#Iraq #Syria - State Sponsored Terrorism.

by Scott Creighton

“3-84. At the core of IW are insurgency and COIN. The purpose of insurgency is to overthrow and replace an established government or societal structure.Terrorism and CT are activities conducted as part of IW and are frequently subactivities of insurgency and COIN . However, terrorism may also stand alone when its purpose is to coerce or intimidate governments or societies without overthrowing them” Army Special Operations Forces Unconventional Warfare

Barack Obama is a terrorist.

As is the case in most of our unconventional warfare destabilization campaigns, the one taking place in Syria right now is targeting civilian and industrial infrastructure in an attempt to decimate the cohesiveness of the Syrian society, making it painful in so many ways for the indigenous population to continue their support of their elected government. Obama justifies this with the fictitious ISIS™ Crisis.

“U.S.-led coalition warplanes bombed Islamic State group positions overnight across four provinces in northern and eastern Syria, hitting a grain silo as well as the country’s largest gas plant… and oil installations“

‘… reported the strike on the grain silo in Manbij, northeast of Aleppo city. It said the attack ignited a fire at the facility.”

“… raids hit an abandoned military base and an empty school, sending pillars of smoke and dust into the air. He said Islamic State fighters cleared out of the military about three or four months ago.”

“The Observatory says at least 19 civilians have been killed so far in coalition airstrikes“

“Human Rights Watch said that it had confirmed the deaths of at least seven civilians — two women and five children — from apparent U.S. missile strikes on Sept. 23” AP

The targets President Obama’s military and Special Operations planners are choosing are indicative of this type of state sponsored terrorism we have integrated into our standard operating procedures.

Army Special Operations Forces Unconventional Warfare written in Sept. of 2008:

“In some operations, IW (irregular warfare) may contrast with SSTR operations, such as supporting an insurgency or conducting UW where the goal is not to support the host government but rather to undermine stability and security to erode an adversary’s control over its territory or population.”

“3-54. The U.S. military will fight an uncertain and unpredictable enemy or, even more demanding, multiple enemy forces simultaneously in widely dispersed joint operations areas (JOAs). The future environment will be characterized by— 1.  Globalization” 3-12

“However, since adversaries employ terrorism and transnational criminal activities against the interests of the United States and its partners, these activities are included below as examples of the range of operations andactivities that can be conducted as part of IW: Transnational criminal activities, including narc o-trafficking, illicit arms dealing, and illegal financial transactions, that support or sustain IW.” 3-18

“The classic conception of UW employment is SF (Special Forces) Soldiers advising and assisting guerrilla forces to raid, ambush, sabotage, and otherwise interdict the adversary in ways designed to drain that hostile power’s morale and resources through military activities up to and including combat.”

“As in the past, today the United States must lay the foundations and build the institutions that the country needs to meet these challenges. Therefore, the United States must… Ignite a new era of global economic growth through free markets and free trade… Develop agendas for cooperative action with other main centers of global power.. Engage the opportunities and confront the challenges of globalization”  3-1

You can go here to read an early CIA training manual produced for the terrorist forces Reagan used in Nicaragua to try to unseat the democratically elected Sandinista government because they weren’t good for American business interests. Here’s an example of a little comic book they published and distributed:

True, cruise missiles, daisy cutters and drone warfare are certainly a step up from kidnappings, fire bombs and narcotics trafficking (ever wonder why US military resources are being used to protect Afghanistan’s heroin fields?) but you have to remember, that crap hasn’t been working in Syria for the past three years. The Syrian government in conjunction with the vast majority of the Syrian people, have been steadily repelling our irregular warfare forces (a.k.a. “terrorists”) in the country, so President Peace Prize needed to take it up a notch and thus “ISIS” was born.

But you’ll notice the military strikes are still centered on doing damage to the infrastructure of the nation which will in turn have a detrimental effect on the lives of the population in general.

It’s state sponsored terrorism folks all in the name of free market, free trade globalization. It is sanctioned transnational criminal activity as published policy and established procedure. And that is an undeniable fact.

http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/obama-bombing-syrian-oil-refineries-lng-plants-grain-silos-and-children-state-sponsored-terrorism/

David Cameron UN Speech United Nations PM David Cameron ISIS UK Parliament...

MI5 subversion of state power in Scotland -- Puppet Masters -- Sott.net

There is something quintessentially English about the tradecraft of spying, as history reminds us of events not too dissimilar to those in play today.

In the late 1560's Francis Walsingham began his career in subterfuge working with William Cecil to thwart the plots against the then English monarch, Elizabeth I. Later, in 1572 as the Principal Secretary to Elizabeth and her chief spymaster, his earlier work in preventing the subversion of state power became mere opening gambits in a craft that would include the interception of mail, the use of informants and even torture, amongst others.
william 
Enter the Scottish independence referendum to be held on Thursday 18 September 2014, which, coincidentally, is the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 where the English army were defeated by Robert the Bruce, King of Scots.

On Friday 13 June 2014, the very antithesis of an auspicious day for the superstitious, The Independent ran a story about internet trolls 'opening the door' for MI5 dirty tricks in attempting to subvert the Yes Campaign for Scottish Independence. Jim Sillars, a former Scottish National Party (SNP) deputy leader said:

It was naïve to think that the security forces were not involved in seeking to influence the outcome of September's ballot which could see the break-up of the UK and that he was personally aware of one secret agent having arrived in Glasgow.

Of course, he was referring to the recent online abuse of the author Joanne Rowling who had donated £1m to the Better Together campaign in that the trolls had given MI5 the green light to subvert the will of the Scottish people. He continued:

Are you so naive, that you never think that perhaps MI5 and special branch are taking a role in this campaign? As their function is protection of the British State, they would not be doing their jobs if they were not. There was, and probably still is, a section in MI5 that dealt with the Scottish national movement, headed by Stella Rimington, who became Director General in 1992, and is now Dame Stella.

