort the image of Islam and to kill Muslims and all enemies of Great Britain in the name of God. There’s no worse than impoverishing whole communities then using their uneducated youth as killing machines in the name of a religion, something the Brits were best at in each country they invaded, the US empire with the anti-US elite ruling them has inherited this technique from the Brits and played it overtly with lots of propaganda and glare against its enemies everywhere it deemed ‘rich’. Divide and Conquer is the mean, brainwashed youths are the tools in the name of G.O.D. (Gold, Oil and Drugs). What you are about to watch is horrible, gross, and un-thought of just 3 years ago in Syria, but it’s what the Syrians with their super heroic army and other armed forces are facing on daily basis (if you don’t see the play button just click on the image): The above clip as it clearly states was taken by the terrorists after invading Al Kindi Hospital in north of Aleppo, the hospital which was once the pride of cancer treatment in the region. SAA soldiers protecting the hospital refused to defect or surrender, they fought to the last man standing, they’re the men of Syria. These enemies of Islam, Wahhabi soldiers of the anti-Christ with their financiers: the US, UK and other western taxpaying citizens"Source: Syrianews

A Peaceful New Year is Possible!

!m Meer der Gewalt nicht die Orientierung verlieren - die Schwäche des Imperialismus erkennen und entsprechend handeln!

Friedenspolitische Gedanken zum  nahenden Jubiläumsjahr 2014

Der 2001  vom US-Imperialismus ausgerufene  "Krieg gegen den Terror" hat  im neuen Jahrtausend vorerst  zur weltweiten Ausdehnung  der Kriegszone geführt.  Die  jedes menschliche Maß überschreitende Brutalisierung seiner Methoden  ist aber nur ein weiteres Vorzeichen  seines heraufdämmernden Endes. Der "tönerne Koloss" USA ist längst ins Wanken geraten. Auch seine westlichen Verbündeten werden  auf Grund ihres  eigenen Siechtums den Sturz des Hegemons am Ende nicht aufhalten können.

 Sein die Welt noch  fest umspannendes, dicht gefügtes Netzwerk von Militärbasen kann  den sehenden Blick schon lange nicht mehr  über die  Schwächen des imperialen Machtgefüges  hinwegtäuschen. Die jüngste  Aufdeckung  des in jeden Winkel blickenden  NSA-Spähprogramms durch  den Ex- Geheimdienstexperten Edward Snowden demonstriert einen weiteren  zentralen Aspekt seiner  Verletzlichkeit. Die atemberaubenden Aufrüstungs- und elektronischen Überwachungsprogramme haben das  Land der scheinbar  unbegrenzten Möglichkeiten finanziell  und moralisch in den Ruin getrieben.  Daran vermag auch der nobelpreisgekrönte schwarze Rechtsprofessor Obama trotz all seiner Klugheit und Redegewandtheit nichts mehr zu ändern.  Noch können  privat und über Mittler finanzierte Söldnerheere  ganze Landstriche verwüsten. Im Nahen Osten kämpft  gar die angeblich christlichste Nation  mit Hilfe gedungener   Mörder für Demokratie und Menschenrecht.  Sie zerstört damit  an der Wiege des Christentums  die Grundlagen  seiner Existenz.  Die schrankenlosen, jedes Rechtsverständnis sprengenden Brutalo-Methoden gegen das  multiethnische syrische Volk etwa  können bei alledem schier unfassbaren Folgeleid nur mühsam noch die Machtlosigkeit  der westlichen 'Führungsnation' verhüllen.

Obwohl es noch immer den Anschein hat, als könnten die Vereinigten Staaten im Bunde mit Europa der Welt ihren Willen aufzwingen, so sind der imperialen Machtpolitik im zurückliegenden Jahr doch  deutlich Grenzen auferlegt worden. Europa ist nicht in der Lage die Lücke ausreichend zu füllen.

Zwar mag "Europas Elite  sich rüsten, um Krieg auch dann kollektiv führen zu können, wenn es in keinem einzelnen EU-Mitgliedsland dafür eine Mehrheit gibt"  wie es DIE WELT-Online  schon am 16. 09.  2007 * zu wissen vorgab. Das Blatt muss aber  im selben Atemzug mit Bedauern feststellen, dass  "Die EU-Staaten zusammen  weniger als halb so viel für Verteidigung ausgeben als die USA", wenngleich sie damit laut WELT immer noch "dreimal so viel ausgeben wie China, viermal so viel wie Russland und sechsmal so viel wie Japan und  rein zahlenmäßig mehr Soldaten in Uniform  haben als jede andere Macht der Erde, einschließlich China."

Auch auf Grund der nicht zu kittenden inneren Uneinigkeit ist Europa nicht in der Lage, die imperiale Lücke zu füllen, die die Schwäche der Vereinigten Staaten perspektivisch reißen wird.

