Islamists proclaim "Caliphate" in West Asia

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) has proclaimed itself a Caliphate and enthroned their apparent leader Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi (real name: Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai) as Caliph. It is the first such proclamation since the fall of the Ottoman Empire and, considering the precariousness of the militant unrecognized "state", I could only laugh while thinking of the memorable Iznogoud (right).

However on second thought the proclamation seems to have much more serious implications: first of all the de-facto erasure of the post-colonial borders in the region with unknown future repercussions.

The effective control of the militant state is important along the Euphrates but its claims are now much more imprecise. While the ISIS restricted its area of interest to Iraq and the Levant (al-Shams, sometimes mistranslated as "Syria") the new Caliphate demands obedience from all Muslims through the World:

ISIS announced that it should now be called 'The Islamic State' and declared its chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as "the caliph" of the new state and "leader for Muslims everywhere," the radical Sunni militant group said in an audio recording distributed online on Sunday. (RT)

In practical terms "the Islamic State" has a much more modest effective control but what they are doing is asserting their primacy over political Sunni Islamism (theocratic fascism), a widespread reactionary movement which has been dangerously fed by the USA and its allies, many of them Islamists themselves.

Effective factional control in Syria and Iraq (CC by Haghal Jagul, via Wikimedia Commons)

• The Caliphate (ISIS) 
• Kurdish self-rule  
• Syrian Government 
• Iraqi Government 
• other Islamists 

I naturally hope that this fascist state will soon collapse but there are other possibilities: it can linger for long in some sort of stalemate or it can consolidate and expand further. It is known that they have Jordan in their line of sight, even if it is the only state on Earth ruled by the clan of Mohammed, the Hashemites, and also Lebanon, but personally I would not be surprised at all if, given the chance, they would bite the hands that feed them in Saudi Arabia or even Turkey, never mind Israel, which is considered enemy of Islam. 

Given the chance these daredevil terrorists can well become the new Hitler of West Asia but by the moment, as happened with Hitler in the 1930s, the global powers let them do, because they act as control of their foes (the USSR and Socialism 80 years ago in Europe, Iran, China and Russia now in West Asia).

But beware: this is the kind of proclamation that can rally a million fanatics who have been waiting for the new Saladin. If something has the ISIS shown is that they control modern communication (such as their Muslim cat videos) and that they are very much able to produce overnight surprises like the conquest of nearly half Iraq in few days.


Update (Jun 30):

From Al Jazeera:

"Caliph" Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi

In an audio recording released on Sunday, the group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant declared its chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, "the caliph" and "leader for Muslims everywhere".

"The legality of all emirates, groups, states and organisations becomes null by the expansion of the caliph's authority and the arrival of its troops to their areas," said the group's spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani. "Listen to your caliph and obey him. Support your state, which grows every day.''

The group announced that it was now called the "Islamic State". According to the statement, the new caliphate stretches from Iraq's Diyala province to Syria's Aleppo.

"The Shura [council] of the Islamic State met and discussed this issue [of the caliphate] ... the Islamic State decided to establish an Islamic caliphate and to designate a caliph for the state of the Muslims, said Adani.

"The words 'Iraq' and 'the Levant' have been removed from the name of the Islamic State in official papers and documents."

An official document was also released, in English and several other languages.

It describes Baghdadi as "the sheikh, the fighter, the scholar who practices what he preaches, the worshipper, the leader, the warrior, the reviver, descendant from the family of the Prophet, the slave of God".

It urges Muslims to "gather around your caliph, so that you may return as you once were for ages, kings of the earth and knights of war."

I find these excerpts very much underlining the potential threat that it represents for every single established state in the region and, potentially, world-wide. It also demands obeisance from all other armed factions, many of which have been so far focused in their respective states, such as Syria or Iraq.

The Qatari news site suggests that this proclamation may cause many Iraqi armed groups to break up with ISIS because their goal is to change the regime in Iraq in favor of the Sunni Arab minority but I suspect that the Caliphate has weighted seriously that possibility and that pre-existent pan-Arabist feelings actually play in their favor (after all aren't Arabs the chosen people of Islam?)

US imperialist duplicity sends Iraq into the arms of Russia

As the contract to buy airplanes from the USA is not being fulfilled, Iraq just bought second hand jet fighters from Russia and Belarus in order to face the Islamist terrorist threat (supported by the USA and its regional allies). Baghdad also welcomed the Syrian air strikes against ISIS inside Iraq. The Eastern European jets will arrive within days and will surely force the hand of the terrorists.

The Iraqi Army is already in the process of liberating Tikrit, a core town of the "Sunni Arab triangle".

Meanwhile Obama asked Congress to grant $500 million to Islamist terrorist groups in Syria, money that will no doubt be largely spent in Iraq.

USA: bankster dictatorship in Detroit cuts water to citizens

Some 3000 homes have been cut from the water supply in the US city under bankster dictatorship, breaching all common sense humanitarian and health concerns. According to Webguerrillero[es] Citizens have appealed to the United Nations as more and more needy people is being deprived of the most basic, while companies are being treated with great benevolence.

A mere 60-days delay or a debt of more than USD 150 is enough to loose access to water under the draconian bourgeois dictatorship.

Detroit is in bankruptcy since last year and this has been used as pretext to suppress democracy in the city, imposing a dictatorship by the banksters instead. This dictatorship exacts up to the last drop of blood from the denizens (ex-citizens) of the once prosperous industrial city. 

