The Raw Story

Saturday, 24 January 2015

"I'm So Ashamed" - Meet The Drone Operator Who Helped Kill 1,626 People And Walked Away

The face of America's unauthorized offshore wars has changed over the years, and these days it can most often be found watching the infrared screen of a terminal in some heavily-guarded air force base on US soil, operating heavily-armed, remote-controlled drones thousands of miles away, tasked with executing a lethal mission which usually involves one or more "collateral" casualties.

For almost five years, Brandon Bryant was one of those faces, and worked in America's secret drone program bombing targets in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

He was told that he helped to kill 1,626 people, but as time went by he felt uneasy with what he was doing. He found it hard to sleep and started dreaming in infra-red.

What made him stop? "The actual breaking point happened when we were hunting an American citizen, and they were saying he was maybe the next bin Laden. This was an American citizen - these were the people that I swore to protect. I believe that at that moment we were doing the wrong thing and that was when I decided to turn my back and walk away."

There were countless others who were happy to fill his vacant position.

Below is Brandon Bryant full interview with BBC's Witness program about his doubts and the mission that convinced him it was time to stop.

Iran is stopping mutual settlements in dollars with foreign countries and agreements on bilateral swap in new currencies will be signed in the near future, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has said.

"In trade exchanges with foreign countries, Iran uses other currencies, including Chinese yuan, euro, Turkish lira, Russian ruble and South Korean won," Gholamali Kamyab, CBI deputy head, told the Tasnim state news agency.

He added that Iran is considering the possibility of signing bilateral monetary agreements with several countries on the use of other currencies.

Kamyab believes bilateral currency swap agreements will ease trade and economic transactions between Iran and other states.

Iran is not the first country to move away from the US dollar. In 2014, Russia and China agreed on swaps and forwards in foreign currencies, a move aimed at reducing the influence of the US dollar and foreign exchange risks.

Experts believe the establishment of the BRICS Bank was also a major step towards de-dollarization and reducing Western dominance in the global financial system.

The move was made to increase international competition and activate trade and investment cooperation on the world stage.

Chomsky: We Are All – Fill in the Blank.

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© AFP Photo/Anwar Amro

Saly Greige waving after being crowned Miss Lebanon 2014, on October 5, 2014. She is now in trouble for appearing in "selfie" photo with Miss Israel

Miss Universe contestants are keen to proclaim their desire for world peace, but this year's Miss Lebanon has declared war after claiming Miss Israel muscled in uninvited during a group "selfie."

Saly Greige took to her Facebook page to declare that Israel's Doron Matalon had pushed her way into a now widely-circulated photo showing the Middle Eastern beauties with Miss Japan and Miss Slovenia.

"Since the first day of my arrival to participate to Miss Universe, I was very cautious to avoid being in any photo or communication with Miss Israel (that tried several times to have a photo with me)," Greige wrote in English on her page.

"I was having a photo with Miss Japan, Miss Slovenia and myself, suddenly Miss Israel jumped in, took a selfie, and put it on her social media."

The offending photo, taken in Miami where the Miss Universe pageant is staged, appeared on Matalon's Instagram account on January 11.

It shows Miss Israel with a beaming Miss Slovenia and Miss Japan, and Miss Lebanon, who appears to be gritting her teeth.

Matalon responded to the controversy herself on Sunday, saying it made her "sad".

"It doesn't surprise me, but it still makes me sad. Too bad you can not put the hostility out of the game," she wrote in English and Hebrew.

Lebanese media picked up the story, running Greige's allegations that Matalon had "photobombed" the selfie, and local social media users both defended and attacked their beauty queen for the picture.

Israel occupied parts of Lebanon for 22 years until 2000, but the two countries are still technically at war and their armies occasionally skirmish along the UN-designated withdrawal line.

Israel fought a bloody war against Lebanon's Hezbollah in 2006, which killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and some 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

© AFP/Getty Images

Teachers unions and anti-racism said they have recorded an increase in Islamophobic incidents in schools with Muslim pupils in British schools increasingly likely to be taunted as “terrorists”, “paedophiles” or “immigrants”

Muslim pupils across Britain are suffering a backlash of bullying and abuse following the Charlie Hebdo massacre amid a broad rise in Islamophobia in schools which the Government is failing to tackle, campaigners have told .

