State Department, NED, Soros & CIA links to "regime change" dissidents in Belarus, MidEast

State Department, NED, Soros & CIA links to "regime change" dissidents in Belarus, MidEast
Peter Myers, March 6, 2011.
My comments are shown {thus}; write to me at contact.html.
You are at http://mailstar.net/nonviolence-State-link.html.
NED = National Endowment for Democracy, a CIA front
It works with George Soros' Open Society Institute, Freedom House (a "nonprofit", ie a tax-free Foundation) and Gene Sharp's Albert Einstein Institution. Gene Sharp wrote the manual for overthrowing regimes.
Chomsky, Zunes & Zinn defend Gene Sharp, say Meyssan wrong about CIA link: Sharp-Soros-NED-CIA.html.
(1) State Department, NED, Soros & CIA orchestrate Election riots in Belarus - Israel Shamir
(2) Cable VILNIUS 000732 - US Embassy on courier bringing USAid to NGOs
(3) Soros conference on Belarus organized by Open Estonia Foundation
(4) Belarus declares Soros Foundation not eligible for tax concessions, fines it $3 million
(5) Soros says his Foundations "will not play by Mr. Lukashenko's rules"
(6) Guardian's misleading headlines attempt to sway Belarus election against Lukashenko - Shamir
(7) Iran's Fear Of A George Soros-Funded "Velvet Revolution"
(8) Soros funding Iran opposition. Iran calls him "Jewish tycoon and the mastermind of ultra-modern colonialism"
(9) State Dep't organizes Youth Movements for further Color Revolutions, with Google & Facebook
(10) State Dep't sponsors Alliance of Youth Movements for REGIME CHANGE
(11) The Wikileaks-Egypt-White House-US Government Connection
(12) Egypt protests: secret US document discloses support for protesters
(13) Hillary confirms that State Dep't funded Egyptian labor unions
(14) NYT traces Arab revolutions to Gene Sharp, Peter Ackerman's ICNC & Stephen Zunes
(15) Middle East uprisings take cue from Gene Sharp's guide to non-violent revolution
(16) Egypt's April 6 Youth Movement modelled on Optor (links to Gene Sharp & NED) - Eric Walberg
(17) Video game teaches how to conduct a large-scale peaceful protest
(18) A page from a Leaflet distributed to Egyptian protestors
(19) Songs and chants to rally the demonstrators
(20) Russian military: "Airstrikes in Libya did not take place"
(21) Al Jazeera reports about Libyan jets firing on protesters are "unverified and questionable"
(22) Castro & Chavez say US is fomenting unrest in Libya
(23) "Progressives" paving the way for a US takeover of Libya?
(24) Peter Singer calls for military intervention in Libya
(25) I.S.O. Trots arrested for plotting Egypt style protest in Zimbabwe
(26) International Criminal Court launches probe of Gadhafi
(27) China on guard against protests inspired by uprisings in North Africa & MidEast
(1) State Department, NED, Soros & CIA orchestrate Election riots in Belarus - Israel Shamir
From: Israel Shamir <adam@israelshamir.net> Date: 01.01.2011 06:45 PM Subject: [shamireaders] Belarus
http://www.counterpunch.com/shamir12312010.html
New Year's Edition December 31, 2010 - January 2, 2011
Paradigm in Belarus
The Minsk Election in a Wikileaks Mirror
By ISRAEL SHAMIR
Wikileaks once again has provided the proof positive to unlock a mystery. It's not the stuff of attention-grabbing headlines and retweets, but it does illustrate how the US State Department can orchestrate riots in a quiet Eastern European country. As an international observer of the December 2010 elections in Belarus, I was witness to both the orderly vote and the shocking riot. This is the story of Belarus and how dollars were used to subvert and embarrass this peaceful constitutional republic.
The Setting
Belarus in December is the ultimate winter land; a fair Nordic forest nymph dressed in a thick, luxurious lilywhite cloak - for it is much too cold to go naked. Outside the city, an endless white expanse meets the eye, broken only by a few sturdy houses and a church. The lonely roads are enlivened by white hares that leap from icy roadsides and flocks of wild geese that transverse the cloudy welkin. All is white in this country, as if in order to justify its name, for Belarus means the White Rus. The Rus were the Viking states established in the Slav hinterland a millennium ago, and so Belarus is forever connected to the Great Rus of Russia.
The people of Belarus are not very different from their Russian neighbors but they do have their own character, just as the Northerners of Yorkshire differ from the Southerners of Somerset. They are fair and calm, peaceful and orderly, obedient and enduring. The sparsely populated Belarusian borderland was a battleground between East and West for centuries; the last war cost them one third of their population, the highest loss suffered by any country in WWII. The capital of Minsk was completely destroyed, Fallujah-style, by the Luftwaffe. Once upon a time, its forests and marshes trapped crack divisions of the German SS; now they sit again in peace, healed by many snowfalls.
After all this incessant white wilderness, Minsk is surprisingly civilised and human-sized; it was rebuilt in the comfortable 1950's and refurbished fairly recently. The streets are neat and fit for pedestrians, small cafés are made cosy with glowing fireplaces, and there are English newspapers on every table. A large and festive Christmas tree marks the main square, which has been turned into an ice rink for the holidays, and pretty young girls in white skirts and red scarves skate the day through with smartly dressed boys. The rink is open and free for all, just as in Scandinavia. Indeed, Belarus is the East European counterpart of the Scandinavian socialist states of yesteryear; but while the Swedes and the Danes are busy dismantling their social systems, Belarus has so far resisted the drive toward privatization.
It will take you a long time before you spot your first policeman, usually a simple traffic cop. There is no sign of a police state here: no mysterious black cars, no furtive stillness, no Soviet-style drabness, no post-Soviet garishness. The youngsters are stylish, friendly and open. The streets are crowded, paved and clean. The President of Belarus, the man the US State Department calls the last dictator of Europe, walks freely among his people.
But what is a dictator these days? The epithets aimed at world leaders are surprisingly consistent, but the words themselves have been redefined. To earn the title of 'dictator', it seems that a leader need only spurn the advice of the IMF. If a leader chooses not play along with NATO, he may well qualify for the title of 'bloody dictator'. We have been told that Castro is a 'dictator'. We have been told that Chavez is a 'dictator'. We are now being told that Ahmadinejad is a 'bloody dictator'. Long-time thorns in the flanks of US imperial might are eventually upgraded to 'monster' status, as were Stalin and Mao. Belarus itself has one of these State Department titles: it is to be called a 'rebel state'. When the USSR was broken down into digestible chunks, it was tiny Belarus that chose to keep the Soviet flag, the Soviet arms, and the socialist ethos. Belarus was not as quick as other countries to cast off what was stable and good within the Soviet system. While other countries suffered under IMF-imposed privatization, Belarus took the slow and steady path to intelligently upgrade and restore their industries and cities. End result: Belarus is as up-to-date as any country in the East.
December 19, 2010
I was in Belarus to observe the Presidential election, and to tell the truth I was expecting some sort of staged little event to mar the day. The outcome of the election was in little doubt. The people were happy, fully employed, and satisfied with their government. They were well aware of what had happened when neighboring countries had embraced the IMF, and they felt no ideological need to tread that same dark road. Some people, however, are more motivated by dollars than patriotism, and these are the people I was expecting. The pro-Western 'Gucci' crowd can always be counted on to protest the choices of the majority. They actually overturned the vote in nearby Ukraine in 2005, and the orange gangs succeeded in stealing the presidency for five long years. If they cannot convince the people with Western dollars, then they simply riot and try to take it by force. All day long I watched the people of Belarus queuing at their election booths. I spoke to many of them. Their President Lukashenko is an East European Chavez, who stubbornly sticks to the socialist way. A friend of Hugo Chavez and the Castro regime, he gets his oil in Venezuela and Russia, does business with the Chinese, and tries to maintain good relations with his neighbours. The people know him, and know what to expect from him. Hardly anybody knew the opposition candidates by name. There were official election posters hanging in every election centre, and these posters carried the name and photo of each candidate, but these strangers and their feel-good slogans could not touch the national spirit.
The voting was as clean as any other European election, and was attended by hundreds of international observers; no one noticed any irregularities. Each person's vote was secret, and they cast their ballots without fear. Even most pro-Western analysts, like Alexander Rahr of Germany, concurred: Lukashenko carried the elections with an astounding 80 per cent of the popular vote. Exit polls showed similar results. Like it or not: he won.
It was only after the news began to report the exit poll results that the opposition forces in Minsk ­ perhaps some five thousand strong - began to march from the main square towards the government offices. They walked peaceably, and so did not attract much police presence. There were certainly much fewer police on hand than what a similar march would draw in London or Moscow. The government expected a rally at the square. They did not expect these well-dressed people to begin storming the building where the votes were counted! This mob of educated and well to do urbanites smashed the windows and broke the doors in an effort to break into the building. It was clear to all bystanders that this riot was anything but spontaneous and that this was a determined attempt to destroy the ballots and invalidate the election.
The live broadcast of rioters forcing their way into the building shocked the republic. The people of Belarus expect and demand an orderly, law-abiding society. This is always the moment of truth for authority: challenges from outside the law must be met with immediate and lawful force. The police waded into the violence and detained the rioters. But Belarus is not China, and this was not Tiananmen Square. It was not even Seattle or Gothenburg. There were no casualties; the whole event was comparable to the kind of riot raised by Manchester United, or say Luton fans after their defeat by York. Certainly the thing was disgraceful; yet suddenly, as if on cue, my colleagues, my fellow journalists in the press centre, began to send hysterical cables extolling the dreadful bloodshed caused by the last dictator's secret police. Thank God, the Belarusians are too orderly for such excesses. Even the opposition Communist party approved of sending in the riot police. A threat to an orderly election is a threat to everyone; it is a threat to the basis of any democracy.
My cynical friend, the professor of local university and no sympathiser of Lukashenko (the President is a boorish moron in his eyes) said this to me: the opposition had to make a good show to justify all the grants and subsidies. The dollars pour in from the State Department, the NED, from Soros and the CIA in an effort to undermine the last socialist regime in Europe. All this money keeps the opposition leaders in the style they are accustomed to, but once in a while they are expected to show their mettle.
Wikileaks has now revealed how this undeclared cash flows from US coffers to the Belarus "opposition". In the confidential cable VILNIUS 000732 {http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=05VILNIUS732}, dated June 12, 2005, an American diplomat informs the State Department that Lithuanian customs detained a Belarusian employee of a USAID contractor on charges of money smuggling. The courier was arrested as she attempted to leave Lithuania for Belarus with US$25,000. In addition, she admitted that had moved a total of US$50,000 out of Lithuania on two prior trips.
In case it's not obvious by now, these dollars are just the tip of the iceberg of cash that flows from US taxpayers to fund the Belarus opposition. A Lithuanian official boasted that the Government of Lithuania "uses a variety of individuals and routes to send money to groups in Belarus, including its diplomats". Lukashenko has always maintained that the US has spent millions of dollars to dismantle the government of tiny Belarus. Western officials automatically denied it. The Western press ridiculed it: BLOODY DICTATOR BLAMES OPPOSITION ON YANKEE MEDDLING. The proof is written in a confidential cable from a US Embassy to the US State Department. It is undeniable.
The Allure of Lukashenko
Why does the US need to pay people to oppose Lukashenko? What is the secret behind Lukashenko's charm? He was democratically elected in 1994 just as the USSR was disintegrating. In a way, he was able to transform a chaotic collapse into a graceful denouement. He stopped privatization, he ensured full employment for everybody, he fought and defeated organized crime; in short, he preserved order and maintained the existing social network intact. For a visiting Westerner, Belarus is a rather neat and well-functioning minor East European state, not very different from its Baltic neighbors. But for an arrival from Russia or Ukraine, their immediate neighbors, it is the Shangri-la of the post-Soviet development they could have had. They, like Belarus, could have had clean streets, full employment, shops selling local products, police that do not extort bribes, pensions for old people, and economic equality.