Sillars, went on to accuse the so called 'cybernats', i.e. the online nationalist (Yes Campaign) supporters, of abusing Rowling but also chose to mention that the failed 1979 (Scottish) devolution vote was aided by the CIA from the US Consul in Edinburgh, saying of past and present:

More -  

MI5 subversion of state power in Scotland -- Puppet Masters -- Sott.net: 
http://www.sott.net/article/286357-MI5-subversion-of-state-power-in-Scotland

Biggest Threat To The UK ?

Is the #Lies and bullshit coming from the UK Parliament and politicians.

My prime minister is a #Liar
The mainstream media repeat the #Lies

There is NO such thing as a just war.

It is all about the oil - again.

The Money Men Behind The Terrorists.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), now threatening Baghdad, was funded for years by wealthy donors in Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, three U.S. allies that have dual agendas in the war on terror.

The extremist group that is threatening the existence of the Iraqi state was built and grown for years with the help of elite donors from American supposed allies in the Persian Gulf region. There, the threat of Iran, Assad, and the Sunni-Shiite sectarian war trumps the U.S. goal of stability and moderation in the region.

It’s an ironic twist, especially for donors in Kuwait (who, to be fair, back a wide variety of militias). ISIS has aligned itself with remnants of the Baathist regime once led by Saddam Hussein. Back in 1990, the U.S. attacked Iraq in order to liberate Kuwait from Hussein’s clutches. Now Kuwait is helping the rise of his successors.

 As ISIS takes over town after town in Iraq, they are acquiring money and supplies including American made vehicles, arms, and ammunition. The group reportedly scored $430 million this week when they looted the main bank in Mosul. They reportedly now have a stream of steady income sources, including from selling oil in the Northern Syrian regions they control, sometimes directly to the Assad regime.

But in the years they were getting started, a key component of ISIS’s support came from wealthy individuals in the Arab Gulf States of Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Sometimes the support came with the tacit nod of approval from those regimes; often, it took advantage of poor money laundering protections in those states, according to officials, experts, and leaders of the Syrian opposition, which is fighting ISIS as well as the regime.

“Everybody knows the money is going through Kuwait and that it’s coming from the Arab Gulf,” said Andrew Tabler, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Kuwait’s banking system and its money changers have long been a huge problem because they are a major conduit for money to extremist groups in Syria and now Iraq.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been publicly accusing Saudi Arabia and Qatar of funding ISIS for months. Several reports have detailed how private Gulf funding to various Syrian rebel groups has splintered the Syrian opposition and paved the way for the rise of groups like ISIS and others.

“The U.S. has made the case as strongly as they can to regional countries, including Kuwait. But ultimately when you take a hands off, leading from behind approach to things, people don’t take you seriously and they take matters into their own hands.”

Gulf donors support ISIS, the Syrian branch of al Qaeda called the al Nusrah Front, and other Islamic groups fighting on the ground in Syria because they feel an obligation to protect Sunnis suffering under the atrocities of the Assad regime. Many of these backers don’t trust or like the American backed moderate opposition, which the West has refused to provide significant arms to.

Under significant U.S. pressure, the Arab Gulf governments have belatedly been cracking down on funding to Sunni extremist groups, but Gulf regimes are also under domestic pressure to fight in what many Sunnis see as an unavoidable Shiite-Sunni regional war that is only getting worse by the day.

“ISIS is part of the Sunni forces that are fighting Shia forces in this regional sectarian conflict. They are in an existential battle with both the (Iranian aligned) Maliki government and the Assad regime,” said Tabler. “The U.S. has made the case as strongly as they can to regional countries, including Kuwait. But ultimately when you take a hands off, leading from behind approach to things, people don’t take you seriously and they take matters into their own hands.”

Donors in Kuwait, the Sunni majority Kingdom on Iraq’s border, have taken advantage of Kuwait’s weak financial rules to channel hundreds of millions of dollars to a host of Syrian rebel brigades, according to a December 2013 report by The Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank that receives some funding from the Qatari government.

“Over the last two and a half years, Kuwait has emerged as a financing and organizational hub for charities and individuals supporting Syria’s myriad rebel groups,” the report said. “Today, there is evidence that Kuwaiti donors have backed rebels who have committed atrocities and who are either directly linked to al-Qa’ida or cooperate with its affiliated brigades on the ground.”

Kuwaiti donors collect funds from donors in other Arab Gulf countries and the money often travels through Turkey or Jordan before reaching its Syrian destination, the report said. The governments of Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia have passed laws to curb the flow of illicit funds, but many donors still operate out in the open. The Brookings paper argues the U.S. government needs to do more.

“The U.S. Treasury is aware of this activity and has expressed concern about this flow of private financing. But Western diplomats’ and officials’ general response has been a collective shrug,” the report states.

When confronted with the problem, Gulf leaders often justify allowing their Salafi constituents to fund Syrian extremist groups by pointing back to what they see as a failed U.S. policy in Syria and a loss of credibility after President Obama reneged on his pledge to strike Assad after the regime used chemical weapons.

That’s what Prince Bandar bin Sultan, head of Saudi intelligence since 2012 and former Saudi ambassador in Washington, reportedly told Secretary of State John Kerry when Kerry pressed him on Saudi financing of extremist groups earlier this year. Saudi Arabia has retaken a leadership role in past months guiding help to the Syrian armed rebels, displacing Qatar, which was seen as supporting some of the worst of the worst organizations on the ground.

The rise of ISIS, a group that officially broke with al Qaeda core last year, is devastating for the moderate Syrian opposition, which is now fighting a war on two fronts, severely outmanned and outgunned by both extremist groups and the regime. There is increasing evidence that Assad is working with ISIS to squash the Free Syrian Army.

But the Syrian moderate opposition is also wary of confronting the Arab Gulf states about their support for extremist groups. The rebels are still competing for those governments’ favor and they are dependent on other types of support from Arab Gulf countries. So instead, they blame others—the regimes in Tehran and Damascus, for examples—for ISIS’ rise.

THE NEW IRAQ WAR

WAR DRUMS

THE BREWING BATTLE FOR BAGHDAD

SINFUL

ISIS SET TO DESTROY BIBLICAL HISTORY

MISSED SIGNS

WHY THE WHITE HOUSE BLEW IT ON ISIS

“The Iraqi State of Iraq and the [Sham] received support from Iran and the Syrian intelligence,” said Hassan Hachimi, Head of Political Affairs for the United States and Canada for Syrian National Coalition, at the Brookings U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Doha this week.

