babble is rabble.ca's discussion board but it's much more than that: it's an online community for folks who just won't shut up. It's a place to tell each other — and the world — what's up with our work and campaigns.
Syndicate
Support rabble | Advertise with us | Contact our staff | About rabble | Log-in or Register for a new account | Corrections | Privacy policy | Comment policy | Newsfeeds | Mailing lists
rabble: Features | Columnists | In Cahoots | Blogs | Books | Photos | What's Up | Polls
babble: Forum Topics | Active Topics
The rpn: About the RPN | Become a podcaster
rabbleTV: Program Guide | Features | Indie Inside | Best of the net
Copyright © 2001- the authors
Disruption To Iran Oil Flow To Shock Global Economy: IMF Chief
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/232584.html
"International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that if Iranian oil supplies are disrupted, crude prices may spike up to 30 percent, sending shockwaves through the global economy.."
US Mulls Exempting 11 States From Iran Sanctions
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/232589.html
"The US government is considering exemptions from Iran sanctions for 11 states including some member countries of the European Union for renewable periods of 180 days.."
The North American anti-socialist mindset, a posture that evidently spans the all too familiar political spectrum let there be no doubt, hasn't yet made a connection between the continuous flapping of gums from Netanyahu and the American body politic where it concerns Iran, the food being taken off of their tables, and their wallets being lightened as a result. Every time the village idiot of the Middle East speaks in this regard, Joe Six Pack winds up paying more coin out of his ass pocket for a speculation fill up. When you see the buck forty or more per litre signs, it means everyone gets to subsidize these despicable gangs of thugs from the household budget. But I don't expect this mindset to ever connect with any form of reality.
'United States Increasingly Becoming Fascist State' (and vid)
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/232669.html
"A political analyst says the US hostile and hard-line policy towards other nations is increasingly turning the country into a fascist military state. These remarks come as the US and EU have proposed tough financial and oil sanctions against Iran since the beginning of 2012, claiming that the country's nuclear energy program includes a military component.
Press TV has conducted interviews with American philosopher James Fetzer from Madison to further discuss the issue, the program also provides the opinions of two additional guests, historical and political commentator Peter Rushton from London, and Mark Glenn with the Crescent and Cross Solidarity Movement from Idaho.."
Former CIA Officer Michael Scheuer On The Economics Of War with Iran (and vid)
http://foreignpolicyjournal.com/2012/03/21/former-cia-officer-michael-sc...
What is at stake for US if it were to attack Iran..
Iran War Will Be The Worst Mistake in US History: Fidel Castro
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/232870.html
"In an article titled 'The Roads Leading To Disaster', published in the official daily Granma on Thursday, Castro said there is no doubt that the US would be making the greatest mistake in its history if it decides to attack Iran in coordination with Israel.
'The Israeli government has openly declared its intention to attack the enriched uranium production plant in Iran, and the government of the United States has invested hundreds of millions of dollars manufacturing a bomb for that purpose,' he wrote. 'As far as I am concerned, I do not harbor the slightest doubt that the United States is about to commit and lead the world toward, the greatest error in its history,' he added.
Castro said Washington is wrong to think that Iranians in the country's Armed Forces, who are known for their religious principles and fighting traditions, will surrender to the US without shooting a bullet. Castro also criticized the West's nuclear double standards, noting that Israel has manufactured nuclear weapons with the help and coordination of the US.."
Reflections by Comrade Fidel: The Roads Leading To Disaster
http://www.cadenagramonte.cu/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=f...
Yes, comrade Fidel. I concur.
People everywhere have the right to exist. MOAB and MOP bombs are heinous and despicable weapons of mass destruction. There has never been nor will there ever be a legitimate purpose for nuclear weapons.
And it is illegal since Nuremberg to threaten other countries with military attacks. In this way US Military governments regularly violate the rights of all of us to exist in peace.
And in other news that really matters...
Intel shows Iran nuclear threat not imminent
Yes the pathological liars should never be taken seriously again imo.
Al-Qa'eda = Al-CIA'duh. Phony bastards.
Nuclear watchdog chief accused of pro-western bias over Iran Former officials warn of parallels between IAEA approach to Iran and mistakes over Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction
Trouble on the Iran-Pakistan Pipeline Front
By Dahlia Scheindlin and Larry Derfner
A lively crowd of approximately 1000 people, according to estimates by the Israeli media, gathered at Habima Square in Tel Aviv to voice its opposition to a war between Israel and Iran. Although hoping to capitalize on the energy of a surprisingly successful grassroots internet campaign that seemed to sweep the whole country last week, the protesters had all the hallmark attributes of a left-wing demonstration: large red flags associated with Hadash, the far-left Jewish-Arab party, calls for the Netanyahu government to resign, and no Israeli flags....
http://972mag.com/first-large-israeli-demonstration-against-war-with-ira...
