Ban Ki-Moon Condemns the American Stand on Syria, Endorses Putin’s

By Eric Zuesse

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: Finally doing something for peace instead of playing water carrier for Obama.

In an interview with Spanish newspapers that was published October 31st, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon condemned U.S. President Barack Obama’s demand that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad be removed from office, and Moon said: “The future of Assad must be determined by the Syrian people.”

Here is the entire quotation: “The future of President Assad must be decided by the Syrian people. Now, I do not want to interfere in the process of Vienna, but I think it is totally unfair and unreasonable that the fate of a person [diplomatese here for: U.S. President Barack Obama’s demand that Assad be removed from the Presidency of Syria] to paralyze all this political negotiation. This is not acceptable. It’s not fair. The Syrian government insists that Assad should be part of the transition. Many Western countries oppose the Syrian government’s position. Meanwhile, we lost years. 250,000 people have been killed. There are 13 million refugees or internally displaced. Over 50% of hospitals, schools and infrastructure has been destroyed in Syria. You must not lose more time. This crisis goes beyond Syria, beyond the region. It affects Europe. It is a global crisis.”

The U.N. Secretary General is here implicitly blaming all of this — lots of blood and misery — on U.S. President Obama, and on the “many Western countries” who ally with him and have joined with him in demanding regime-change in Syria.

The position of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has been, and is, to the exact contrary of Obama’s: namely, that only an election by the Syrian people can determine whom Syria’s President should be. The U.N. Secretary General is here agreeing with Putin, and rejecting Obama’s demand, that the matter be determined instead by non-Syrians, and by non-democratic means (which is basically like George W. Bush did in Iraq, and like Barack Obama did in Libya).

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]uckers in the West fall for the Western aristocracies’ line that Putin and not Obama is wrong on this and is the cause of the dragged-out Syrian war. Such fools don’t even ask themselves whether in this dispute it is Obama, or instead Putin, who is supporting the most basic democratic principle of self-rule by the people. But the average individual is that manipulable: so manipulable as to think that black is white, and white is black; that good is bad, and bad is good. Totally manipulable.

This interview was buried by Spanish newspapers, because the Spanish government is allied with the United States. For example, the most prominent Spanish newspaper to publish even quotations from this interview is El Pais, and their headline for the story is “Catalonia is not among the territories with the right to self-determination.” Even there, the headline is false. What Moon actually said instead on that issue of the Catalonian independence movement, was: “The Catalan question is a very delicate matter and, while the UN Secretary General, I’m not in a position to comment on that because it is a purely internal matter.” Lies and distortions in the Western ‘news’ media are that routine: so obvious, sometimes, virtually any intelligent reader can easily recognize that he’s reading lies and propaganda (like in that ‘news’ story).

This newspaper actually buried the part about Assad and Obama (the blockbuster in the entire story) near the end, but not at the very end, of its report, because one of the standard things that ‘news’ media do if they want to de-emphasize a particular point is to bring the matter up near the end but not at the end. To place it at the end, would emphasize, instead of de-emphasize, the given point: it’s not the professional way to bury news. Knowledge of how to bury news is important for the managers of any ‘news’ medium, because such knowledge is essential in order to make the medium achieve the objectives of the medium’s owner, the propagandistic function, which is the main reason why wealthy people buy major ‘news’ media, and why major corporations choose to advertise in (and thereby subsidize) these media (which increases that given ‘news’ media-owner’s income).

“Knowledge of how to bury news is important for the managers of any ‘news’ medium, because such knowledge is essential to make the medium achieve the objectives of the medium’s owner, the propagandistic function, which is the main reason why wealthy people buy major ‘news’ media…”

As to why the managers (including editors) of El Pais wanted their ‘reporter’ to misrepresent Moon as being opposed to Catalan independence, the reason is that the owners of El Pais are opposed to Catalan independence. It’s not only in the editorials. With very few exceptions, a newspaper’s editorials and its ‘news’ reporting are slanted the same way. However, sometimes, for particular reasons, the editorial position is instead slanted the opposite way from the ‘news’ ‘reporting.’ Public relations, or Propaganda, is a science, not for amateurs. And a major function of management is to apply that science so as to maximize value for the medium’s owners. It’s like any business, but the press is also part of the business of government: moulding the public’s opinions so as to serve the needs of the aristocracy that owns the vast majority of the nation’s wealth. The idea of ‘the free press’ is itself PRopaganda. In reality, the press is far from free.

