Richard Spencer: UN Warns of Failing Ceasefire in Syria!

Western leaders issued the threat of international intervention to set up "humanitarian corridors" in Syria after the UN warned that President Bashar al-Assad's regime was failing to honor the terms of a ceasefire. As foreign ministers gathered in Paris to discuss the crisis, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, compared the situation in Syria to that of Libya before the fall of Colonel Muammar Ghaddafi, and said the time had come to set up safe corridors for the provision of aid to allow refugees to escape the fighting. The Pentagon also warned for the first time that "all options" were on the table to resolve the conflict, following a dire assessment from Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary-general. In a briefing to the Security Council ahead of last night't Paris summit, Mr Ban said the situation on the ground in Syria was "highly precarious" and that attacks were on the rise, including the "shelling of civilian areas". He warned of "grave abuses by government forces" and demanded the regime immediately pull its heavy military equipment out of cities in accordance with Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan. Speaking as the meeting opened, Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, said the failure of the Annan plan would lead to "civil war". He said "several hundred" international monitors were needed in Syria to police the ceasefire. The UN was on Thursday said to have agreed to a preliminary deal with Damascus for the deployment of more peace monitors, however it was unclear what access or support they would be given. The UN is believed to want at least 300 on the ground.

Ewen MacAskill: US Drone Strikes in Yemen to Prevent Terrorism.

US defense secretary Leon Panetta defended the use of drones to kill terror suspects amid reports that the CIA is seeking permission to expand strikes in Yemen, a move that renewed debate about the legality of the strategy. Panetta told a congressional hearing that such drone strikes were precise, and targeted only terrorists planning attacks on the US. But an international legal expert countered that such strikes were unlawful, executing suspects without a trial. Such a strategy was questionable enough when employed in Afghanistan but was doubly so in Yemen, given that the US is not at war there, she said. The Washington Post reported that the CIA was seeking a wider definition of targets in Yemen, given so it can launch drones against individuals engaged in behavior deemed suspicious, such as unloading explosives or gathering at suspected al-Qaida compounds. The White House has not yet made a decision. The US has been using drones against suspected militants since 2002 in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and around the Horn of Africa. The use of drones in Yemen has been increasing, with Washington fearful about the threat posed to the Yemeni government from insurgents. There have been about eight drone strikes in Yemen this year, with innocent civilians among the casualties. Insurgents from a group allegedly linked to al-Qaida claimed three of its members were killed by a drone. The Yemeni government claims it was a rocket.  

Joseph Farah: The President's Bogus Birth Certificate

Did you see the reaction of the "press" to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's report on the fact thatBarack Obama's birth certificate is a crude forgery? Did the media assembled in Phoenix gasp in shock at the carefully presented findings? Did the reporters run out of the room to file Page 1 stories explaining that the first law-enforcement investigation of the document found overwhelming and compelling evidence of criminal fraud? Did the shocking report lead the news on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and CNN? No! Let me tell you why I think it's important and why I am personally making a donation to this cause. Instead, the media questioned Arpaio's motives for presenting the facts. And they filed stories characterizing the report as conspiracy-mongering. Or, they ignored the press conference and the report altogether. What a shameful and disgraceful exhibition by my colleagues! No wonder most people are afraid to speak out publicly about this important constitutional issue. I know how reluctant the investigators were to take an honest look at the evidence. I know they would have preferred to debunk the conclusions of Jerome Corsi and others who had investigated before them. I know there were no predetermined conclusions and a strong inclination toward validating the document if only it were possible. But honest and independent law-enforcement people don't do that. I have immense respect for Sheriff Arpaio, who showed a great deal of courage and integrity. The press, for the most part, demonstrated no integrity. Unable to dispute the facts, they attempted to smear the messenger.

Stephen Gowans: What's Left, The United States Barbarous Policy on Iran!

"Sanctions, "New York Times" reporter Rick Gladstone writes, have subjected "ordinary Iranians" to "increased deprivations" in order to "punish Iran for enriching uranium that the West suspects is a cover for developing the ability to make nuclear weapons." In other words, Iran is suspected of having a secret nuclear weapons program, and so must be sanctioned to force it to abandon it. Contrary to Gladstone, the West doesn't really believe that Tehran has a secret weapons program, yet even if we accept it does believe this, the position is indefensible. Why should Iranians be punished for developing a capability that have imposed sanctions already have? The reason why, it will be said, is because Iranians are bent on developing nuclear weapons to destroy Israel. Didn't Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threaten to "wipe Israel off the map"? Regurgitated regularly by US hawks and Israeli politicians to mobilize support for the bombing of Iran, the claim is demagogic rubbish. Ahmadinejad predicted that Israel as a Zionist state would someday disappear much as South Africa as an apartheid state did. He didn't threaten the physical destruction of Israel and expressed only the wish that historic Palestine would become a multinational democratic state of Arabs and Jews who trace their descent from antecedents who arrived in Palestine before the arrival of Zionist settlers, i.e., that it would someday become a more humane alternative to what it is today. No less damaging to the argument that Iranians aspire to take Israel out in a hail of nuclear missiles is the reality that it would take decades for Iran to match Israel's already formidable nuclear arsenal.