Lukashenko stopped the kind of IMF privatization schemes that had ruined Belarus' neighbors. In Russia, a few cronies of then-President Yeltsin (like the now-imprisoned billionaire Khodorkovsky) walked away with whole industries, iron mines and oil basins. Much of it they sold to the Western companies who raided the East in a rapacity unprecedented since Cortez' visit to America. While ordinary Russians lost their jobs, their homes, and their social services, the super-rich oligarchs began shopping for real estate in Belgravia and the Cote d'Azur, for big yachts and football teams. It was President Putin who put a stop to this IMF-organized fire sale of assets and saved Russia, but no one will ever forget the nightmare of the "awful Nineties".
Organized crime is a big problem in the post-Soviet space. Just last month Russian citizens read about a gang that had forced its rule upon the prosperous Kuban district of Russia, raping and murdering at will for years, the gangsters and the cops sharing alike in the crimes and the spoils. But in Belarus, there is no organized crime, no Mafia-like secret structures. "The gangsters ran away in the Nineties," I was told by the natives. Policemen take no bribes in Belarus, a feat still beyond the reach of any other ex-Soviet state. Lukashenko achieved this police compliance by granting retired policemen decent pensions, well above average, and by mercilessly ridding the service of corrupt cops.
In Belarus, there are no oligarchs. Socialism is limited to major employers; private property and private businesses are absolutely respected. The local businessmen told me that there is little corruption, and much less than in neighboring countries. There are plenty of prosperous people but no super-rich; there are many nice cars on the streets of Minsk, but much fewer and much fancier are the cars in Moscow, where it might be said you are in a Bentley or on foot. The vast majority of cars in Minsk are modern European and Japanese economy vehicles. The old Soviet cars are practically gone.
Belarus has no national, ethnic or religious strife. Catholic and Orthodox churches share the same square; the many mosques and synagogues were built centuries before multiculturalism appeared. The East was always multicultural: Orthodox peasants, Catholic nobility, Jewish traders and Tatar horsemen lived together in Belarus long before the 15th century when this land was a part of the Great Duchy of Lithuania, then the greatest state of Europe. The old Belarusian language was the language of the Duchy, and Belarusian warriors ­ together with Polish and Russian soldiers ­ defeated the crusaders on the fields of Grunwald 500 years ago.
The opponents of Lukashenko tried to play the ethnic card that was so efficient in Ukraine and Lithuania at alienating traditional allies. They promoted Belarus nationalism and the old Belarus language, but both turned out to be non-starters. The opposition's beatific vision of a Belarusian ethnic revival is very poetic, like the revival of Welsh, but this practical people is not willing to fight over it. Lukashenko's Soviet-style economy preserved the sources of local production, and alongside the ubiquitous imports you will find that the core staples are provided locally. Belarusian cheese, milk, bread and vegetables are all organic and Russian visitors always buy and carry home as much as they can carry of the delicious, healthy and inexpensive stuff. Their industry also remained intact, even as the IMF shepherded their neighbors into third world status with a speedy process of de-industrialization. Belarus still produces everything from TV sets to tractors, from giant lorries to Ives Saint Lauren-designed fashions.
Belarus has no political parties. This is not a case of one big political party like in Russia, nor is it the good-guy/bad-guy dual party system as in the US. No political parties at all. The parties are not forbidden, but they just have not developed. This was one of the great ideas of Simone Weil, the profoundly radical French philosopher, though she would have them banned altogether.
Belarus represents an interestingly successful model of economic development. It has reminded the world that a wise ruler can save a country. This lesson is an especially timely one since the IMF has littered the globe with bankrupt and insolvent countries. The world is now looking at the IMF and other international investors with caution. Monetarism is bankrupt. Military aggression, on which Bush relied, has failed. We live in the post-crisis era. A search for other ways of development is now underway. Now people are starting to think: isn't there a better way? Belarus may lead the way.
One of Belarus' major achievements is that it was able to fend off the large international companies. During the 20 years of western raids around the world, tiny Belarus was able to preserve its assets. This is a very important lesson for many countries. Belarus may not have produced a single Abramovitch, but the country is home to millions of rather content ordinary citizens.
The vast majority of the Belarusian people are content with their lives. Their salaries are modest, on a par with neighboring Russia, but they have no unemployment and they do not worry that their place of work will get shut down. Their cities are clean, their food is inexpensive, the heating and rent are heavily subsidized, and transport is well organized. They are not subservient to the Wall Street, Goldman Sachs, the Pentagon, nor to the Masters of Discourse. They are the cause of soul-searching for their neighbors, a living proof that the Soviet Union did not have to be destroyed, that socialism can work, and that it often works better than financial capitalism.
It is exactly for this reason that the bad guys wish to destroy Belarus.
The country is isolated from the West: it is very difficult for a Belarusian to go and visit his cousin in neighboring Poland or Lithuania because the EC will not give them visas. Poland is especially hostile: previously colonial masters of Belarus, the Poles view themselves as enforcers of the West's will in the East. The visas are extremely expensive by local standards. The only international airport is practically empty; there are very few flights in or out.
Relations with Russia are far from perfect. The Russian oligarchs have struggled to squeeze loose Belarusian assets, industries and pipelines. Lukashenko resisted the raiders from New York and Berlin and has no intention of giving up the national jewels to raiders from Moscow. The result is tension. While there is much to be said for a close alliance to Russia, Belarus is well aware that the oligarchs lie somewhere behind the Russian smile. The more Russia can muzzle the voracity of the oligarchs, the less suspicion there will be to poison their natural affinities and mutual support.
For now, Lukashenko prefers to play a complicated game with the EC, even discussing the possible entry of Belarus to the united Europe. It is not impossible: economically Belarus is in much better shape than the majority of East European states who are EC members.
Belarus has friendly relations with Venezuela and Cuba, with China and Vietnam. It is a socialist country, but the socialism is soft, with plenty of room for private enterprise and personal freedoms. Belarus has found new life in preserving and developing the elements of socialism which in the early 1990s were most discredited. In the wake of IMF despair, socialism suddenly pops back up with a confident gait, in new clothes and carrying with it a new hope. It is wonderful that Belarus has managed walk this tightrope between freedom and responsibility in the midst of a disintegrating union and foreign interference. The Russian political analyst Sergey Kara Murza has said that the Belarusian system could serve as the pattern for the resurrection of the socialist state. The lesson for neighboring Russians is especially valid, and even poignant.
Edited by Paul Bennett
Israel Shamir can be reached at adam@israelshamir.net
(2) Cable VILNIUS 000732 - US Embassy on courier bringing USAid to NGOs
http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=05VILNIUS732
Subject
GOL EAGER TO DEAL QUIETLY WITH DETAINED BELARUSIAN COURIER Origin Embassy Vilnius Cable time Wed, 13 Jul 2005 12:12 UTC Classification CONFIDENTIAL Reference id 05VILNIUS732 Source http://213.251.145.96/cable/2005/07/05VILNIUS732.html Release time Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:12 UTC History First published on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:31 UTC
C O N F I D E N T I A L VILNIUS 000732 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/NB AND EUR/UMB E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/12/2015 TAGS: PREL?[External Political Relations] PGOV?[Internal Governmental Affairs] EAID?[Foreign Economic Assistance] BO?[Belarus] LH?[Lithuania]
SUBJECT: GOL EAGER TO DEAL QUIETLY WITH DETAINED BELARUSIAN COURIER Classified By: Political/Economic Officer Alexander Titolo for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: Senior GOL officials are focused on managing the detention by Lithuanian authorities of a Belarusian employee of a USAID contractor on charges of money smuggling. The courier was arrested as she attempted to leave Lithuania for Belarus with US$25,000, well over the limit set by Lithuanian law. The arrest puts the GOL in a delicate position as it seeks to balance its commitments to the rule of law and heightened anti-terrorism measures (established in large part at USG urging) with the desire not to hand the Minsk regime an excuse to further crack down on civil society and externally funded projects. End Summary. ¶2. (C) The July 8 arrest of --------------- by the Lithuanian Financial Crimes Investigation Service touched off a series of phone calls between Embassy Minsk, Embassy Vilnius, and various GOL law enforcement and MFA officials over the weekend. ------------ was detained, along with two unidentified males, after GOL officials found US$25,000 hidden in their car. The money was intended for use by the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), which operates a USAID-funded project in Belarus. Anti-terrorism provisions requiring banks to notify the GOL of withdrawals exceeding US$10,000 likely tipped GOL investigators off to ------------'s activities. GOL officials told us they have records indicating that she had moved a total of US$50,000 out of Lithuania on two prior trips. ¶3. (C) We discussed this situation on July 11 with Jonas Paslauskas, Director of the MFA's America's Department who previously served for six years as the GOL's top envoy in Minsk. Paslauskas told us that the MFA's leadership and other top GOL officials were working intensively on the issue. He said the GOL was keen to avoid giving the Lukashenko regime an excuse to make it harder for foreign governments and NGOs to operate in Belarus. Paslauskas stressed that moving large amounts of money across the border in such a matter is dangerous for several reasons. He offered to coordinate with the USG and other organizations to avoid similar circumstances in the future. Paslauskas said the GOL uses a variety of individuals and routes to send money to groups in Belarus, including its diplomats. ...
(3) Soros conference on Belarus organized by Open Estonia Foundation
http://democraticbelarus.eu/node/5358
George Soros suggests giving Lukashenka opportunity to show intention to change Belarus' relations with Europe
2008-11-10 10:10 / naviny.by
Alyaksandr Lukashenka should be given an opportunity to show an intention not only to change Belarus' relations with Europe but also to improve the internal situation, international financier George Soros said at the 13th Open Society Forum that was held in Tallinn, Estonia, on November 6 and 7.
The main subject of the conference, organized by the Open Estonia Foundation in cooperation with the European Foreign Policy Council, was the relationship between the European Union and Russia, but participants also touched on the theme of EU-Belarus relations.
Mr. Soros noted that the return of European Humanities University from Vilnius to Minsk would be appreciated, as its students want to study in their country.
It is very encouraging that high-level European politicians do not forget about the problems of Belarus and want it to return into civilized Europe, said Belarusian student Ihar Sluchak, who has to study in Estonia for political reasons.
Participating in the forum were 2008 Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari, Finland's president between 1994 and 2000; Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves; former Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga; and other prominent politicians.
(4) Belarus declares Soros Foundation not eligible for tax concessions, fines it $3 million
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=100891&sectioncode=26
Belarus turns on Soros
9 May 1997
Vera Rich
THE SOROS Foundation of Belarus has been fined US$3 million for alleged tax offences following an interim report on its activities from tax inspectors commissioned by the Belarusian Security Council.
The tax authorities decided that 19 projects supported by the foundation are not eligible for tax concessions, and ruled that the back tax on them must be paid forthwith, together with penalties for not having paid previously.
Under the present Belarusian tax regulations, programmes promoting science, education, culture, health care and environmental protection do not have to pay tax or customs duties. But the inspectors say that not all the foundation's programmes fall into these categories.
The report cited, for example, the creation of "Chernobyl archives" and "documentaries" entitled The history of small towns in Belarus as not qualifying for tax relief.
Tax inspections - and the subsequent fines - are rapidly developing into one of the main weapons of the authoritarian regime of President Alaksandr Lukashenka against the democratic opposition. The tax regulations are so ambiguously worded, and change so rapidly, as to leave considerable loopholes for prosecution. The audit of the foundation (which officials maintain contravenes the current Belarusian law on public associations) was ordered by the Security Council in March after allegations that the foundation had made grants available to well-known opposition figures and their families. Veranika Behun, head of the foundation's information service in Belarus, issued a denial.
The foundation, she said, had never given personal financial support to opposition figures, although it had given money to certain organisations in which they were active. The foundation, Ms Behun stressed, supports "interesting ideas and projects, rather than individuals - whatever their political views".