Germany Official: Meeting With Israel's Barak Left Me 'More Concerned' of War With Iran
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/germany-official-meeting-w...
"Germany's defense minister Thomas de Maiziere said that a recent meeting with Defense Minister Ehud Barak left him 'more concerned' as to the possibility of war with Iran, an interview published on Tuesday indicated. De Maiziere's comments came after US President Barack Obama said on Sunday there was still time to resolve the Iranian nuclear standoff through diplomacy, indicating however, that the window for such a solution was closing.."
US Gears Up For Land Operations in Persian Gulf?
http://rt.com/news/us-amphibious-group-land-operation-iran-663/
"The US is sending an amphibious assault group and a couple of thousand US Marines to the Persian Gulf. With another US carrier making its way to Iran's doorstep, US military still insist that this is a 'regularly scheduled deployment'. The Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group is comprised of amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, amphibious transport dock USS New York, and amphibious dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall.
It is also reinforced with an atomic submarine and a marine helicopter squadron. Over 2,000 US Marines are to come on board Iwo Jima when the group makes a stop in North Carolina. Many of these marines are veterans of ground combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, making their first shipboard deployment, dailypress.com points out. Last week, Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak, spoke of a three month deadline for Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions or face imminent attack..."
Obama Gives Go-Ahead For Tougher Oil Sanctions On Iran
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/233920.html
"US President Barack Obama has given the green light for fresh sanctions against foreign banks and other financial institutions by or through which Iran's oil is purchased..."
War Porn: The New Safe Sex - by Pepe Escobar
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NC30Ak02.html
"...In thesis, there is an approved mechanism in the 20th century to defend civilians from war porn. It's the R2P - 'responsibility to protect' doctrine. This was an idea floated already in 2001 - a few weeks after the war on terror was unleashed, in fact - by the Canadian government and a few foundations...
Over a decade after the beginning of the war on terror, this is what the world is coming to; a lazy, virtually worldwide audience, jaded, dazed adn distracted from distraction by distraction, helplessly hooked on the shabby atrocity exhibition of war porn."
Obama Gives Green Light for Punishing Sanctions on Iran - by Bill Van Auken
http://wsws.org/articles/2012/apr2012/iran-a03.shtml
"President Barack Obama has issued the green light for punishing new US economic sanctions directed at forcing the Iranian government to submit to Western pressure over its nuclear program by starving the country of oil revenues. These new sanctions, which go into effect on June 28, aim to impose a warlike blockade of the Iranian economy by penalizing any government or private entity that carries out financial transactions with the counntry's central bank.
Western Europe is preparing its own sanctions, which are to include a European embargo on Iranian oil purchases, beginning in July. Meanwhile, the US, Israel and Greece are conducting war games involving at least 10 warships and combat aircraft in the eastern Mediterranean. The operation, dubbed 'Noble Dina', is led by the US Sixth Fleet and the Israeli Navy.
It began on March 26 and continues until April 5. The exercise, which includes simulated defence against submarine attacks and security offshore oil platforms as well as air combat, is according to Israeli sources, a rehearsal for war against Iran."
Israel's Assassination of Gaza Leader Lays Groundwork For Iran Attack - by Richard Silverstein
http://truth-out.org/news/item/8215-israel-defense-forces-assassinaiton-...
"...One of the Gaza assault's related missions was to prepare the Israeli people for what I believe is Netanyahu's planned war against Iran. Now that 'Iron Dome' has performed reasonably well, the prime minister can argue to the naysayers in his cabinet who will vote to approve such a strike that he has a shield that will protect Israel from the anticipated storm of Hezbollah and Hamas rockets that will follow an attack on Iran.
So, instead of 20,000 or 30,000 rockets falling from three directions (Lebanon, Gaza and Iran), Israel would be able to focus its defense on the Iranian front. Netanyahu directly coupled his attack on Gaza with the Iran menace by claiming that Gaza militants firing rockets at Israel were operators for Iran.
Portraying Iran as the principle agent of terror against Israel also softens Israeli public opinion toward an attack on Iran. By Israeli media accounts, (depending on which you read) the vote in the cabinet is currently either 8-6 favoring war or a 7-7 split..."
The Real Nuclear Outlaws - by Carl Boggs
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/04/04/the-real-nuclear-outlaws/
"While United States and Israeli leaders, duly assisted by a warmongering media, ramp up war talk against Iran, two troublesome pieces of information are ritually ignored. First, even American intelligence reports conclude that Iran is not close to building a nuclear weapons program.
Second, it is the US and Israel - not Iran - that stand in flagrant violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The real nuclear outlaws are located in Washington and Tel Aviv rather than in Tehran.."