“There are private individuals in the Gulf that do support extremist groups there,” along with other funding sources, countered Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a Syrian-American organization that supports the opposition “[The extremist groups] are the most well-resourced on the ground… If the United States and the international community better resourced [moderate] battalions… then many of the people will take that option instead of the other one.”

300,000 Barrels Of Oil A Day.

Getting rid of Assad opens up Syrian oilfields to Europe and puts a finger up at Putin.
It is all about the oil.
Again...

For those to whom the recent US campaign against Syria seems a deja vu of last summer's "near-war" attempt to ouster its president Bashar al-Assad, which was stopped in the last minute due to some very forceful Russian intervention and the near breakout of war in the Mediterranean between US and Russian navies, it is because they are. And as a reminder, just like last year, the biggest wildcard in this, and that, direct intervention into sovereign Syrian territory, or as some would call it invasion or even war, was not the US but Saudi Arabia - recall from August of 2013 - "Meet Saudi Arabia's Bandar bin Sultan: The Puppetmaster Behind The Syrian War." Bin Sultan was officially let go shortly after the 2013 campaign to replace Syria's leadership with a more "amenable" regime failed if not unofficially (see below), but Saudi ambitions over Syria remained.

That much is revealed by the WSJ today in a piece exposing the backdoor dealings that the US conducted with Saudi Arabia to get the "green light" to launch its airstrikes against ISIS, or rather, parts of Iraq and Syria. And, not surprising, it is once again Assad whose fate was the bargaining chip to get the Saudis on the US' side, because in order to launch the incursion into Syrian sovereign territory "took months of behind-the-scenes work by the U.S. and Arab leaders, who agreed on the need to cooperate against Islamic State, but not how or when. The process gave the Saudis leverage to extract a fresh U.S. commitment to beef up training for rebels fighting Mr. Assad, whose demise the Saudis still see as a top priority."

In other words, John Kerry came, saw and promised everything he could, up to and including the missing piece of the puzzle - Syria itself on a silver platter - in order to prevent another diplomatic humiliation.

 

 

When Mr. Kerry touched down in Jeddah to meet with King Abdullah on Sept. 11, he didn't know for sure what else the Saudis were prepared to do. The Saudis had informed their American counterparts before the visit that they would be ready to commit air power—but only if they were convinced the Americans were serious about a sustained effort in Syria. The Saudis, for their part, weren't sure how far Mr. Obama would be willing to go, according to diplomats.

Said otherwise, the pound of flesh demanded by Syria to "bless" US airstrikes and make them appear as an act of some coalition, is the removal of the Assad regime. Why? So that, as we also explained last year, the holdings of the great Qatar natural gas fields can finally make their way onward to Europe, which incidentally is also America's desire - what better way to punish Putin for his recent actions than by crushing the main leverage the Kremlin has over Europe?

But back to the Saudis and how the deal to bomb Syria was cobbled together:

 

 

The Americans knew a lot was riding on a Sept. 11 meeting with the king of Saudi Arabia at his summer palace on the Red Sea.

A year earlier, King Abdullah had fumed when President Barack Obama called off strikes against the regime of Syria's Bashar al-Assad. This time, the U.S. needed the king's commitment to support a different Syrian mission—against the extremist group Islamic State—knowing there was little hope of assembling an Arab front without it.

At the palace, Secretary of State John Kerry requested assistance up to and including air strikes, according to U.S. and Gulf officials. "We will provide any support you need," the king said.

But only after the Saudis got the abovementioned assurances that Assad will fall. And to do that they would have to strongarm Obama:

 

 

Wary of a repeat of Mr. Obama's earlier reversal, the Saudis and United Arab Emirates decided on a strategy aimed at making it harder for Mr. Obama to change course. "Whatever they ask for, you say 'yes,'" an adviser to the Gulf bloc said of its strategy. "The goal was not to give them any reason to slow down or back out."

Arab participation in the strikes is of more symbolic than military value. The Americans have taken the lead and have dropped far more bombs than their Arab counterparts. But the show of support from a major Sunni state for a campaign against a Sunni militant group, U.S. officials said, made Mr. Obama comfortable with authorizing a campaign he had previously resisted.

To be sure, so far Obama has refrained from directly bombing Assad, it is only a matter of time: "How the alliance fares will depend on how the two sides reconcile their fundamental differences over Syria and other issues. Saudi leaders and members of the moderate Syrian opposition are betting the U.S. could eventually be pulled in the direction of strikes supporting moderate rebel fighters against Mr. Assad in addition to Islamic State. U.S. officials say the administration has no intention of bombing Mr. Assad's forces"... for now.

But why is Saudi Arabia so adamant to remove Assad? Here is the WSJ's take:

 

 

For the Saudis, Syria had become a critical frontline in the battle for regional influence with Iran, an Assad ally. As Mr. Assad stepped up his domestic crackdown, the king decided to do whatever was needed to bring the Syrian leader down, Arab diplomats say.

In the last week of August, a U.S. military and State Department delegation flew to Riyadh to lay the ground for a military program to train the moderate Syrian opposition to fight both the Assad regime and Islamic State—something the Saudis have long requested. The U.S. team wanted permission to use Saudi facilities for the training. Top Saudi ministers, after consulting overnight with the king, agreed and offered to foot much of the bill. Mr. Jubeir went to Capitol Hill to pressed key lawmakers to approve legislation authorizing the training.

And once the US once again folded to Saudi demands to attack another sovereign, it was merely a matter of planning:

 

 

Hours before the military campaign was set to begin, U.S. officials held a conference call to discuss final preparations. On the call, military officers raised last-minute questions about whether Qatar would take part and whether the countries would make their actions public.

Mr. Kerry was staying in a suite on the 34th floor of New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel, where he was meeting leaders attending United Nations gatherings. He called his Gulf counterparts to make sure they were still onboard. They were.