Simultaneously, with the start of the audit, Peter Byrne, director of the Soros Foundation's office in Belarus, was expelled from the country for "meddling in the affairs of a sovereign state". It was alleged that he had helped organise opposition rallies - but the only "proof" offered by the official Belarusian media was a film-clip showing his presence at a demonstration last November.
To date, the Soros Foundation has given Belarus $13 million towards educational, health and environmental programmes.
In the central Asian republic of Kirghizstan the foundation has also been accused in the government press of interfering in the internal affairs of the country by financing only opposition newspapers.
(5) Soros says his Foundations "will not play by Mr. Lukashenko's rules"
http://www.sorostrading.com/art7_12_97.html
The New York Times
July 12, 1997
A Promoter of Democracy Angers the Authoritarians
By Judith Miller
MINSK, Belarus-- For the past decade, George Soros, the Hungarian-born financier and philanthropist, has spent more than a billion dollars promoting a free press and political pluralism abroad -- everything the world's authoritarian rulers despise. Now some of those political leaders are fighting back.
In Albania, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia and Croatia, Mr. Soros's foundations have been accused of shielding spies and breaking currency laws. His employees have been assaulted and threatened with imprisonment or financial sanction for alleged crimes.
Here in Belarus, Mr. Soros recently suspended operations after the Government, headed by Aleksandr Lukashenko, the popular but autocratic 42-year-old President, fined a Soros foundation $3 million for alleged tax violations and seized its bank account.
While expressing a desire to resolve the crisis here and lessen tensions with other authoritarian governments, the man whose own fortune was made in high-stakes business gambles is vowing not to back down.
"We would like to continue working in Belarus, to do what we can wherever we can," Mr. Soros said in a recent interview in New York. "But we insist that all our foundations remain independent. We will not play by Mr. Lukashenko's rules."
The growing pressure on Mr. Soros's philanthropic empire, which stretches from South Africa to Haiti and employs 1,300 people in 24 countries, with two regional offices in New York and Budapest, appears to have only stiffened his resolve.
This year he opened five new offices in Central Asia -- Mongolia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Armenia -- and one in Guatemala, his first in Latin America. And soon he is to open nine new foundations in southern Africa, he said, expanding the number of countries in which his foundations are active to 40.
Moreover, given his growing personal fortune, which friends estimate at $5 billion, his efforts are likely to continue at current levels for at least a decade, and perhaps for two.
While American foreign aid in the last decade has been cut in half in real terms, Mr. Soros, 66, recently signed a 20-year lease on his new headquarters in New York.
In Central Europe alone, he spent more than $123 million between 1989 and 1994 trying to help democracy take root -- roughly five times the sum spent by the United States Government's chief democracy-promoting foundation, the National Endowment for Democracy. ...
Mr. Soros's troubles in Belarus can be traced to the 1994 elections, when Mr. Lukashenko, a former boss of a collective farm, won an overwhelming victory.
While Belarus's previous Government had stressed national identity and sought to free the country from Russian control, Mr. Lukashenko campaigned on a platform of reunifying Belarus with the Russian heartland and its fellow Slavs, while ending corruption. ...
(6) Guardian's misleading headlines attempt to sway Belarus election against Lukashenko - Shamir
From: Israel Shamir <adam@israelshamir.net> Date: 06.01.2011 04:57 PM
http://counterpunch.com/shamir01052011.html
The Secrets of Wikileaks
Julian Assange's Deal With the Devil
By ISRAEL SHAMIR
In Part One of my report last weekend here on the CounterPunch site I showed that the US was secretly funnelling money into Belarus to fund the unelected opposition. Previously, the claim had been routinely denied. Now we have sterling proof. It is engraved in a confidential cable from a US Embassy to the State Department. It is undeniable.
That is, if you found the cable and were able to understand it.
And you happened to understand the political background of the cable.
The cables are raw data. Not as raw as Afghan Diaries, the previous coup of Wikileaks, but still quite raw. They are written in obscure state department lingo; much of the story is implied, as the cables were composed for colleagues and definitely not for strangers. They simply have to be explained, interpreted, annotated and then finally delivered to the reader. Dumping raw cables onto the web would not do: you'd never find the relevant cables and probably you wouldn't be able to understand its significance even if you did find it.
The main job of a newspaper or news website is to process raw data and transmit it to a reader. This work requires an experienced and highly qualified staff. Not every newspaper or website has such resources, and none of the independent sites can compete with the mainstream outlets for readership. If all the cables were published in a local newspaper in Oklahoma or Damascus, who would read them? In order to get our news to you, our reader, we are forced to make use of the dreaded mainstream media.
That is why Julian Assange chose to partner with a few important Western liberal newspapers of the mainstream media. Let us make it perfectly clear that we understand that all mainstream media are at their heart embedded; in bed with the Pentagon, the CIA, with Wall Street and all its counterparts. Let us also make it clear that we understand that not every journalist on the staff of The Guardian, Le Monde or The NY Times is a crooked enforcer of imperialist ideology; no, not even every editor. We do understand that not everyone is willing to sacrifice their career to field a story that will attract storms of protest. From this point of view, the difference between the soft liberal and the hardline imperialist media is one of style only.
For instance, if they plan to attack Afghanistan, the hardline Fox News would simply demand a high-profile strike against the sand rats, while the liberal Guardian would publish a Polly Toynbee piece bewailing the bitter fate of Afghani women. The bottom line is the same: war.
Modern embedded media constitute the most powerful weapon of our rulers. The modern Russian writer Victor Pelevin succinctly explained their modus operandi: "The embedded media does not care about the content and does not attempt to control it; they just add a drop of poison to the stream in the right moment."
Furthermore, they skilfully arrange the information in order to mislead us. The headline might scream MURDER MOST FOUL but the article describes an unavoidable accident. We do not look beyond the headline, but the headline has been written by the editor and not the journalist who penned the article. Twitter is nothing but a mess of headlines; we are being trained to think in terms of slogans.
In the case of Belarus, the Guardian published three cables the day before elections in order to maximize the exposure and to influence the results of the election. One of the headlines, published on December 18, 2010 said: "WikiLeaks: Lukashenka's [sic] fortune estimated at 9 billion USD". It was a very misleading headline. Wikileaks made no claims about Lukashenko's wealth. Read the entire article, and you will find that it was nothing more than a US embassy employee who had heard a rumor and transmitted it to the State Department. Only in the second to last sentence of the article do they mention that the cable admits: "the embassy employee couldn't verify the sources [sic!] or accuracy of the information".
So a corrected headline would read: "Wikileaks reveals: US diplomats spread unverifiable rumors about Lukashenko's personal wealth." But the Guardian made it appear as if it was Wikileaks itself that made the claim.
Let us suppose that one day Wikileaks will publish cables from the Russian Embassy in Washington to Moscow Centre. Shall we expect to see in the Guardian a screaming headline like: "WikiLeaks: The Mossad behind 9/11!!"
Isn't it more likely we would be soberly told: "Wikileaks reveals that Russian diplomats in Washington report the persistent rumors on Israeli involvement in 9/11"?
Another cable on Belarus published on the same day was headlined: "US embassy cables: Belarus president justifies violence against opponents". Again, a misleading headline, and again the majority will never read beyond it. In reality, this very interesting report contains the debriefing of the Estonian Foreign Minister after his long chat with President Lukashenko. The most interesting factoid was deliberately not highlighted in the article: Lukashenko told the Estonian visitor that the opposition in Belarus would never unite, and only existed "to live off western grants." When you read the article, your eye gravitates to the highlighted section, skipping the valuable information just above. In fact, the highlighted section itself says nothing about justifying violence against opponents. The text says something completely different: "Lukashenko stated the opposition should expect to get hurt when they attack the riot police". Again, it is sterling truth: in every country, people who attack riot police end up getting hurt. In Israel they also get shot, but that's another story.
Thus the Guardian made use of Wikileaks in order to influence Belarus voters and Western audiences, and prepare them for an Election Day riot.
So here we are: in order to get valuable data to the people, Julian Assange had to make a deal with the devil: the mainstream media. It was most natural for him to deal with the liberal flank of the mainstream, for the hardliners would not even touch it. But since the liberal papers are also embedded, they freely distort the cables by attaching misleading headlines and misquoting from the text.
For me, a Guardian reader since I worked at the BBC in the mid-1970s, it is painful to say that the Guardian has become an impostor. This paper pretends to provide the thinking liberal and socialist people of England with true information; but at the moment of truth, the Guardian, like a good Blairite, will switch sides.
Next, the Guardian apparently decided to destroy Wikileaks after using it. The Moor did his job, the Moor may go. The Guardian's embedded editors, understanding full well that the Wikileaks crew won't be tamed or subverted, are preparing a book called The Rise and Fall of Wikileaks. It's not quite released yet; they have still to arrange for the fall.
This will be done in two ways.
First, by slandering the Wikileaks chief Julian Assange. Destroy the head, and the body will wither and die. This is not the place to deal with allegations in detail, but I've never seen an article more crooked and lying than the one the Guardian published recently on Assange - and I've seen some beauties. It is trial by media in the best tradition of Pravda 1937. Its author Nick Davies ingratiated himself into the vicinity of the trustful Julian and then bit him in the best scorpion's manner. Davies wrote years ago in his Flat Earth News that the practice of journalism in the UK is "bent"; now he proven it beyond a doubt by his own writing.
There is no doubt: Assange never raped. The day after the alleged rape, the alleged victim boasted to her friends in a twitter that she had a wonderful time with the alleged rapist. It was all published.
Moreover, if Swedish authorities are primarily concerned about prosecuting Julian for rape, why do they attach a special condition to their demands of extradition, specifically reserving the right to pass him on to US authorities?
Nick Davies clearly performed a cruel hatchet job. But was publishing the article a simple case of bad judgement by the Guardian, or the beginning of a smear campaign? "Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action", as James Bond in Goldfinger put it neatly. Here is the second attack. The third piece was surprisingly an attempt to smear Assange by association with me.
This last attack was written by Andrew Brown has been described as "The Guardian's resident moron", and with good reason. I always enjoy discussing my views, though Brown completely missed the subtleties and nuances of my writings. Andrew Brown is a man who understands the public's need for screaming headlines. Now we are left with a lot of crazy bloggers who claim I am the Mossad's liaison to Wikileaks and that Wikileaks is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mossad.
I do not for a moment think that anybody sane takes these ridiculous accusations seriously ­ they are just more things to throw at Julian. I am not a member of Wikileaks, not even a spokesman, just a friend. But even without me, Brown will still be able to attack Assange for quoting Solzhenitsyn, the Nobel Prize winner and "notorious antisemite whose works are being published by a racist site." Quoting a popular blog, Brown "is beneath contempt, and, from now on, beneath notice". Still, the Guardian editors let him off his leash from time to time, to their eternal disgrace.
The second mode of attack on Wikileaks is to use it as a source of misinformation. These US State Department cables are double-edged swords. They are full of rumors, trial balloons, and hopeful thinking. Worse, the newspaper headlines often declare that Wikileaks is the source of the rumor, and leave it to the discerning reader to discover that an embassy staffer was the real source of the story. Readers often do not understand that headlines are little more than come-ons, and reflect a very loose interpretation of the article content. They tend to believe the misleading headline that says, "Wikileaks: Iran prepares nuclear weapons" or, "Wikileaks: all Arabs want the US to destroy Iran". Wikileaks never said it! It was the Guardian and the NY Times that said it, and loudly. A corrected headline would look like this:
Wikileaks reveals that US diplomats spread unsubstantiated rumours on the Iran nuclear program in order to ingratiate themselves with the State Department
But you will not live long enough to see this headline. Such is the price for using mainstream media: they will eventually poison the purest source.
However, I would rather place my bet on Assange. He is smart, and he has a mind of a first-class chess player. He has many surprises up his sleeve. It is possible that the Guardian will have to rename their book The Rise and Rise of Wikileaks.
