Archives: Articles

There are two dogmas that neoclassical economists must never publicly doubt lest they be defrocked by their professional priesthood: first, that growth in GDP is always good and is the solution to most problems; second, that free international trade is mutually beneficial thanks to the growth-promoting principle of comparative advantage. These two cracked pillars “support” nearly all the policy advice given by mainstream economists to governments.

Even such a clear thinker as Paul Krugman never allows his usually admirable New York Times column to question these most sacred of all tenets. And yet in less than 1,000 words the two dogmas can easily be shown to be wrong by just looking at observable facts and the first principles of classical economics. Pause, and calmly consider the following:

(1) Growth in all micro-economic units (firms and households) is subject to the “when to stop rule” of optimization, namely stop when rising marginal cost equals declining marginal benefit. Why does this not also apply to growth of the matter-energy throughput that sustains the macro-economy, the aggregate of all firms and households? And since real GDP is the best statistical index we have of aggregate throughput, why does it not roughly hold for growth in GDP? It must be because economists see the economy as the whole system, growing into the void — not as a subsystem of the finite and non-growing ecosphere from which the economy draws resources (depletion) and to which it returns wastes (pollution). When the economy grows in terms of throughput, or real GDP, it gets bigger relative to the ecosystem and displaces ever more vital ecosystem functions. Why do economists assume that it can never be too big, that such aggregate growth can never at the margin result in more illth than wealth? Perhaps illth is invisible because it has no market price. Yet, as a joint product of wealth, illth is everywhere: nuclear wastes, the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, gyres of plastic trash in the oceans, the ozone hole, biodiversity loss, climate change from excess carbon in the atmosphere, depleted mines, eroded topsoil, dry wells, exhausting and dangerous labor, exploding debt, etc. Economists claim that the solution to poverty is more growth — without ever asking if growth still makes us richer, as it did back when the world was empty, or if it has begun to make us poorer in a world that is now too full of us and our stuff. This is a threatening question, because if growth has become uneconomic then the solution to poverty becomes sharing now, not growth in the future. Sharing is now called “class warfare.”

(2) Countries whose growth has pushed their ecological footprint beyond their geographic boundaries into the ecosystems of other countries are urged by mainline economists to continue to do so under the flag of free trade and specialization according to comparative advantage. Let the rest of the world export resources to us, and we will pay with exports of capital, patented technology, copyrighted entertainment, and financial services. Comparative advantage guarantees that we will all be better off (and grow more) if everyone specializes in producing and exporting only what they are relatively better at, and importing everything else. The logic of comparative advantage is impeccable, given its premises. However, one of its premises is that capital, while mobile within nations, does not flow between nations. But in today’s world capital is even more mobile between countries than goods, so it is absolute, not comparative advantage that really governs specialization and trade. Absolute advantage still yields gains from specialization and trade, but they need not be mutual as under comparative advantage — i.e., one country can lose while the other gains. “Free trade” really means “deregulated international commerce” — similar to deregulated finance in justification and effect. Furthermore, specialization, if carried too far, means that trade becomes a necessity. If a country specializes in producing only a few things then it must trade for everything else. Trade is no longer voluntary. If trade is not voluntary then there is no reason to expect it to be mutually beneficial, and another premise of free trade falls. If economists want to keep the world safe for free trade and comparative advantage they must limit capital mobility internationally; if they want to keep international capital mobility they must back away from comparative advantage and free trade. Which do they do? Neither. They seem to believe that if free trade in goods is beneficial, then by extension free trade in capital (and other factors) must be even more beneficial. And if voluntary trade is mutually beneficial, then what is the harm in making it obligatory? How does one argue with people who use the conclusion of an argument to deny the argument’s premises? Their illogic is invincible!

Like people who can’t see certain colors, maybe neoclassical economists are just blind to growth-induced illth and to destruction of national community by global integration via free trade and free capital mobility. But how can an “empirical science” miss two red elephants in the same room? And how can economic theorists, who make a fetish of advanced mathematics, persist in such elementary logical errors?

If there is something wrong with these criticisms then some neoclassical colleague ought to straighten me out. Instead they lamely avoid the issue with attacks on nameless straw men who supposedly advocate poverty and isolationism. Of course rich is better than poor — the question is, does growth any longer make us richer, or have we passed the optimum scale at which it begins to make us poorer? Of course trade is better than isolation and autarky. But deregulated trade and capital mobility lead away from reasonable interdependence among many separate national economies that mutually benefit from voluntary trade, to the stifling specialization of a world economy so tightly integrated by global corporations that trade becomes, “an offer you can’t refuse.”

Will standard economists ever pull the plug on brain-dead dogmas?

By Herman Daly

11 February 2012

@ Daly News

Herman Daly is an American ecological economist and professor at the School of Public Policy of University of Maryland, College Park in the United States. He was Senior Economist in the Environment Department of the World Bank, where he helped to develop policy guidelines related to sustainable development. He is closely associated with theories of a Steady state economy. He is a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award and the NCSE Lifetime Achievement Award.