The UAE, which some defense officials refer to as "Little Sparta" because of its outsized military strength, had the most robust role. One of the UAE's pilots was a woman. Two of the F-15 pilots were members of the Saudi royal family, including Prince Khaled bin Salman, son of the crown prince. In the third wave of the initial attack, half of the attack airplanes in the sky were from Arab countries.

The best news for Obama: it is now just a matter of time to recreate the same false flag that the Saudi-US alliance pushed so hard on the world in the summer of 2013 to justify the first attempt to remove Assad, and once again get the "sympathy" public cote behind him, naturally with the support of the US media.

But how does one know it is once again nothing but a stage? The following blurb should explain everything:

 

 

Saudi players in attendance for the Sept. 11 meeting included Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who as the king's spymaster last year ran afoul of Mr. Kerry over Syria and Iraq policy. U.S. officials interpreted his presence as a sign the king wanted to make sure the court was united, U.S. officials said.

Actually, his presence is a sign that the same puppetmaster who pulled the strings, and failed, in 2013 to remove Assad, and as noted above was at least officially removed from the stage subsequently, is once again the person in charge of the Syrian campaign, only this time unofficially, and this time has Obama entirely wrapped around his finger.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-25/look-inside-secret-deal-saudi-arabia-unleashed-syrian-bombing

Ripped-off Britons: Graphs at a glance: how cuts have slashed the numb...

Ripped-off Britons: Graphs at a glance: how cuts have slashed the numb...: We can't blame everything on 'Austerity' since the 2008 banker induced crisis. The number of hospital beds available has been dr...

Fighting Terror.

Whistleblower Melanie Shaw In Jail.

Update from Brian Gerrish 24/9/2014

Melanie was in No 5 Court Nottingham yesterday 23 Sept 2014 for a ‘mentions' hearing. The case started at 1058. The case was only listed during afternoon of 22 Sept – normally public cases should be listed with 7 days notice. We understand the case was called for by VHS Fletchers solicitors with urgency, although the reason for this is unclear. Possibly the hearing was driven by the fact that Melanie had sacked VHS Fletchers some days earlier, both in written letters and verbally.

Melanie attended in court in the morning and again in the early afternoon after an adjournment. The reason for the adjournment and the protracted hearing is not known.

This ‘mentions' hearing appeared to be an informal case management hearing, but the failure of the Court to give the normal 7 days notice precluded the public from attending, and therefore meant that Melanie was again effectively in a secret court. It is interesting that the Court case was Tweeted out by VHS Fletchers.

It is believed that Melanie sacked VHS Fletchers for allegedly altering her case file notes and allegedly using their legal clerks to represent Melanie when she believed them to be solicitors. She was also very unhappy with their lack of progress on her case, particularly in relation to her bail application.

We understand that aside from sacking VHS Fletchers and thus releasing their legal aid claim, the ‘mentions' hearing discussed the progress of Melanie's case. The next steps are believed to be a directions hearing 13 October 2014 and a full case hearing on 23 October 2014. We will be checking these dates. By 23 October alone, Melanie will have been held in a high security prison for 3 months.

Melanie has also said that the Judge has indicated that he will be prepared to hear a new bail application and steps are now in hand to submit this.

In summary Melanie Shaw, a vulnerable abuse victim and vital abuse whistleblower, remains in high security prison HMP Peterborough, with no substantive evidence against her, no proper NHS medication that she has taken daily over many years, no treatment for her leg ulcer, no access her psychiatrist, no visits from her family, interference with her mail, bullying from prison warders, a national mainstream media black out and a stunning silence from her MP Chris Leslie and other MPs.

Melanie Shaw, who is still innocent at law and maintains her innocence, has now been imprisoned for 61 days.

The Crown Prosecution Service under Alison Saunders has not only failed to produce evidence against Melanie, but has recently allowed child abuse witness evidence tapes to be stolen from unsecured private addresses of film contractor Swan Films.

The vicious treatment of Melanie Shaw by Nottinghamshire Police, the CPS, the Courts and the Westminster MP's can only be explained as their sheer desperation to silence Melanie and her testimony of child abuse, rapes, torture and murder at Beechwood Children's Home Nottinghamshire, and her evidenced discovery of Nottinghamshire police lying to hide their failure to investigate Beechwood abuses via Operation Daybreak.

http://timetostartcaring.wordpress.com/2014/09/24/update-melanie-shaw/

Qatar, Saudi Arabia And Double Dealing

Qatar has granted 20 million dollars in financial aid to the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front, which has been fighting against the government of the Syria President Bashar al-Assad and has taken over parts of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Syria.

This is while, earlier in September, Qatar’s Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani said during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that his country does not support any Takfiri militants in Syria and Iraq.

“Qatar is not and has never financed terrorist groups,” the Qatari emir said.

The Qatari financial assistance to the terrorist group comes amid the publicity campaign by the US about the fight on terrorism.

On Monday night, Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement that the US army and “partner nation forces are undertaking military action against… terrorists in Syria using a mix of fighter, bomber and Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles.” The strikes he was referring to, were carried out without the UN consent.

Washington has been supporting militant groups operating against the government in Syria since March 2011, when foreign-sponsored militancy first began in Syria.

Many terrorists have reportedly been trained by the CIA in Jordan. The militant groups have also been armed with advanced weapons.

According to reports, besides Qatar, the Western powers other regional allies - especially Saudi Arabia and Turkey - are also supporting the Takfiris fighting against the Syrian government.

#Isis #Isil - all just bollocks to deceive us.
Do not be fooled.

First Day Of Autumn.

It has been raining most of the day and now it is cold.

The first day of autumn and I feel like the day itself.

Waking up to the terrorist attacks on Syria was not a good start.

When are we to learn that killing promotes more killing ?

And it will be the children that suffer - again.

Ebola.

The number of Ebola cases is doubling every 3 weeks.

Scotland Voted No.

Scotland voting #No is a lost opportunity for ordinary people.

I can understand the fear of going it alone as an independent nation.
I saw the media and unionists whip up this fear in support of #BetterTogether.
I heard the last ditch promises of an embattled, nervous prime minister.

It appears fear of the unknown won this election.

Then I remember - my prime minister is a #Liar.