The Israeli Angle
Now you can understand the mystery of Israeli satisfaction with Wikileaks. While the US officials were furious at the disclosure, Israelis were rather smug and complacent. Haaretz has this headline: "Netanyahu: WikiLeaks revelations were good for Israel."
Simple-minded conspiracy junkies immediately concluded that Wikileaks is an Israeli device, or, in the words of a particularly single-minded man: a "Zionist poison".
The truth is less fantastic, but much more depressing. The Guardian and the New York Times, Le Monde and Spiegel are quite unable to publish a story unacceptable to Israel. They may pen a moderately embarrassing piece of fluff, or a slightly critical technical analysis in order to convince discerning readers of their objectivity. They may even let an opponent air his or her views every once in a blue moon. But they could never publish a story really damaging to Israel. This is true for all mainstream media.
Furthermore, no American ambassador would ever send a cable really unacceptable to Israel ­ unless he intended to retire the next month. Yet even supposing this kamikaze ambassador would send the cable, the newspapers would overlook it.
Even with thousands of secret cables about Israel in their hands, the mainstream media delays and prevaricates. They don't want anyone to yell at them. That is why they have postponed publishing the articles. Once forced by circumstance or competition to publish the contents of the cables, you can bet they'll twist the revelations into toady headlines and bury the truth in the final paragraph.
Always kind, Julian Assange attributes this behavior to the "sensitivity of the English, German and French audience". I am not that kind; I call it cowardice, or if you insist, prudence. Any journalist who confronts the Jewish state will be made to suffer.
In such a situation, the mainstream media just can't help us. Professional journalists have families and careers to protect. We can't count on them when the rubber meets the road. We shall never know and will never fully understand the truth behind any Israel-connected event as long as the cables remain only in the hands of the mainstream media.
Edited by Paul Bennett
Israel Shamir can be reached at adam@israelshamir.net
(7) Iran's Fear Of A George Soros-Funded "Velvet Revolution"
by ukit
Sun Jun 14, 2009 at 01:24:09 PM PST
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/6/14/742385/-Irans-Fear-Of-A-George-Soros-Funded-Velvet-Revolution-
As the aftermath of the contested Iranian election continues, it's worth remembering that it isn't a military attack by the U.S. or Israel that the Islamic Republic of Iran fears most. It's a bloodless toppling of the regime as the result of reform and closer ties to the West.
The trademark green of Mr. Mousavi's campaign, while in theory representing of Islam, aggravated those fears, as many in power saw parallels with the "Orange" and "Rose" revolutions that overthrew repressive regimes in Georgia and the Ukraine.
Ironically, the bogeyman pointed to by fundamentalist Iranian clerics is the same one often cited by American right-wing conspriracists - liberal currency speculator and political philanthropist George Soros.
In 2007, Iran arrested and interrogated Haleh Esfandiari, an academic linked to Soros' Open Society Institute. The Iranians accused her of plotting to lure Iranian reformers and dissidents into a network aimed at devising a non-violent overthrow of the Islamic government.
The ministry said the foundation had "played key roles in intrigues that have led to colourful revolutions in former Soviet republics in recent years" and now aimed to overthrow Iran's government.
"In primary interrogations, she reiterated that the Soros Foundation has established an unofficial network with the potential of future broader expansion, whose main objective is overthrowing the system," it said.
Esfandiari's alleged confession then led to the arrest of another Soros/ Open Society associate, Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iranian-American social scientist. The Iranian government called Tajbakhsh "the manager and representative of American Soros Foundation in Iran." Both Esfandiari and Tajbakhsh were eventually freed after wrangling between the Iranian and American governments, but not before eliciting the following "confession" from Tajbakhsh.
The long-term goal of the Soros Foundation is to achieve an open society [in Iran]. The way to achieve this is to create a rift between the rulers and the people. Through this rift, those parts of civil society which were formed and strengthened according to the concept of open society will exert pressure on the rulers to change their conduct. This rift can be created like what happened in Georgia, or else this conduct can be altered gradually, through elections and other "soft" methods. In order to create this rift, either you weaken the central government, or else you strengthen that part of civil society which opposes the government.
The Iranian government's paranoia even led them to produce this bizarre public service message, featuring a CGI George Soros conspiring with John McCain and the CIA.
Iran's depiction of the American political elite includes a figure most Americans probably haven't heard of - Gene Sharp, a political scientist and author of the book "The Politics of Non-Violent Action."
Sharp's writings were critical in the over throw of repressive governments in Eastern Europe. He outlined strategies for destroying a regime's power by undermining their credibility with the people.
(8) Soros funding Iran opposition. Iran calls him "Jewish tycoon and the mastermind of ultra-modern colonialism"
George Soros Taking Heat Over Ties To Pro-Iranian Group
Courtney Comstock
Nov. 18, 2009
http://www.businessinsider.com/george-soros-taking-heat-over-ties-to-pro-iranian-group-2009-11
He's not just being blamed for the weak dollar and everything else wrong with America. George Soros is also getting a beating for his financial ties to NIAC, a pro-Iranian engagement group.
NIAC is in the news for potentially dodging federal rules for the registration of all lobbyists because NIAC isn't registered. A journalist says NIAC lobbies, NIAC says it doesn't.
Soros is taking heat because he funds NIAC, the company whose head of "The New American Policy On Iran" portion, Patrick Disney, is the author of emails that are among other documents suggesting (not very convincingly, it turns out) that NIAC does indeed lobby in breach of federal rules.
The leaked emails emerged during a court case against the Iranian-American journalist, Hassan Daioleslam, who was the first to publicly accuse the group of lobbying.
The group's leader, Trita Parsi, sued Daioeslam for defamation in 2007. Accusations have since emerged that Soros is tied to the group and that the hedge fund king's speculative "Soros-style" investment habits, of all things, are further evidence of his being anti-American.
The general consensus is that it will be tough to prove that NIAC is in breach of federal rules, but critics of Soros are speaking out as if he's been in on the grand scheme the whole time. Ed Lasky titles his American Thinker piece "George Soros's tentacles wind through pro-Iranian groups."
Daniel Luban points out in a counter-argument against all of the Soros-haters that this view of "Soros as a shadowy, dangerous and destabilizing servant of the enemy" is pretty anti-Semitic. He then goes on to post another example of Soros-related anti-Semitism, an Iranian propaganda video in which a cartoon version of Soros is cast as the "Jewish tycoon and the mastermind of ultra-modern colonialism."
Brief plot synopsis: Soros is in a White House office with John McCain and two CIA agents, Bill Smith and Gene Sharp. The four men devise an evil plan for Iranian regime change that involves contacting powerful people with common interests (at which point the camera swings over to sly George Soros who knowingly tips his glasses).
It's probably unlikely that he is involved in much more than throwing money around; Soros also donates to J street, the pro-Israel, pro-peace counterparty to NIAC's pro engagement, pro-Iran bent. But Soros is not exactly shying away from political agenda either. Earlier he released a statement about his confidence in Sierra Leon as an emerging market in which he talks about the need for political reform.
(9) State Dep't organizes Youth Movements for further Color Revolutions, with Google & Facebook
Google's Revolution Factory - Alliance of Youth Movements: Color Revolution 2.0
by Tony Cartalucci Global Research, February 19, 2011
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23283 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/223894-Google-s-Revolution-Factory-Alliance-of-Youth-Movements-Color-Revolution-2-0
In 2008, the Alliance of Youth Movements held its inaugural summit in New York City. Attending this summit was a combination of State Department staff, Council on Foreign Relations members, former National Security staff, Department of Homeland Security advisers, and a myriad of representatives from American corporations and mass media organizations including AT&T, Google, Facebook, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, and MTV.
{click the following link, to see the official report showing State involvement}
http://allyoumov.3cdn.net/f734ac45131b2bbcdb_w6m6idptn.pdf
One might suspect such a meeting of representatives involved in US economic, domestic and foreign policy, along with the shapers of public opinion in the mass media would be convening to talk about America's future and how to facilitate it. Joining these policy makers, was an army of "grassroots" activists that would "help" this facilitation.
Among them was a then little known group called "April 6" from Egypt. These Facebook "savvy" Egyptians would later meet US International Crisis Group trustee Mohamed ElBaradei at the Cairo airport in Februrary 2010 and spend the next year campaigning and protesting on his behalf in his bid to overthrow the government of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
The Alliance of Youth Movements mission statement claims it is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping grassroots activists to build their capacity and make a greater impact on the world. While this sounds fairly innocuous at first, even perhaps positive, upon examining those involved in "Movements.org," a dark agenda is revealed of such nefarious intent it is almost difficult to believe.
Movement.org is officially partnered with the US Department of State and Columbia Law School. Its corporate sponsors include Google, Pepsi, and the Omnicon Group, all listed as members of the globocrat Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). CBS News is a sponsor and listed on the globocrat Chatham House's corporate membership list. Other sponsors include Facebook, YouTube, Meetup, Howcast, National Geographic, MSNBC, GenNext, and the Edelman public relations firm.
Movement.org's "team" includes Co-Founder Jared Cohen, a CFR member, Director of Google Ideas, and a former State Department planning staff member under both Condoleezza Rice and Hilary Clinton.
Founding Movements.org with Cohen is Jason Liebman of Howcast Media which works with mega-corporate conglomerates like Proctor & Gamble, Kodak, Staples, Ford, and government agencies such as the US State Department and the US Defense Department, to create "custom branded entertainment, innovative social media, and tardeted rich-media campaigns." He was also with Google for 4 years where he worked to partner with Time Warner (CFR), News Corporation (FoxNews, CFR) Viacom, Warner Music, Sony Pictures, Reuters, the New York Times, and the Washington Post Company.
Roman Sunder is also credited with co-founding Movements.org. He founded Access 360 Media, a mass advertising company, and he also organized the PTTOW! Summit which brought together 35 top executives from companies like AT&T (CFR), Quicksilver, Activison, Facebook, HP, YouTube, Pepsi (CFR), and the US Government to discuss the future of the "youth industry." He is also a board member of Gen Next, another non-profit organization focused on "affecting change for the next generation."
It is hard, considering these men's affiliations, to believe that the change they want to see is anything less than a generation that drinks more Pepsi, buys more consumerist junk, and believes the United States government every time they purvey their lies to us via their corporate owned media.
While the activists attending the Movements.org summit adhere to the philosophies of "left-leaning" liberalism, the very men behind the summit, funding it, and prodding the agenda of these activists are America's mega-corporate combine. These are the very big-businesses that have violated human rights worldwide, destroyed the environment, sell shoddy, overseas manufactured goods produced by workers living in slave conditions, and pursue an agenda of greed and perpetual expansion at any cost. The hypocrisy is astounding unless of course you understand that their nefarious, self-serving agenda could only be accomplished under the guise of genuine concern for humanity, buried under mountains of feel-good rhetoric, and helped along by an army of exploited, naive youth.
What we see is not a foundation from which all activists can work from, but a foundation that has a very selective group of activists working on "problem spots" the US State Department would like to see "changed." Sudan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Eastern Europe, Venezuela, and even Thailand - where ever protesters and movements are working to undermine governments non-conducive to corporate America's agenda, you will find Movements.org supporting their efforts.
The April 6 Movement of Egypt is one of them, and their role in the apparent success of the US ousting of Hosni Mubarak that may see their man Mohamed ElBaradei in office is a perfect example of how this new army of prodded youth will be deployed. It is color revolution 2.0, run directly out of the US State Department with the support of corporate America.
It would be strongly recommended that readers go to Movements.org themselves and explore the website, in particular the 3 summits they have held and those that were in attendance. Everyone from the RAND Corporation to the Council on Foreign Relations comes to "prod." Movements.org truly is a new tentacle for manipulating and undermining the sovereignty of foreign nations.