I’ve long thought that the red line that would indicate an intolerable assault on Asia and her assets runs through Iran. However, at the moment I’m not so sure. What I mean is, that a war with Iran, once initiated, would eventually draw in all of the Middle East, and then China and Russia. I still believe that is true. And God knows, the current game of chicken in the Persian Gulf is certainly looking very threatening. With two American Carrier Groups including several French and British ships and, most likely, a couple of Israeli nuclear subs, along with a third US Carrier outfitted as a Forward Operating Base, the risk of an accident alone is enough to set one’s nerves on edge. Meanwhile the Iranians are conducting joint exercises in the straits of Hormuz with Oman. It is, after all, the Persian Gulf. The Western fleets are purportedly there to keep the Gulf free for oil traffic. I would argue that filling the Gulf with warships is not conducive to peaceful trade relations.

But, while all eyes are on Iran, and we are deafened by the din of Iranophobic threats and tirades, the situation in Syria continues to boil, in fact, has begun to boil over. The population is increasingly caught up in the internal violence. With all the big international players are becoming more and more engaged in the struggle, diplomacy on Syria has come to a standoff. The UN representatives of concerned parties have lost patience with the process and with one another, and their communications have become increasingly harsh and bitter. Inside Syria, the government is openly warring with the Free Syrian Army and their associates in neighborhoods ins and around the city of Homs. Outraged newscasts of atrocities in the mainstream media are appropriate except for one tiny detail. They neglect to mention that the armed opposition is the reason for the fire fight, and that it was armed by our allies in the region, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Israel with our blessing and most likely our assistance. A Russian Carrier Group is now docked at Tartous, along with a couple of Iranian Warships, permitted by the new Egyptian SCAF + Muslim Brotherhood Government to take the short route to the Mediterranean through the Red Sea and the Suez. This is a tinder box waiting for a match.

Even China has joined the fray with a special diplomatic mission now in Damascus advising the Assad government. Russia has opted out of the ‘Friends of Syria’ meeting where the ‘international community’ will discuss how best to support the opposition in the country. Their statement is docked in Tartous. But the firefight in Homs has provided ammunition to the Imperial propaganda machine that is priceless. It is refined so that only the Assad government is responsible for the disaster. We hear the voices of those under fire, and it breaks our hearts. But the broad context of the disaster is viewed as a support system for the oppressed rather than a cold blooded initiative to use them as pawns on the world chessboard. The fact that external forces are exacerbating and prolonging the violence is never mentioned. The possibility of mediated diplomacy is dismissed. The government’s claims that they are under attack by international enemies are ridiculed in the same reports where that attack is righteously supported.

The question isn’t whether the people aren’t suffering or that they don’t have legitimate complaints. Of course they are and they do. The question is whether violent civil war is the best or only way to protect their interests and guarantee their rights. I want to suggest that violence and war are not, and would not in any context be the best approach to achieving justice, peace and prosperity. Meanwhile, the problem of a legitimate government to replace the Assad regime clearly frames the fallacy of this approach. It is assumed that, just as it has been for the last 100 years, whomever the Western Masters choose to put in power will be supported by the locals. Since the majority of the Syrian army is loyal to the government, this is a questionable assumption. The Syrians know this and so, nationally, the support for maintaining the present power structure and engaging in negotiations that lead to better governance is relatively strong. However this stance is slowly eroding under the combination of real damage from the firefights and the associated flood of propaganda. In other words, violence begets violence.

Since the Western Gods choose to oppose diplomacy on all fronts, their proxies will fight on to the last man and the circle chaos and destruction will continue to spiral outwards. While the majority of us in the west spin around wildly unrealistic election debates and lament the fate of our Syrian sisters and brothers, or cheer the most intransigent factions of the opposition in Syria, the risk is growing that the Immortals (our governments) and their minions (us) will be swept up in the fire storm they have nurtured and fed with the hopes and dreams, as well as the flesh and bone of the Syrian people.

By Judy Bello

24 February 2012

@ Countercurrents.org

Judy Bello is currently a full time activist thanks to the harsh and unforgiving work environment in the Software Development Industry. Finally free to focus on her own interests in her home office, she is active with The Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars, and with Fellowship of Reconciliation Middle East Task Force. She has been to Iran twice with FOR Peace Delegations, and spent a month in the Kurdish city of Suleimaniya in 2009. Her personal blog, Towards a Global Perspective, is at http://blog.papillonweb.net and she is administersthe Upstate anti-Drone Coalition website at http://upstatedroneaction.org

From International Action Center – IACenter.org: Build this movement! Stop another war! Spread the word!