From the Blue Planet Project report:

The case of water cut-offs in the City of Detroit speaks to the deep racial divides and intractable economic and social inequality in access to services within the United States. The burden of paying for city services has fallen onto the residents who have stayed within the economically depressed city, most of whom are African-American. These residents have seen water rates rise by 119 per cent within the last decade. With official, understated unemployment rates at a record high and the official, understated poverty rate at about 40 per cent, Detroit water bills are unaffordable to a significant portion of the population.

The City of Detroit declared bankruptcy in the summer of 2013. A high-priced bankruptcy lawyer was named its Emergency Manager with a mandate to get the city back on its feet financially by imposing a savage austerity regime.

(...)

According to a DWSD document obtained by the Sierra Club, there are more than 179,000 residential water accounts in Detroit. By April 30, 2014, more than 83,000 of them were past due. The average amount owed per household was just over $540.3

(...) city spokesperson Greg Eno confirmed that the city would be ramping up cut-offs to 3,000 residents per week starting June 2. (...)

The Detroit People’s Water Board is hearing directly from people impacted by the water cut-offs who say they were given no warning and had no time to fill buckets, sinks and tubs before losing access to water. In some cases, the cut-offs occurred before the deadline given in notices sent by the city. Sick people have been left without running water and working toilets. People recovering from surgery cannot wash and change bandages. Children cannot bathe and parents cannot cook.

The MWRO is working with people who have been affected by the crisis. According to the MWRO, mass water shut-offs began in April. The organization estimates that as many as 30,000 households will have had water shut off over the next few months.

(...) the DWSD is issuing past due notices that have a red line across the front of the bill. Notices are issued when bills reportedly reach $150 or more, with a 10-day window before water shut-offs can happen.

The MWRO has heard from people who are being charged as much as $500 per month for water. One member estimated the average water bill for a family of four is $150 to $200 per month. The MWRO says, “for thousands of people in this city – and in the surrounding suburbs as well – this represents as much as 20 per cent of their monthly income.” These bills include two charges: one for water service and another charge for sewerage service. The sewerage charges are about twice the water charges.

Many corporations and institutions are also in arrears on their bills, but have not been targeted in the same way as residential users. A Sierra Club representative attended one of the department’s finance committees and learned that 57 per cent of “city commercial” users had not paid their water bills (10,042 out of 18,057) with an average bill totaling $1,976.98. Fifty-five per cent of “city industrial” users were delinquent (869 out of 1,588) with an average bill totaling $10,817.96. In total, there are 10, 911 delinquent commercial and industrial users owing the city $29,253,599.93.

The Detroit People’s Water Board argues it would be more just and efficient for the DWSD to spend its resources collecting unpaid bills from commercial and industrial users than depriving households of basic services.

Corsica: National Liberation Front abandons armed struggle

FLNC press conference in 2006

The National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC) announced yesterday their decision of unconditionally abandoning armed struggle, beginning a demilitarization process and a gradual exit from clandestinity. 

They make a call to the Corsican elects to implement a new negotiated statute with the French state, as well as an exit for prisoners and other victims of political repression.

They underline that their decision means changing from a phase of armed resistance to one of constitution of a true Corsican political power.

They recall that their historical armed action, which began in 1976, had a significant impact in the struggle against touristic speculation but that, starting now, their members will reject armed actions in Corsica and France. 

They denounce that, since the invasion of 1769, which destroyed the Corsican Republic (a true forgotten pioneer of democracy in Europe and the World), France has treated the island as a colony, installing nepotism and cronyism as the centerpieces of political power. 

They also link their struggle to that of other peoples of Western Europe such as Ireland, the Basque Country, Scotland and Catalonia, rejecting as well this European Union of the states 

... which denies the rights of the peoples, their cultural specificities and traditions, subjecting them to the yoke of senseless rules whose only goal is the domination of big trading cartels, despising the environment, citizen health and social achievements.

Source: Naiz Info[es].

Historical background

Flag of Corsica

Like many other Mediterranean islands, Corsica has a convoluted history of invasions by mainland based powers, be them European or African.  Between 1347 and 1729 Corsica was ruled by the Republic of Genoa. The Corsican Revolution achieved, after 26 years of struggle, the foundation of an independent republic in 1755, which was an influential pioneer of democracy and founded the first university of the island at Corte. 

In 1767, a throughly defeated Genoa sold their "rights" to Corsica to the Kingdom of France, which invaded the island in 1769. Pasquale di Paoli, leader of the Corsican Revolution and President of the Executive Council, had to find refuge in England. 

For a brief period Paoli supported the French Revolution of 1789 but soon became disenchanted with Jacobin hyper-centralism and allied himself with the English, establishing a short lived kingdom (1794-76). 

The island was attributed to Britain in 1814 but London gave it to France.

After the loss of Algeria, some 18,000 French settlers (known as "pied-noirs") were installed in Corsica. Today it is estimated that some 50,000 French live in Corsica, plus some other 50,000 immigrants from other countries. Corsica has a population of c. 322,000 people, a third of them without roots in the island.

In the 1960s Corsican nationalism resurfaced and in 1976 the National Liberation Front began its armed struggle, largely directed against settlers' properties and the tourism industry. Since 1979 they managed to "bring the Corsican problem to France" by repeatedly bombing many Paris-based banks, the Court of Law and killing several military policemen.

Upon the election of social-democrat François Miterrand as President of France, the FLNC decreed a cease-fire but were soon disappointed by the French reaction and returned to struggle. On August 19th 1982 they attacked 99 targets in a single day.