The sole UK charity monitoring anti-Muslim hate crime said it had recorded a "significant" increase in incidents in schools in the wake of the killings in Paris with both parents and teachers reporting verbal and physical attacks against Muslim students.

In one case, a teenage Muslim pupil at a school in Oxfordshire was this week allegedly slapped and called a "terrorist" by classmates after a teacher raised the murders of 12 people at the French magazine in a classroom discussion and suggested Muslims should be "challenged" by the display of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. The boy told his parents he did not wish to return to school.

Teachers unions and anti-racism groups told they have recorded an increase in Islamophobic incidents in schools with the 400,000 Muslim pupils in British schools increasingly likely to be taunted as "terrorists", "paedophiles" or "immigrants". The NASUWT, the teaching union, said the rise of anti-Muslim sentiment is causing "uncertainty and fear" in schools.

Tell MAMA, which monitors anti-Muslim hate crime in Britain, said it had logged 112 reports of physical and verbal violence in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo killings, including nine incidents which related specifically to schools in locations from West Yorkshire to East Sussex.

The organisation, which was recommended by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles last week in a letter subsequently criticised by Muslim groups for appearing to ask Muslims to prove their British identity, said it had been repeatedly rebuffed by a "short-sighted" Department for Education (DfE) in efforts to seek its support in offering training for schools in how to deal with Islamophobia.

Fiyaz Mughal, chief executive of Tell MAMA, said: "We are seeing more incidents of racialised language and bullying against Muslim children in schools and it has led to a significant number of incidents following the events in Paris.

"It is right that teachers and pupils should be able to discuss terrible events of this nature but it needs to be done carefully and in a manner that is sensitive to the position of Muslim pupils.

"For the past 18 months we have sought to engage with the DfE to offer training to schools but on each occasion we have been rebuffed. The lack of engagement is worrying.

"Whatever the reason, it gives the impression that anti-Muslim hatred is something that is not of significance for them. Lack of action is short sighted since we are seeing problems in some schools regarding bullying and prejudiced statements against Muslim students."

The charity said it had been approached in the last fortnight by parents whose children had been targeted by fellow pupils as well as school staff who wanted advice on how to raise the implications of the Charlie Hebdo killings and had found little or no guidance was available on structuring such discussions.

In Oxfordshire, the Year 10 pupil at a secondary academy, rated as "good" in its latest Ofsted report, said the massacre had been raised during a history lesson.

A formal complaint about the incident, obtained by , alleged that the teacher had "expressed his desire to purchase t-shirts with cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad as a way to challenge Muslims who are offended".

The report said the teenager, whose parents have asked that he remain anonymous, was the sole Muslim in his class and had felt "unfairly targeted and belittled" by the discussion.

Shortly afterwards, it is claimed the pupil was confronted by a number of boys in the year above him and slapped. When the victim asked why he had been attacked, it is alleged the same boy slapped him twice more before then calling him a "Paki" and a "terrorist".

The complaint added that the teenager's mother was "increasingly frustrated and distressed at the clear targeting of her son and she feels that she is putting her son in danger by sending him to school". Tell MAMA said it had submitted a complaint to the school and was awaiting a response.

A second anti-racism group said Islamophobia has been on the rise in schools for at least four years with children increasingly viewing Britain's Muslims as a homogenous group.

Show Racism the Red Card, an educational charity, said it had strong anecdotal evidence of growing anti-Muslim prejudice, including the results of word association exercises in which children increasingly responded to the word "Muslim" with answers such as "terrorist", "pig", "praying" and "immigrant".

Laura Pidcock, education team manager, said: "What we are seeing is a process of homogenisation between immigrants and Islam. Young children equate immigrants with Muslims, and Muslims with immigrants. There is a perception of Muslims as a single collective body and a sense that this can be a threat. We would like to see room made in the curriculum for the sort of work that encourages pupils to think for themselves and challenge these sort of views."

The NASUWT, which last year issued guidelines to its members on how to tackle Islamophobia, said anti-Muslim sentiment in wider society was a growing problem for schools which needed to be treated as a "priority".