NOW in 79 Cities –

FEB 4 MASS ACTIONS Demanding:

NO War! NO Sanctions! NO Intervention! NO Assassinations against IRAN

(Alphabetical order by State in US, then other dates and countries listed)

1.     Huntsville, AL 10am, Whitesburg and Airport, 5001 Whitesburg Drive

2.     Phoenix, AZ, 2pm at Cesar Chavez Plaza, 200 W Washington.

3.     Tucson, AZ 6pm at Unitarian Universalist Church, 4831 E. 22 St.

4.     Los Angeles, CA 2 pm at Westwood Fed Building, next to UCLA campus.

5.     Los Angeles, CA Noon at Wilshire & Western Metro Stop.

6.     Palm Springs, CA 101 S. Palm Canyon Drive

7.     San Francisco, CA, Noon at Powell & Market, BART Plaza

8.     Sacramento, CA Noon, Demonstration at 16th & J Streets

9.     Truckee, CA Noon, at Donner Pass Rd/ Highway 89.

10.  Colorado Springs, CO, Acacia Park 115 E. Platte Ave

11.  New Haven, CT 11:00am at New Haven Green, 141 Church St

12.  Tampa, FL, Noon March on McDill Air Force Base-CentComm, Rally at Gandy Bivd. & Dale Mabry Highway

13.  Atlanta, GA 4:30 – 5:30pm at CNN Center, Marietta & Centennial Olympic Park.

14.  Honolulu, HI 7pm in Heart of Waikiki, Kalakaua Ave & Seaside Ave

15.  Des Moines, IA 6pm at Nollen Plaza, Des Moines Civic Center, 221 Walnut St

16.  Chicago, IL Noon at Federal Plaza

17.  Champaign-Urbana, IL 2pm at Neil and Main St.

18.  Highland, IN Highway of the Flags Veterans Memorial SE corner Indianapolis Blvd & Ridge Rd

19.  Wichita, KS Wichita Public Library, Main and William

20.  Boston, MA 1pm at Tremont & Park St, March to Israeli consulate & Copley Square

21.  Detroit MI 2pm at Grand Circus Park – Woodward Ave at Adams.

22.  Kalamazoo, MI 4pm, March from Urban Blend Coffeehouse, 14 N Burdick St.

23.  Kochville MI 12 noon at Bay Rd & Tittabawassee Rd.

24.  Grand Rapids, MN 12 noon, Peace vigil at Pokegama Avenue Bridge

25.  Minneapolis, MN 3 pm at 3rd St & Cedar Avenue South.

26.  Omaha, NE 72nd and Dodge Dodge St & S 72nd St

27.  Brevard, NC Noon, Transylvania Courthouse Lawn, E. Main Street & N. Broad St.

28.  Jersey City, NJ 2:30pm Vietnam Veterans Community Center, Central Ave & Manhattan Ave, then

March.