A second cease-fire, this time negotiated with Paris, began in 1988 but it only caused splits within the guerrilla. These divisions stepped up in the 1990s, including deadly clashes between the factions.

In 1998 the Prefect of Corsica, Claude Erignac was killed by the FLNC.

In 2009 the FLNC was reunified. Even if not much publicized, the FLNC has been continuously carrying armed attacks against French colonial interests. In 2011, for example, they claimed responsibility of 38 attacks in just four months, however in that same communication they announced their wish for peace.

Yesterday, June 25th 2014, the FLNC declared a unilateral cease-fire, demanding a new political statute for Corsica and a solution for the political prisoners and other victims of state repression.

Greece: thousands of prisoners join hunger strike

Specifically: 3860, 35% of the inmate population (10,983 according to Novinite)

Details (from Contra Info):

• Koridallos, Athens: 1,300 inmates
• Patras: 550 inmates
• Grevena: 400 inmates
• Larissa: 300 inmates
• Alikarnassos, Chania, Crete: 280 inmates
• Domokos (where the Greek State intends to establish the first maximum security prison): 4 wings; that is, 240 inmates
• Amfissa: 200 inmates
• Corfu: 120 inmates
• Trikala: 120 inmates
• Malandrino (one of the toughest prisons; also where Ilir Kareli took the life of a miserable torturer-guard): 120 inmates
• Avlonas (juvenile prison): 100 inmates
• Nigrita, Serres (where prisoner Ilir Kareli was recently murdered by torturers-guards): 80 inmates
• Nafplion: 50 inmates

Their demands, as mentioned previously, are:

We demand:

1) The withdrawal of the fascist bill for type C prisons. We say no to the Greek Guantanamo, a prison within a prison, without furloughs, without visitations, without tomorrow…

2) Furlough and parole should be an undeniable right of all prisoners. Greece is the only country where the inmate undergoes trial and punishment every single day. While the law dictates that anyone who has served 1/5 and 3/5 of his/her sentence can be granted days of leave from prison and provisional release, respectively, prisoners are obliged to pass again and again from the holy inquisition of prison prosecutors, who deny the requests one after the other without any grounds or pending disciplinary action. This is how they create desperate prisoners and reproduce criminality.

3) To apply equity before the law for all. All prisoners sentenced to life in prison for drugs according to the old law 3459/2006 (because the police made sure they are portrayed as alleged drug lords, instead of addicted users) should have the right to get a retrial in accordance with the new law and its beneficiary provisions for drug users (4139/2013).

4) To apply the right of conjugal visits. In prison they deprive you of your freedom. But in Greek prisons they deprive you even of the smile of human communication and direct contact with your loved ones. Conjugal visits are permitted in prisons of all European countries; an inmate is being deprived of human communication only in Greece.

5) To end, now, the continuous captivity of those facing deportation. Hundreds of imprisoned migrants remain locked up due to bureaucracy of embassies, even though they have served their full sentence. We demand the immediate release of these prisoners.

We demand that the ministry of Justice deal with the real problems in prisons and immediately withdraw the fascist bill for the Greek Guantanamo of Domokos prison.

The minister of Justice is to be held responsible for every day of hunger strike and every prisoner whose life is in danger.
 
WE THE PRISONERS ON HUNGER STRIKE WILL WIN.

STRUGGLE – DIGNITY – SOLIDARITY
Prison Struggle Committee

Fukushima myths vs facts

Fukushima emergency, what can we do? discusses today eight myths found in the Internet regarding what is certainly the World's worst nuclear catastrophe, warning against exaggeration, while also against denial.

This is a fact (actual radioactive deposition measured in the immediate aftermath of Fukushima catastrophe):

This is a myth (it actually represents risk of tsunami after the March 2011 Fukushima earthquake and not radiation in any way):

All the story at Fukushima emergency...


Update: the original post seems to have been deleted but I feel I don't have a choice here because it already has comments, etc. So I'm copy-pasting from the RSS feed for your reference:

We’ve spotted a number of myths about the Fukushima nuclear disaster on Facebook and in forums that we’d like nothing more than to debunk. The age of many of these myths is irrelevant, as every day brings forth “new” posts rooted in their misinformation.

 1, THE INFAMOUS PACIFIC OCEAN DEATH MAP

No, this is not a map of anything related to radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. It is a map of potential tsunami heights from NOAA.

 While this misconception has been integral to creating awareness broadly over the ongoing situation, it has also seeded a lot of misinformation.

2, FUKUSHIMA RADIATION HIT SAN FRANCISCO

A recent video of a man at Half Moon Bay whose geiger counter alerted of high radiation levels while standing on the beach went viral, and has created an echo chamber of misunderstanding.

His geiger counter was detecting radiation, although it was naturally occurring radiation from the thorium-rich granite within the sand, and not from Fukushima. It’s equally perplexing that an official response from Dean Peterson, county environmental health director “noted that many innocuous items could spike the radiation levels in an area, including red-painted disposable eating utensils“. This seemingly sarcastic statement only furthered unrest over the issue, and took focus away from credible sources which have been reporting the phenomenon for the better part of a century.

Analysis of kelp has found that it has been contaminated to a certain low level. To what extent might be revealed by the further ongoing studies as the one lead by Ken Buesseler conducting analyses all along the West Coast from Alaska down to South California seaching for eventual Cesium 134/137 and Strontium contamination. ( Cesium‐137 = 1.4 Bq/m3 Cesium‐134 <0 .2="" bq="" font="" m3="">

Only a detailed mapped analysis would reveal the real extent of the Fukushima contamination of the ocean along the West Coast. Unfortunately no such study is at the time being conducted on West Coast soils.

