The Raw Story

Thursday, 22 January 2015

Mossad reportedly at odds with Netanyahu over imposing Congressional sanctions on Iran

Israel's political leadership is in disagreement with top members of its intelligence services over the benefit of more Congressional sanctions on Iran as negotiations over its disputed nuclear program continue, Bloomberg News is reporting on Thursday.

The rift is so severe that it compelled the Mossad to contradict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and directly warn US Congressional officials that more sanctions against the Islamic Republic at this juncture could effectively spell the end of negotiations, according to Bloomberg.

Israeli intelligence officials have apparently come around to the same view shared by both the Obama administration as well as American spy agencies who say that any attempts by lawmakers to pass tougher anti-Iran legislation could chase Tehran from the negotiating table.

Netanyahu has gone on record as enthusiastically supporting sanctions while placing little faith that talks with the Islamic Republic would yield an agreement that would meet Israel's security needs.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers are expected to press ahead with a plan for more sanctions on Iran, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said last week, despite White House warnings that they risked derailing nuclear talks.

Lawmakers, who say they fear Obama administration negotiators may not take a hard enough line with Tehran, are also at work on a separate bill to have Congress approve any final agreement on Iran's nuclear program, Senator Bob Corker, the chairman, told Reuters in an interview.

"There's continual efforts to try to figure out a way for Congress to play a role to strengthen whatever final deal may occur," the Tennessee Republican senator said.

Republican Senator Mark Kirk and Democratic Senator Robert Menendez are finalizing a bill for tougher sanctions on Iran if there is no final nuclear deal by June 30.

The Senate Banking Committee is due to hold a hearing on Iran sanctions on Tuesday, said Corker, a member also of that panel.

Kirk and Menendez introduced a sanctions bill in December 2013, but it did not come up for a vote in the Senate, then controlled by President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats, who lost control of the chamber because of big losses in November elections.

The White House has insisted passage of a sanctions bill now - even one that would impose new restrictions only if there is no deal by the deadline - could prompt Iran to back out of the nuclear talks with six world powers.

According to Bloomberg, both the Prime Minister's Office as well as the influential America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) have been pushing for the Kirk-Menendez bill, which would impose harsher economic penalties against Iran if there is no agreement in the P5+1 talks by the June 30 deadline.

Congressional leaders, however, were surprised to learn that Mossad officials had briefed a number of key lawmakers, lobbying against the bill. Bloomberg reported that the briefing prompted Menendez to seek clarifications from Israel's envoy to Washington, Ron Dermer.

"We met with a number of government officials from many different parts of the government," Republican representative John Barrasso, one of the deputies present during the Mossad briefing, told Bloomberg. "There's not a uniform view there."

The Iranian nuclear matter has apparently turned into the latest political football that has entailed the GOP Congressional leadership, the White House, the Prime Minister's Office, and the Mossad, which is being played against the backdrop of Israel's upcoming parliamentary elections.

In his State of the Union address before the nation on Tuesday, US President Barack Obama said that new sanctions on Iran would "all but guarantee that diplomacy fails," heightening the prospects of war.

"Between now and this spring, we have a chance to negotiate a comprehensive agreement that prevents a nuclear-armed Iran, secures America and our allies - including Israel - while avoiding yet another Middle East conflict," the president said.

"There are no guarantees that negotiations will succeed, and I keep all options on the table to prevent a nuclear Iran," he continued. "But new sanctions passed by this Congress, at this moment in time, will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails."

The Republican speaker of the House, John Boehner, responded by inviting Netanyahu to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress, prompting an angry response from the White House.

Chomsky: We Are All – Fill in the Blank.

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A measles outbreak traced to Disney theme parks in California led to warnings against visiting the happiest place on Earth if tourists or their children have not been vaccinated against the highly contagious respiratory disease that has sickened 70 people.

New infections linked to the theme parks emerged Wednesday in the outbreak that has spread to five U.S. states and Mexico, though the vast majority - 62 - occurred in California.

People who have not received the measles-mumps-rubella, or MMR, vaccine are susceptible to contracting the highly contagious illness and should avoid Disney "for the time being," state epidemiologist Gil Chavez said.

The same holds true for crowded places with a high concentration of international travelers, such as airports, Chavez said. People who are vaccinated don't need to take such precautions, he said.

Disneyland Resorts spokeswoman Suzi Brown said officials agreed with the advice that "it's absolutely safe to visit if you're vaccinated."