In beinahe  ganz Lateinamerika sind den US-Jankees die Felle  schon weggeschwommen. Gegenüber  Syrien und dem Iran ist es dem Koloss  bis heute,  trotz aller Brachialgewalt nicht gelungen,  seine Regime-Change-Absichten zu verwirklichen. In Afghanistan, im Irak, in Libyen hat der Noch-Hegemon die einheimischen Strukturen nachhaltig zerstört und chaotische Zustände geschaffen. Ähnliches geschieht gegenwärtig im Jemen, in Pakistan und in Teilen Afrikas auch  mit Hilfe europäischer "Partner".  Gewinne aber  erzielten dabei nur  an die Rüstungsfirmen gekoppelten Bereiche. Diese hängen wiederum am Tropf des US-Haushaltes, der eben  allmählich versiegt.  Die Gaukler-Methoden, die ihn bis Dato am Laufen hielten, sind allerdings endlich. Das moralische Kapital, das die US-Politik auf ihrem Kriegspfad zertrümmert  hat, ist  der westlichen  Führungsmacht  schon jetzt unwiederbringlich verloren. Die Snowden-Affaire hat  das Siegel gesetzt.

Der Verbündete  in der bisher noch blühenden Türkei ist durch Massenproteste und Erdogans Korruptionsskandale  ebenfalls ins Wanken geraten. Die Ukraine tanzt nicht mehr uneingeschränkt nach der westlichen Pfeife.

Russland, China, Indien, Brasilien, Kuba, Venezuela und der Iran, die bevölkerungs- und landreichsten Staaten der Erde, das sind die Impulsgeber unserer Zeit. Das gilt völlig unabhängig davon, ob das in unseren Breiten Gefallen findet oder nicht. Daran können weder infiltrierte Terroristen, noch  aufmüpfige  Aufständische vom Schlage "Pussy Riot" oder FEMEN, noch andere mediale Verleumdungsstrategien etwas nachhaltig verändern.

Wer den Frieden oder auch nur Geschäfte machen will, muss sich mit jenen Ländern ins Benehmen setzen. Diplomatie, nicht Krieg ist das Gebot der Stunde. Und so  gehen am  heutigen Montag  in Genf die Gespräche mit dem Iran weiter.

Die Welt ist an einem Wendepunkt von der monopolaren zur multipolaren Weltordnung angekommen.

Das Kräfteparallelogramm hat sich zu Ungunsten des Imperiums verschoben. Die Kriegszone wird daher im Jubiläumsjahr 2014  kaum mehr ausgedehnt werden können. Friedenskräfte sollten daher Mut  fassen und sich auf die Hinterbeine machen.

Friedensarbeit beginnt im eigenen Lande. Aufklärung und Demontage von Feindbildern ist ihr vornehmster Auftrag. Ohne Feindbilder und  ohne den Blick auf die Wirklichkeit verzerrende Weltbilder sind kriegerische Vorgehensweisen gegen andere Nationen zu Hause nicht durchsetzbar.

Machen wir uns also voll Zuversicht an die Arbeit.

► 17:22► 17:22

 Irene Eckert am 30. 12. 2013

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* Warum Europa das Zeug zur Weltmacht hat - Die Welt