The abusers in westminster will NOT deliver any of their offered bribes.
Scotland will not be devolved or have extra powers.
Nothing will change.

Scotland will still be ruled and dictated to by the wealthy.
Whether that be from Scotland, England or big business.

Sad day.

SCOTLAND INDEPENDENCE VOTE RIGGING EXPOSED...

In Dundee, a strong YES area, the count was suspended twice due to fire alarms. 

The turnout in the strong YES area of Dundee was 78.8%, which is lower than the 85% turnout in Scotland as a whole.

In Dundee, 'Yes' ballot papers were spotted on a 'No' table. THE “integrity” of the electoral register in Scotland has been called into question ahead of this month’s historic referendum vote after it emerged yesterday that children as young as three have been registered to vote and received polling cards...

More - 
 

Jailed Whistleblower Melanie Shaw Fires Legal Team Due To Incompetence | Neon Nettle

Jailed Whistleblower Melanie Shaw Fires Legal Team Due To Incompetence | Neon Nettle



#FreeMelanieShaw

MPs and judges visited Elm Guest House, coroner’s court told | ExaroNews

MPs and judges visited Elm Guest House, coroner’s court told | ExaroNews

Al Jazeera Investigates - Broken Dreams: The Boeing 787

The Twilight Zone - The Arrival (S. 3. E. 2) (1961)

Top 10 US-Backed Atrocities and Authoritarian Regimes

Rotherham Council Rotten To The Core.

Key reports detailing child sexual exploitation have 'disappeared' from the archives, the outgoing chief executive of Rotherham Council tells MPs.

Martin Kimber said he had not seen a full copy of a 2002 report, had never seen a 2003 report and only saw a 2006 report on Sunday.

A report published earlier this month found at least 1,400 children were abused in the town from 1997-2013.

The council was heavily criticised by Professor Alexis Jay.

In her report, Professor Jay said: "Further stark evidence came in 2002, 2003 and 2006 with three reports known to the police and the council, which could not have been clearer in their description of the situation in Rotherham."

Addressing MPs, Mr Kimber said he did not know whether the archives had been destroyed, but he told the Local Government Committee: "They are not within the council's archives."

Director of children's services Joyce Thacker told MPs the first two reports did not appear to have been referred to in any existing council minutes.

Asked whether there had been a "deliberate attempt to suppress information", she said she could not answer.

Meanwhile, Rotherham council announced plans to dissolve the cabinet and invest £120,000 in counselling services for victims of child sexual exploitation.

Deputy leader Paul Lakin said the money would come from cutting two cabinet posts and banning overseas travel by members.

Mr Lakin said he would begin choosing a new cabinet later.

The Labour councillor also announced he had asked the Local Government Association to establish an "independently-chaired improvement board".

Arrest these fuckers.

Former ICE Informant, Jailed In Missouri, Claims He's Being Framed...

Former ICE Informant, Jailed In Missouri, Claims He’s Being Framed

By Bill Conroy

After a few long days visiting family in California, Guillermo Eduardo Ramirez-Peyro was now fighting off sleep behind the wheel of a cherry-red Ferrari. Transporting the exotic coupe — a $200,000 612 Scaglietti — back to New York was to be the highlight of the Christmas holiday out west. But in reality the vehicle's tight quarters and the brooding silence of his girlfriend — Kelly Schroer — were making for an uncomfortable last leg of the journey.

Ramirez-Peyro recalls that they were heading toward the southwestern border of Missouri when Schroer's phone began to vibrate.

"I saw the 1111111 [on the screen], and I knew it was the cops," he says. "I said, 'Hey, Kelly, the police is calling you.' She said, 'No, I don't want to answer.'

"And then they call once again, and she did not want to answer. And I don't even force her to call or not call or speak," continues Ramirez-Peyro, a soft-faced Mexican with wispy black hair.

The couple, both in their forties, would continue east on Interstate 44 for a few more miles without speaking. Schroer, a strawberry blonde from Ramirez-Peyro's new hometown of Buffalo, New York, considered her boyfriend too controlling. He, in turn, didn't trust her.

They met last summer in a Buffalo bar, and their relationship had been a prickly one from the outset. Within a few months of dating, Schroer accused Ramirez-Peyro of harassing and physically abusing her — a complaint that led a New York court to issue a "stay away" order of protection against Ramirez-Peyro in early December. That same month, police in the Buffalo suburb of Tonawanda picked up Ramirez-Peyro for violating the order. He was soon released, and a few days later Schroer signed an affidavit, prepared by Ramirez-Peyro's attorney in Buffalo, stating that the allegations of harassment and abuse she made "are not true."

"He never physically hit or abused or hurt me, and I want to be able to spend time with him without there being a violation of a court order," Schroer wrote in an affidavit.

Now, alone in the cramped Ferrari, whatever reconciliation the two arrived at before setting out on their cross-country journey was gone. As they entered the city limits of Joplin, Ramirez-Peyro exited the highway and pulled the sports car into the parking lot of a La Quinta Inn. By 11 p.m. he was in bed and out cold. He awoke an hour and a half later to a pounding on the door. Schroer was gone.

Greg Houston

Ramirez-Peyro pulled himself together, slipped out of bed and opened the door. In front of him were several Joplin police officers with their guns drawn. While he had been asleep, Schroer had gathered up her possessions and quietly run off. She checked into a nearby Quality Inn and immediately called the front desk to ask the attendant to flag down a pair of cops she had seen conversing in their patrol cars in an adjacent lot.

Once the officers arrived, Schroer breathlessly launched into a story that seemed almost too outlandish to believe. Ramirez-Peyro, she told the patrolmen, was an extremely dangerous man holding her against her will.

"He has cartel contacts in the U.S. that will kill my family, and I'm afraid what's going to happen now. He's going to have them killed," Schroer told the cops, according to a probable cause statement.

Schroer then handed one of the patrolmen her smartphone, on which the officers could read for themselves the articles about how Ramirez-Peyro — better known by the nickname "Lalo" — had once been a police officer in Mexico before becoming a top lieutenant for the powerful Juárez Cartel. In that role Ramirez-Peyro had overseen multiple murders in a home, just across the El Paso, Texas, border, that came to be known as the "House of Death." And the story didn't end there.