The people who have been infected range in age from 7 months to 70 years old. The vast majority had not been vaccinated, and a quarter had to be hospitalized.

Among those sickened were five Disney employees, three of whom have since returned to work. The company previously said park employees who may have been in contact with infected people were asked to show proof of vaccination or have a blood test to show immunity against measles. Those with pending results were put on paid leave. Vaccinations are also being offered to all employees.

Measles has hit California hard recently, where four to 60 measles cases a year are typical.

"We are off to a bad start in 2015," Chavez said.

Since the outbreak, two dozen unvaccinated students at an Orange County high school were sent home for three weeks after an infected student showed up.

Measles can spread by air through coughing or sneezing. Symptoms include fever followed by cough, runny nose and a blotchy rash. Though the virus has been eradicated in the U.S. since 2000, it can still enter the country through an infected traveler.

While health officials said they likely may never find "patient zero," or the trigger of the outbreak, they believe it was either a resident from a country where measles is widespread or a Californian who went abroad and brought home the virus.

People at highest risk are those who are unvaccinated, pregnant women, infants under 6 months old, and those with weakened immune systems.

© Steve Ringman / The Seattle Times

The nose of a dead whale bobs up and down directly under the Colman ferry dock on Seattle’s waterfront.

A 30-foot gray whale has turned up dead under the Washington state ferry terminal in downtown Seattle, where its stench is wafting into the noses of thousands of daily commuters.

A Washington State Ferries spokeswoman, Susan Harris-Huether, says the whale was found just before 11 p.m. Wednesday. She says people are reporting that the smell is "not good."

Harris says it's under a dock, but ferry service Thursday wasn't affected.

A spokesman with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday that officials believe the whale may have been there for about a week. Michael Milstein says it's not known yet why the animal died, how it got there or other details.

He says NOAA will work with ferry officials and others to move the animal so a necropsy can be conducted.

As his career continues to free fall into total irrelevance, pop star "Bono" of the rock group U2 has announced his support for a U.S.- backed plan to rape and pillage Africa by stealing its land and agricultural systems and replacing them with corporate-owned GMOs (genetically-modified organisms) and chemicals.

At the recent G8 Summit held at Camp David in Maryland, the Obama regime met with private industry leaders to announce the launch of the "New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition," a thinly-veiled Green Revolution 2.0 that aims to uproot autonomous family farming systems throughout Africa and replace them with toxic monoculture systems controlled by multinational corporations like Monsanto.

The deceptively titled scheme, which investigative journalist Rady Ananda describes as "a euphemism for monocultured, genetically modified crops and toxic agrochemicals aimed at making poor farmers debt slaves to corporations, while destroying the ecosphere for profit," follows the usual script - all those poor African people need American corporations to take control of their lives so they can be healthy and prosperous.

It is a tired mantra that, upon closer look, is easily exposed as a complete sham to both exploit the vulnerable for obscene profits and seize control over the food supply. And this overtly evil agenda is one that Bono apparently believes is good, at least for the American interests that are slithering their way into Africa under the guise of helping the poor.

"They're future consumers for the United States," stated Bono during a 2012 interview with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports, referring to the people of Africa who have yet to be assimilated into the beast system.

"The president is talking business. This is good. It's a whole new development paradigm today. The old donor/recipient relationship... it's over."

A video clip of Bono speaking these menacing words is available here:

KennySideshow.Blogspot.com.

Africa says NO to agricultural genocide being foisted by USAfrica has long been a target of perverse American exploitation, with its rich diversity of minerals, gems and precious metals, a.k.a. lots of dollar signs for greedy mega-corporations. It is only natural, then, that this insatiable lust for filthy lucre extend to food and agriculture as well, much like it already has in the U.S. where GMOs and corporate monoculture rule the day.

Never mind that the African people are vehemently opposed to having their agricultural heritage stolen from them by U.S. interests. The African Civil Society Organizations recently had this to say about the so-called "public private partnerships" being established to eliminate African sovereignty over its own food supply:

"We request that: -- governments, FAO, the G8, the World Bank and the GAFSP [Global Agriculture and Food Security Program] reconsider their promotion of Public/Private Partnerships which, as they are now conceived, are not suitable instruments to support the family farms which are the very basis of African food security and sovereignty."

There's really no other way to interpret this than Africa telling the U.S. and its corporate masters across the globe to shove it and stay out of their land. The first Green Revolution was an absolute failure, and this second proposed one will be even worse. Nothing about the plan benefits ordinary farmers or citizens of Africa - it is all about enriching multinational corporations under the guise of humanitarian aid.