Related: Safecast blog – Radiation on California Beaches

3, ALL FISH IN THE PACIFIC ARE NOW RADIOACTIVE

Based on test results from both California and Alaska, trace amounts of Fukushima radiation are in fact showing up in a few coastal fish, but certainly not all of them. Currently measured levels are at this point very, very low.

According to the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the oceanic plume is just starting to hit Alaska, and will begin hitting the majority of the West Coast in March2014. The numbers they are predicting will also be very low.

While all governments have proven to be a rather untrustworthy source for information on Fukushima, there are independent groups doing their own Cesium 134/Cesium 137 only testing up and down the coast and posting test results, and they too are not showing important level of contamination.

Though again they should test for strontium 90 and other radionuclides as well.

Related: Vancouver Food Radiation Monitoring, Loki Fish, and Berkeley University’s RadWatch.

While fish closer to Japan are showing high levels of radiation, on our coastal fisheries as far as Cesium 134 it is not yet present in high amount.

But you have to keep in mind that any amount of internal contamination, low or high can be fatal.

4, AN UNDERGROUND EXPLOSION IS HAPPENING AT FUKUSHIMA 
Multiple reports by TEPCO around Christmas 2013 of steam rising from Reactor 3 have prompted interpretations from all corners of the internet.

Steam rising from Reactor 3 is nothing new. It happens regularly, and has been happening since day one of the incident. 

What caused the steam over Fukushima reactor 3? There are a few reasons; The steam has a habit of forming after rainfall in the area, and some experts say the rain is making its way down to the reactor core, heating up, and evaporating.

Many people also believe the reactor core has breached both primary and secondary containment, and portions of it may still be fissioning which produces steam. Steam is not a good thing, but it is not a new thing, and there was no underground explosion. 

In fact multiple radiactive toxic gassing is permanently occuring on Daiichi site, that is very alarming in itself. Continually releasing a heavy load of radionuclides into our atmosphere, carried in every direction by the winds, bioaccumulation into the sea and onto the lands.

5, THE OTHER MAP; NRC FALLOUT MAP

After inquiring with the NRC directly, this was their response: 

Hello Mr. Mattingly, 

The “radiation plume” map was an anonymously produced falsehood and not a creation of the NRC or any other government agency. The creators of the false map also used the logo of the Australian nuclear regulator. The “Pacific deadzone” map has also been debunked as a distortion of a tsunami height simulation. The third map in that collage is also a complete falsehood. 

Please let me know if you have any additional questions. 

Scott Burnell Public Affairs Officer U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

This doesn’t mean that North America was not hit with radiation; The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization runs an International Monitoring System with 321 sensors worldwide. 

Below is a map of what those sensors picked up. According to the sensor data, 1000 bequerels per square meter (1Kbq/m2) fell on the Western Seaboard of North America. If you would like to view the actual sensor data, accompanied with additional maps, you can do so here.

6, EVERYTHING IN THE PACIFIC IS DYING BECAUSE OF FUKUSHIMA
I am sure many of you have seen all of the reports of mass die-offs all over the pacific, herring in British Columbia bleeding from their eyeballs, the sea stars melting away all along the entire coast, polar bears and sea lions have mysterious oozing sores and their fur is falling out, a two headed whale washing up on shore, the sardine population collapsing, and countless more.

The problem with this myth is that scientists have yet to give a solid explanation for any of these. Not a single one of them. Is it from Fukushima? We don’t know. We thought we would mention this one as it is noteworthy, and everyone wants to know.

Is the entire ocean floor now 98% covered in dead sea life like many articles are stating? No. This National Geographic article is where all of that originated is only talking about one localized area, and it is only sea salps they are talking about. Again, they do not know what is causing it, and the entire ocean floor is not covered with dead animals.

As much as we would love to give you a solid answer on this topic, the data to prove, or disprove it, simply isn’t available at this point, so there is no point in assuming.

Though they are several species severely affected and dying in various locations, there might be actually several factors involved : acidification of the ocean, virus, Fukushima contamination. 

At this point it is therefore not conclusive and totally unfitting to amalgam all those happenings and to say that they are all caused only by Fukushima contamination.

7, POTASSIUM IODIDE WILL PRESERVE MY HEALTH 
 
The answer to this is double-sided; Different types of radiation do different things to your body. Some mimic calcium, some mimic potassium, some mimic iodine, etc. Potassium iodide is a form of iodine. When you take it, it fills up your thyroid gland with non-radioactive iodine, thus not leaving any room for radioactive iodine to be taken in.

It will only protect your thyroid. Potassium Iodine only protects your thyroid gland from Iodine 131 a radionuclide released at the first stage of a nuclear disaster and it has a radioactive decay half-life of about eight days . And it should therefore be taken at the very early stage of the disaster or few hors prior to enter a contaminated zone. It does not protect your body from the many other radionuclides released during a nuclear disaster.

Potassium iodide therefore should only be taken in the event of a radiological disaster. It has the potential to cause adverse health effects, however the potential risks are far lower than allowing radioactive iodine into your thyroid.

At the moment, Fukushima is not releasing anymore Iodine 131 into the atmosphere to warrant taking it. It is however a good idea to eat foods that are naturally high in iodine such as Southern Atlantic Seaweed, and leafy greens to not only protect yourself from possible future releases, but also for your health in general. 