(10) State Dep't sponsors Alliance of Youth Movements for REGIME CHANGE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_of_Youth_Movements
Alliance of Youth Movements
The Alliance of Youth Movements was an event in 2008 which led to the creation of Movements.org, a non profit organization dedicated to identifying, connecting, and supporting, digital activists. ...
Movements.org began with a December 2008 summit in New York City to identify, convene, and engage 21st century movements online for the first time in history. The United States Department of State partnered with Facebook, Howcast, MTV, Google, YouTube, AT&T, JetBlue, Gen-Next, Access 360 Media, and Columbia Law School to launch a global network and empower young people mobilizing against violence and oppression. The inaugural summit was called the Alliance of Youth Movements Summit. Later when the organization launched its website in 2011, Movements.org, they began to refer to the organization as Movements.org.
Founders of Movements.org include Jared Cohen, former advisor to both Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton and now Director of Google Ideas at Google, Jason Liebman, CEO and co-founder of Howcast and Roman Tsunder, co-founder of Access 360 Media.
Speakers at the inaugural 2008 summit included actress Whoopi Goldberg, Facebook Co-Founder Dustin Moskovitz, The Obama CampaignÕs New Media Team, and then-current Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs of the United States James K. Glassman.
In March 2009 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced and endorsed the Second Alliance for Youth Movements Summit[1], which was held October 14­16, 2009, in Mexico City . This Summit explored the role of technology in mobilizing young people working to end violence throughout Latin America and around the world. Young delegates, described by Secretary Clinton as Òthe vanguard of a rising generation of citizen activists,Ó[2] were joined by more than 15 private and public partners, including the worldÕs leading technology companies. Together they launched discussions on how to best use the latest technological tools to catalyze change, build movements, and transform lives.
Recent activities
AYM's most recent summit look place in London March 9-11, 2010. Speakers included: Scott Heiferman, CEO of MeetUp.com , Martin Sorrell, CEO and Founder WPP Group, and skype conversation with Jack Dorsey Co-Founder and Chairman of Twitter.
References
1.^ "Remarks At TecMilenio University" . U.S. Department of State. 2009-03-26. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
2.^ "Secretary Clinton Delivers Video Message for Alliance for Youth Movements Summit" . U.S. Department of State. 2009-10-16. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
This page was last modified on 15 February 2011 at 00:03.
(11) The Wikileaks-Egypt-White House-US Government Connection
January 30, 2011
Douglas Stewart
http://ameristroika.wordpress.com/2011/01/30/the-wikileaks-egypt-white-house-us-government-connection/
This is a little tough to follow so I am going to keep it as simple and as clean as possible. On January 28, 2011 Wikileaks released a cable that showed US Government awareness and involvement in Egyptian affairs. Now we are going to look at the Òbehind the scenesÓ players; their motives, their actions, etc. By the end of this post you will know who is involved and what the State department knew-Before hand! Are you ready?
The Wikileak Cable and Alliance of Youth Movements
IÕm not going to go over this. Read the document for yourself before proceeding. The cable (created on 12-30-08) refers to an April 6 activist that was detained returning to Cairo from the Alliance of Youth Movement in NYC. Well, who else was there that may have had an interest in Egypt? According to their program (pg. 2) the list of attendees includes Maajid Nawaz of The Quilliam Foundation. Oh and the Obama Media Team was there as well-no big deal. (The conference took place on Dec. 3-5 Õ08Éstick with me here)
Maajid Nawaz, a former radical who was imprisoned in Egypt for 5 years, later denounced his radical associations, and focused on being a good democrat. He was such a good democrat that before the Alliance of Youth Movements meeting Undersecretary James K. Glassman mentions NawazÕs organization by name. Not only that, the interviewer shares his concern with possibly unleashing something that may come back to bite them. And also that the State Department is funding Howcast to host this at $50K
*From State Dept interview earlier*
GLASSMAN: Actually, one good example of one of these groups is the Qulliam Foundation
Later
É these governments may not appreciate your involvement in inspiring or in helping to create this network of people that are ­ that they could ­ would see, and in the case of Egypt, they do see as a threat. DonÕt you run the risk of unleashing something here that is going to come back to bite you, especially with our allies?
GLASSMAN: We are very supportive of pro-democracy groups around the world. And sometimes, that puts us at odds with certain governments.
Yeah, but thatÕs ­
UNDER SECRETARY GLASSMAN: Now, we have to work with those governments. And let me also just say, thereÕs a difference on an operational level between public ­ what we do in public diplomacy and what is often done in official diplomacy. We are communicating and engaging at the level of the public, not at the level of officials. So you know, it certainly is possible that some of these governments will not be all that happy that ­ at what weÕre doing, but thatÕs what we do in public diplomacy.
UNDER SECRETARY GLASSMAN: And I think this is an important part. We as a government have been engaging with such civil society organizations in places like Egypt for a long time.
Later the State Department made note in its report that Egypt had even prevented at least one activist from attending the Alliance of Youth Movements.
(12) Egypt protests: secret US document discloses support for protesters
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8289698/Egypt-protests-secret-US-document-discloses-support-for-protesters.html
Here is the secret document sent from the US Embassy in Cairo to Washington disclosing the extent of American support for the protesters behind the Egypt uprising.
10:30PM GMT 28 Jan 2011
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 002572 SIPDIS FOR NEA/ELA, R, S/P AND H NSC FOR PASCUAL AND KUTCHA-HELBLING E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/30/2028 TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KDEM, EG SUBJECT: APRIL 6 ACTIVIST ON HIS U.S. VISIT AND REGIME CHANGE IN EGYPT REF: A. CAIRO 2462 B. CAIRO 2454 C. CAIRO 2431 Classified By: ECPO A/Mincouns Catherine Hill-Herndon for reason 1.4 (d ).
1. (C) Summary and comment: On December 23, April 6 activist xxxxxxxxxxxx expressed satisfaction with his participation in the December 3-5 \"Alliance of Youth Movements Summit,\" and with his subsequent meetings with USG officials, on Capitol Hill, and with think tanks. He described how State Security (SSIS) detained him at the Cairo airport upon his return and confiscated his notes for his summit presentation calling for democratic change in Egypt, and his schedule for his Congressional meetings. xxxxxxxxxxxx contended that the GOE will never undertake significant reform, and therefore, Egyptians need to replace the current regime with a parliamentary democracy. He alleged that several opposition parties and movements have accepted an unwritten plan for democratic transition by 2011; we are doubtful of this claim.
xxxxxxxxxxxx said that although SSIS recently released two April 6 activists, it also arrested three additional group members. We have pressed the MFA for the release of these April 6 activists. April 6's stated goal of replacing the current regime with a parliamentary democracy prior to the 2011 presidential elections is highly unrealistic, and is not supported by the mainstream opposition. End summary and comment.
---------------------------- Satisfaction with the Summit ----------------------------
2. (C) xxxxxxxxxxxx expressed satisfaction with the December 3-5 \"Alliance of Youth Movements Summit\" in New York, noting that he was able to meet activists from other countries and outline his movement's goals for democratic change in Egypt. He told us that the other activists at the summit were very supportive, and that some even offered to hold public demonstrations in support of Egyptian democracy in their countries, with xxxxxxxxxxxx as an invited guest. xxxxxxxxxxxx said he discussed with the other activists how April 6 members could more effectively evade harassment and surveillance from SSIS with technical upgrades, such as consistently alternating computer \"simcards.\" However, xxxxxxxxxxxx lamented to us that because most April 6 members do not own computers, this tactic would be impossible to implement. xxxxxxxxxxxx was appreciative of the successful efforts by the Department and the summit organizers to protect his identity at the summit, and told us that his name was never mentioned publicly.
------------------- A Cold Welcome Home -------------------
3. (S) xxxxxxxxxxxx told us that SSIS detained and searched him at the Cairo Airport on December 18 upon his return from the U.S. According to xxxxxxxxxxxx, SSIS found and confiscated two documents in his luggage: notes for his presentation at the summit that described April 6's demands for democratic transition in Egypt, and a schedule of his Capitol Hill meetings. xxxxxxxxxxxx described how the SSIS officer told him that State Security is compiling a file on him, and that the officer's superiors instructed him to file a report on xxxxxxxxxxxx most recent activities.
--------------------------------------------- ----------
Washington Meetings and April 6 Ideas for REGIME CHANGE
--------------------------------------------- ----------
4. (C) xxxxxxxxxxxx described his Washington appointments as positive ...
7. (C) xxxxxxxxxxxx said that the GOE has recently been cracking down on the April 6 movement by arresting its members. xxxxxxxxxxxx noted that although SSIS had released xxxxxxxxxxxx and xxxxxxxxxxxx \"in the past few days,\" it had arrested three other members. (Note: On December 14, we pressed the MFA for the release of xxxxxxxxxxxx and xxxxxxxxxxxx, and on December 28 we asked the MFA for the GOE to release the additional three activists. End note.) xxxxxxxxxxxx conceded that April 6 has no feasible plans for future activities.
The group would like to call for another strike on April 6, 2009, but realizes this would be \"impossible\" due to SSIS interference, xxxxxxxxxxxx said. He lamented that the GOE has driven the group's leadership underground, and that one of its leaders, xxxxxxxxxxxx, has been in hiding for the past week.
8. (C) Comment: xxxxxxxxxxxx offered no roadmap of concrete steps toward April 6's highly unrealistic goal of replacing the current regime with a parliamentary democracy prior to the 2011 presidential elections. Most opposition parties and independent NGOs work toward achieving tangible, incremental reform within the current political context, even if they may be pessimistic about their chances of success. xxxxxxxxxxxx wholesale rejection of such an approach places him outside this mainstream of opposition politicians and activists.
SCOBEY02008-12-307386PGOV,PHUM,KDEM,EGAPRIL 6 ACTIVIST ON HIS U.S. VISIT AND REGIME CHANGE IN EGYPT
(13) Hillary confirms that State Dep't funded Egyptian labor unions
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7798594/sec_clinton_admits_funding_opposition.html?cat=9
Sec. Clinton Admits Funding Opposition Labor Unions in Egypt
State Department Transcripts Put Conspiracy Theory to Rest
Douglas Stewart, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Feb 25, 2011 "Contribute content like this. Start Here."
While the ties to Labor Unions and the Egyptian youth revolution have been brushed off as a conspiracy theory a recent interview with Secretary of State Hilary Clinton actually reveals the relationship. Interviewed for Masrawy.com, an Egyptian news site, Secretary Clinton confirms the long standing relationship with Egyptian labor unions and their State Department funding. The Secretary also acknowledges that the government of Egypt wasn't at all happy about this support according to the State Department transcript .
When asked by an Egyptian youth, over Facebook, if the Administration had any involvement before, during, or after the uprising Clinton's response was "Well, as many people know, the United States supported civil society inside Egypt. We gave grants that the government did not like to support union organizing, to support organizing on behalf of political opposition to the regime. That goes back many years." ...s Caribbean coast. ...
(14) NYT traces Arab revolutions to Gene Sharp, Peter Ackerman's ICNC & Stephen Zunes
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/14/world/middleeast/14egypt-tunisia-protests.html
A Tunisian-Egyptian Link That Shook Arab History
Holly Pickett for The New York Times
{caption} Tunis, Jan. 14 Demonstrators climbed the walls of the Interior Ministry as thousands gathered outside to demand the resignation of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. The protests that brought down Mr. Ben Ali that day began on Facebook. {end}
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and DAVID E. SANGER Published: February 13, 2011
CAIRO Ñ As protesters in Tahrir Square faced off against pro-government forces, they drew a lesson from their counterparts in Tunisia: ÒAdvice to the youth of Egypt: Put vinegar or onion under your scarf for tear gas.Ó
The exchange on Facebook was part of a remarkable two-year collaboration that has given birth to a new force in the Arab world Ñ a pan-Arab youth movement dedicated to spreading democracy in a region without it. ... Breaking free from older veterans of the Arab political opposition, they relied on tactics of nonviolent resistance channeled from an American scholar through a Serbian youth brigade Ñ but also on marketing tactics borrowed from Silicon Valley. ...