US-Israel War on Iran : The Myth of Limited Warfare - by James Petras
http://dissidentvoice.org/2012/04/us-israel-war-on-iran-the-myth-of-limi...
"The US propaganda war operates along two tracks: (1) the dominant message emphasizes the proximity of war and the willingness of the US to use force and violence. This message is directed at Iran and coincides with Israeli announcements of war preparations. The second track targets the 'liberal public' with a handful of marginal 'knowledgeable academics' (or State Department progressives) playing down the war threat and arguing that 'reasonable' policy makers in Tel Aviv and Washington are aware that Iran does not possess nuclear weapons or any capacity to produce them now or in the near future.
The purpose of this backpedaling is to confuse and undermine the majority public opinion, which is clearly opposed to more war preparations, and to derail the burgeoning anti-war movement. When the US and Israel talk of war, prepare for war and engage in pre-war provocations - they intend to go to war..."
And as for Canada - take your pick:
Stephen Harper: 'I will support Israel whatever the cost.'
Thomas Mulcair: 'I am an ardent supporter of Israel in all situations and circumstances.'
US Gives Iran 'Last Chance' Warning
http://www.independent.co.uk//news/world/middle-east/us-gives-iran-last-...
"...Iran must immediately close a large nuclear facility built underneath a mountain if it is to take what President Obama has called a 'last chance' to resolve its escalating dispute with the West via diplomacy. US intelligence agencies are convinced that Iran suspended its nuclear weapons programme in 2003. Recent surveillance operations particularly by drones, have failed to provide any evidence that such operations have actually recommenced.."
Confirmed: Terrorist Organization Trained on US Soil by US Military - by Tony Cartalucci
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.ca/2012/04/confirmed-terrorist-organizatio...
"Series of mainstream admissions of US and Israeli, state-sponsored terrorism. It appears that not only Israel, but the US in tandem with Mossad have been training, arming, financing, harboring and directing the US State Department-listed foreign terror organization (#29) Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) since as early as 2005 when MEK terrorists were brought to Las Vegas to train..."
American Enterprise in Gulf: Second Aircraft Carrier Deployed
http://rt.com/news/us-deploys-enterprise-aircraft-carrier-gulf-593/
"The US, while focusing its diplomatic efforts on Iran to force it to give up its alleged nuclear ambitions, appears to be increasing its naval presence in the Gulf...the times when the Persian Gulf has seen two US aircraft carriers operating in the region at the same time has been during wars: the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and in supporting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in Feb. 2007."
Iran Halts Spain Export, Mulls Supply Cuts to Germany, Italy
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/235523.html
"Tehran has cut oil supply to Spain after halting crude exports to Greece as part of its counter-sanctions against the European Union (EU), mulling oil supply cuts to Germany and Italy now.."
Iran Halts Oil Flow to Germany One Day After Spain
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/235688.html
"Iran has cut oil exports to Germany one day after halting crude sales to Spain as part of its counter-sanctions against the European Union. Tehran has already stopped oil exports to France, Britain and Greece and is now considering halting crude sales to Italy.."
Son of Shah Begs Israel to Help Iran Opposition
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/235576.html
"The son of Iran's deposed Shah, has, in an interview with Israel's Channel 10 TV, asked Tel Aviv to increase its cooperation with the Iranian opposition. 'The children of Cyrus, the children of Queen Esther...need your help, Reza Pahlavi said.."
Commitment to Democracy Best Solution to Syria's Crisis: Iran
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/235700.html
"...He [Annan] added that efforts made by some countries to change the Syrian regime are a major impediment to the implementation of the plan because such efforts are not in line with his vision and not the UN's goal in Syria.."
The Irrationality of the Case Against Iran's Nuclear Program - by Gary Leupp
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/04/12/the-irrationality-of-the-case-aga...
"It is all, as the Iranian diplomats observe, irrational."
Russia Planning Troop Deployments on Iran's Northern Border and Waiting for a Western Attack - by F Michael Maloof
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31069.htm
"The Russian military anticipates that an attack will occur on Iran by the summer and has developed action plans to move Russian troops through neighboring Georgia to stage in Armenia, which borders on the Islamic Republic - according to informed Russian sources.."
EU: Round One of Iran P5 + 1 Talks Constructive
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/236185.html
"After the first round of comprehensive negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 - the US, Britain, France, China, Russia, plus Germany - wrapped up in Istanbul, a European Union source says talks between the group and Iran were 'constructive'.."
Iran begins Bilateral P5 + 1 Meetings, Rejects US Request for Talks
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/236199.html
"Iran has begun bilateral talks with the members of the P5 + 1 in the Turkish city of Istanbul and has rejected requests by Washington for a meeting.."