29.  Montclair, NJ 10:30am, Near corner of South Fullerton Ave.

30.  Plymouth, NH Weekly Plymouth Common Peace Vigil,Plymouth Town Common.

31.  Albuquerque, NM 1pm, Assemble at UNM Bookstore Corner of Central and Cornell

32.  Albany NY Noon at Wolf Road & Central Ave, March 1pm to mall recruiting station.

33.  Buffalo, NY 3pm at City Hall Square, then marching.

34.  Delhi, NY Town Square, across from Delaware County Office Building

35.  NYC, NY 1pm at North end of Times Square – Duffy Square.  March to the US & Israeli missions to UN.

36.  Rochester, NY 11am at The Public Market, 280 North Union Street

37.  Saratoga, NY Noon at Broadway by Post Office, Weekly Vigil Site.

38.  Syracuse, NY 1:30pm, Fayette St. and Salina St.

39.  Cincinnati, OH 2pm, Piatt Park, E. 8th St and Vine St.

40.  Columbus, OH 4pm at 15th St. & N. High St.

41.  Defiance, OH Noon at Defiance County Courthouse, 221 Clinton Street

42.  Tulsa, OK Noon at Southwest Corner of 41st and Yale Ave,

43.  Astoria, OR Noon, The Post Office in Astoria, 8th and Commercial

44.  Harrisburg, PA Noon at State Capitol Steps, 3rd Street Side at North & Walnut

45.  Lewisburg, PA 2pmm Post Office 3rd and Market St.

46.  Philadelphia PA Noon at 5th & Market, Independence Hall.

47.  Rock Hill, SC 7pm at Byrnes Auditorium at Winthrop University, 701 Oakland Ave.

48.  Nashville, TN 2pm, Teach-in / Rally at Legislative Plaza, 6th Ave. between Charlotte & Union

49.  Amarillo, TX 3pm, NE corner of Elwood Park then march to Congressman Thornberry’s office at 905 S. Fillmore

50.  Austin, TX 1pm, Intersection of 6th St. and Lamar Blvd.

51.  Dallas, TX 3:30pm, Rally at Harry Moss Park, SE corner of Greenville Ave & Royal Lane

52.  Houston TX 3:30pm Westheimer & Post Oak

53.  Waco, TX 1pm, Valley Mills & Waco Drive

54.  Salt Lake City, UT 3pm at Downtown Federal Building, 125 S. State St

55.  Blacksburg VA Noon at Federal Building.

56.  Norfolk, VA 1pm at City Hall Ave at Saint Paul Blvd.

57.  Richmond VA, 2pm Main Post Office.

58.  Seattle, WA 1:30 at Westlake Center, March to Military processing center.

59.  Madison, WI 3pm, State St. and the Capitol, 2 E. Main Street

60.  Milwaukee, WI Noon  at East Capitol Dr. Bridge just east of Capitol Ave & Humbold Blvd.

61.  Green Bay, WI Noon at Lambeau Field.

62.  Racine, WI 10am NW Corner of Highways 20 & 31

63.  Washington DC Noon at Lafayette Square, White House

Feb 02 NO War on Iran Actions

1.     Bloomington, IL 5:30pm at Center for the Performing Arts 600 East Street

2.     Oklahoma City, OK, 4:30pm at Gold Dome corner, 1112 Northwest 23rd Street

FEB 3 NO War on Iran Actions

1.     Baltimore, MD. 5pm McKelvin Sq, Pratt & Light Street

2.     Raleigh, NC 4:30pm Federal Building, 310 New Bern Ave

3.     Nashville TN 2pm, Nashville Legislative Plaza, 6th Ave & Deaderick St.

Feb 5

Vista, CA 2pm ,Vista Village Dr. and S. Santa Fe

Feb 12 Portland, OR 3pm The Corner of Salmon St and Park Ave SW

Other Countries organizing for NO War on Iran actions on Feb 4:

Canada F

1.           Calgary, AB 11am,Consulate General of USA, 615 Macleod Trail S.E., 10th Floor

2.           Lethbridge, AB 2pm, City Hall, 910 4th Ave. South

3.          Vancouver,BC: Picket and rally in front of US consulate, downtown, 3-6pm

Bangaldesh capital Dacca rally and march;

India message of actions in several cities including Calcutta.

Ireland at Shannon Air Base, forward base for NATO,

Norway, Oslo, Rally initiated by Iranians in Diaspora, Supported by Peace Initative Norway, Party Red & others.

UK Leeds, University of Leeds 8pm, Parkinson Steps Woodhouse Lane Leeds Sydney Town Hall 483 George Street

Let us know if you are also planning an action on Feb 4 or On the Feb 4 weekend and we will also post it, so that others can link up with you.

Or join a local action listed above.

BUILD FEB. 4 EMERGENCY DEMONSTRATION TO STOP U.S. WAR AGAINST IRAN

NO WAR!  NO SANCTIONS! NO INTERVENTION! NO ASSASSINATIONS

A broad spectrum of U.S.-based anti-imperialist and anti-war organizations, including the IAC, agreed on a Jan. 17 conference call to hold coordinated protests across the country on Saturday, Feb. 4. The demands will be: “No war, no sanctions, no intervention, no assassinations against Iran.”

The ad-hoc group that took part in the call decided that although there are only two weeks to organize, it will invite anti-war forces around the world to join in to make this emergency protest a global day of action.

All agreed on the need to stop U.S. imperialism and/or Israel from launching a military attack on Iran. There was also a consensus that the new sanctions President Barack Obama signed into law on Dec. 31 — with the goal of breaking the Iranian central bank — were themselves an act of war aimed at the Iranian people. The political activists on the call raised the danger of a wider war should fighting break out in or around Iran.

While the organizations involved had varied assessments of the Iranian government, they all saw any intervention from U.S. imperialism in the Southwest Asian country as a threat to the entire region and to peace. Some of the people on the call who are originally from Iran and who were in touch with family and friends there conveyed the Iranian people’s anger at the recent assassination of a young scientist.

There was agreement to make “no assassinations” one of the demands to show solidarity with the Iranian population as well as to condemn the U.S. and its allies for criminal activities against Iran and its people.

As of Jan. 19, the organizations that called the actions or endorsed later included the United National Anti-War Coalition (UNAC), the International Action Center (IAC), SI! Solidarity with Iran, Refugee Apostolic Catholic Church, Workers World Party, World Can’t Wait, American Iranian Friendship Committee, the Campaign Against Sanctions & Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII). ANSWER Coalition, Antiwar.com, Peace of the Action, ComeHomeAmerica.us, St. Pete for Peace, Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality-Virginia, WESPAC Foundation, Peace Action Maine, Occupy Myrtle Beach, Minnesota Peace Action Coalition, Twin Cities Peace Campaign and Bail Out the People Movement (BOPM).

Individual endorsers include authors David Swanson, “When the World Outlawed War,” and Phil Wilayto, “In Defense of Iran: Notes from a U.S. Peace Delegation’s Journey through the Islamic Republic”; and U.N. Human Rights Award winner Ramsey Clark, a former U.S. attorney general.