Anyway, Ban ki-Moon took a rare courageous position here: what he said was correct, though it’s virtually unmentionable in the West. For example: how widely is this news-report being published? It was submitted to virtually all national news-media in the U.S. and several other Western countries. You can google the headline, “Ban Ki Moon Condemns the American Stand on Syria, Endorses Putin’s” to find out how many (and which ones) are actually publishing it.

They’re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010, and of CHRIST’S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity.

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WHY IS THE WEST LYING ABOUT IRAN?

Kourosh Ziabari Interviews Polymathic Roaming Correspondent, Writer and Revolutionist Andre Vltchek

Vltchek

Iran Has Been Transparent and Accountable Over its Nuclear Program: Andre Vltchek

[box] Interview by Kourosh Ziabari

An acclaimed philosopher and journalist who has recently visited Iran tells Fars News Agency that the reality of Iran is absolutely different from the way it’s being illustrated in the mainstream media.

Andre Vltchek says “Iran that you see when visiting the country has nothing in common with that imaginary, terrible and cruel Iran that the West’s mass media has created.”

Commenting on Iran’s nuclear program and the international responses to it, Andre Vltchek says the majority of the Middle East nations and the global public don’t have any objections to Iran developing nuclear technology, considering Iran’s peaceful nature and its long history of non-violence.

“I am actually horrified that such countries, such colonial powers like the United States, France and the UK have their nuclear arsenal and that the world is tolerating it. These countries are responsible for loss of hundreds of millions of human lives, all over the world. But Iran! Why should anyone fear Iran? Yes, Iran is transparent and accountable over its nuclear program,” he asserted.

Vltchek who has traveled to tens of countries in five continents talks of his experience in Iran with delight, noting that without visiting Iran, “one’s knowledge of the world could never be complete.”

Andre Vltchek was a keynote speaker at the International Congress on 17,000 Iranian Terror Victims held in Tehran last month. FNA spoke to Mr. Vltchek about Iran’s relations with the West, the portrayal of Iran in the Western media and the international perceptions of the country’s nuclear program.[/box]

KZ: You recently attended the International Congress of 17,000 Iranian Terror Victims, which commemorated the Iranian citizens and officials murdered by the terrorist groups following the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Isn’t it ironic that while Iran says it’s been a victim of global terrorism itself, it’s being accused by some of the major powers and their allies of sponsoring terrorism?

A: Yes it is ironic, but the entire arrangement of the world is more than ironic: it is grotesque. We have a group of several, mainly Western, countries ruling the world, brutalizing all continents, reigning over the entire planet using dictatorial and often criminal means… but these countries are accusing others, mainly their victims, of being undemocratic… even of sponsoring terrorism.

Their propaganda is extremely advanced. It was being perfected throughout the centuries. I suggest one thing: keep telling the truth and continue presenting facts. But countries like Iran should not engage in direct debate with the West over these issues. It is because the West and its propaganda are too advanced in their ways and in the methods to manipulate public opinion through distorting the facts. Their outright lies are now more convincing than the truth.

One of the grievances of Iranian officials and people is that the international community didn’t adopt a firm stance in protest against the assassination of Iran’s nuclear scientists between 2010 and 2012. In March 2014, a CBS national correspondent, Dan Raviv, suggested that Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad was behind the killing of five Iranian civilian scientists, and that the Obama administration had implicitly asked Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the assassination campaign. Why wasn’t there any official, public condemnation by the world leaders and international organizations on those killings?

A: First of all, because in the West, the majority of people has absolutely no idea that Iran’s nuclear scientists were actually assassinated. Only some very small percentage of the citizens of Europe and North America are well informed and capable of thinking independently. I estimate that between 1-2 percent of their population has any idea about current events, world reality. And these people are not holding the power.

