Censored 2014 (24 page)

Andrew Gavin Marshall, “Welcome to the Network of Global Corporate Control,” January 29, 2013,
Occupy.com
,
http://www.occupy.com/article/welcome-network-global-corporate-control
.

Matt Taibbi, “Everything Is Rigged: The Biggest Price-Fixing Scandal Ever,”
Rolling Stone,
April 25, 2013,
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/everything-is-rigged-the-biggest-financial-scandal-yet-20130425
.

Censored 2013 #12

US Joins Forces with al-Qaeda in Syria

SUMMARY
: The US, Britain, France, and some conservative Arab allies have funded and armed the Syrian rebellion from its start in 2011. In fact, the US has been funding groups against the administration of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad since the mid-1990s. However, the anti-Assad ranks include members of al-Qaeda, Hamas, and other groups that the United States lists as terrorist organizations.

UPDATE
: Since the beginning of Syria's civil war in 2011, the US and other international powers have considered intervening on behalf of opposition forces that seek to unseat President Bashar al-Assad, whose family has held the presidency since 197i. Trade agreements and other interests led to a bloc against United Nations intervention. Russia, which supplies the regime with weapons, led the
blockade. The US has officially claimed it will support Syria unless they cross a “red line” by using chemical weapons. However, according to WikiLeaks, emails from the private intelligence firm Stratfor indicate that, as of 2012, Special Operations Forces (SOF) teams—presumably from US, UK, France, Jordan, and Turkey—“are already on the ground focused on recce (reconnaissance), missions . . . and training opposition forces.”

Independent news sources found that the CIA is operating on the Turkish border, attempting to organize and train Syrian opposition forces. The CIA has also reportedly given fourteen stinger missiles to the opposition. In March 2013, the
New York Times
revealed that arms were being supplied from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan, to Syria, and that supplies for the opposition, brought into Syria through Turkey, came from dummy corporations run by the CIA. In addition, the United Kingdom's
Daily Star
reported that “British MI6, US CIA, and both French and American soldiers” were operating in Syria, seeking Assad's chemical weapons. Israeli Special Forces were also implicated.

In 2012, the US government began to give public indications of support for the opposition. On February 28, 2013, the US government announced its pledge of sixty million dollars to the Syrian opposition. The BBC reported that the “US would provide direct support to rebel forces in the form of medical and food supplies.” When the
New York Times
inquired into the covert program of training opposition forces, the State Department refused to answer. However a private source informed the
Times
that the CIA “has been training groups of Syrian rebels in Jordan” since the previous year.

Groups deemed terror organizations by the US operate among the Syrian opposition. In November 2012, many of the opposition forces united under the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. Several groups, most notably Jabhat al-Nusra or the al-Nusra Front, joined the coalition. Al-Nusra is designated a terrorist organization by the US because of its pledges of allegiance to al-Qa-eda. Al Jazeera reported that the UN Security Council has blacklisted al-Nusra, claiming it is an alias for al-Qaeda. Al-Nusra has claimed responsibility for bombings that have racked Syria for the past year, targeting Assad's regime and supporters. In April 2013, al-Nusra and al-Qaeda publicly announced support of each other.

Corporate reporting follows a well-worn Western narrative, emphasizing the dilemmas posed by humanitarian intervention—a frame much favored by officials in the Obama administration, and likely to become more pronounced since the appointments of Saman-tha Power and Susan Rice, to serve as US ambassador to the United Nations and as the president's national security advisor, respectively. The only corporate publication to offer a differing perspective was the
New York Times,
which investigated the claims of CIA involvement in Syria's civil war. All other major corporate news outlets have primarily focused on terror attacks in the region, the invisible “red line,” John McCain's secret trip to Syria, and the true humanitarian crisis.

That stated, as
Censored 2014
went to press, the US officially announced it would arm and train the Syrian rebels via a CIA-run program.

SOURCES
:

John Glaser, “Stratfor Emails: Covert Special Ops Inside Syria Since December,”
Antiwar.com
,
March 7, 2012,
http://news.antiwar.com/2012/03/07/stratfor-emails-covert-special-ops-inside-syria-since-december/
.