Chris Keates, the union's general secretary, said: "For many teachers and pupils across the UK, there is a growing sense that the promotion of anti-Islamic sentiments is fostering a climate of uncertainty and fear in schools. Teachers are in the frontline in promoting and advancing human values and human rights."

The DfE acknowledged it did not provide specific advice on Islamophobia to schools but said it had no opposition to suitable material on the issue being distributed.

A DfE spokesman said: "Bullying of any kind is unacceptable. We produce clear guidance for schools giving advice on how to tackle it. All schools must have a behaviour policy including measure to prevent bullying and they are expected to promote mutual respect, tolerance and community cohesion."

Post-Hebdo violence: Islamaphobic attacks

"Islam must die" Graffiti featuring a Nazi swastika and the words " Islam must die" were found last week outside accommodation at the University of Birmingham, which has a large number of Muslim students.

Oxfordshire school

A teenage boy has alleged he was slapped and racially abused as a "Paki" and "terrorist" on 20 January in an incident while playing football at his school. The attack followed a classroom discussion about the Charlie Hebdo shootings in which a teacher is claimed to have said T-shirts carrying cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed should be worn to challenge Muslims who are offended by such images.

Tesco attack

A young Asian dentist was attacked by a knife-wielding assailant at a Tesco supermarket in Mold, Wales. Police said they were treating the assault as racially motivated. A 25-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder.

© Keith McCullough

This tropical falcon, a crested carcara, was spotted recently at the Center for Birds of Prey in Awendaw.

The bird in the pine tree just didn't look like a red-tailed hawk. It didn't look like any native raptor. But it sure made itself at home.

When the vultures swooped in for feeding recently at the Center for Birds of Prey, the crested caracara dropped down, too.

Staff and visitors were wowed. The once-a-week "vulture restaurant" feeding exhibit can draw any number of raptors - hawks, eagles and the like. But the crested caracara is normally found in places like Mexico. It isn't seen in the United States much north of the Everglades.

"Never in a million years did I think a caracara was going to show up, in basically our backyard," said Audrey Poplin, husbandry coordinator.

The caracara is a tropical falcon with a black crest like a long thin beret, a spotted white chest, black wings with white tips like a black vulture, and a yellow or orange-splashed beak like a toucan. It is a spectacular bird, stunning to spot on a tree limb more than 500 miles out of its range.

"It was pretty shocking," Poplin said.

The center has a caracara in residence. The a bird, which was hit by a car, is missing part of a wing. The staff's first thought was it had gotten loose. But a quick look at the two good wings said no. This guy just came for the buffet.

EBird reported a crested caracara sighting last year in Virginia, and Jim Elliott, center director, said he heard there was a more recent sighting in North Carolina. If they were the same bird, this might have been it - working its way back home.

"For whatever reason, he decided to explore," Elliott said. "He got very far out of his range."

Pretty adventurous, even for an opportunistic scavenger like a caracara. But talons or not, a tropical falcon knows its limits. When two bald eagles dove in for the Jan. 17 feeding, the other diners flushed. The caracara wisely stayed up in the tree.

The careless use of SWAT teams in no-knock drug raids - when heavily armed police burst into a home without warning - has resulted in a long list of innocent people being killed or seriously injured in the United States. 2014 alone found SWAT teams in Georgia senselessly killing businessman David Hooks and maiming toddler Bounkham "Baby Boo Boo" Phonesavanh. And when those raids victimize people who aren't even selling drugs, narcotics officers seldom face criminal charges and are given every benefit of the doubt. But if, on the other hand, Americans shoot narcotics officers during militarized drug raids - perhaps believing that they are being robbed and are acting in self-defense - charges of first-degree murder are likely. The case of Marvin Louis Guy in Texas is a glaring example.

Guy, an African-American man who is now 50, was the target of a no-knock drug raid on May 9, 2014. Narcotics officers, operating on a tip from an informant who claimed that Guy was selling bags of cocaine, carried out a SWAT raid on his home in Killeen, Texas at around 5:30 AM - and Guy grabbed his gun and opened fire. Charles Dinwiddie, one of the officers, was hit and died two days later. Guy was charged with capital murder , and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty despite his assertions that he thought he was acting in self-defense. Guy's trial is scheduled for June of this year.