The list is expected to grow steadily as word spreads. Right now people can follow developments on the Facebook link: 
No War On Iran: National Day of Action Feb 4,

Visit StopWarOnIran.org

“We have to fight. We can’t let pessimism win. It’s our duty”, Fidel Castro said.

This call to duty comes from the person who, long ago, in a court of trial quoted Martí: “A true man does not seek the path where advantage lies, but rather, the path where duty lies […]” (Fidel Castro, “History will absolve me”) Of this person, Tad Szulc observes: “Cuban and world history would have evolved differently had this single individual been less determined […]” (Fidel: A Critical Portrait) And, of the same person, Raul Castro told: “The most important feature of Fidel’s character is that he will not accept defeat.” (Herbert Matthews, Castro: A Political Biography)

So, today, Fidel describes the current world period as “harsh and difficult, with everyone asking each other what to do […]”. In terms of the enemy, the aspect that concerns him most is that “they believe that they are in control, they try to impose things, but they are not in control. Nobody really knows what is happening.” Elucidating the point Fidel cited the situation related to Iran. “The principal truth is the danger of war”, he said. Fidel warned: “[T]he most dangerous aspect is that enemy forces are less and less in control of the terrible forces and processes which they have unleashed. This is the situation of the United States and Europe in Afghanistan and Iraq, where they can neither stay nor go.” (Arleen Rodríguez and Rosa Míriam Elizalde, “Nine Hours of Dialogue with the Leader of the Revolution”, Feb. 14, 2012)

Fidel reiterated the need to keep people informed, (emphasis, here and henceforth, added) another news agency report said.

Fidel Castro was having a discussion in Havana. A Reuters news said: Fidel had a nine-hour discussion with intellectuals.

The meeting, “Encounter of Intellectuals for Peace and Environmental Conservation”, was participated by more than hundred laureates in literature, history and social and natural sciences, eminent thinkers from 21 countries and Cuba including Cervantes Prize (the most prestigious literary award in the Spanish-speaking world) 2005 winner prominent Mexican writer, translator and diplomat Sergio Pitol, and Nobel Peace Prize (1980) laureate Argentine sculptor, architect and pacifist Adolfo Pérez Esquivel. They were attending the 21st International Book Fair of Havana. The discussions covered issues including the state of the world, possible extinction of humanity, exhaustion of the planet’s natural resources, perversions of media transnationals, military and mind control devices, and the 85-year-old comandante’s health. An intimate Fidel gave full attention to all the speakers during these 540 minutes with two brief recesses. (Arleen and Rosa, op. cit.)

“He is the same Fidel as always”, said Ignacio Ramonet, author of Cien horas con Fidel (One Hundred Hours with Fidel), Spanish journalist, writer and former editor-in-chief of Le Monde diplomatique. The revolutionary’s inexhaustible curiosity was there. As the participants were expressing ideas, Fidel’s thoughts were live with expression; there was his habitual gesture – touching face with index finger or reflectively stroking his beard. (Arleen and Rosa, op. cit.)

Daniel Chavarría, the Uruguayan-Cuban revolutionary, writer, and winner of the National Literature Prize, mentioned Fidel’s capacity for being ahead of events, of being a type of “historical prophesier”, a “tactical pessimist and strategic optimist”. Chavarría wanted Fidel “to say whether, in a world at the point of going to the winds and with […] enormous problem […] he should be alarmed or stay calm. Fidel unhesitatingly replied, ‘In order to remain calm you have to think about the problem and fight against it.’ One of the best ways of helping the act of ‘thinking about the problem’ is to provide peoples with as much information as possible.” (ibid.)

Stella Calloni, Argentine journalist and writer, cited the frightening silence of media and part of the left in the face of colonial wars unleashed one after another since 2001 and those threatening to follow the script in Syria and Iran. She called for greater coordination on the Defense of Humanity network. “If we cannot stop these wars, they will come down on us later […] Silence on the part of intellectuals, never again”, she said. Frei Betto, author of the book Fidel and Religion, urged to generate projects, not only outrage, because it is not enough to address global injustice. (ibid.)

Award-winning Argentine journalist, novelist and politician Miguel Bonasso raised a burning issue: The latest British colonial aggression in the Malvinas. Fidel observed: “They have no choice but to negotiate and leave. What they have done is totally brazen: they even dispatched a destroyer and a helicopter with the Prince as a pilot. The Americans definitely won’t be very happy about that. The situation is not one of war, but pressure has to put on them.” “Pinochet’s no longer here; he was the one who helped the British in their last war on Argentina. They are desperate, and that’s the way in which they reacted when Uruguay recently vetoed the entry of a British ship flying the Malvinas flag. They have no business there, the only option left open to them is to leave”, Fidel said. (ibid.)