"All these systems are extremely tenuous, vulnerable, not robust, not resilient," explains a report by Volatility about the nature of corporate agriculture.

"They're all guaranteed to collapse. Hermetic monoculture, and industrial agriculture as such, is one big hothouse flower which requires perfect conditions to survive."

Sources

foodfreedomgroup.com

willyloman.wordpress.com

kennysideshow.blogspot.com

attempter.wordpress.com

science.naturalnews.com

Israel was down to one mention in last night's stirring and progressive State of the Union Speech, and Palestine didn't even get a name-check. Two states living peacefully side by side? Nope; President Obama seems to be walking away from the futile peace process.

Israel came up in the context of the big political battle Obama faces, Iran sanctions. Last night he vowed to veto any new sanctions bill. Few people would have known just what was at stake as the president made that declaration, saying the American people want him to talk to Iran, not go to war:

Our diplomacy is at work with respect to Iran, where, for the first time in a decade, we've halted the progress of its nuclear program and reduced its stockpile of nuclear material. Between now and this spring, we have a chance to negotiate a comprehensive agreement that prevents a nuclear-armed Iran; secures America and our allies - including Israel; while avoiding yet another Middle East conflict. There are no guarantees that negotiations will succeed, and I keep all options on the table to prevent a nuclear Iran. But new sanctions passed by this Congress, at this moment in time, will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails - alienating America from its allies; and ensuring that Iran starts up its nuclear program again. It doesn't make sense. That is why I will veto any new sanctions bill that threatens to undo this progress. The American people expect us to only go to war as a last resort, and I intend to stay true to that wisdom.

Obama was warning the Israel lobby; bug out of these negotiations. That's the line he drew in the sand in the New York Times last week, criticizing donor pressure on Democratic senators.

Well, Congress has responded. This morning it invited Netanyahu to speak to a joint session in the House chamber on February 11 - a month before the Israeli elections (as noted).

House Speaker John Boehner's statement on the invite plays off of the Paris murders, and grants Netanyahu an authority he doesn't seem to grant Obama:

"Prime Minister Netanyahu is a great friend of our country, and this invitation carries with it our unwavering commitment to the security and well-being of his people," Boehner said. "In this time of challenge, I am asking the Prime Minister to address Congress on the grave threats radical Islam and Iran pose to our security and way of life. Americans and Israelis have always stood together in shared cause and common ideals, and now we must rise to the moment again."

The Hill reports the invitation as a direct rebuke to Obama's Iran policy:

Boehner cast Netanyahu's address scheduled for Feb. 11 as being intended to rebuke to Obama's negotiations with Iran on that country's nuclear program...

[T]he president "expects us to stand idly by and do nothing while he cuts a bad deal with Iran [Boehner said]."

"Two words: "Hell no!" ... we're going to do no such thing," Boehner said.

says the White House's Josh Earnest "criticizes Netanyahu's planned trip to U.S., calling it 'departure from protocol'".

"Such invitations are usually made leader to leader."

AP reports that Earnest calls it a "breach of protocol."

Every time one thinks Netanyahu has taken the relationship with the White House to the lowest point ever, he manages to take it even lower

- Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) January 21, 2015

And on MSNBC today, Noga Tarnopolsky in Jerusalem says that Boehner and Netanyahu were "negotiating behind President Obama's back" to bring off the invitation.

Boehner's actual invitation sent out this morning says Netanyahu is being invited by the "bipartisan leadership" of the Senate and House. Says Scott McConnell of Netanyahu's visit to Congress: "The only question will be how many standing ovations will he receive? I think he had 29 last time around. Should we set up a betting pool on it?"

Netanyahu with seven senators in advance of State of Union speech

As Boehner aides pointed out to the Hill "there is bipartisan support for Iran sanctions legislation." That's true: Netanyahu met two days ago with a bipartisan group of seven senators. Dems were represented by Indiana's Joe Donnelly (second from the left) and Virginia's Tim Kaine (not in the picture), not to mention Angus King, the Maine Independent, at left. It was South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham's second visit to Jerusalem inside of a month. He can't stay away! (He fielded Chuck Todd's question about presidential hopes from Jerusalem.)

On NPR the other day, Steve Inskeep pointed out to Obama's chief of staff Denis McDonough that many Democrats support sanctions.

given that people in both parties want to act, is there anything Congress can do that the president would accept?