No drugs were found during a search of Guy's home, only a glass pipe and a grinder - which indicates that Guy was, at worst, a recreational drug user and not a drug dealer. Journalist Radley Balko, author of the 2013 book Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces, has commented on the case in the Washington Post, saying: "The fact that the police didn't find any drugs in the house suggests that Marvin Louis Guy didn't know he was shooting at cops. Drug dealer or no, unless he had a death wish, it's unlikely that a guy would knowingly fire at police officers when he had nothing in the house that was particularly incriminating."

A very similar incident occurred in Burleson County, Texas on December 19, 2013, when a SWAT team carried out a no-knock drug raid on the home of Henry Magee (who is white). An informant had claimed that Magee had a major marijuana-growing operation, and during the raid, Magee shot and killed one of the officers, Adam Sowders. Although Magee stressed that he believed he was being robbed and had no idea he was shooting at police officers, he was facing the possibility of being prosecuted for capital murder. But in February, a grand jury decided that Magee legitimately believed he was acting in self-defense - and Magee was not indicted . The Magee case has been referenced in a Change.org petition urging prosecutors to "please drop the capital murder and attempted murder charges against Marvin Louis Guy." The petition notes that Guy thought he "was defending his wife and home, just as Magee believed he was doing."

Dick DeGuerin, Magee's attorney, has pointed out that the grand jury's decision to not indict him is the exception instead of the rule: in most cases, Americans who kill a narcotics officer during a drug raid are vigorously prosecuted - even if the evidence indicates that they genuinely believed they were acting in self-defense and the raid was not justified. And that is the history that Marvin Louis Guy is up against: a War on Drugs in which the burden of proof is on the victims of militarized drug raids rather than those carrying out the raids. The convictions of Cory Maye, Ryan Frederick and Christina Korbe in the past bear that out, demonstrating that Guy could have a hard time getting a fair trial. And given Texas' long history of racial oppression, the fact that Guy is African-American and the officer he killed was white indicates that his attorneys will have a major fight on their hands.

The Maye case is one of the most egregious examples of an innocent victim of the War on Drugs going to prison for acting in what he believed was self-defense. In 2001, Maye (who is African-American) was renting a duplex apartment in Prentiss, Mississippi when neighbor Jamie Smith, who lived in the other half of the duplex, became the target of a narcotics investigation. Narcotics officers, acting on a tip from an informant who claimed that large amounts of marijuana were being stored and sold in Smith's apartment, obtained a warrant for a no-knock drug raid for both sides of the duplex - and when the raid was carried out at around 11 PM on December 26, 2001, officers found only a small amount of marijuana in Smith's apartment. Smith was arrested without incident.

Maye testified that on the night of the raid, he was asleep in his living room when a loud crash woke him up. Thinking he was being the victim of a robbery and wanting to protect his baby daughter (who was asleep), Maye went into a bedroom and grabbed a pistol - and when officer Ron W. Jones broke into that bedroom, Maye fired three shots. Jones was killed, and Maye was charged with first-degree murder, convicted by a predominantly white jury and sentenced to death by lethal injection.

In court, Maye testified, "After I fired the shots, I heard them yell, 'Police, police!' Once I heard them, I put the weapon down and slid it away. I did not know they were police officers." And Maye's girlfriend Chenteal Longino (who lived with him) testified: "He was defending himself and my child."

Maye was on Mississippi's death row awaiting execution when Balko first wrote about his case in 2005 - and Balko's reporting brought the case a lot more attention than it had been receiving. In September 2006, Maye's death sentence was overturned, resulting in a new sentence of life in prison. In 2010, the Mississippi Supreme Court held that Maye was entitled to a new trial, and when he pled guilty to manslaughter in 2011, Maye was sentenced to ten years in prison with time already served. Maye was released on July 18, 2011.