The dialogue turned amazing as Brazilian Marilia Guimaraes informed that architect Oscar Niemeyer, a friend of Fidel, is now 104 years of age. “His mind is extremely lucid and he often asks after ‘the 85-year-old boy.’” An amused Fidel asked “Why don’t we make a genetic study of him?” He wanted to know from German Harri Grünberg the way Germany plans to replace nuclear energy. Santiago Alba Rico, “Arab by adoption and a homeless European who, like many others, moves about defending Cuba”, was asked questions on the post-revolt situation in Tunisia – Rico’s present place of residence – its economy, agriculture, and its wine and date production. This led Frei Betto to comment: “Many people here, like Santiago Alba have experienced what an oral test in a Jesuit school means. It’s hard. That’s where Fidel comes from.” (ibid.)

Famous author of juvenile and youth literature Carlos Frabetti referred to advertising: “Advertising tries to convince us that happiness is possessing more than others, when happiness is having more with others.” Children are the most vulnerable to advertising, he said. Frabetti congratulated Cuba for not being subjected to this aggression while Europeans can receive up to 1,000 advertising impacts every day. He said children living under constant consumer stimulus turn frustrated and react aggressively. Fidel expressed his aversion to advertising, which the Cuban Revolution has never utilized, not even as a means of testifying to its positive actions. (ibid.)

Everything that Cuba has done for other peoples was without any desire for competitiveness, publicity or propaganda, Fidel said. He affirmed: The spirit of solidarity is part of the foundations of the Revolution that triumphed in January of 1959. In those years, Cuba had 6,000 doctors. Many of them left for the US when the economic and political blockade was imposed. However, at the same time, some of the professionals who joined the revolutionary process were also prepared to go to Algeria to help that country. “Thus Cuba’s internationalist tradition began”, Fidel noted. He recalled that “the initial aid for Angola was transported in the old Britannia aircraft that we had. We did it without seeking any limelight.” Experience was added to these principles, intertwined with what Fidel called “an honorable politics, not exempt from errors, but honorable.” He added, “The ideas which we defend are based on experience, they are not simply imaginings. We have experienced them.” (ibid.)

Honor and dignity are fundamental and uncompromising issues to Fidel. Even his class enemies fail to deny it while they refer to Fidel and Cuba. The revolutionary, whose struggle transgresses centuries, initiating in the twentieth century and continuing in the twenty-first century, stands for honesty, honor and dignity since the initial days of his revolutionary activities, since the days of his dream to “revolutionize [Cuba] from top to bottom” (Fidel, My Early Years, “Letters from prison, 1953-55”, April 15, 1954)

Fidel praised the Telesur network […] “for working very seriously and professionally […]” “I like Telesur very much”, he said. On ways to confront lies by the enemy’s powerful media, he said he no longer bothered these lies. “The problem is not in the lies they say, but that we cannot prevent them. What we are looking at today is how we ourselves state the truth.” The key, according to Fidel, is to inform. He praised Telesur’s approach and its lack of advertisements that bombard media users almost everywhere in the world. (Arleen and Rosa, op. cit.)

“[T]oday, information within the media system operates like merchandise”, affirmed Ignacio Ramonet, Spanish writer and journalist. “[T]here are many free daily newspapers today […] How is it that a system which is always so concerned about benefit, is making the circulation of information free of charge? Because these days, the information trade does not consist of selling information to people, but in selling people advertising [….I]nformation is a strategic raw material [….M]edia power […] can only be conceived of as the twin of financial power [.…T]his media-financial link is more powerful than political power […P]olitical leaders have less power than before and the media is taking advantage of this weakening and the absence of authority to attack on behalf of objectives set by the financial power”, he added. (ibid.)

Fidel observed the abuse of technology that intrudes people’s privacy. “All aspects of their personal lives are explored and this surveillance is being carried out by those who consider themselves champions of individual rights.” He joked about certain people still believing in code and commented that the Yankee secret in wars has always been to know these codes. He went on to talk about devices already at the advanced research stage which can transmit electricity through appliances of barely one atom in height, from drone aircraft, and of the possibility of making soldiers subconsciously react to electronic orders more rapidly than by traditional means. The persons inventing them, he noted, “are going beyond insanity”. (ibid.)

Argentine writer Vicente Battista, Salvadorian playwright Lina Cerritos and the Culture ministers of Angola, Ecuador and Jamaica referred to cultural resistance, standing up to domination, environmental conservation, and the importance of discussing ideas. (ibid.)

Bonasso recalled with emotion a February day of 2006, when Fidel wrote the following dedication on the first page of a book which he was given: “With great hope in youth and that the world will continue to exist”. He narrated another incident on one night in Havana’s Palace of the Revolution, just after the earthquake in northern Pakistan in October 2005. The decision to send a Cuban medical team to the aid of the victims was taken on that night. Bonasso recalled that Fidel said, “The winter and the cold are coming now and thousands upon thousands of people have lost their homes in the mountains. What will happen to these people, to the women and children?” The Argentine writer added, “You are the only statesman I have known to have the capacity of thinking sensitively and whom I have seen deeply moved by […] people.” (ibid.)