www.welt.de › Politik‎

Europe Goes Under - "The Time of Other Civilizations Has Come" Vladimir Nesterov

WORLD | BUSINESS

A Europe Without a Future

Vladimir NESTEROV | 29.12.2013 | 00:00

In summer of this year high spirits prevailed in Brussels. When Eurostat published its statistical report for the second quarter, it turned out that the economy of the Eurozone, despite the pessimistic expectations of experts, had grown. Not at all significantly, of course - by 0.3%, and that was mainly from a certain amount of economic recovery in Germany and France. The growth of the largest economies of Europe equaled 0.7% and 0.5% respectively, in annual terms.  It was predicted that Germany's GDP would increase by another 0.5% by the end of the year. Of course, the GDP of the Eurozone, pulled down by the «problem countries» of southern Europe, will still go down by the same 0.5% Anyway, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy hastened to announce that «the low point of the financial crisis in Europe has passed», and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso proclaimed that «the EU is transitioning from a crisis policy to a growth policy». And all this was happening while experts were saying that it's too early to start rejoicing about the «growth». For example, Guntram Wolff, director of the analytical center Bruegel, stated at that time, «Growth figures in all of Europe are still way too small to manage to turn around the situation on the job market. Unemployment rates will remain high in southern Europe next year as well. It is going to be a while before we'll see any relief there... I think public investments are especially important in Germany, which has one of the lowest public investment quotas in the EU. It is surprising that in a country where borrowing money comes so cheap investments are so low. In Germany in particular there are a couple of shortfalls when it comes to public infrastructure. In some regions like the Ruhr region it's obvious that public investments are lagging behind.»  However, neither Berlin nor Brussels has turned out to be prepared for such a turn of events. Of course, the ECB has tried to take some measures, for example, lowering the discount rate to 0.25%. However, Germany, which has the strongest economy in Europe, has not supported the ECB's initiative by increasing investments. Submitting to Berlin's will, other countries have done the same. Seeing the financial policy of their governments, entrepreneurs also joined in the «cheap money» game. They started investing, but in real estate, not in the real sector. This happened in France, in Germany and in other countries. A Sobering November The summer optimism of Brussels officials had evaporated by late November. At the end of the third quarter, the Eurozone's economic growth turned out to be illusory - it was only 0.1% (!). That is, the crisis hasn't gone anywhere; it was only lying low in order to pop up again with new force. The third quarter refuted the commonly-held notion of a «two-speed Europe», according to which, while there is no growth in Southern Europe, there definitely is in the North. Nothing could be further from the truth; not a single country in the Eurozone can currently boast of significant growth. Even in Germany the growth of the GDP was ridiculously modest - 0.3%, or 1.3% in annual terms.  And they may not even end up with this 1.3%. The fact of the matter is that in September production had already started to decline. And the fourth quarter started extremely poorly; in October Germany's industrial production volume was 1.2% lower than in September. Production in the processing industry went down by 1.1%, manufacturing of capital goods decreased by 3%, and manufacturing of durable consumer goods decreased by 4.5%.  «The German economy has not managed to make a good start to the fourth quarter. Businesses are still holding back with investment. This indicates a rather cautious outlook for investment activity in the coming months», said Commerzbank economist Ralph Solveen, commenting on recent events.  In the end, everything comes down to the reduced purchasing power in Europe and in the rest of the world brought about by the crisis. For the German economy, which is focused on exports, hard times have come. It is worth noting that at the November China-EU summit in Beijing, neither the Germans nor the other Europeans, who are accustomed to criticize the Chinese government for «human rights violations», said a single word  on this topic. And this is understandable; whether or not the Germans like the way the Chinese do things, there is no other consumer of their products as large as China, and there is unlikely to be one. Things are no better in the smaller countries of the Eurozone. Austria has managed to return to an insignificant amount of growth, 0.2%. The Netherlands compensated for a drop in the first half of the year, showing growth of 0.3%. Finland reached growth of 0.4%. There have been no noticeable changes for the better in «problem» Southern Europe, either. Growth in Spain is microscopic; Italy is not growing yet, and since the beginning of the crisis its GDP has shrunk by 25% (!). In Greece the decline is continuing as usual, albeit not as rapidly as before. As for France, people there now believe that the «chronic patient» of Europe is no longer Greece, but their own country. A 0.1% reduction in the GDP caused a sort of national stress. After all, both Gaullist Nicolas Sarkozy and socialist Francois Hollande have continually reduced social expenses, raised existing taxes and introduced new ones. As a result, unemployment rose in the third quarter of this year; among young people, according to data for September, it has remained at the level of 25%. Amid the economic problems in Europe, poverty is progressing rapidly. According to Eurostat sociologists, in 2012 124.5 million people were on the brink of poverty. The worst situation is in Bulgaria, where poverty and social isolation threaten half (!) of the population. Next after Bulgaria are Romania and Latvia, where 42% and 37% of residents are at risk of poverty, respectively. In Lithuania poverty threatens 33% of the population, in Poland 27.2%, and in Estonia 23.1%. Italy must be mentioned among such countries as well; although the percentage of poor people is not so large (29.2%), in absolute terms they come to 18.2 million people. The Italians make up the largest mass of poor people in Europe. From Euroskepticism to Total Pessimism The debt crisis which is already in its fifth year in Europe and the severe austerity measures which all European countries have had to introduce is causing a rise in Euroskepticism, not only on the periphery of Europe, but in relatively prosperous countries like Germany and Austria as well. The results of a survey conducted in late August – early September 2013 by the French marketing firm IFOP show an abrupt increase in the number of Euroskeptics in the top four economies of the Eurozone: Germany, France, Italy and Spain. The main question they asked the Germans, French, Italians and Spaniards was whether they felt that membership in the European Union was advantageous to them. 37% of residents of the Pyrenees believe that membership in the EU only brings Spain problems (a year earlier 26% in Spain were Euroskeptics). In France the number of those who are dissatisfied with their country's membership in the European Union rose from 38% in 2012 to 43% at present. In Germany 44% of the population disapprove of membership in united Europe (a year ago 36% in Germany were Euroskeptics). The greatest number of Euroskeptics is in Italy, where 45% of citizens see no benefit in being part of the European Union... Along with Euroskepticism, the souls of Old World residents are increasingly filled with pessimism. People are losing hope and faith in the future. According to data from the American Pew Research Center, which conducted a study on this topic in spring 2013, only 28% of Germans, 17% of the British, 14% of Italians and 9% of the French believe that their children will live better than previous generations. What is even more interesting is that pessimism in the West contrasts sharply with optimism in developing countries; 82% of the Chinese, 59% of Indians and 65% of Nigerians believe in a better future.  Obviously those experts who believe that Europe is losing its former leading position as the locomotive of progress are right. The time of other civilizations has come.