Julie Levesque: Israel's Secret Service is Cutting Back in Iran!

Contradicting a recent report in the UK's authoritative Sunday Times, America's Time Magazine, quoting unnamed Israeli intelligence officials suggests that Israel's Secret Service - the Mossad has, in recent months, been cutting back on covert operations inside Iran, including the conduct of targeted assassinations. Ironically, the Times and TIME contradict one another. The Sunday Times, in its March 25 issue, stated that Israeli intelligence services had increased their covert activity at the Iranian Parchin military base, allegedly were carried out while Tehran was negotiating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA had pressured the Iranians to authorize a visit at that very specific military base, allegedly looking for evidence to the effect that Iran was building a nuclear weapon. These Israeli intelligence operations were carried out while Tehran was negotiating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA had pressured the Iranians to authorize a visit at that very specific military base. (Julie Levesque, "Fabricating a Smoking Gun" To Attack Iran? Israeli Spies Disguised as Iranian Soldiers on Mission Inside Iran. Global Research, March 27, 2012) Another article called US steps up intelligence, sabotage missions in Iran, published by The Hill on April 9 seems to corroborate the information revealed by The Sunday Times. The Hill points to an increase of covert operations in the Islamic Republic by the CIA and its allies in the region. Since the closest US ally in the region is Israel, one can assume that Mossad was participating in those sabotage missions.   

Eric Walberg: AfPak - Mutiny on the Bounty!

The Taliban began their spring campaign as a British lord put a price on Bush's scalp. Kabul was cast into chaos Sunday as the Taliban began their spring offensive with attacks on US, British, German and Russian embassies. NATO headquarters, Camp Eggers, a hotel, President Karzai's palace compound and parliament. "These are coordinated attacks that went just as we planned," Taliban spokesman Qari Talha told The Daily Beast. "This is only the start of what's in store this year and next for the Americans and Karzai." Targets across the country included Vice-President Mohammad Karim Khalili, airfields and police stations in three eastern provinces. About 20 insurgents were killed in the attacks, which injured at least 15 police officers and nine civilians. US ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker dismissed the Taliban's claim of responsibility: "Frankly, I don't think the Taliban is good enough," leaving unsaid who is. Crocker commended the NATO-trained Afghan forces, whose capability was "proven today by their professional and highly effective response in restoring order". A warning came from New Delhi's institute of Peace and Conflict Studies Director Dipankar Banerjee: "We"re only going to see an increase in these attacks. It helps the militants ensure political dominance in the new order as they slowly take over" Talha said that Sunday's strikes were just a preview of the fighting season to come. "We want to engage smaller numbers of well-trained fighters to make attacks on significant government, American and NATO targets." He said the mastermind of the operation was Hajji Lala, the insurgency's shadow governor of Kabul and its eastern-front military chief.  

WND: Ten Commandments Has New Competition!

You've heard of the epic movie "The Ten Commandments" starring Charlton Heston as Moses. It's been one of the bestselling faith movies since it came out in DVD last year, and is currently No. 1 on Amazon. Do you know what No. 2 is? It's not a Cecil B. De Mille production. It's a JosephFarah/WND Films production called "The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment" a sensational documentary that provides seeing-is-believing evidence that America is under God's judgment right now, just the way ancient Israel was before the fall. In fact, it has eclipsed "The Ten Commandments multiple times since it was released last month to nationwide acclaim: It's a powerful two-hour two-DVD documentary about the parallels between ancient Israel's fall and America since 9/11. It also ranked as one of the top documentaries in the nation at Amazon and one of the bestselling movies or TV shows of any kind. "If you haven't seen this movie yet, I urge you to get it, screen it with your family, show it to your friends and arrange church viewings," said Farah. "This is the most important project I have been involved in through my 35-year media career. This is a message, I believe, God directed me to undertake for a time such as this." Farah said he is immensely pleased with the documentary treatment of the message found in the best-selling book "The Harbinger" by Jonathan Cahn, which remains the No. 1 Christian book in America this year. In January, "The Harbinger," by Cahn, a messianic rabbi from New Jersey, exploded onto the publishing scene, immediately becoming a surprise New York Times bestseller, already read by hundreds of thousands nationwide.