In an exchange with Francisco Sesto, Venezuelan minister for the reconstruction of Caracas, Fidel inquired about housing and other social projects being implemented by the Bolivarian government and exposed “the propaganda and publicity apparatus being fired at Chávez.” (ibid.)

“I came to listen to you, to learn from you”, the Comandante en Jefe insisted. Argentine political scientist Atilio Borón recalled the absurd divisions within the left. “These are old habits which will gradually [get] eliminated”, observed Fidel. He termed the audience as “Infinite”. Probably he was meaning “the capability of the men and women accompanying him to multiply their non-acceptance of the current world order and to establish projects and models which can save humanity from its self-destruction.”(ibid.)

Fidel recommended that contributions to the encounter should be compiled into a book in order to disseminate the ideas expressed. The intellectuals present could revise their words, edit them and add what they might have forgotten in the heat of the dialogue. “Given that we are very pressed, there’s no need for haste”, he said. (ibid.)

Fidel’s all moves make news. His admirers and enemies keep eyes on him, on all news on him. The discussion with the intellectuals is significant as it brings notice to the deteriorating world situation, as imperialism is making one after another onslaught, as imperialism is turning captive to its crisis that makes it desperate. The days are much dangerous and uncertain then the Empire’s Iraq invasion days. “No other era in the history of humankind has experienced the current dangers humanity faces.” (Fidel Castro, “Marching toward the abyss”, Reflections, Jan.4, 2012) On the one hand, a section in peoples’ camp with their inert, ignorant brain is joining imperialists’ covert and overt invasions in the name of democracy, and on the other, capital is cementing ties with one of its old allies, retrogressive forces, while the inert brains join the alliance. Fidel, Guerrillero del tiempo, Guerrilla of Time, in this situation, calls to practice “honorable politics” that should be upheld and practiced at all costs, that a significant section in people’s camp in a number of poor countries has abandoned, and that moneyed elites dominating societies can’t practice.

By Farooque Chowdhury

21 February 2012

@ Countercurrents.org

Dhaka-based freelancer Farooque Chowdhury contributes on socioeconomic issues.

“It would be far more preferable if the USA could cite an Iranian provocation as justification for the airstrikes before launching them. Clearly the outrageous, the more deadly & the more unprovoked the Iranian action, the better off the USA will be. Of course, it would be very difficult for the US to goad Iran into such a provocation, without the rest of the world recognizing the game, which would then undermine it. One method that would have some possibility of success would be to ratchet up covert regime change efforts in the hope that Tehran would retaliate overtly, or even-semi-overtly, which would then be portrayed as an act of unprovoked Iranian aggression.”

(US Foreign Policy makers, Brookings Institution’s 2009 report, pages84-85)

“Attack on Iran imminent this summer” – (General Nikolai Makarov, Russian General Staff)

The terror attacks in New Delhi & in Tbilisi (Georgia), Baku (Azerbaijan) & Bangkok (Thailand) are another round of false-flag terror (http://mailstar.net/ostrovsky.html) being waged by the Israeli Mossad to achieve its strategic objectives by targeting Iran & the Hezbollah, which is a resistance movement. The timing of the false-flag terror attack is very interesting. It comes at the precise moment when India has refused to enforce the US-Israeli-EU sanctions against Iran & when Indo-Iran ties are witnessing a new strategic rethink in Delhi, where Pranab Mukherjee in a visit to the US, refused to abide by the sanctions. Also both India & Iran have agreed on a Rupee Trade & barter system, thus avoiding the use of the USD regime.

Also the Tbilisi, Georgia bombings though not of a serious nature, are making international headlines, with Iran & Hezbollah being mentioned by PM Netanyahu. Georgia & Azerbaijan are both US-Israeli satellite states, with a strong presence of CIA-Mossad operatives & security advisers present in both the nations.

The riddle of Bangkok, where Iranians have been injured in the blasts, needs to be understood & it is a very simple matter to comprehend. The Mujahedeen Khalq (MKO/MEK), is a terrorist organization comprising of disgruntled Iranians who are now working for the CIA & the Mossad. The MKO-MEK , is openly supported by the US-Israel as their strategic allies & they are the ones who are responsible for the assassinations of the Iranian nuclear scientists & terror attacks within Iran.

Time & again the Chabad Lubavitch members & houses are involved with acts of terror & drug smuggling operations. Chabad Houses, under the guise of religious centres are also dens of espionage & used by Mossad operatives the world over. Thus the Chabad Lubavitch centres across the country need to be probed by the government agencies, as they certainly pose a grave security threat.

There has been increased activity of Israeli “tourists”, where a number of them have been caught red-handed with revolvers, live ammunition & satellite phones in the last 5 years. Due to the direct intervention of the Israeli embassy, they are let of by the police within 24 hours, despite the fact that they are foreigners & supposedly “tourists”. Recently an Israeli couple Shenor Zalman & Yaffa Shenoi were ordered to be deported from Kochi (Kerala), after being under surveillance by the RAW & the Police authorities & were suspected of being involved in drug smuggling & espionage as Kochi is a sensitive Indian Naval base. They are still to be deported pending a court order. This false-flag attack has once again opened the doors for more Mossad agents to come into India, under the pretext of security considerations & joint investigations.