Blockades and the danger of disaster
"Historical memory has never been an American(*) strong point and few today remember that a global embargo on Iranian petroleum is hardly a new tactic in Western geopolitics; nor do many recall that the last time it was applied with such stringency, in the 1950s, it led to the overthrow of the government with disastrous long-term blowback on the United States. The tactic is just as dangerous today. "
By Juan Cole
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ND14Ak05.html
(* Canadians seem equally befuddled, historically... F35s? massive, alternative-sourced (ie 'dirty') oil production? (Northern Gateway pipeline, not to mention new Kinder-Morgan plans to triple or quadruple tar-sands oil tanker traffic through the port of Vancouver??)
Of course, thanks to the CBC (et al), we're all right up-to-date on the century old sinking of the Titanic(!!) - there's an analogy in there somewhere...
'Entire Iran Nuclear Issue Theatrical' (and vid)
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/236435.html
"Iran ever enriching uranium to weapons grade is absolutely impossible, an American political analyst tells Press TV..."
Iran FM Urges West To Lift Sanctions Before Next Round of Talks
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/236552.html
"The Iranian Foreign Ministry has called on Western governments to lift their sanctions against Iran before the next round of talks between Tehran and the six world powers in Baghdad in late May. 'The Istanbul meeting was a turning point in the talks,' Ali Akbar Salehi said, on the sidelines of a Monday visit by the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA). 'Previously the other side did not step into the negotiations with the intent to resolve the issues, 'but presently, things have changed,' he added.
Today, they returned to the talks; it was not us who returned to the talks as we were committed to negotiations from the start.' Saleh added that another reason why the West decided to resume negotiations was the adverse impact that tensions against Iran was having on the US economy.."
'Moment of Truth is Near': Israeli Air Force Set to Attack Iran
http://rt.com/news/iran-israel-air-force-attack-177/
"A reporter from Israel's Channel 10 TV has spent several weeks interviewing pilots and other military personnel at an Israeli airbase. Dozens of pilots are inspired with the prospect of Israel's first full-scale air campaign in 30 years. Most of the interviewees spoke openly about the 'year's preparations' that are now almost over, as the country heads towards a hot and tense summer.
'Dozens if not more planes' are being prepared to carry out an attack on Iran's nuclear sites, the reporter Alon Ben-David said. This inlcudes F-15 fighter jets, escort planes and air tankers to refuel the squadron en route to its target..."
US-Trained Terrorist Group Plants Stuxnet Malware - by Nile Bowie
http://nilebowie.blogspot.ca/2012/04/us-trained-terrorist-group-plants.html
"While both CIA chief David H Petraeus and US National Intelligence Director James R Clapper Jr. concede that no credible evidence exists to accuse Iran of constructing a nuclear weapon, the brazen criminality of intelligence operations against Iran's civil nuclear program remain deeply troubling..
While senior figures in the Council on Foreign Relations describe MEK as a 'cultlike organization with totalitarian tendancies, a cabal of elder statesmen such as former NATO Supreme Allied Commander General Wesley Clark, former New York City mayor Rudy Guiliani, former 911 Commission Chairman Lee Hamilton, were paid $20,000 to $30,000 per engagement to endorse the removal of Mujahideen e Khalq (MEK) from the US State Department's list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.."
'Nuclear Talks Won't Halt Israeli Strike on Iran' (and vid)
http://rt.com/news/israel-iran-strike-talks-318/
"Israel says it never promised the United States it would refrain from striking Iran while the latest talks were underway.."
Surprises in the Israeli-Iranian Duel - by Patrick Seale
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31137.htm
"...Netanyahu has long opposed talks between Iran and the international community, and no doubt prays for them to collapse. but if Catherine Ashton gets her way, if the negotiations with Iran are successful and the spectre of war is dispelled, Israel may have to live with a small dent in its regional supremacy."
The Obama - Netanyahu Rift - by Gary Leupp
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/04/23/the-obama-netanyahu-rift/
"...Such a rift is excellent. May it widen! It's certainly preferable to conducting an illegal attack that the Israeli leadership, neocon network, some Republican leaders and perhaps evangelical Christian factions pray for but most people in this country oppose. An attack that as Gates noted would be a 'catastrophe'. An attack that the former chief of Mossad, who headed the intelligence agency from 2002 to 2009, calls 'the stupidest idea I've ever heard.'
The question is, does Obama have the will and the power to agree to a deal? Or is it politically impossible to do so? Perhaps the next few months will show the extent and limits of the power of the Lobby?"
Obama Invokes Holocaust to Ratchet Up War Threats on Iran, Syria - by Bill Van Auken
http://wsws.org/articles/2012/apr2012/holo-a25.shtml
"President Barack Obama used a visit to Washington's Holocaust Memorial Museum Monday to unveil a set of new sanctions against Iran and Syria and to promote the administration's use of 'human rights' as a pretext for aggressive war and regime change.."