The Egyptian revolt was years in the making. Ahmed Maher, a 30-year-old civil engineer and a leading organizer of the April 6 Youth Movement, first became engaged in a political movement known as Kefaya, or Enough, in about 2005. ...
For their part, Mr. Maher and his colleagues began reading about nonviolent struggles. They were especially drawn to a Serbian youth movement called Otpor, which had helped topple the dictator Slobodan Milosevic by drawing on the ideas of an American political thinker, Gene Sharp. ...
The April 6 Youth Movement modeled its logo Ñ a vaguely Soviet looking red and white clenched fistÑafter OtporÕs, and some of its members traveled to Serbia to meet with Otpor activists. ... ==
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/world/middleeast/17sharp.html?_r=1
Shy U.S. Intellectual Created Playbook Used in a Revolution
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: February 16, 2011
BOSTON Ñ Halfway around the world from Tahrir Square in Cairo, an aging American intellectual shuffles about his cluttered brick row house in a working-class neighborhood here. His name is Gene Sharp. Stoop-shouldered and white-haired at 83, he grows orchids, has yet to master the Internet and hardly seems like a dangerous man.
But for the worldÕs despots, his ideas can be fatal.
Few Americans have heard of Mr. Sharp. But for decades, his practical writings on nonviolent revolution Ñ most notably ÒFrom Dictatorship to Democracy,Ó a 93-page guide to toppling autocrats, available for download in 24 languages Ñ have inspired dissidents around the world, including in Burma, Bosnia, Estonia and Zimbabwe, and now Tunisia and Egypt.
When EgyptÕs April 6 Youth Movement was struggling to recover from a failed effort in 2005, its leaders tossed around Òcrazy ideasÓ about bringing down the government, said Ahmed Maher, a leading strategist. They stumbled on Mr. Sharp while examining the Serbian movement Otpor, which he had influenced.
When the nonpartisan International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, which trains democracy activists, slipped into Cairo several years ago to conduct a workshop, among the papers it distributed was Mr. SharpÕs Ò198 Methods of Nonviolent Action,Ó a list of tactics that range from hunger strikes to Òprotest disrobingÓ to Òdisclosing identities of secret agents.Ó
Dalia Ziada, an Egyptian blogger and activist who attended the workshop and later organized similar sessions on her own, said trainees were active in both the Tunisia and Egypt revolts. She said that some activists translated excerpts of Mr. SharpÕs work into Arabic, and that his message of Òattacking weaknesses of dictatorsÓ stuck with them.
Peter Ackerman, a onetime student of Mr. Sharp who founded the nonviolence center and ran the Cairo workshop, cites his former mentor as proof that Òideas have power.Ó ...
ÒHe is generally considered the father of the whole field of the study of strategic nonviolent action,Ó said Stephen Zunes, an expert in that field at the University of San Francisco. ÒSome of these exaggerated stories of him going around the world and starting revolutions and leading mobs, what a joke. HeÕs much more into doing the research and the theoretical work than he is in disseminating it.Ó
That is not to say Mr. Sharp has not seen any action. In 1989, he flew to China to witness the uprising in Tiananmen Square. In the early 1990s, he sneaked into a rebel camp in Myanmar at the invitation of Robert L. Helvey, a retired Army colonel who advised the opposition there. They met when Colonel Helvey was on a fellowship at Harvard; the military man thought the professor had ideas that could avoid war. ÒHere we were in this jungle, reading Gene SharpÕs work by candlelight,Ó Colonel Helvey recalled. ÒThis guy has tremendous insight into society and the dynamics of social power.Ó ...
(15) Middle East uprisings take cue from Gene Sharp's guide to non-violent revolution
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/02/23/f-carol-off-gene-sharp-middle-east.html
By Carol Off, CBC News Posted: Feb 23, 2011
For anyone who witnessed the Orange Revolution in Ukraine six years ago, the recent scene on the Arab streets might provoke a twinge of déjà vu. The similarities are uncanny, but they are also very real.
The People Power uprisings in the Middle East and corresponding movements that erupted in Eastern Europe in the past decade appeared as spontaneous outcries. And for hundreds of thousands of citizens who joined the young people on the streets, that is the case. But the mass protests were stirred Ñ and steered Ñ by groups of youth who planned, consulted and even trained for the events.
Indeed, the remarkable discipline of the young leaders, their tactics and strategies, their slogans and posters are all torn from the same handbook - a guide to non-violent revolution called From Dictatorship to Democracy. And they've all been inspired by the same guru: An 83-year-old American activist named Gene Sharp.
Professor Sharp lives in a modest little house in Boston from which he publishes and distributes his guide in dozens of languages. His Albert Einstein Institution attracts revolutionaries from around the world, though he guffaws when I refer to his followers as "disciples." In an interview on As It Happens, the retired professor says his role is simply to provide devices to help depose dictators.
Anatomy of a revolution
I first heard of the professor and his "198 Methods of Non-violent Action" in late 1999 when a movement in Serbia known as Otpor managed to oust the bad man of the Balkans Ñ Slobodan Milosevic.
In a CBC documentary called Anatomy of a Revolution, Belgrade student Srdjan Popovic explained that he and his young friends went into training a year in advance and spent many weeks honing the skills outlined in Gene Sharp's handbook before they took to the streets.
In the CBC documentary, we show how Popovic and his friends then turned up in many other parts of former East Bloc countries brandishing copies of From Dictatorship to Democracy translated into every language. When hordes of young people suddenly stormed the parliament in Georgia in 2003, Serbs Ñ and Gene Sharp's manual Ñ were there. The students refused to leave the streets of Tblisi until the Kremlin-backed president, Eduard Shvardnadze, departed.
The Georgian student movement appeared to be improvised and messy. But the opposite was true. They had planned almost every step of their campaign. The young people managed to overthrow the regime, allowing Mikheil Saakashvili to take his place.
A year later, Serbs and Georgians turned up in Maidan Square in central Kiev, where they trained and helped to conduct the Orange Revolution, toppling the Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych.
Telltale tactics
Whether in central Europe or the Middle East, demonstrators shared the same tactics: they occupied symbolic locations of their respective cities; they established tent villages; and they refused to leave until they achieved their principal goal Ñ toppling the dictator. They eschewed violence, even when provoked.
The leaders who ultimately fled had no idea what the movement was or how it had come to be full blown so suddenly. ...
(16) Egypt's April 6 Youth Movement modelled on Optor (links to Gene Sharp & NED) - Eric Walberg
From: israel shamir <israel.shamir@gmail.com> Date: 03.03.2011 04:31 AM Subject: [shamireaders] Corrected Egypt/Serbia/Georgia: Learning from othersÕ mistakes
http://ericwalberg.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=314:egyptserbiageorgia-learning-from-others-mistakes&catid=40:middle-east&Itemid=93
Egypt/Serbia/Georgia: Learning from othersÕ mistakes
in similar revolutions in eastern Europe and the ex-Soviet Union, notes Eric Walberg
Thursday, 03 March 2011 02:40
There is a Russian proverb: only a fool learns from his own mistakes. As Georgia's foreign minister visits his Egyptian counterpart, there are lessons for Egypt
Central to EgyptÕs revolution was a tiny group of Serbian activists Otpor (resistance), who adapted nonviolent tactics of in the late 1990s and successfully forced Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic to resign in 2000. Egyptian youth in the 6 April Youth Movement even adopted their clenched fist symbol, bringing Otpor once again into world headlines and TV screens.
It was the 2008 strike El-Mahalla El-Kubra to protest high food prices and low wages that brought about this unforeseen Serbian-Egyptian alliance. A group of tech-savvy young Cairenes decided to start a Facebook group to organise solidarity actions around the country, attracting a surprising 70,000 supporters. The results of the strike were mixed, with police attacking strikers and killing two demonstrators, and solidarity protests quickly dispersed.
Determined to build on their networking success, writes Tina Rosenberg in Foreign Policy magazine, Mohamed Adel, a 20-year-old blogger and 6 April activist, went to Belgrade in 2009 and took a week-long course in the strategies of nonviolent revolution with Otpor veterans, who had established the Center for Applied Non-Violent Action and Strategies (CANVAS) in 2003 for just such activists. He learned how to translate ÒInternetworkingÓ into street protests, and passed on his skills to others in the 6 April Youth Movement and Kefaya (Enough).
The rest is history. A relatively peaceful overthrow of the Egyptian regime has made Egyptian youth the darlings of the world -- Egyptian-American scientist Faruq El-Baz even suggested they be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The nonviolent revolutionary tactics made famous by Otpor and used to such remarkable success by Egyptians are an outgrowth of soft power strategies developed most famously by Mohandas Gandhi in the anticolonial struggle in the 1920-30s, and also by the US government during the Cold War to undermine the socialist bloc; in both cases, where direct military action against the enemy was not feasible.
Most directly relevant in the case of Otpor is ReaganÕs National Endowment for Democracy (NED, 1983), which was instrumental in bringing about the collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, funding all opposition groups left and right intent on undermining the socialist regimes. Warren Christopher, president Bill ClintonÕs first secretary of state, argued, ÒBy enlisting international and regional institutions in the work, the US can leverage our own limited resources and avoid the appearance of trying to dominate others.Ó NEDÕs first president, Allen Weinstein, admitted that Òa lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.Ó
The socialist bloc collapsed just as the Internet was taking off in the early 1990s. The tactics work well in soft dictatorships which are open to Western penetration, and Soviet leader Mikhail GorbachevÕs glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) were the vehicles for introducing them in East Europe and the Soviet Union, as the degree of repression by the state had eased from the days of Cold War paranoia.
The techniques involved continued to be honed through the 1990s by Gene Sharp (From Dictatorship to Democracy, 1993) dubbed oxymoronically Òthe Clausewitz of nonviolenceÓ, and Robert Helvey, a former US Army colonel and defense attache at the US Embassy in Burma in the 1980s. Given economic stagnation (hardly unique to dictatorships), using a combination of defiance and ridicule of an aging autocratic regime, and seduction of a large, poorly paid, young army and police security apparatus, the young revolutionaries are able to moblise mass support for change and convince the security apparatus to step aside.
Though the details are slightly different, a scenario similar to events in Cairo in 2011 took place throughout Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in 1989-91. In the latter case, Boris YeltsinÕs charisma pushing the military to his side after the putsch in August 1991, bringing an end to Communist Party hegemony.
The collapse of Yugoslavia was more traumatic. It had also been blessed by a charismatic leader Josip Tito who had used his monopoly on political power to build a prosperous, relatively open socialist society. However, the pressures for disintegration built after its socialist neighbours had collapsed. Financed by the US and Germany, power-hungry ethnic leaders declared independence and civil war ensued, with the Serbian heartland under Milosevic trying desperately to hold together what had been a peaceful and popular union. By 1999, the writing was on the wall -- with the West sanctioning, bombing and otherwise subverting the rump Yugoslavia, a restless people turned against an aging dictator, with a media-savvy core of activists the catalyst.
As did all opposition groups in the former Yugoslavia, Otpor took money from NED, though it denied it at the time, disillusioning many Otpor members who quit after helping to overthrow Milosevic, Òfeeling betrayedÓ according to Rosenberg. CANVAS participates in workshops financed by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the United Nations Development Program, and Freedom House, an American group financed by NED.
The results of Otpor-inspired revolutions have been mixed to say the least. Activists from Zimbabwe, Burma, Belarus and Iran -- over 50 countries -- have taken CANVASÕs training. The only attributable ÒsuccessesÓ until Egypt were in Georgia (2003), Ukraine (2004) and Kyrgyzstan (2005) -- the so-called colour revolutions, all of which have been a bitter disappointment, and along with Serbia, clearly manipulated by the US to serve its geopolitical ends.