If there is another major event at Fukushima, or elsewhere, you should have a conversation with a licensed medical professional on how much you should be taking, and for how long, depending on your geographical location, and proximity to the event.

8, PEOPLE NEED TO EVACUATE THE WEST COAST 
If the ongoing situation at Fukushima became toxic enough to warrant an evacuation of the West Coast, there would really be no safe place to evacuate to.

The radiation could circle the globe in a matter of days, just as the original plume from Fukushima did, and eventually pollute the entire planet.

However for smaller incidents, it’s not a bad idea to avoid the initial dispersal zone if it’s an
option.


CONCLUSION

We advise people, to read, dig deeper and verify any news article before to believe and share out an information, the gravity of the ongoing Fukushima disaster and its slow but sure contamination of our biosphere and of our food chain is bad enough, exaggerations, sensationalism are totally unneeded and uncalled for.

We should stick to trhe facts and not extrapolate too far, we should all act with a proper sense of responsibility, face the real problem but not feed into a paranoia.

We advise people to learn to measure radiation, and to learn as well basic radiation protective measures.

We advise you as a precautionary measure to not eat Pacific Ocean products, any tiny radionuclide present in any food is just a Russian roulette bullet waiting in due time to hit you.

Note: the original entry was not written by Citizen Perth, the usual author of Fukushima emergency..., but by some Dun Renard. This may have something to do with the deletion (???) - ask them.

Greek prisoners on hunger strike

Since June 18th prisoners through Greece have begun a hunger strike in demand of their rights and against the more extreme prison system implemented by the Troika government.

Communication:

We demand:

1) The withdrawal of the fascist bill for type C prisons. We say no to the Greek Guantanamo, a prison within a prison, without furloughs, without visitations, without tomorrow…

2) Furlough and parole should be an undeniable right of all prisoners. Greece is the only country where the inmate undergoes trial and punishment every single day. While the law dictates that anyone who has served 1/5 and 3/5 of his/her sentence can be granted days of leave from prison and provisional release, respectively, prisoners are obliged to pass again and again from the holy inquisition of prison prosecutors, who deny the requests one after the other without any grounds or pending disciplinary action. This is how they create desperate prisoners and reproduce criminality.

3) To apply equity before the law for all. All prisoners sentenced to life in prison for drugs according to the old law 3459/2006 (because the police made sure they are portrayed as alleged drug lords, instead of addicted users) should have the right to get a retrial in accordance with the new law and its beneficiary provisions for drug users (4139/2013).

4) To apply the right of conjugal visits. In prison they deprive you of your freedom. But in Greek prisons they deprive you even of the smile of human communication and direct contact with your loved ones. Conjugal visits are permitted in prisons of all European countries; an inmate is being deprived of human communication only in Greece.

5) To end, now, the continuous captivity of those facing deportation. Hundreds of imprisoned migrants remain locked up due to bureaucracy of embassies, even though they have served their full sentence. We demand the immediate release of these prisoners.

We demand that the ministry of Justice deal with the real problems in prisons and immediately withdraw the fascist bill for the Greek Guantanamo of Domokos prison.

The minister of Justice is to be held responsible for every day of hunger strike and every prisoner whose life is in danger.
 
WE THE PRISONERS ON HUNGER STRIKE WILL WIN.

STRUGGLE – DIGNITY – SOLIDARITY
Prison Struggle Committee

Source: Contra Info.

Map of factional control in Iraq (and nearby parts of Syria)

Map of factional control in Iraq and parts of Syria:

The map is based on: 

• Wikipedia: template map detailed Iraq war.
• Wikipedia: Syrian civil war (includes more detail on other parts of Syria not shown here).
• Russia Today: ISIS Inc. ...

Notice please that by labeling certain countries as supporting the terrorists or the legitimate governments I am just stating the obvious in terms geopolitic. I have no sympathies whatsoever for the Islamic regime of Iran nor for any fascists of any religion nor whatever other shade but right now, the Fascist Islamist terror in the area is being clearly supported by the US imperial forces, including by Washington itself in spite of all the ambivalent blah-blah. 

One question may arise here: who supports the Kurds? Nobody but themselves in general terms. It is true that they are currently in unstable symbiosis with the central authorities of Syria and Iraq but otherwise they are on their own. Also they are the most respectable of all factions without doubt.

Why is the USA attacking Iraq via Islamist contras?

Sure: that's not how they tell us the story in the media. And things have escalated so fast that we are all perplex in any case. But the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is just Al Qaeda by another name: another Saudi-directed puppet counter-revolutionary militia. 

Until a week ago ISIS was just known as ISS and only acted in Syria, being infamous for many terrorist cruelties but mostly being kept under control by a Baath regime that has been able to recycle itself and become good-looking in comparison with its atrocious fanatic enemies.

Towns attacked by the ISIS in Iraq

But almost overnight the ISIS has been attacking NE Iraq with incredible success, thanks apparently to organized desertions in the Iraqi Army, and, of course, expanding its terrorism against civilians to the Mesopotamian state. The most striking conquest so far has been Mosul, the third largest Iraqi city, frontier between Kurdistan and the so-called "Sunni Arab triangle". But they are also threatening as far south as Baghdad and as much into Kurdish territory as Kirkuk and Erbil.

In essence they seem to have taken control of all the "Sunni Arab triangle" in no time, putting the very questionable but no doubt democratic Al Maliki government (of Shia Arab basis) against the wall. 

