Two major military raids in the newer parts of
the American empire, Somalia and Libya, this past weekend made headlines when
American forces attempted to kill or capture individuals deemed to be linked with various Al Qaeda "affiliates" (i.e., any and everyone accused of anything).
The raid in Somalia was unsuccessful but in Libya, it resulted in the capture of Abu Anas Al-Libi, who unusually may be brought back to the US for trial in connection with the 1998 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
But who are the people (American terrorists, militants, warlords, Pentagon officials, CIA operatives) conducting these raids, and why are they acceptable to us the American public given that there is no congressional dialogue much less formal debate about them?
By attempting to answer this question, there came about a remarkable film called Dirty Wars: The WORLD is a Battlefield. Written by investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill and filmed and directed by filmmaker Richard Rowley, "Dirty Wars" explores the shadowy world of US military terror stemming from tens of thousands of night raids on civilians, uncounted collateral drone bombings, presidential kill-lists, and extrajudicial assassinations.
What started out as an investigation into a mysterious night raid in Gardez, Afghanistan, where innocent Afghan women and men were killed, ended up uncovering a covert force known as the Joint Special Operations Command or JSOC, which operates in countries like Yemen and Somalia (and anywhere around the world) where there has been no declaration of war.
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Pretending Osama "Emmanuel Goldstein" bin Laden was still alive then assassinating him for a media win, then burying the evidence of the mistake at sea. CIA Psy Ops 1, World 0. |
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Mouthpiece for military-industrial complex
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As Scahill and Rowley worked on the film, President Obama bragged about the assassination of Osama bin Laden, suddenly making
JSOC one of the most talked about military units in the media.
What is most disturbing about the idea of a small unit of highly trained killers that answer directly to any president in the White House is that
US citizens are being targeted, minors are being targeted, and some targets have actually committed no crime other than to exercise their right to free speech.
More
- VIDEO: Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield As the Senate holds its first-ever public hearing on drones and targeted
killings, DN! turns to journalist Jeremy Scahill, who charts the expanding covert wars operated by the CIA and JSOC, the "Joint Special Operations Command," in countries from Somalia to Pakistan, including the US homeland. "I called it 'Dirty Wars' because..."
- LIVE: Chris Hedges coming to Santa Monica
- Lavabit: Refusing to give FBI "unrestricted" email access
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1984-style spying |
In August, Lavabit became the
first technology firm to shut down rather than disclose information to
the U.S. government. Owner Ladar Levison closed his encrypted
email company after refusing to comply with a government effort to tap
his customers’ private information. It has now been confirmed the FBI
was targeting National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden, who used
Lavabit’s services. But Levison says that instead of just targeting
Snowden, the government effectively wanted access to the accounts of
400,000 other Lavabit customers....
- LIVE OCT 19: Amy Goodman at L.A. Green Festival Host of Democracy Now! Amy Goodman speaks at this year’s Los Angeles Green Festival, followed by a book signing of her latest book, The Silenced Majority: Stories of Uprisings, Occupations, Resistance, and Hope. Website
Saturday, Oct. 2013, 2:00 pm
LA Mart, 1933 Broadway #850,
Los Angeles, CA 90007 (map)
- LIVE OCT 24: Boston, Honoring Women of Action
- LIVE NOV 07: San Francisco Green Festival
- VIDEO: Jeremy Scahill on JSOC war on Yemen and US citizens From drone strikes to massacres, secret U.S. military
actions inside Yemen are exposed in "Dirty Wars: The World is a
Battlefield," the new book (published in April) and documentary film by Jeremy Scahill and Rick Rowley, which
opened this summer. Why Yemen, why kill American citizens for drone strikes? DN! speaks with Scahill about two key Yemenis
profiled in the film.
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