MCDONOUGH: I think what Congress should do is give us some time to see if these negotiations can work. I think in looking back at the last year under the agreement - the temporary agreement that we and the rest of the world struck with the Iranians - we've seen their program frozen in important ways and even rolled back in very important ways. So we've seen good progress against an elicit Iranian nuclear program as a result of these negotiations. So if Congress wants to act later in the year, we could consider that. But at the moment, they ought to give us the space to let these negotiations work...

Inskeep asked McDonough four questions on Iran - because it's a bipartisan issue in D.C. Last night on , Chris Matthews asked three Democratic leaders, Chuck Schumer, Barbara Boxer, and David Axelrod, zero questions about Iran. Because he knows, hawkishness is inside the Democratic Party, and it would have been divisive.

Today in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Democrat Robert Menendez said of Obama's Iran passage in the State of the Union:

"The more I hear from the administration and its quotes, the more it sounds like talking points that come straight out of Tehran, and it feeds to the Iranian narrative of victimization when they are the ones with original sin... They get to cheat in a series of ways and we get to worry about their perceptions."

[embedded content]

Menendez is co-sponsor of the Iran sanction legislation Obama has promised to veto.

Here is part of the statement by B'nai B'rith International on Obama's speech. It praised him on immigration reform and human dignity and anti-Semitism. But it kept up the pressure for sanctions.

The president noted his commitment to pursuing diplomatic means to halt Iran's nuclear weapons development program. We must make it starkly clear to Tehran that the expanded deadline for talks must not merely serve as an opportunity for Iran to continue to build its nuclear program and deceive the world about its weapons-making progress. B'nai B'rith has consistently called for maintaining pressure on Iran and keeping all options open. We are pleased the president acknowledged that Iran's nuclear program has implications for the security of both the United States and Israel. But we remain concerned that removing sanctions as an option leaves an open door for Iran's delaying tactics. All options must remain on the table. Keeping up pressure on Iran reinforces a strong U.S. negotiating position.

We're moving toward a real confrontation. Let's hope that journalists inform the American people about what is at stake. Let's hope that M.J. Rosenberg gets out the epithet Israel Firster and heaves it around. How many Americans want another war in the Middle East?

: The story is making the cables. On CNN David Rohde says that Netanyahu seems to have challenged protocol by not consulting Obama before accepting the invitation. Boehner said he did not consult the president but "I don't believe I'm poking anyone in the eye." Netanyahu will be discussing jihadists and Iran, serious threats that Obama "papered over" in his State of the Union speech.

MJ Rosenberg is going after Netanyahu:

Bibi: "I wonder if I can get Schumer, Lindsey Graham. & my favorite gangster Bob Menendez, to lead Congress in singing Hatikva. YES!"

Motorola at the Donetsk Airport Terminal, recently liberated by the NAF.

Minister of Defense of DPR, Eduard Basurin: 597 Ukrainian soldiers died at the airport so far - and those are just the bodies found so far near the airport and Peski, 44 POWs, 49 tanks destroyed, 49 BMP's and BTR's - just destroyed by DPR, wounded evacuated - over 1,500 (Ukrainians). Large quantities of American weapons, a lot of religious literature in European languages. Found bodies in NATO uniform of contractors from foreign private military companies. Today there were 19 violations of ceasefire - 13 dead (on a Donetsk trolley). No dead among the militia.

Last night there was a massive artillery attack on Gorlovka, a daycare was destroyed, a five story house was destroyed. In many houses all windows are broken. Any point in Gorlovka is subject to shelling. A hospital was hit. It is difficult to see all this, after Poroshenko announces he is ready for peace talks. Despite everything, the residents believe that we will win. After the destruction that happened from Hurricanes - a terrible weapon, there were no dead, I believe this is a sign that God does exist. People help each other, don't think for themselves. These people cannot be defeated.

[embedded content]

Translated from Russian by Kristina Rus

Comment: In response to Kiev's failed push, the NAF is launching a successful counter-offensive: taking back several occupied towns and checkpoints, attacking others, shelling Ukrainian positions, all without a single reported Ukrainian breakthrough or successful counter-attack. Poroshenko had better take Zakharchenko up on his offer...