Who are the ISIS? An Al Qaeda offshoot under Saudi control and with quite apparent Turkish backing. They have emerged as the most violent and relative successful terrorist faction in Syria and have used it as basis for their offensive against Iraq, now unveiled against a weak state. 

The real question is why is the USA attacking Iraq via the ISIS? Naturally neither Saudia nor Turkey would move a finger without Washington's approval and oversight, certainly not in something as big as this.

To find the answer we must go back in time to the aggression against Mali. What happened back then? First a military coup by a US-trained colonel, almost simultaneous to a massive attack by the Islamist militias arriving from Lybia (which co-opted the Tuareg-Songhai liberation movement). Eventually France intervened and the Islamists were mostly recycled into the Malian military, while the USA got drone bases in Burkina Faso and Niger. 

Similarly now the USA is probably seeking a change in Iraq. Probably not a Sunni-Islamist takeover but more like a government change and a request for military intervention (which it already obtained) that allows the US military to reoccupy Iraq, securing that buffer between Iran and Syria. Maliki is probably perceived as too dangerously close to Iran, something they want to change. 

This puppet Islamist offensive must therefore be understood within the wider context of US imperialist activities in all the wider Mediterranean area, from Ukraine to Mali, passing by Syria. Its wider goal is to weaken the Moscow-Beijing-Iran loose bloc. 

I understand that it is almost impossible that ISIS takes over Iraq, especially as Iran has declared that it will intervene in case the holy Shia places of the South being in danger, but also because the vast majority of Iraqis are Shia and Kurdish, none of which like the Sunni Islamists at all. If they were unhappy with a secularist "Sunni" government like that of Hussein, what stability might get a Sunni Islamist one? Zero.

So the real threat is the US invasion that will no doubt happen soon.

Partial source: RT live updates on Iraq.


Update: Manilo Dinucci mentions at Voltaire Net[es/fr/it] that it is not just the relative closeness to Iran of Iraqi Shias but maybe even more the approximation to Beijing, who, as usual, has bought much of the country (half of Iraq's oil production, military aid, etc.) instead of conquering it, what is moving Washington to act along with its Sunni-Islamist puppet regimes in the area. 

This laid back economic and diplomatic policy of China has actually damaged once and again the titanic military efforts by Washington for control of the World. In many senses the US Empire mimics that of Charles V, unable to impose its imperial dream (or nightmare) against way too many independent agents, interested in anything but submission to the Emperor.

It's not just China, Russia, Iran, Brazil, Venezuela... India has become directly confronted with Washington recently as well, while Germany particularly has been less than happy with most of the imperialist activities of the last years, passing of collaborating in Libya and being deeply ambiguous in Ukraine, where the coup has been clearly promoted by Washington and Poland primarily.

A song from the Southeast (of Ukraine)

A bit of way too pop for my taste but at least it begins with rhythms from The Clash. The lyrics are quite cool anyhow and reflect the difficult struggle of the Southeastern Ukrainian Antifascists against the rebirth of Nazi terror in Europe. This is not just their struggle: it is something that unavoidably affects all Europeans and even beyond.

Translated lyrics:

Southeast!

My head is broken by disturbing dreams...
the air smells to civil war.
Nervous, they hit me, hammering...
a name jumps to the headlines: Southeast!

It is hard to fight cold and heat...
after so many years of hard work... we went backwards,
always controlled, there is no more time
grabbing a gun, the Southeast arises!

After the mad hope... there is a desperate cry,
miner rage... for the empty pockets,
how different to what books preach,
if we create soviets, partisans will come!

(Chorus)
Any person, via Internet, far away or close by, 
will transmit... from the heart:
Peace in the cabins, peace in the huts,
war, war, war to the palaces!

Crawling in its tomb again, the brown plague, 
came to the streets... blowing up the homes,
filling with the temples with carmine blood,
the Brest fortress is now the Southeast!

The thieves of the World want to eat,
gulping the peoples... in sandwiches for dinner,
but they have a knot in their throats and cannot swallow:
the path is blocked to the shameless ones, in the Southeast!

Day and night they stand guard,
full of illussions, of fears... tired of tricks and deceit,
but these people make history by themselves,
if we create soviets, partisans will arise!

(Chorus)

Believe me: borders are not so important
and what we have here is not paradise,
but the memory of the fallen that once lived here,
warms us up for struggle and to live today this way.

For each of them, for the comrade and brother,
let us put a knee on the ass of the fattened rats,
the date of the outcome is coming, its deadline.
The paths are being opened towards the Southeast!

Southeast!

Map of the antifascist Southeast, showing approximate zones of control

Source: Webguerrillero[es].

The tug-of-war of Spanish Neo-Fascist political repression

The Spanish Inquisition¹ acquits 40 Basque Youth activists (right: the trial). Good news? Well, so it would seem in principle but context matters a lot: these 40 Basque citizens have suffered prison, tortures and political persecution. They are now formally acknowledged as innocent but repression fell on them for many years, no apologies, no compensations, no nothing. In fact they can suffer again, as can I or anyone with dissident opinions, further repression at any time.

It is happening all the time. Not just dozens, maybe hundreds still suffer prison, like Arnaldo Otegi for having an opinion and/or a political activity, but new cases of political repression on opinion "crimes", torture and arbitrary imprisonment happen all the time.