Eric Schmitt, “CIA Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition,”
New York Times,
June 21, 2012,
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/world/middleeast/cia-said-to-aid-in-steering-arms-to-syrian-rebels.html
.

“Obama Gives the ‘Secret' Order for CIA to Help Syrian Rebels Dispose of Assad's Brutal Regime,”
Daily Mail,
August 1, 2012,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2182427/Obama-authorizes-secret-support-Syrian-rebels.html
.

Chris Hughes, “CIA Spies ‘Smuggle 14 Stinger Missiles into Syria So Rebels Can Take Out Regime Warplanes,'”
Mirror News,
August 18, 2012,
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/cia-spies-smuggle-14-stinger-1266487
.

Marc Ginsberg, “Obama's Syrian ‘Red Line' Is No Red Light to Hezbollah or Iran,”
Huffington Post,
August 21, 2012,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amb-marc-ginsberg/obamas-syrian-red-line-is_b_1819351.html
.

Tony Cartalucci, “MI6, SAS, CIA: Western Troops in Syria,” Global Research, September 1, 2012,
http://www.globalresearch.ca/m16-sas-cia-western-troops-in-syria/5302879
.

“U.S. Intervention in Syria Appears Unlikely, Say Officials,”
Washington Post,
September 2, 2012,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-intervention-in-syria-appears-unlikely-say-officials/2012/09/02/cicd4e9a-f2bb-11e1-a612-3cfc842a6d89_story_1.html
.

Bill Van Auken, “US Escalates CIA Intervention on Syrian-Turkish Border,”
World Socialist Web Site,
September 8, 2012,
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/09/syri-s08.html
.

Anne Gearan, “U.S. Yanks Support for Syrian Opposition Group, Warns of Extremist Takeover of Uprising,”
Washington Post,
October 31, 2012,
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-10-31/world/35499721_1_syrian-national-council-opposition-group-snc
.

Arthur Bright, “What is the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces?,”
Christian Science Monitor,
November 12, 2012,
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/terrorism-security/2012/1112/What-is-The-National-Coalition-for-Syrian-Revolutionary-and-Opposition-Forces-video
.

Schlomi Diaz, Daniel Siryoti, Eli Leion, “Israeli Special Forces Tracking Chemical Weapons inside Syria,”
Israel Hayom,
December 9, 2012,
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=6668
.

Michael R. Gordon and Anne Barnard, “U.S. Places Militant Syrian Rebel Group on List of Terrorist Organizations,”
New York Times,
December 10, 2012,
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/world/middleeast/us-designates-syrian-al-nusra-front-as-terrorist-group.html
.

“US Officially Designates Key Syrian Opposition Group as al-Qaeda Affiliate,” Russia Today, December 11, 2012,
http://rt.com/usa/us-opposition-group-al-nusra-853/
.

Jamie Dettmer, “Jihadists Are Creeping Into Syria's Rebel Factions,”
Daily Beast,
January 4, 2013,
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/04/jihadists-are-creeping-into-syria-s-rebel-factions.html
.

Vladimir Isachenkov, “Russian Arms Trade With Syria Will Continue, State Arms Trader Says,”
Huffington Post,
February 13, 2013,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/13/russian-arms-syria_n_2677279.html
.

Michael R. Gordon, “U.S. Steps Up Aid to Syrian Opposition, Pledging $60 Million,”
New York Times,
February 28, 2013,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/01/world/middleeast/us-pledges-60-million-to-syrian-opposition.html
.

C.J. Chivers and Eric Schmitt, “Arms Airlift to Syrian Rebels Expands, With Aid From C.I.A.,”
New York Times,
March 24, 2013,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/world/middleeast/arms-airlift-to-syrian-rebels-expands-with-cia-aid.html
. Jim Muir, “Syria Crisis: Al-Nusra Pledges Allegiance to al-Qaeda,” BBC News, April 10, 2013,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22095099
.