As you are well aware, Iran had been defined (by the West) as a pariah state. It had been accused of so many horrible things… These accusations are stereotypical. Actually, each country that does not kneel in front of the West’s colonialist ambitions is accused of these same “crimes”. This way, the West’s public is systematically de-sensitized. After smearing a country like Iran, people in the West think: well, whatever is done to change their “regime” is actually quite legitimate. If it is done through [outright] killing, fine… if using embargoes, ok… overthrowing the government – why not?

It is an extremely brutal game, and there is no compassion there, no feelings; as there is no justice.

The People’s Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI) also known as MKO, is an armed group responsible for the killing of hundreds of Iranian government officials and ordinary citizens in the years following the 1979 revolution in Iran. The group was on the US Department of State’s list of foreign terrorist organizations, and also considered a terrorist group by the Council of the European Union and the Canadian government. However, the designation was surprisingly lifted, and the sect is now simply considered a political opposition party by the US, EU countries and Canada. What’s the main reason behind the decision by these governments to de-list MKO? Won’t their decision give the MKO greater leeway to carry out terrorist operations inside Iran more conveniently and destabilize the country they’ve long been trying to subvert?

A: Exactly. But that is really their goal: to use MKO as a destabilizing factor against Iran… as ISIL is used to destroy Syria and Iraq… as some of the most ruthless and brutal right-wing groups are used to destroy Latin American revolutions. The West is using exactly the same methods against China and Russia and against so many other independent-minded countries.

Please do not search for logic behind these acts committed by the West. Their goals are strictly destructive.

One of the questions you raised during your keynote speech during the opening session of the International Congress of 17,000 Iranian Terror Victims in Tehran was that, “why is Iran a target of terrorists supported by the West?” What’s your response to your own question? As you mentioned, Iran has been a harmless country that never invaded nor attacked any of its neighbors, and never overthrew any government. So, why should it be on the receiving end of so much malice and aggression?

A: As I mentioned during my speech in Teheran: it is because “Iran is doing many things right”. It is because Iran’s government wants to improve the standard of living of its people, instead of feeding foreign corporations, and instead of taking orders from a foreign regime. It is because of Iran’s great friendship with other independent-minded countries and movements in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, as well as China and Russia (two powers that are now standing firmly against Western imperialism). Presidents Ahmadinejad and Chavez (of Venezuela) were very close friends. Iran is seen with sympathy by tens of millions of people in that region. And as I was told by the great North American thinker, Noam Chomsky, while we were making a film and writing a book (On Western Terrorism – From Hiroshima to Drone Warfare), most of the countries of the Middle East are seeing real danger in the US and in Israel, while only a tiny fraction sees Iran as a menace.

All that I just mentioned above makes the Western Empire absolutely furious.

The only way to make a “peace” with the West would be to kneel down and to sacrifice the Iranian people to [US-approved] foreign interests. There is no compromise, no other way; the West always demands nothing less than everything. And Iran’s government would never commit such treason; it would not betray or sacrifice its people!

In one of your reports from Iran, you noted that there are powers which continually demand Iranians to show transparency and build confidence, while staying in “murkiness” themselves. You said they challenge, scrutinize, corner, bully and humiliate the people of Iran systemically. I suppose you were referring to Iran’s nuclear program, for which it has been under immense pressure for over a decade. What do you think are the reasons for these pressures? Hasn’t Iran been adequately transparent and accountable over its nuclear program?

A: Yes it has been. But again: it is not what Iran actually does. It is what the Western propaganda wants Iran to be perceived as, by the rest of the world. The Iran that you see when visiting the country has nothing in common with that imaginary, terrible and cruel Iran that the West’s mass media has created.

Again, referring to the public opinion in the Middle East, most people there would absolutely not mind if Iran would have its own military nuclear program. I would definitely not mind! Why should anyone mind, given the extremely peaceful history of Iran? I am actually horrified that such countries, such colonial powers like the United States, France and the UK have their nuclear arsenal… and that the world is tolerating it! These countries are responsible for loss of hundreds of millions of human lives, all over the world. But Iran! Why should anyone fear Iran?