Similarly, Chesapeake, Virginia resident Ryan Frederick said he believed he was acting in self-defense when he killed narcotics officer Jarrod Shivers during a paramilitary SWAT raid. On January 17, 2008, narcotics officers carried out a no-knock raid on Frederick's home based on an informant's claim that he was growing marijuana in his garden. Frederick, evidently believing that he was being robbed, fatally shot Shivers - and after the raid, the only thing officers found was a small amount of marijuana (a misdemeanor in Virginia). No marijuana plants were found. But on February 4, 2009, Frederick was sentenced to ten years in prison for voluntary manslaughter despite his assertion that he thought he was acting in self-defense and didn't know Shivers was a police officer. Balko, on March 18, 2008, had commented: "Ryan Frederick is merely the latest citizen to be put in the impossible position of being awakened from sleep, then having to determine in a matter of seconds if the men breaking into his home are police or criminal intruders."

Like Maye and Frederick, Christina Korbe of Indiana Township, Pennsylvania (a Pittsburgh suburb) said she believed she was acting in self-defense when she fired a shot that killed a narcotics officer who was bursting into her home. The target of that investigation was not Christina Korbe but rather, her husband Robert R. Korbe, who was suspected of drug dealing and eventually pled guilty to that offense (in 2010, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for cocaine distribution, mail fraud and illegal possession of firearms). However, there was no concrete proof that Christina Korbe herself had any involvement in drug trafficking. She was home with her two children when, around 6 AM on November 19, 2008, officers showed up with a warrant to arrest her husband; FBI Special Agent Samuel Hicks was the first to burst through the door (a battering ram was used), and Korbe has said that she shot him thinking he was a robber and didn't realize he was an FBI agent. Korbe stressed that she was trying to protect her two children when she fired the fatal shot.

Prosecutors would have loved to put Korbe away for life, but instead, she agreed to a plea bargain. Korbe pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter and weapons charges, and in January 2011, she was sentenced to almost 16 years in prison. In September 2013, Korbe sought a reduced sentence, but her request was denied.

Abby Martin, host of "Breaking the Set" on RT and a blistering critic of U.S. drug policy, has characterized the United States as a country with a "two-tiered justice system that shelters police from accountability time and again." And nowhere is that more evident than in the U.S.' failed War on Drugs. The aggressive prosecutions of Maye, Frederick and Korbe - and now, Guy - is quite a contrast to the treatment that narcotics officers typically receive when they kill or injure innocent people. There have been numerous examples of narcotics officers killing people who clearly weren't selling drugs - the Rev. Accelyne Williams in Boston in 1994, Annie Rae Dixon in Tyler, Texas in 1992, the Rev. Jonathan Ayers in Toccoa, Georgia in 2009 - and in none of those cases did the officers involved stand trial on felony charges. At an inquest held after the death of Dixon (an 84-year-old African-American woman who was a paraplegic), a predominantly white jury decided that narcotics officer Frank Baggett, Jr. (whose gun went off and sent a fatal bullet into Dixon's chest) didn't even deserve civil charges. Texas' Smith County Commissioner Andrew Mellontree, in a 1992 interview with the New York Times, commented: "People can't accept the idea that an 84-year-old grandmother gets shot in her bed, and it's not even worth a negligence charge."

Nor will there be criminal charges against the SWAT team member who, on May 28, 2014, invaded the Habersham County, GA home of Alecia Phonesavanh at around 3 AM and tossed a flashbang grenade that disfigured her baby and blew a hole in his chest. The officers in that SWAT raid were looking for Phonesavanh's nephew, who was suspected of making a $50 methamphetamine sale. But the officers obviously conducted a sloppy investigation because the nephew didn't even live in the home that was raided. Nonetheless, a grand jury, in October 2014, declined to indict any of the officers - and to make matters worse, Habersham County hasn't given Alecia Phonesavanh or her husband any money to cover their baby's devastating medical expenses (which have exceeded $900,000 so far). The SWAT officers, despite terrorizing the Phonesavanh family, acted with impunity. But if Alecia Phonesavanh had thought she was being robbed and injured the SWAT team members in any way, it's quite possible that - unlike those who maimed her baby - she would have faced a vigorous prosecution.

There is a disturbing pattern at work: Baggett was given every benefit of the doubt for needlessly killing a bedridden woman of 84, while Maye got the death penalty for shooting Jones in what he believed was self-defense. There will be no criminal charges for the serious injuries inflicted on toddler Bounkham Phonesavanh, but Frederick received a ten-year prison sentence for shooting Shivers in what he believed was self-defense. And in Texas, prosecutors certainly aren't giving Guy the benefit of the doubt. They're out for blood.