In the case of Georgia, a boyish 37-year-old Mikheil Saakashvili was catapulted to power on the wave of a youth movement Kmara (Enough) modelled on Otpor, winning the 2004 presidential elections with 97 per cent of the vote. He invited in thousands of US and Israeli advisers, launched a disastrous war in 2008 against Russia, and quickly assumed dictatorial powers himself. Most of the Israelis scurried home after the war, and even his US patron is balking at supporting his plans to take on Russia again.
The Georgian opposition has been trying to oust Saakashvili ever since he launched war against Russia, but he is using his media smarts (and beefed-up security forces) to hold on to power, slavishly sending thousands of troops to Iraq and Afghanistan in hopes of earning enough points to join NATO. A fractious opposition must unite around an equally charismatic figure and future elections must be rigorously monitored if it expects to oust him.
The rule-of-thumb is if you play your cards extremely well, you may be allowed one Otpor-style revolution, so you better make good use of it. A second one is hard to pull off, and if it happens, as in 2010 in Kyrgyzstan, it is more a sign of political dysfunction than something to cheer about. And Western-style electoral democracy rarely leads to social justice, especially when the country in question is central to US geopolitical schemes, as is the case with both Serbia and Egypt.
The strategy worked well for small ethnic groups wanting their own state, like the Estonians, Slovenians and other eastern Europeans, ironically with the exception of Serbians, who experienced severe economic hardship as a result of their ÒrevolutionÓ and continue to resent the role of Europe and the US in their political affairs. As Egyptians massed in Tahrir Square, on 5 February, 70,000 Serbs marched in Belgrade protesting unemployment and poverty, charging that the government (in typical democratic style, a razor-thin coalition majority) is pursuing policies dictated by Europe. It is the NATO invasion and the loss of Kosovo that Serbs remember with bitterness now, rather than the dictatorship of Milosevic. Otpor tried to enter the political arena in 2003 but got only 1.6 per cent of the vote and gave up, joining the Serbian President Boris TadicÕs centrist pro-Europe Democratic Party.
Egyptians should keep the experience of Russia, Serbia and the colour revolutions in mind as they navigate the perilous waters of US-style democracy. Interestingly, Georgia's Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze is visiting Egypt 1-2 March to share his experience in post-revolution transition -- not with the 6 April Youth Movement and the other revolutionaries, but with ex-Arab League head Amr Moussa and Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, both intimately connected with the Mubarak regime.
There is little to cheer Egypt's idealistic revolutionaries in such confabs or in general in the state of politics in Georgia or any of the other colour revolutions today. It would be a tragedy if a few years down the line, Egyptians look back wistfully at pre-revolutionary times, as do many Serbs, Georgians, east Europeans and Russians.
(17) Video game teaches how to conduct a large-scale peaceful protest
http://www.movements.org/blog/entry/can-a-video-game-teach-the-kind-of-nonviolent-protest-practiced-by-tunisian/
FEBRUARY 28, 2011
BY BRANNON CULLUM
CAN A VIDEO GAME TEACH THE KIND OF NONVIOLENT PROTEST PRACTICED BY TUNISIANS AND EGYPTIANS?
{photo} A page from the leaflet distributed to Egyptian protesters. {end}
Could people learn how to conduct a large-scale peaceful protest with a video game? Leading game designer Jane McGonigal believes so.
At the Dice Summit video game conference held earlier this month, McGonigal pitched an idea for a new game: ÒCiv DÓ -- short for civil disobedience -- Òthe first AAA game about surviving a peaceful revolutionÓ (AAA refers to the quality of the game; AAA is the highest quality). Her idea was sparked after seeing the leaflets that were being distributed to Egyptians last month with tactical and practical advice for confronting riot police. McGonigal noticed that the contents of the ÒHow To Protest IntelligentlyÓ action plan resembled the instructions for completing tasks in a video game, telling the summitÕs audience, ÒIf you look at them, itÕs really quite conducive to game as scenarios.Ó (Watch a video of her entire presentation here.)
The leaflets in question contained information like what routes to follow to reach Tahrir Square, diagrams of crowd formations, advice on how to defend yourself against riot police, ways to recruit participants, how to break through police blocks, and how to march on a government building. (Check out The Atlantic's translated excerpts from the pamphlet here.)
McGonigal thinks that even virtual goods could be integrated into the game, with players purchasing items like the hoods, shields, and accessories that were mentioned in the pamphlets to protect demonstrators. With all of the games made these days about war, McGonigal thinks that other intense action games like ÒCiv DÓ could Òput us in a frame of mind to think about something bigger than ourselvesÓ and bring Òreal life positive impactÓ to the world through games.
While McGonigalÕs newly launched game development company Social Chocolate wonÕt be taking on the task of developing the game themselves -- right now their attention is focused on two other games in development (SuperBetter, which aims to motivate people recovering from serious injuries, and Dhoom Machale, a dancing shooter game) -- will another game development company pursue it? If someone got started on ÒCiv DÓ today, McGonigal believes that it could be ready for the market by 2014.
What do you think? WeÕve already seen how a number digital games for social change have tackled real-world issues like food security, climate change, and disease. Could a game about civil resistance equip protesters with better skills, training, and confidence and act as a launching pad for offline action?
(18) A page from a Leaflet distributed to Egyptian protestors
http://www.movements.org/page/-/images/content/blog/large/egyptian_leaflet.jpeg/@mx_500/
1. Assemble with your friends and neighbours in residential streets far away from where the security forces are.
2. Shout slogans in the name of Egypt and the people's freedom (positive slogans).
3. Encourage other residents to join in (again with positive language).
4. Go out into the major streets in very large groups in order to form the biggest possible assembly.
5. Head towards important government buildings - while shouting positive slogans - in order to take them over.
(19) Songs and chants to rally the demonstrators
http://www.movements.org/blog/entry/music-of-the-revolution-how-songs-of-protest-have-rallied-demonstrators/
MARCH 03, 2011 BY BRANNON CULLUM POSTED IN CITIZEN MEDIA, SUSTAINING PROTEST MOVEMENTS | SHARE
MUSIC OF THE REVOLUTION: HOW SONGS OF PROTEST HAVE RALLIED DEMONSTRATORS
Music almost always plays a pivotal role in protest movements, with songs and chants unifying dissidents in their rallying cries. Unlike movements of decades past, however, protest music made popular during the recent revolution in Tunisia, Egypt, and beyond spread virally with the help YouTube and Facebook.
TUNISIA
Twenty-one-year-old Hamada Ben Amor, known as El GénéralÑan underground rapper living in the town of Sfax south of TunisÑuploaded a song he had written called "Rais Le Bled" ("President, Your Country") to Facebook on November 7. The rap called out then-president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali for the problems faced by average Tunisians trying to make a living, including food scarcity, a lack of freedom of speech, and unemployment with lyrics like: "Mr. President, your people are dying/People are eating rubbish/Look at what is happening/Miseries everywhere Mr. President/I talk with no fear/Although I know I will only get troubles/I see injustice everywhere." ...
EGYPT
Egyptian poet Ahmed Fouad Negm ("Uncle Ahmed"), a popular voice for the poor who has spent 18 of his 81 years in Egyptian prisons, wrote ÒThe Donkey and the Foal," a commentary about then-president Hosni Mubarak and his son Gamal. Musician Ramy Essam, who had taken to playing in Tahrir Square during the protest, set the poem to music and sang the song as Negm stood beside him.
Essam then penned the song "Leave," inspired by the slogans and chants being shouted around Tahrir Square:
ÒWe are all united as one, And what we ask for, Is just one thing: Leave! Leave! (x3) Down, down Husni Mubarak! (x4) The people demand: Bring down the regime! (x4) He is going away. We are not going anywhere! (x4) We are all united as one, And what we ask for, Is just one thing: Leave! Leave! Leave! (x4)Ó ...
LIBYA
Traditional songs have also played an important role in demonstrations. Libyans in the liberated eastern parts of the country forged bonds by singing the old national anthem while waving the tricolor flag from before Gaddafi came to power in 1969 as Òa symbol of the reinvention of the Libyans.Ó
In this video, the massive crowd in Beghanzi sings the old anthem to share their pride in being liberated. ...
(20) Russian military: "Airstrikes in Libya did not take place"
2 MARCH 2011
{photo} Reports: Colonels defected after orders to bombard protestors {end}
http://www.voltairenet.org/article168682.html
The reports of Libya mobilizing its air force against its own people spread quickly around the world. However, RussiaÕs military chiefs say they have been monitoring from space ­ and the pictures tell a different story.
According to Al Jazeera and BBC, on February 21 Libyan government inflicted airstrikes on Benghazi ­ the countryÕs largest city ­ and on the capital Tripoli. However, the Russian military, monitoring the unrest via satellite from the very beginning, says nothing of the sort was going on on the ground.
At this point, the Russian military is saying that, as far as they are concerned, the attacks some media were reporting have never occurred.
The same sources in RussiaÕs military establishment say they are also monitoring the situation around LibyaÕs oil pumping facilities.
(21) Al Jazeera reports about Libyan jets firing on protesters are "unverified and questionable"
http://www.voltairenet.org/article168588.html
Libya: Are the US and EU Pushing for Civil War to Justify NATO Intervention?
by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya*
25 FEBRUARY 2011
The Libyan government has shut down the internet and phone lines and an information war is underway. Although one of the most professional news network in the world, it has to be cautioned that Al Jazeera is not a neutral actor. It is subordinate to the Emir of Qatar and the Qatari government, which is also an autocracy. By picking and choosing what to report, Al JazeeraÕs coverage of Libya is biased. This is evident when one studies Al JazeeraÕs coverage of Bahrain, which has been restrained due to political ties between the leaders of Bahrain and Qatar.
Reports by Al Jazeera about Libyan jets firing on protesters in Tripoli and the major cities are unverified and questionable. [9] Here too, the reports that Libyan jets have been attacking people in the streets have not been verified. No visual evidence of the jet attacks has been shown, while visual confirmation about other events have been coming out of Libya.
Al Jazeera is not alone in its biased reporting from Libya. The Saudi media is also relishing the events in Libya. Asharq Al-Awsat is a paper that is strictly aligned to U.S. interests in the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region. Its editor-in-chief is now running editorials glorifying the Arab League for their decision to suspend Libya ­ why were such steps not taken for Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, or Yemen? Inside and outside the Arab World, the mainstream media is now creating the conditions for some sort of intervention in Libya.
(22) Castro & Chavez say US is fomenting unrest in Libya
http://www.voltairenet.org/article168600.html
25 FEBRUARY 2011
Venezuela: US behind Libyan violence VenezuelaÕs top diplomat has echoed Fidel CastroÕs accusation that Washington is fomenting unrest in Libya to justify an invasion to seize the North African nationÕs oil reserves.
Foreign minister Nicolas Maduro claimed the United States was trying to create a movement inside Libya aimed at toppling Muammar Gaddafi.
Maduro did not condemn or defend the violent crackdown on Libyans participating in the popular uprising against GaddafiÕs long rule.
He called for a peaceful solution to the upheaval in Libya and questioned the veracity of media reports on the bloody uprising, which has crept closer to GaddafiÕs stronghold in Tripoli.
ÒThey are creating conditions to justify an invasion of Libya,Ó Maduro said.
ÒLibya is going through difficult times, which should not be measured with information from imperial news agencies,Ó Maduro added, referring to Western media.
Gaddafi has been a close ally of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, and ChavezÕs political opponents have strongly criticised those close relations.
VenezuelaÕs leftist president said on Thursday: ÒViva Libya and its independence! Gadhafi is facing a civil war.Ó
It was the first time that Chavez had publicly referred to the violence in Libya.
On Tuesday, Castro, ChavezÕs mentor, said the unrest in Libya might be a pretext by the US to push for a Nato invasion.
Castro said in a column published by Cuban state media that it was too early to criticise Gaddafi. But he did urge protests against something that he claimed is planned: A US-led invasion to take control of LibyaÕs oil.