“McCain Sneaks across Border, Visits Syrian Rebels,” Fox News, May 27, 2013,
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/27/mccain-sneaks-across-border-visits-syrian-rebels
. “UN Blacklists Syria's al-Nusra Front,” Al Jazeera, May 31, 2013,
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2013/05/201353021594299298.html
“CIA Will Lead US Effort to Arm, Train Syrian Rebel Forces,” Fox News, June 15, 2103,
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/15/cia-will-lead-us-effort-to-arm-train-syrian-rebel-forces-fox-confirms/
.

Censored 2013 #16

Sexual Violence Against Women Soldiers On The Rise and Under Wraps

SUMMARY
: The 2005 death of US Army Private LaVena Johnson, officially ruled suicide by the Department of Defense, in fact exemplifies the sexual violence that female soldiers encounter while serving their country. Johnson's autopsy revealed wounds inconsistent with suicide, including chemical burns that many believe were intended to destroy DNA evidence of rape. The Pentagon has tried to intimidate reporters and editors working on stories about Johnson. Johnson's case is among at least twenty in which female soldiers have died under suspicious circumstances. The mysterious deaths are coinciding with an increase in sexual violence against women in the military. According to the Department of Defense, in 2010, there were 3,158 total reports of sexual assault in the military. The DOD estimates that this number represents only 13.5 percent of the actual assaults, making the total number of military rapes and sexual assaults over 19,000 for the year.

UPDATE
: The near-epidemic of rape in the military has been covered heavily by the corporate media since its release in
Censored 2013.
For example, NBC News covered Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's decision to strip the authority of commanding generals to void military
court convictions. This prevents generals from overturning sexual as-sault sentences. The defense department launched a “public relations campaign to show they're serious about cracking down on sexual assault in the military.” The department “expanded its victim-assistance programs, sought help from outside advocacy groups, and required sexual assault to receive attention higher up the chain of command.”

Much attention was brought to this previously underreported issue of rape inside the military by the documentary
The Invisible War.
Directed by Kirby Dick and produced by Amy Ziering,
The Invisible War
received nominations for numerous awards including Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards. The Chicago Film Critics Association named it the Best Documentary of 2012. It appeared on numerous year-end best lists, including those published by the
New York Times
and the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.

Although media attention on sexual assault in the military has increased, statistics do not reveal an improvement on the situation. Independent news center Common Dreams reported that, despite the changes in oversight championed by Hagel, issues persist. Abby Zimet reported, “The military's annual report shows sexual assaults are in fact on the rise, with at least 26,000 a year. That's about 70 a day.”
Foreign Policy
reported that the Air Force's attempt focused on giving servicemen and women “a box of breath mints, which has a bold sticker on the cover that says ‘NO MEANS NO!'” and a “2.5-ounce hand sanitizer bottle shaped like an open palm. Printed on the bottle: ‘KEEP UR HANDS 2 YOURSELF,' along with the telephone number for the Sexual Assault Response Coordinators 24-hour hotline.”

Another problem for victims is that those tasked with policing assaults are themselves assaulting victims. In 2013, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Krusinski was charged with sexual battery against a woman in a parking lot. Krusinski's job until the charge was chief of the US Air Force's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program. Officially the program “reinforces the Air Force's commitment to eliminate incidents of sexual assault.” Krusinki's arrest occurred the day before the Pentagon released its annual report on the epidemic of sexual assaults in the military. “How many more reasons do we need to take cases of rape and sexual assault out of the chain of command?” questioned Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA).

That is an excellent question. And given that this issue has become a much more high-profile one, deservedly so, this is one question the corporate media should press to have answered. The Senate's Committee on Armed Services was meeting to take action on this important issue in June as
Censored 2014
went to press, but at that time, there was very little coverage in the corporate media about this crucial hearing.
¹⁹

SOURCES
:

Ann Jones, “The War Against Women, at Home and Abroad,”
Nation,
March 21, 2013,
http://www.thenation.com/article/173463/war-against-women-home-and-abroad
.