Yes, Iran is transparent and accountable over its nuclear program.

But the way the West had been operating on the global stage is like this: a gang of bandits which just robbed a village corners some poor victim, then points fingers at him and shout: “Thief!” and they run after him, beat him up…

I described this, in detail, in my 840-page book “Exposing Lies of The Empire”. There, I am offering dozens of concrete examples, from all over the world, how the Empire is demonizing and destroying its “enemies”.

This is how it is; this is the arrangement of the world in which we are living… and that is why this global dictatorship of the West has to end; as soon as possible.

In the reports you filed from Iran, you described the country’s public sphere as peaceful, tranquil and its people as cordial, friendly and hospitable. While many US and European citizens are afraid of traveling to Iran as visitors and tourists since they say it’s an unsafe and dangerous place, what would you tell them to change their view? Why is there so much misconception about Iran and its people in the minds of the people in the West? Is it necessary that they change the way they look at and think about Iran?

A: We are talking about one of the oldest and one of the deepest cultures on earth! Without visiting Iran, one’s knowledge of the world could never be complete. From ancient-days science, architecture and poetry, to modern cinema (arguably one of…the greatest on earth), Iran managed to influence the world, greatly and positively.

To visit Iran, to mingle with its people – that is absolutely the minimum that any thinking human being could and should do.

Why is there so much misconception? It is a very simple question to answer: Western propaganda knows that the easiest way to gain support at home and abroad for its hostile, or call it terrorist, actions against those proud and independent nations that are opposing the Empire, is to smear them, demonize them. Hollywood and the mainstream media play a submissive, servile role, spreading false information and perceptions. And Hollywood as well as the Western mainstream media, have been pushed down the throat of the people all over the world: they are part of that grand disinformation and brainwashing apparatus. Once a country is defamed, it is much simpler to justify sanctions, even direct or indirect invasion.

I therefore encourage people from all corners of the world to visit Iran and to see the reality—the truth about Iran— with their own eyes. I tell them: stop trusting Western propaganda, and stop acting like sheep! Go and see, and judge for yourselves!

THE PARTICIPANTS

: www.KouroshZiabari.com
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Twitter: www.twitter.com/KZiabari

Indonesia – The Archipelago of Fear”. Andre is making films for teleSUR and Press TV. After living for many years in Latin America and Oceania, Vltchek presently resides and works in East Asia and the Middle East. He can be reached through his website or his Twitter.

We apologize for this inconvenience.

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High time the world prohibited ALL ritual sacrifices, whatever the faith (or at least declared them morally repugnant).

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]o the disgrace of an enlightened and compassionate humanity, in animal sacrifices, public “festivals” and even common “entertainment” (in which animal torture and subjugation are seen as perfectly normal), the large-scale brutalization of non-human, fully sentient creatures is still permitted and even required by the most backward sectors of several religions and cultures around the world. As we might expect, those cultures still more deeply stuck in medievalism and conservative traditions exhibit the worst dimensions of animal sacrifice and insensitivity to the animals’ pain. To their shame, and in direct contradiction of the believers’ claim that their deities and prophets are not only almighty but compassionate, Islam, Hinduism, Orthodox Judaism, Santeria, Catholicism, and scores of other cults and faiths endorse such practices.

A bull bled heavily

Bullfights and Holiday festivals in Spain (most endorsed by the local Catholic parishes, defended as defining “Spanish” culture, and now under vigorous attack by animal rights campaigners). Bullfights, and the celebratory lore surrounding this spectacle, along with hundreds of festivals throughout Spain involving the murder and torture of animals, from bulls, to chickens and goats, has long been an embarrassment to the rest of Europe, although the “traditions” have been unthinkingly glamorized by Hollywood and prominent writers, iccluding Hemingway.