Venezuela and Libya are both members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Chavez, who has forged close ties with Gaddafi since taking office in 1999, has repeatedly accused Washington of conspiring to topple his own government. The self-proclaimed socialist says the United States wants to control VenezuelaÕs immense petroleum reserves.
US officials have scoffed at suggestions that Washington is plotting against VenezuelaÕs government.
Earlier on Thursday, Afif Tajeldine, VenezuelaÕs ambassador to Libya, said dozens of Venezuelans who were working in the country had been evacuated by their employers. At least 76 Venezuelans were living in Libya, the embassy said.
Tajeldine said they had all been staying at the embassy in the capital of Tripoli and only 13 remained on Thursday.
He described the capital as calm.
(23) "Progressives" paving the way for a US takeover of Libya?
From: Israel Shamir <adam@israelshamir.net> Date: 03.03.2011 02:32 AM
U.S. Prepares to Make Its Lunge at LibyaÕs Oil Fields
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford
BAR, March 2, 2011
http://blackagendareport.libsyn.com/u-s-prepares-to-make-its-lunge-at-libya-s-oil-fields
"It is time for the American anti-war movement to remember who is the biggest enemy of peace on planet Earth."
American progressives and peace forces have been in a state of joyous delirium in recent weeks as they experienced vicarious, televised popular victories in Tunisia and Egypt. Watching unarmed crowds achieve tentative victories against entrenched, U.S.-backed regimes produced a kind of giddiness on this side of the ocean ­ an otherworldly feeling that somehow, the foreign outposts of U.S. empire might suddenly disintegrate by popular demand. But now, the U.S. naval war machine lies off the coast of Libya, and it is time for the American anti-war movement ­ such as it is ­ to remember who is the biggest enemy of peace on planet Earth: U.S. imperialism.
It is certainly not Muamar Khadafi, no matter what you think of him. And the conflict that is raging in Libya seems in important ways very much unlike the events in Tunisia and Egypt. The anti-Khadafi forces were armed from almost the very beginning of the uprising, and included elements of the military. Unlike the opponents of EgyptÕs President Mubarak, we know very little about who these rebel Libyans are ­ except that they have been getting lots of material help from the Americans and the French and other Europeans. It is also becoming clearer by the day that a vicious, racist pogrom is raging against the 1.5 million sub-Saharan Black African migrant workers who do the hard jobs in Libya, work that is rejected by the relatively prosperous Libyans. Hundreds of Black migrant workers have already been killed by anti-Khadafi forces ­ yet the U.S. corporate media express absolutely no concern for their safety. One western report noted that large numbers of Black Africans were seized in Benghazi, and were assumed to have been hanged. That is a war crime, whether these men were soldiers or migrant workers, but the western correspondent seemed unconcerned. One suspects there are many atrocities occurring in the rebel-held areas of Libya, especially against people that are not members of the locally dominant tribe. Benghazi is not Harir Square, in Cairo.
"A vicious, racist pogrom is raging against the 1.5 million sub-Saharan Black African migrant workers who do the hard jobs in Libya."
How convenient that most of the Libyan voices we hear on corporate media call for armed western intervention. How in synch with the increasing American and European threats of "no-fly zones" and amphibious naval actions ­ all, of course, for humanitarian reasons, rather than having something to do with the fact that Libya is a major producer of some of the worldÕs sweetest crude oil.
American United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice, who is at least as warlike as Condoleezza Rice, is visibly eager to invade Libya under humanitarian pretexts. The U.S. is the last country in a moral position to criticize Khadafi for his treatment of Arab civilians. Remember Fallujah, the Iraqi city of a quarter million people that the U.S. leveled after first bombing its hospitals, inflicting many thousands of casualties. If most Americans don't remember Fallujah, the Arab world certainly does.
Many Americans that claim to be anti-war are actually just looking for a U.S. military action that is to their liking. Fortunately, the United National Anti-War Committee, UNAC, understands that U.S. imperialism is the ultimate enemy of peace, and says "no" to the U.S. invasion of Libya.
For Black Agenda Radio, I'm Glen Ford. On the web, go to www.BlackAgendaReport.com.
BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.
(24) Peter Singer calls for military intervention in Libya
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/singer72/English
Global Justice and Military Intervention
Peter Singer
March 1, 2011
MELBOURNE ­ The world has watched in horror as LibyaÕs Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi uses his military to attack protesters opposed to his rule, killing hundreds or possibly thousands of unarmed civilians. Many of his own men have refused to fire on their own people, instead defecting to the rebels or flying their planes to nearby Malta, so Qaddafi has called in mercenaries from neighboring countries who are more willing to obey his orders.
World leaders were quick to condemn QaddafiÕs actions. On February 26, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to impose an arms embargo on Libya, urge member nations to freeze assets owned by Qaddafi and his family, and refer the regimeÕs violence to the International Criminal Court for possible prosecution of those responsible.
This is the first time that the Security Council has unanimously referred a situation involving human rights violations to the International Criminal Court, and it is remarkable that countries that are not members of the Court ­ including the United States, Russia, and China ­ nevertheless supported the referral. The resolution can thus be seen as another incremental step towards the establishment of a global system of justice able to punish those who commit gross violations of human rights, regardless of their political or legal status in their own country.
Yet, in another way, the Security Council resolution was a disappointment. The situation in Libya became a test of how seriously the international community takes the idea of a responsibility to protect people from their rulers. The idea is an old one, but its modern form is rooted in the tragic failure to intervene in the Rwandan genocide in 1994. A subsequent UN inquiry concluded that as few as 2,500 properly trained military personnel could have prevented the massacre of 800,000 Tutsis.
Former US President Bill Clinton has said that the mistake he most regrets making during his presidency was his failure to push for intervention in Rwanda. Kofi Annan, who was then UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace-Keeping Operations, described the situation at the UN at the time as a Òterrible and humiliatingÓ paralysis.
When Annan became Secretary-General, he urged the development of principles that would indicate when it is justifiable for the international community to intervene to prevent gross violations of human rights. In response, CanadaÕs government established an International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, which recommended that military intervention could be justified, as an extraordinary measure, where large-scale loss of life is occurring or imminent, owing to deliberate state action or the stateÕs refusal or failure to act. These principles were endorsed by the UN General Assembly at its special World Summit in 2005 and discussed again in 2009, with an overwhelming majority of states supporting them.
The principle fits the situation in Libya today. Yet the Security Council resolution contains no mention of the possibility of military intervention ­ not even the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent Qaddafi from using planes to attack protesters.
One body with a special concern to transform the idea of the responsibility to protect into a cause for action is the Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect, at the City University of New York. It has called on UN members to uphold their 2005 commitments and put the responsibility to protect into action in Libya. It urges consideration of a range of measures, several of which were covered by the Security Council resolution, but also including a no-fly zone.
In addition to arguing that the responsibility to protect can justify military intervention, the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty recommended a set of precautionary principles. For example, military intervention should be a last resort, and the consequences of action should not be likely to be worse than the consequences of inaction.
Whether these precautionary principles are satisfied in Libya requires expert judgment of the specifics of the situation. No one wants another drawn-out war like those in Iraq and Afghanistan. But Libya is not Iraq or Afghanistan ­ its population is only about one-fifth of either countryÕs, and there is a strong popular movement for a democratic form of government. Assuming that foreign military forces rapidly overwhelmed QaddafiÕs troops, they would soon be able to withdraw and leave the Libyan people to decide their own future.
At the time of writing, it is arguable that other sanctions or threats, short of military intervention, would be sufficient to deter more widespread bloodshed. Perhaps the rebels and the sanctions can overthrow Qaddafi unaided, without great loss of life. It is also unclear whether military intervention would cause more deaths than it prevented.
But these are questions that the international community needs to ask, and that the Security Council should have been discussing, so that the principle of the responsibility to protect ­ and its possible implications for military action ­ become part of our understanding of the requirements of international law and global ethics.
Peter Singer is Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne. His most recent book is The Life You Can Save.
(25) I.S.O. Trots arrested for plotting Egypt style protest in Zimbabwe
http://www.bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-national-byo-1492-article-46+Arrested+for+plotting+Egypt+style+protest+in+Zimbabwe.html
46 Arrested for plotting Egypt style protest in Zimbabwe
by Byo24NEWS
2011 February 21 11:44:59 | 880 Views
On Saturday the Harare police arrested 46 people for allegedly trying to organise an Egypt style protest through the internet's social media. Included in the accused 46 is former Highfield MDC MP Munyaradzi Gwisai.
Police confirmed the arrests and said 46 people were rounded up at an undisclosed place in central Harare on Saturday.
Harare provincial police spokesperson Inspector James Sabau declined to disclose the exact location where the arrests were made.
He said the suspects had organised a meeting where they played video footage of the Egypt uprising allegedly "to inspire and motivate people to demonstrate against the government".
Sabau said the 46 were arrested on Saturday after Gwisai, an official of the International Socialist Organisation (ISO), invited people from the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the Zimbabwe National StudentsÕ Union (Zinasu) and other unions to attend the meeting.
"On February 19 it is said Gwisai invited people from ZCTU, students from Zinasu, Medical Professionals and Allied WorkersÕ Union and International Socialist Organisation to attend a meeting with a theme - ISO calls on workers, students and the working people to support the struggle in solidarity with Egyptian and Tunisian workers," said Sabau.
"The agenda of the meeting was the revolt in Egypt and Tunisia - what lessons can be learnt for the working class in Zimbabwe and Africa.
"Videos of the uprising in Egypt and revolts in Tunisia were being shown to the guests who attended as a way to motivate the people to subvert a constitutionally-elected government."
Sabau said police would not allow any plots to take Zimbabwe the Egypt way and would clamp down mercilessly on plotters of any revolts.
"It has been said before by our commanders and I will also say it that the Egyptian style (revolution) has no place in Zimbabwe and it will not take place here. We have responsible citizens as compared to the irresponsible citizens in other countries - hence it (revolt) will not work," he said.
The police spokesperson declined to disclose where the arrested people were being detained saying they were being held somewhere "within Harare" and that they would appear in court "soon".
A lawyer representing the 46, Marufu Mandevere, however said his clients were being held at Harare Central Police Station and they would probably appear in court Monday.
Mandevere said Gwisai and others were arrested in the city while they were holding a lecture.
"The arrested deny the allegations and say they were just having an academic debate where they were having discussions with the people who attended the function," said Mandevere.
Source: Byo24NEWS
(26) International Criminal Court launches probe of Gadhafi
Published 17 minutes ago
By Olivia Ward Foreign Affairs Reporter
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/948536--international-criminal-court-launches-probe-of-gadhafi
As Moammar GadhafiÕs army hurled bombs and bullets at opposition-held towns in eastern Libya, the worldÕs top prosecutor launched an investigation of possible crimes against humanity and warned that neither the brutal strongman nor his sons and supporters would be immune to justice.
ÒIf forces under their command commit crimes, they could be criminally responsible,Ó the International Criminal CourtÕs prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told reporters Thursday at The Hague. ÒNo one has the authority to attack and massacre civilians.Ó
Though the prosecutor did not mention the suspects by name, they included seven of GadhafiÕs inner circle: among them his national security advisor (his son Mutassim) and the commander of the 32nd battalion (his son Khamis).
(27) China on guard against protests inspired by uprisings in North Africa & MidEast
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/05/china-unrest-idUSTOE72400920110305
China internal security spending jumps past army budget
Sat Mar 5, 2011 4:55am EST
By Chris Buckley
BEIJING, March 5 (Reuters) - China's spending on police and domestic surveillance will hit new heights this year, with "public security" outlays unveiled on Saturday outstripping the defence budget for the first time as Beijing cracks down on protest calls.
China's ruling Communist Party also issued its loudest warning yet against recent Internet-spread calls for "Jasmine Revolution" protest gatherings inspired by popular uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East. ...
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