This Lalo character — fast asleep in Room 365 of the adjacent La Quinta — was more complicated than that. According to the articles, while working for the cartel Lalo had also been an informant for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He later became an embarrassment to the American government when it got out that one of its own undercover operatives participated in gangland killings south of the border.

It's a hell of a tale, and, if Lalo's version is to be believed, includes a government conspiracy to discredit him. One thing is certain, though: The story of the alleged kidnapper and former cartel snitch in a Ferrari is one of the sexier cases to hit rural Newton County in a long time.

"This is really more intrigue than I'm used to dealing with. I'll tell you that," confirms prosecutor Jake Skouby. "Basically, I-44 runs through my district, and that's how I caught this case. That's it."

Newton County Jail

Guillermo Eduardo Ramirez-Peyro, a.k.a. "Lalo", in his December 29 booking photo.

Dressed in an orange jumpsuit, his limbs shackled, Lalo enters the Newton County courthouse and labors to lower his six-foot-two-inch frame into a chair next to his public defender. It's late July, and he's in court for a hearing regarding the charges of kidnapping and violating a protection order that have kept him an involuntary guest of the Newton County jail since December 29.

Lalo's hair is longer than it was in his mugshot, and his body is thinner — a result, he says, of the crummy prison cuisine. As the lawyers debate his case before the judge, Lalo sits expressionless, occasionally looking down at his attorney's notes.

In April the court reduced his bond from $250,000 to $125,000. Around the same time, some individuals Lalo says he does not know offered to provide the funds necessary to secure his release. Captain Richard Leavens, with the Newton County Sheriff's Office, confirms that an offer was made to bail out Lalo. But the inmate refused the assistance, fearing they might be with the cartel. Lalo says he has heard from inmates associated with the Latino gang MS-13 that his old associates in the Juárez Cartel have placed a $500,000 bounty on his head. Attorney Mark Conrad, a former supervisory agent with ICE's predecessor agency, U.S. Customs, says that figure seems a bit inflated.

"Heck, for $10,000, they could get the job done," he says.

Still, for now it could be that jail is safer for Lalo than the streets. And the cartel is not his only adversary. Lalo believes the charges he's currently facing are trumped up in order for the U.S. government to finally deport the former spy it no longer has a use for.

"I'm absolutely going to be killed by the Juárez Cartel or the Mexican government, which is basically the same thing," says Lalo, speaking by phone to Riverfront Times.

That the cartel would want him dead is not all that surprising to Lalo. But that the U.S. would now be complicit in it by seeking to deport him is something he never foresaw back in 2000 when he crossed into the United States at El Paso and offered to provide ICE with intelligence on drug trafficking and other crimes.

Lalo says he had his reasons for offering to help the U.S. government. For starters, he didn't really like or trust his new colleagues in the drug trade. He also stood to make a good sum of money serving as a stool pigeon for the feds.

Lalo (short for Eduardo, his middle name) says he grew up "kind of spoiled" in upper-middle class surroundings in his home state of Durango. His parents were both civil engineers, and while his siblings chose careers in medicine and engineering, Lalo opted to enter the less lucrative field of law enforcement, working for the Mexican federal police.

ICE began paying him thousands of dollars per case for his information, and the return on investment for his tips proved substantial. In a four-year span Lalo's work for ICE — which included counterfeit credit-card, illegal-cigarette and drug-smuggling investigations — resulted in the arrest of more than 50 people and the seizure of some 660 kilos of cocaine and in excess of 20,000 pounds of marijuana, according to one accounting.

Eventually the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency also began using Lalo as an undercover operative in its larger efforts to stem the flow of narcotics across the border. But the DEA lost faith in Lalo and severed ties with him after he was busted smuggling 100 pounds of marijuana into New Mexico in June 2003.

"Confidential informants are liars 99 percent of the time," cautions former DEA deep-undercover agent Mike Levine. "The worst thing you can do is believe them. You have to check out whatever they say, even if they tell you it's nice outside."

Yet ICE wasn't as willing to let Lalo go. It was only natural that its cartel operative would have to break a few laws in order to not blow his cover. So after a U.S. prosecutor intervened to get the drug charges in New Mexico suspended (and later dismissed), Lalo returned to his clandestine work for ICE.

By now Lalo had wormed his way into the confidence of Humberto Santillan Tabares, one of the major players within the Juárez Cartel. One of Lalo's primary jobs for Santillan was to oversee a house at 3633 Parsioneros Street. On the outside the home was like so many walled-off houses in Juárez. But in reality the modest, cinder-block abode was an execution chamber for Santillan and the crooked Mexican state cops who served as his assassins. Santillan's men buried at least a dozen lime-covered corpses in the back yard of the property. As news reports would later detail, some of the victims were tortured and murdered at the house on Parsioneros Street; others were brought there after being assassinated elsewhere. Santillan and his men referred to the murders in code as carne asadas, Spanish for barbeque.

Greg Houston

For Lalo, the killings began in August 2003, when he participated in the slaying of a Mexican attorney by the name of Fernando Reyes who had arranged to meet Santillan to discuss moving a large stash of marijuana. Santillan had other ideas; he planned to whack Reyes and steal his drug load. Inside the House of Death, Santillan's corrupt cops tied up Reyes in duct tape and covered his head in a plastic bag. Lalo got in on the action too, but only, he says, because his fellow cartel members were having such a hard time subduing Reyes.

"They just look at me, saying, 'Hey! Help us!'" recalls Lalo. "So I pulled his left leg like that, so they put him on the floor."

When Reyes wouldn't suffocate fast enough, Lalo says one the dirty cops slammed a shovel against the victim's head, breaking his neck. Lalo made an audio recording of the entire gruesome slaying, in which Reyes can be heard pleading for his life, and provided the tape to his ICE handlers. A memo drafted by ICE agents after that murder confirms Lalo's participation in the homicide. But even with that knowledge, officials with ICE and the U.S. Department of Justice approved keeping Lalo in the field, where more murders would play out. And they did, with Lalo present for at least two more killings inside the House of Death.