This week, Tomás Madina, activist of the memorialist movement, which tries to reveal the truth of fascist murderous repression in the so-called "Spanish Civil War" (i.e. the Fascist military coup), was arrested by the Spanish Military Police, tortured and arbitrarily accused of being member of ETA ("all is ETA" doctrine, you know). He has been sent to prison by the Inquisition. Possibly he will be acquitted in the future (or maybe not) but he will anyhow have suffered the political repression in full force: arbitrary arrest, tortures, false accusations, time spent in prison, etc.

This is how the police state works today: innocent people are persecuted for their ideas and political activism, preventively tortured and imprisoned, then, years later, they are often set free, the intended damage done.

Repression against independent journalism growing

Among the victims of this kind of repression are journalists and media that does not bow to the monolithic institutional discourse. In the Basque Country this began with the closure of Egin newspaper, probably the best newspaper ever in the history of this country, with a lot of investigative journalism and very good news coverage and analysis in its late period, as well as the related Egin Irratia (radio) and Ardi Beltza magazine (investigative journalism monthly). Soon it was followed by another even more outraging attack against free expression with the closure of Egunkaria, the only Basque language newspaper, and the torture of its leading journalists.

The popular reaction was strong in both cases and successor media soon arose but huge damage was done anyhow, artificially forcing new staff and depriving these media of their economic assets. In the long run, a decade later, the cases were dismissed, the damage was already done.

This kind of repression has not ceased at all, although now it is more focused against the new Internet-based media, which offer information and analysis almost impossible to find in the bourgeois mainline old-school media.

In the Basque Country Apurtu.org was closed and some of its members arrested and tortured. Only for the case to be dismissed a couple of years later. Not before its successor site, Ateak Ireki, being closed on the same spurious grounds.

In all Spain

A peculiarity of our time however is the increased political dissidence in other parts of the residual Spanish Empire, including its Castilian core, and the subsequent generalization of the political persecution and repression.

Mainline bourgeois media are pictured as shields of the police state in this cartoon

Recently independent media from all the state have denounced this increase in political repression, with a huge list of cases:

• Police attack against the offices of La Directa in Barcelona.
• Closure of BurlataHerria.org (Navarre) under accusations of "apology of terrorism" (for reporting about political prisoners).
• Arrest of La Haine journalist in Madrid, including violent beatings of other journalists who supported him.
• Judicial persecution against the camera of Ahotsa.info (Navarre) for filming an "atheist procession".
• Threats by the Spanish Inquisition against Topatu.info, forcing them to remove a video on the meeting Danbada Eguna or be closured.
• Criminalization of Ahotsa.info by ABC newspaper (reactionary) for reporting on political arrests in real time.
• Pointing out and criminalization of several photo-journalists of Madrid that were later arrested by the Spanish police. 
• The already mentioned closure and persecution of Navarrese news sites Apurtu.org and Ateak Ireki. 
• Arrest of La Haine journalist in the Unemployed People's March of 2012.
• Arrest of two journalists of Periodismo Humano when they filmed an attempt by immigrants to cross the border wall of Melilla. 
• Arrest of a journalist of LaTele.cat covering the "surround the Parliament" massive demo of 2011 in Barcelona.
• Arrest of a journalist of Diagonal newspaper when taking photos of a police anti-immigrant raid in Madrid 2011.

Etcetera. They denounce that this kind of repression is typical of autocratic states like Colombia or Chile, as well as Spain.

The political repression is not limited at all to persecution of journalists. Gratuituous police violence against protesters has become the norm, as well as huge fines for exerting the basic right to protest. Just to mention a recent case, police brutally attacked a huge number of citizens (below) protesting against the discourse of Minister Martínez Soria in Telde, Gran Canaria, arresting six and beating many more, including one woman with serious head injuries (right).

Another also every day more common variant of repression are spurious accusations of links to "terrorism". For example Galician independentist militant Maria Osorio has recently chosen to publicly go clandestine as a way  to rebel against the Spanish repression. This is of course not an easy choice.

Solidarity with her has taken form as the campaign "I also hide Maria Osorio in my home".

But while this kind of spurious "anti-terrorist" political repression has been so far more common against independentist activists, it seems that it is going to become a more generalized trend. The Spanish authorities have been these days warning against "Anarchist terrorism" in a clear attempt to generalize fake "anti-terrorist" repression to all the nations of the residual empire.

_________________________________________

¹ Spanish Inquisition: officially known as Audiencia Nacional, successor of Franco's Tribunal of Public Order, in charge of persecuting political dissidence and protecting the political and financier elites, as well as police agents. All major cases with some political significance go through this special political court located in Madrid.

Important protests for democracy and human rights in SW Europe

Sorry but I did not have time to mention them before and actually not even now, so I'll be extremely brief.

Basques demand right to decide with human chain

At least 150,000 Basque citizens joined their hands on Sunday to make a human chain from Durango to Pamplona in demand of self-determination.

→ Naiz Info (1, 2)


Spaniards rally for the Republic and a new Constitutional Process

In Madrid and many other cities.

→ Tercera Información

French marched against Fascism in the anniversary of the murder of Clement Méric

→ Revolution News


Canarians rallied against oil project that may destroy the environment

→ La Haine

Physisicans reject to force-feed hunger-striking prisoners of the Zionists

The Israeli Medical Association has opposed the new totalitarian law promoted by the Zionist regime that would allow to force-feed hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners, who are protesting for being arbitrarily held without charges for very long terms, even many years. 

The doctors say that force-feeding is torture and that physicians should never participate in torture.