Over a decade after consumer opposition halted multinational agrichemical business Monsanto's plans to develop genetically engineered (GE) herbicide-resistant wheat, the company is trying again. This time, Monsanto's goal is to create wheat that is resistant to three different herbicides; glyphosate, glufosinate , and dicamba. Although over 90% of corn, soybean, and cotton grown in the United States are GE, no GE wheat is currently allowed to be planted.

In 2013, a farmer in Oregon discovered the presence of Monsanto's original Roundup-Ready wheat, developed to be resistant to glyphosate, in his field despite the company's plans to abandon the strain and claims to have destroyed the crop a decade earlier. The company had restarted extensive field trials back in 2011. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) determined that the contamination was an "isolated incident." It was unable to determine exactly how the wheat came to grow in the Oregon farmer's field.

However, shortly after the agency closed its investigation, another farmer in Montana detected the GE strain in his wheat fields. The recurrence of this incident reveals the contamination event not to be an isolated incident. It instead demonstrates the threat that these crops pose to farmers and the environment, as well as the government's failure to recognize the pervasive and persistent nature of GE contamination.

In 2012, U.S. wheat exports were valued at $18.1 billion. Contamination events can cause significant economic harm to individual farmers, and even damage entire industries. Over 60 countries have bans on the production and import of GE crops. In response to the 2013 incident in Oregon, countries around the world, including Japan, South Korea, and the entire EU, enacted detrimental restrictions on the import of wheat.

In response to these trade barriers, wheat farmers in the Pacific Northwest launched a lawsuit against Monsanto. In November of last year, not wishing to engage in an extended legal battle with the growers, Monsanto announced a $2.4 million settlement.

In its intent to incorporate three levels of herbicide tolerance, Monsanto's new variety of wheat recognizes the failures of its Roundup-Ready farming system. Since such varieties were developed, weeds throughout the U.S. have displayed resistance to the company's flagship glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup. A study published in 2012 by Washington State University researcher Charles Benbrook, PhD, found that, rather than decrease herbicide use as chemical companies like Monsanto originally claimed, herbicide-tolerant cropping systems increased herbicide use from 1.5 million pounds in 1999 to roughly 90 million pounds in 2011. "Resistant weeds have become a major problem for many farmers reliant on GE crops, and are now driving up the volume of herbicide needed each year by about 25 percent," Dr. Benbrook said.

In response to widespread resistance, agrichemical companies have doubled-down and engineered new varieties of GE crops resistant to increasingly toxic herbicides. And regulators in USDA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have rubber-stamped these harmful products. In October of last year EPA approved a new herbicide to be used on a new form of corn resistant to 2,4-D and glyphosate, despite outcries from public health and environmental advocates.

As it stands, Monsanto has gained USDA approval on cotton and soybean plants tolerant of dicamba, and is waiting on regulatory decision from EPA on the "Xtend" herbicide that complements the crop. Increased use of dicamba is certain to induce dicamba-resistant weeds, similar to what is currently seen with Roundup. As a result of dicamba's high mobility in soils, contamination of groundwater is a significant risk. Dicamba has a high tendency to vaporize and drift, resulting in injury to sensitive crops. Abnormal leaf growth and floral development, reduced yield, and reduced quality have all been observed from dicamba drift. Moreover, studies have found that exposure to dicamba prior to conception is associated with increased risk of birth defects in male offspring. Dicamba has also been associated with a decrease in the ability to conceive, and cell death in developing embryos.

Contrary to industry proclamations, introducing wheat engineered to tolerate dicamba, glufosinate, and glyphosate will only keep farmers on a chemical treadmill that continues to propagate resistant weeds , endanger the environment, health, and agricultural economy.

For more information on the hazards associated with GE technology, visit Beyond Pesticides' Genetic Engineering webpage. The best way to avoid genetically engineered foods in the marketplace is to purchase foods that have the USDA certified organic seal. Under organic certification standards, genetically modified organisms and their byproducts are prohibited. For many other reasons, organic products are the right choice for consumers.

The Raw Story

Focused on providing independent journalism.

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Thursday, 22 January 2015

Mossad reportedly at odds with Netanyahu over imposing Congressional sanctions on Iran

Disneyland measles outbreak now tied to 70 people

Dead gray whale discovered at Seattle ferry terminal

Destroying African agriculture with GMOs: U2's Bono partners with Monsanto

Obama and Netanyahu face off over Iran as Bibi goes behind his back to meet U.S. senators

DPR press conference: 600 Ukrainians, mercenaries killed in action at Donetsk Airport

Surprise! Monsanto once again developing herbicide resistant wheat

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