Kaporos, etc (Jewish). The three “Judeo-Christian/Ibrahamic” religions are notorious for their deeply embedded dominionist posture. In practice, and not due to any moral improvement, the Jewish faith no longer permits animal sacrifices, per se, something at one time required of followers of the Torah. According to Jewish precepts it was only permitted and obligatory to bring (animal) sacrifices to the Holy Temple, but when this was destroyed, with no sanctified place available, the sacrifices of animals stopped. The complicated situation is explained thusly:

No major faith or culture is exempt from condoning heinous practices against all sorts of non-human animals. The problem is rooted at the level of our species.

After seventy years of Babylonian Exile, just as the Prophet Daniel had promised, the exile ended. Many Jews returned to the Holy Land, and we once again built the Holy Temple. And still it was forbidden to bring sacrifices anywhere else.

420 years later, the Holy Temple was destroyed again, this time by the Romans. Once again, we were in exile. This time, the Rabbis told us, the exile will last very long, and no end date is known.

BeingJewish.com)

At long last: From now on, no more animal sacrifice at Nepal’s Gadhimai festival).

Eid (Islam/All Islamic nations: Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, ISIL, Iraq, etc.)

Eid al-Adha, also known as “Bakr Id,” “Feast of the Sacrifice” and “Greater Eid,” is celebrated to commemorate the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ishmael as an act of submission to Allah (God). Muslims sacrifice sheep, lambs, cows and camels to remember Ibrahim’s devotion.

As usual, it does not occur to these people that the most elementary thinking would highlight the sheer moral bankruptcy of having another sentient, totally innocent, animal, be forced to stand in and pay with her life, for the humans’ supposed “sacrifice” to a cruel God.

Most unfortunately, many PC liberals (not to mention conservatives, for their own reasons), and the normal cowardice and opportunism of politicians, oppose any state acts to outlaw such rites in the name of “cultural respect.” Complicating matters even further, the longstanding criminality of our foreign policy, which has marked the Middle East and Muslims in general for savage repression, destroying and disrupting with abandon many of their nations, has erased any moral standing the West might have had to frown on such customs. Lastly, as long as humanity continues to allow the massive, phenomenal torture and killing of animals for food in the name of business, “necessity,” or as a (literally) God-given right (dominionism), the cancellation of these horrid practices will be an uphill struggle. Indeed, massive hog and chicken production are now enormous threats to the environment. Factory farming is on a par with CO2 emissions as a factor in global warming. This is no longer about just compassion—always welcome—but of being consistent with a revolutionary overhaul of society for the sake of the planet itself.

Islam, an embattled civilization

Below we reproduce a report hailing Russia's decision (in 2014) to ban the celebration of Eid in Moscow and other major cities. We should note the source is barenakedislam, openly Islamophobic, and that TGP does not subscribe to the notion that Islam, per se, is inherently more brutal than any other faith (the Christian Reformation saw millions massacred all over Europe, and, more recently, India's partition in the 1940s saw millions killed as Hindus and Muslims clashed in a cycle of attack and revenge that did not peter out for many years). In our view, the savage strain of Islam merely exists and flourishes in cultures where backwardism continues to dominate, especially as a result of a perverse dynamic between local elites and foreign meddling by Western powers. We repeat, Islam is not, in our view, inherently more violent as a cultural phenomenon, than any other religio-cultural construct. It was not Islam that waged the genocidal Crusades, but Christian Europe, a struggle during which it was Islamic leaders that stood out for their level of prudence and civilization. Saladin (1137 or 1138 – March 1193), known as Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb, and the man who defeated the Crusader army, is an example of this. Few, if any, modern political and military leaders can touch the standards he set for enlightened rule, mercy and decency to his enemies, not to mention generosity toward his subjects. (Incidentally, Saladin was born of Kurd parentage at Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's ancestral home.)

Moscow bans Islamic sacrifice of fully-conscious animals for upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid (2014)
http://www.barenakedislam.com/2014/10/04/yes-moscow-bans-islamic-sacrifice-of-fully-conscious-animals-for-upcoming-muslim-holiday-of-eid/

Muslims in the Russian capital Moscow have been denied the right to celebrate the upcoming Eid al-Adhu (Feast of the Sacrifice) Islamic holiday after local authorities banned them from carrying out the traditional slaughter ritual, famous for its barbaric and agonizingly slow, pain-filled blood-letting of animals.