"After going through everything that happen [with the Reyes murder], [ICE] said, 'If something like this happens again, don't record it. Now go back [to Juárez] and see the state police and do whatever Santillan told you, and supervise the people making [the grave to bury Reyes], or whatever they have to do, and then come back to the [ICE] office,'" says Lalo today.

"I report all these situations to ICE, but they don't say nothing, really," he continues in his fractured English. "They don't really do nothing. It not happen on U.S. soil, and nothing we can do, so they just listen to it, but not show no interest in that."

But the House of Death wouldn't be the cartel's — and ICE's — secret for long. In January of 2004 Lalo informed his handlers that Santillan and his henchmen were planning to take out an undercover DEA agent and his family whose Juárez address was coughed up during the torture and execution of three drug mules at the home on Parsioneros Street.

The DEA, once made aware of the threat, evacuated all personnel from Juárez. Moreover, in learning about the assassination plot, the DEA also became aware of the full extent of ICE's and Lalo's association with the House of Death murders.

Soon after, the DEA special agent in charge of El Paso, Sandalio Gonzalez, fired off ablistering letter to his ICE counterpart in El Paso (and a copy to U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton of the Western District of Texas) decrying the needless loss of life as a result of the ICE informant's "homicidal" activities, his role in the threat to the DEA agent and the complicity of ICE in the whole sordid affair.

"Your CS [confidential source] knew on January 13, 2004, that Santillan was planning a 'carne asada' for the Parsioneros house the following day, and nothing was done about it until Santillan called your CS on the night of the 14th to check the names of our agents," Gonzalez wrote. "By that time, three more human beings had been tortured and killed."

Lalo was now a political liability for the ICE. Still, the agency needed him for one more task: nabbing Santillan. On January 15, 2004, Lalo lured Santillan to El Paso by arranging a meeting with him to discuss cartel business. ICE agents then arrested the cartel chieftain following a prearranged traffic stop initiated by El Paso police.

The feds got their target in Santillan, who's currently serving a 25-year sentence for drug trafficking. And, Lalo, his cover now blown, found himself a marked man.

Photo: Bill Conroy

Newton County prosecutor Jake Skouby says the Lalo case is "more intrigue than I'm used to dealing with."

Kelly Schroer declines to talk to Riverfront Times when reached by phone to discuss the kidnapping charges facing her ex-boyfriend. Her brother, Jeff, is a bit more willing.

"She's having a tough time dealing with this case," Jeff Schroer says from suburban Buffalo.

"Did [Lalo] tell you about the restraining order in Tonawanda, New York? All the violations?" Jeff Schroer asks. "I don't even know, but there's a whole shit-ton of detectives up here waiting to get their hands on him."

The Erie County District Attorney's Office in New York confirms that a case against Lalo for "harassment, unlawful imprisonment and criminal contempt" was presented to a grand jury in February, a little more than a month after Lalo was taken into custody in Joplin, but no charges have been brought to date. The D.A.'s office says the case remains open.

"They had talked about transferring the charges to New York because that's where the events originated," says Captain Leavens with the Newton County Sheriff's Office. "[The prosecutor's office in Erie County] had been in contact with our prosecutor's office, but I don't know where that stands now. We've not heard anything further on this."

For Lalo, Buffalo was supposed to be a place where he could start life anew without constantly having to look over his shoulder. He landed a job there as a long-haul truck driver, allowing him to maintain a low profile and an unpredictable schedule — all the better for staying off the radar. Still, it wasn't always easy to shake the edgy excitement and glitzy lifestyle that the drug trade had offered. So when a wealthy cousin asked Lalo if he would do him a favor and fly out to California and retrieve a Ferrari he owned, the former cartel member jumped at the chance.

Lalo first asked a friend in Buffalo to accompany him on the trek, but the pal, a businessman who asked not to be named because he fears cartel retribution, tells theRiverfront Times that he told Lalo he was "nuts." For starters, driving a Ferrari — with Mexican plates — through a well-known drug route like Interstate 44 was bound to attract the wrong kind of attention. And if the cops didn't stop the car, the late-December snows along the way likely would. The Ferrari rides only about three inches off the ground.

The friend insists that Lalo asked Schroer to accompany him only as an "afterthought." He says he doesn't understand how Lalo can still remain in Missouri nine months after his arrest.

"How can they keep him incarcerated so long over a hearsay case, where [Schroer] could have stopped anywhere along the line?" Lalo's friend asks. "He didn't intend to kidnap her. That's ridiculous."

The point of bringing the Ferrari to New York, Lalo says, was so that he and his cousin could attend the NFL Super Bowl in New Jersey last February. Joplin Police Department's Lieutenant Matt Stewart says the Ferrari was towed after Lalo's arrest, but no charges have been brought against him in relation to the vehicle. Lalo says his cousin has already reclaimed the car.

In her statement to Joplin police, Schroer told authorities that Lalo "took her cell phone" and prohibited her from contacting anyone "without his permission" throughout their journey. But according to a police report in New York, Kelly Schroer and her brother were in communication during the trip. Just eight hours prior to Lalo's arrest in Joplin, Jeff Schroer filed a report with police in their hometown of Tonawanda stating that he was "concerned about his sister's welfare" because his phone calls with her were "very short," and the text messages he received appeared to be written by someone who "speaks little English." Jeff Schroer told police he believed his sister was "being held against her will" by her boyfriend with connections to the "Mexican drug trade."

The Tonawanda police then contacted ICE. The agents responding indicated that "there are no restraints" on Lalo's ability to travel. However, the ICE agents asked to be made aware of any charges that might be brought against him and also to be kept apprised of any developments.

Lalo, meanwhile, contends that Schroer's kidnapping allegations are "all lies," pointing out that he has photos of them together, smiling and embracing during the trip. He also notes that she could have left at any time or brought her concerns to authorities prior to them arriving in Joplin. Lalo believes the affidavit she signed, denying that she had ever been abused or threatened by him, is further proof that she accompanied him on her own free will.