There are at least 900 Palestinian prisoners arrested with no charges whatsoever by the Apartheid regime. 68 of them are in hunger-strike in demand of their most basic rights. 

One of the most extreme cases is that of Abdel Razeg, former PLO member, who has been under administrative arrest intermittently for eight of the last 20 years.

Source: RT.

Spain: large improvised protests demand Republic

Upon the abdication of the King of Spain on his son, large improvised demonstrations have taken iconic plazas through the state's cities demanding a referendum for the Republic. 

Plaza del Sol, Madrid

Plaça Catalunya, Barcelona, demanding independence

Plaza del Pilar, Zaragoza

The popular assembly organized at Sol after the rally called for further protests for the weekend and clearly demanded a popular vote on the monarchy.

Source: Diagonal.


Basques for the Basque Republic

In the Basque Country also there were important protests against the monarchy and for independence.

Source: Sare Antifaxista.

Spain: Franco's heir abdicates

Appointment of Mr. Borbón as heir of dictator Franco

In yet another clear sign of the collapse of the post-Fascist regime in Spain, Franco's heir as chief of the residual Spanish Empire, Juan Carlos Borbón Borbón, resigned today.

The controversial monarch, heir of a long line of aristocrats rooted in the Crown of Navarre, began his life "accidentally" murdering his own brother with a gun. Later he would be appointed by Fascist dictator F. Franco as his heir, ascending to the throne upon the death of the mini-general in 1975. 

He was quite apparently involved in the coup attempt of 1981, where it is believed by many that he was called by the codename "white elephant". The coup, which had been agreed by nearly all political factions intended to stop the process of decentralization of the state and was clearly successful, if not in form, at least in effects. 

However, thanks to the institutional propaganda machinery, he was presented as some sort of "savior" of democracy, illusion that managed to achieve some success and made the figure of the monarch relatively popular. 

Showing the middle finger to Basque protesters

But the many privileges and concealment of the royal family, the corruption scandal affecting his daughter (Noos affair) and his murdering of an elephant in Botswana recently have damaged his image and that of the unelected monarchy, an institution seen with great distrust by many today. On top of those affairs, it is every day more impossible to conceal the collaboration of the crowned guy with Fascism and the 1981 coup, thanks to the Internet. 

So as De Lampedusa famously wrote: "let's change something so nothing changes". And so the monarch has abdicated in his old age in favor of his son Felipe, 46, who surely enjoys a less corrupt and fascist image, being even slightly rebellious in his young age and being married with a plebeian. 

The move obviously attempts to perpetuate the monarchy in a time in which, as the undemocratic fossil it is, it is being challenged more and more by a population which clearly demands true democracy and not this farce, so "well tied" in the infamous words of then ailing dictator Franco. 

Royal murder of an elephant

Five centuries of Bourbons

Jeanne III of Navarre

The Bourbon dynasty began with good footing in the person of Jean III of Navarre, who revitalized Basque and Gascon culture and promoted protestantism. She married Antoine of Bourbon, a French aristocrat who also favored the Huguenot cause. Their son Henry III of Navarre would eventually become heir of the French Crown and tactically adopted Catholicism in order to end the Wars of Religion ("Paris is well worth a mass"). Better known as Henry IV of France, his tolerant and illustrated reign enjoyed the favor of the people and he came to be known as "the good king", what seems to be an exception. 

His heirs however came under the clout of Machiavellian Catholic cardinals Mazarine and Richelieu, returning France to Catholic Fundamentalism and causing new bloody religious conflicts. This totalitarian regime, known as Absolutism, knew its apogee under Louis XIV, who infamously said "the state is me". 

It was under his rule that the Bourbons would get the inheritance of the Crown of Castile and Aragon, triggering the War of Spanish Succession. It was also then when Spain was first organized as a unitary state, abolishing the self-rule of the states of the Crown of Aragon and officially using the term "king of Spain" for the first time ever. 

Naturally all that totalitarianism would cause trouble and decades after the Sun King, the heads of his descendants would roll on baskets in the center of Paris. In spite of the Restoration attempt the Bourbons lost control of France to the Republic. 

Further South, the Bourbons of Madrid also experienced troubles in the 19th century, being forced abdicate in favor of a new dynasty. However the Italian monarch could not consolidate the throne either and a Republic was installed. The bourgeois Republic was fraught with contradictions (federalism vs centralism mostly) and eventually collapsed as well, resulting in the restoration of the Bourbons in the person of Alfonso XII. 

But this regime dug its own grave by imposing military dictatorship at the beginning of the 20th century, and the Republic was installed again in 1931 by popular demand. In 1936 the Republic was attacked by a military coup that performed the most horrible acts of democide on ideological grounds: everyone suspect of leftism was irregularly executed or sent to deadly forced work. 

The dictator and his heir

The worst repression fell over the land, coupled with hunger and desperation. Upon the defeat of Hitler in 1945 there was some hope that the Fascist regime in Madrid would collapse but the United States backed the dictatorship and it lasted for thirty terrible years more.

Franco planned well what would come after him and infamously declared in his deathbed that "I leave everything tied and well tied". The constitutional monarchy that succeeded him was therefore his legacy and as such could not but disappoint. 

After 39 years, now the regime attempts some cosmetic surgery in a quite desperate attempt to perpetuate itself. We'll see if it has any effect at all because, as many say, if the Bourbon wants to be chief of state, let him run in elections.

Sources: Diagonal, Naiz Info (photos).