World Bulletin The second of the two Eid holidays in the Islamic calendar, Muslims typically celebrate the occasion by slaughtering a lamb, a cow or a camel and distributing its meat to relatives, neighbors and the poor.

However, a spokesman for the city’s inter-regional cooperation, national policy and religious organizations department, told Interfax on Wednesday that the sale and slaughter of sacrificial animals will be banned in Moscow during the holiday.

Muslims will be allowed to fulfill the religious rite in villages outside of the main city, he added.

A recent influx of migrant workers in Moscow from mainly Muslim parts of Russia, such as the northern Caucasus and central Asia, have brought to light new issues in the city, amid increasing tensions between migrants and the city’s Slavic community.

Currently, there are only four official mosques in Moscow, which is insufficient to cope with the increase of Muslims arriving in the city.

Muslims in Moscow in recent years have had to resort to praying their Eid prayers in public squares with prior permission from the local authorities.

In total, around 23 million Muslims live in Russia, making it the country’s second largest religion with 15% of the overall population of 145 million.

MORE ABOUT: HALAL RITUAL SLAUGHTER

23nks23

PAKISTAN

SAUDI ARABIA & OTHER EID OBSERVANT CULTURES

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Abby Martin: 9/11 And The Belligerent Empire

FROM TELESUR | THE EMPIRE FILES, WITH ABBY MARTIN

By Empire Files, www.youtube.com
September 21st, 2015 Is this it (1)

In the September 11th’s episode of The Empire Files on TeleSUR, Abby Martin examines the two major wars launched under the “Global War on Terror”–their historical development and their aftermath. Featuring former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, this episode digs into the tragedy of a region shaped by Empire.

9/11 forever defined our generation and ever since the US government has launched a new kind of warfare against the ubiquitous threat of terrorism. The gaping whole of ground zero left for five years served as a perpetual reminder of this dark era. Finally a shiny Freedom Tower was built to commemorate what Americans were told were the values attacked.

teleSUR’s The Empire Files airs every Friday night at 10:00EST / 7:00PST. Watch live here: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/section/programs/index.html

America’s Slave Empire June 23, 2015
US Empire: No Shining City On A Hill May 25, 2015
Mass Migration A Symptom Of A Dying Empire? August 26, 2015
The Mess That Nuland Made In Ukraine For US Empire July 15, 2015
Empire Files With Abby Martin Launches First Show September 7, 2015

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Ban Ki-Moon Condemns the American Stand on Syria, Endorses Putin’s

WHY IS THE WEST LYING ABOUT IRAN?

High time the world prohibited ALL ritual sacrifices, whatever the faith (or at least declared them morally repugnant).

World Bulletin The second of the two Eid holidays in the Islamic calendar, Muslims typically celebrate the occasion by slaughtering a lamb, a cow or a camel and distributing its meat to relatives, neighbors and the poor.

However, a spokesman for the city’s inter-regional cooperation, national policy and religious organizations department, told Interfax on Wednesday that the sale and slaughter of sacrificial animals will be banned in Moscow during the holiday.

Muslims will be allowed to fulfill the religious rite in villages outside of the main city, he added.

A recent influx of migrant workers in Moscow from mainly Muslim parts of Russia, such as the northern Caucasus and central Asia, have brought to light new issues in the city, amid increasing tensions between migrants and the city’s Slavic community.

Currently, there are only four official mosques in Moscow, which is insufficient to cope with the increase of Muslims arriving in the city.

Muslims in Moscow in recent years have had to resort to praying their Eid prayers in public squares with prior permission from the local authorities.

In total, around 23 million Muslims live in Russia, making it the country’s second largest religion with 15% of the overall population of 145 million.

MORE ABOUT: HALAL RITUAL SLAUGHTER

PAKISTAN

SAUDI ARABIA & OTHER EID OBSERVANT CULTURES

Abby Martin: 9/11 And The Belligerent Empire

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