Clearly, U.S. drug policy is being carried out in a reckless, irresponsible fashion that often endangers innocent Americans - especially people of color - violates their 4th Amendment rights, and penalizes them should they try to defend themselves. And if the War on Drugs' ugly and racist history is any indication, Marvin Louis Guy is fighting an uphill battle all the way.

Last week the National Weather Service in Amarillo had mentioned the possibility of a winter storm impacting our region on Wednesday and into Thursday of this week.

Many residents didn't buy into the potential snow storm. That might have been because of the 70 degree weather we had just this past weekend or the fact that so far all the snows have been "duds" this year.

As the storm system got closer and closer the forecast model projections went up and up in their total accumulation expected. It got the point that it was not a matter of if we would see snow, but how much. A lot of that depended on where the convective bands of snow set up. One was on top of Pampa early in the system and that is why we got a higher total than projected.

A co-op observer recorded 4.4 inches of snow one mile northwest of Pampa. Another co-op observer recorded eight inches four miles west southwest of Lake McClellan. A public report came into NWS of nine inches for Pampa city limits.

[embedded content]

Another band brought record-breaking snow to Amarillo and dropped snow at a rate of four inches per hour for the folks there.

Amarillo recorded 12 inches at the NWS office, which is near the airport. Some places in Amarillo recorded upwards of 15 inches. That broke the record for snowfall in Amarillo on Jan. 21. The previous record was for 4.9 inches that fell on that date in 1966.

Want to hear another fun fact? It was the eleventh snowiest day on record in Amarillo. The records kept by NWS go back to 1892.

Amarillo also received more snow Wednesday than Boston, New York City, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia have the entire winter thus far. And that is just to name a few.

Other snow totals across the region:

- McLean - 10.5 inches, report by the public.

- Lefors - 1 inch, by a trained spotter. That report was as of 8:19 p.m. Wednesday.

- Borger - 5.7 inches, by a co-op observer.

- Miami - 6 inches, by the post office.

- Panhandle - 8 inches, by the public.

- White Deer - 9 inches, by the public.

- Canyon and two miles south southeast of Amarillo - 13 inches, by the public and broadcast media. These were the highest official totals that the NWS office had on record as of 2 p.m. Thursday.

When will the thaw happen?

Today should be sunny and highs in the 40s. The sun coming out will really up to thaw things out. There was a lot of snow, so there will be a lot of melting in the day and icing at night. Travel should be taken with caution until the weekend.

Saturday should approach near 50. Sunday should be almost in the 60s and the first half of next week should see highs in the mid-60s with sun every day. All of the snow will be gone quickly once we start seeing those highs in the 50s and 60s.

Is winter over?

It is far from over and if you are a lifelong Panhandle resident you should know that the winters here are very unpredictable and we can sometimes see snow in May.

It is way too early to speculate on any precipitation more than a week out, but it looks like next weekend, Jan. 30-Feb. 1, we could see winter creep in here again with another cold shot of air.

How about the roads?

The Pampa News would like to give a big shoutout and thank you to all of the City of Pampa employees that worked countless hours on Wednesday and Thursday to ensure our roads were clear and that everyone could make it to work or school safely. It may not have been the most fun for the kiddos have to tough it out and go to school Thursday, but come June when they don't have to make up that day and all of the other Panhandle students have to go to school one more day they will get to have the last laugh.

The Raw Story

Focused on providing independent journalism.

Kiev orders crackdown on Russian TV channels

What I did after police killed my son

Emerging solar plants scorch birds in mid-air

Saturday, 24 January 2015

"I'm So Ashamed" - Meet The Drone Operator Who Helped Kill 1,626 People And Walked Away

Iran signals move away from US dollar in foreign trade

"As above, so below": Miss Israel muscled her way into Miss Lebanon's selfie

Not just France: Islamophobia on the rise in British schools

Rare tropical falcon turns up near Charleston, South Carolina

Civilian shoots cop: The aftermath of no-knock SWAT raids

Snowstorm brings record snowfall to parts of Texas Panhandle

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