At the court hearing on July 21, Lalo's public defender, Kathleen Byrnes, raised another point, arguing that Missouri has no jurisdiction to try this case.

"The prosecution has filed [charges] in the case, but there are no facts alleged concerning what particular crimes were committed in Missouri," Byrnes told the judge. "The probable cause statement refers to things that may or may not have occurred in other parts of the U.S."

"There is nothing to show why the state thinks there was a kidnapping," Byrnes continued. "Ms. Schroer said they were on their way back to New York. She desired to go there, and there does not appear to be any acts in the allegations that occurred in Missouri. What did my client do in Missouri that constitutes kidnapping?"

The hearing ended with Judge Timothy Perigo, a middle-aged magistrate with close-cropped hair, stating that he would draft an order spelling out what the state needs to disclose. "The prosecution will not be required to answer interrogatories [from the defense], but they should give the defense some more specificity on the charges."

A jury trial is now slated for October 29.

Lalo says he is so worn down by the course of his life since working for ICE that he is now reconciled with his fate, even if that's prison, death at the hands of the cartel — or both.

"I'm not afraid at all," he says. "I'm so tired at this point in my life of everything, that if they kill me it would be the best thing for me. Since 2004, for me it's been job after job, one thing after thing, so believe me, the last thing I care right now is if someone come and kill me."

The cartel has tried to take out Lalo before.

A few months after the arrest of Santillan, Lalo was living under protective custody and working as a shopping-center security guard in San Antonio when he made the fateful decision to return to the border region of Juárez for a few days.

The trip had a dual purpose. Lalo, whose ex-wife and kids were also living under government protection in San Antonio, wanted to visit his then-girlfriend in El Paso. He also had arranged to pick up some money at an El Paso Whataburger. Lalo says that the money drop was tied to some work he was still doing for ICE, but federal agents say that's not correct. They suggest the money stemmed from the proceeds of some property Lalo had recently sold in Juárez.

Whatever the case, the ever-wary Lalo sent a friend to the Whataburger to collect the money. Lalo's fill-in was sitting in his car in the restaurant parking lot when a gunman appeared out of nowhere and pumped four bullets into his chest before disappearing.

The cover of September 4 RFT.

Lalo's friend, who also happened to be an FBI informant, died instantly, and ICE swept in and placed Lalo under lock and key. Over the next six years ICE moved Lalo from prison to prison, in Texas, Minnesota and finally New York — while pressing deportation proceedings against him. Eventually Lalo was freed afterconvincing a U.S. appeals court that he would be murdered with the Mexican government's acquiescence if sent back to Mexico.

Last year Lalo filed a $125 million lawsuitagainst former and current officials with ICE and the Department of Justice, among others, claiming they violated his constitutional rights by conspiring to keep him imprisoned against his will for years, while seeking to return him to Mexico where he would likely be murdered. Lalo, who earned more than $200,000 as confidential source SA-913-EP, also claims ICE still owes him $400,000 for his undercover work. The case, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, is sealed and still pending.

Lalo believes it's because of that lawsuit, and the damage it could to do current and former government officials, that he remains locked up in Newton County.

ICE spokesperson Danielle Bennett says she's not familiar with Lalo's kidnapping case in Missouri, but sees no merit in his claim.

"When a local authority has someone on criminal charges, that's not an influence that we would have," she says. "If he's got criminal charges, it would be the local authority that is setting the limits for keeping him in their custody."

However, Steven Cohen, the Buffalo attorney handling Lalo's federal civil lawsuit, says he is quite certain "the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Department of Justice are well aware of Lalo and the particular embarrassing facts and events he is witness to, and will do all they can to marginalize him."

Gonzalez, the DEA agent who blasted his colleagues in ICE upon learning of Lalo's involvement in the House of Death, echoes Cohen's take: "I think [the DOJ and ICE] would have reason to do whatever they could to prevent that lawsuit from ever seeing light of day from a trial."

The now-retired Gonzalez, who won a civil suit against the government after his bosses gave him poor job marks in the wake his complaints about ICE's handling of Lalo, asserts that the coverup in the House of Death murders went to the top of the U.S. Department of Justice. In testimony in Gonzalez's civil case, former DEA administrator Karen Tandy confirmed that she "personally briefed" then-Attorney General John Ashcroft and Deputy Attorney General James Comey (now head of the FBI), on the House of Death affair after Santillan targeted the DEA agent.

Ashcroft, who now heads a Kansas City-based law firm that bears his name, did not return calls for comment. Nor did Johnny Sutton, the former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, who now works for Aschroft's law firm and who oversaw the House of Death case as the top U.S. prosecutor in southwest Texas.

ICE agents and prosecutors claim in court pleadings that they were not kept in the loop on Lalo's murderous activities because his handler failed to properly brief them. That agent was ultimately served up as a scapegoat and fired by the agency. But ICE and DEA also conducted a subsequent joint investigation into the House of Death case, the results of which have never been made public — despite several Freedom of Information Act requests seeking the report. Lalo's pending civil case, if it proceeds, could result in the release of that report as part of the discovery process.

Back in Missouri's Newton County, prosecutor Jake Skouby says no one from the federal government has contacted him about Lalo.

Joplin PD's Stewart, though, says officers with his department work with federal law enforcers from the FBI, DEA and ICE on various task forces, "and they are aware of [Lalo's] case and have talked about it. But as far as I'm aware, they haven't done anything with it."

Lalo remains unconvinced.

"They are trying to portray me as a kidnapper, which is not true," he says. "In my mind, I knew from the beginning from what my public defender told me. She said, 'Oh, we got a big case here. They will make it a high-profile case because of who you are...that you were a member of a cartel.'"

Lalo stresses that the only current tie he has to the cartel is this: "They want to kill me."

http://www.riverfronttimes.com/news/

Bill Conroy is a freelance reporter who's written extensively about Lalo and other players in the Mexican-U.S. drug trade for the website Narco News. He can be contacted atnarcosphere@aol.com.

related background reading

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/bill-conroy/2013/09/former-ice-informant-sues-us-prosecutors-federal-agents

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/bill-conroy/2013/06/fbi-director-candidate-comey-complicit-dark-chapter-us-history