In the Indian context, the Hindutva-RSS are once again under pressure as the NIA-ATS have arrested another of their activists, Kamal Chauhan from Indore in connection with the Samjhauta train terror attack, previously blamed on Pakistan. These arrests also come at a time when the crucial UP & 4 other state elections are on & in any case the BJP is under pressure due to many other issues of corruption & morality where it stands utterly exposed. Thus this terror attack, surely helps to change the national headlines & priorities.

The terror attack has again been carried out in a high-security area, barely a few hundred meters away for the residence of the PM himself & thus this is not possible without the collusion & support of certain sections of the IB-RAW that are aligned to the Mossad & CIA. Also has the visit of SM Krishna (being probed for a multi-crore iron ore scam) to Israel got some relation with this false-flag attack? Clearly there is a struggle within the Indian government & bureaucracy in terms of our alignment with the Imperial-Zionist powers & the other that represents the Non-Aligned Movement & Third World Solidarity

But the more crucial point is that, Israel-Mossad will use the strategy of false-flag terror to further demonize-isolate & escalate the warmongering against Iran & the Hezbollah & finally against the Fatah, Hamas, PLO & the rest of the Palestinian national resistance as they continue to unite & forge a common front & strategy against the Israeli occupation, based on collective popular mass resistance.

Israel & its Zionist allies are fabricating false-flag terror attacks, finally leading to another massive 9/11 style false flag on US & possibly European soil, after which we will witness an Israeli attack on Iran, with the backing of the Western powers, who will immediately step in.

Thus it is necessary to expose the Israeli-Mossad-CIA role in the 9/11 terror attacks, as that started a new wave of Zionist-imperial intervention, wars & an ongoing genocidal holocaust of the Third World nations.

A war is on the horizon . . .we are heading towards WWIII & now India is being prepared to fight that war on the side of the Imperial-Zionist powers.

By Feroze Mithiborwala

16 February 2012

@ Countercurrents.org

Feroze Mithiborwala is a peace activist in Mumbai. He led the Asia to Gaza peace flotilla.

Here’s a crash course on the “democratic” machinations of the Arab League – rather the GCC League, as real power in this pan-Arab organization is wielded by two of the six Persian Gulf monarchies composing the Gulf Cooperation Council, also known as Gulf Counter-revolution Club; Qatar and the House of Saud.

Essentially, the GCC created an Arab League group to monitor what’s going on in Syria. The Syrian National Council – based in North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries Turkey and France – enthusiastically supported it. It’s telling that Syria’s neighbor Lebanon did not.

When the over 160 monitors, after one month of enquiries, issued their report … surprise! The report did not follow the official GCC line – which is that the “evil” Bashar al-Assad government is discriminately, and unilaterally, killing its own people, and so regime change is in order.

The Arab League’s Ministerial Committee had approved the report, with four votes in favor (Algeria, Egypt, Sudan and GCC member Oman) and only one against; guess who, Qatar – which is now presiding the Arab League because the emirate bought their (rotating) turn from the Palestinian Authority.

So the report was either ignored (by Western corporate media) or mercilessly destroyed – by Arab media, virtually all of it financed by either the House of Saud or Qatar. It was not even discussed – because it was prevented by the GCC from being translated from Arabic into English and published in the Arab League’s website.

Until it was leaked. Here it is, in full.

The report is adamant. There was no organized, lethal repression by the Syrian government against peaceful protesters. Instead, the report points to shady armed gangs as responsible for hundreds of deaths among Syrian civilians, and over one thousand among the Syrian army, using lethal tactics such as bombing of civilian buses, bombing of trains carrying diesel oil, bombing of police buses and bombing of bridges and pipelines.

Once again, the official NATOGCC version of Syria is of a popular uprising smashed by bullets and tanks. Instead, BRICS members Russia and China, and large swathes of the developing world see it as the Syrian government fighting heavily armed foreign mercenaries. The report largely confirms these suspicions.

The Syrian National Council is essentially a Muslim Brotherhood outfit affiliated with both the House of Saud and Qatar – with an uneasy Israel quietly supporting it in the background. Legitimacy is not exactly its cup of green tea. As for the Free Syrian Army, it does have its defectors, and well-meaning opponents of the Assad regime, but most of all is infested with these foreign mercenaries weaponized by the GCC, especially Salafist gangs.

Still NATOGCC, blocked from applying in Syria its one-size-fits-all model of promoting “democracy” by bombing a country and getting rid of the proverbial evil dictator, won’t be deterred. GCC leaders House of Saud and Qatar bluntly dismissed their own report and went straight to the meat of the matter; impose a NATOGCC regime change via the UN Security Council.

So the current “Arab-led drive to secure a peaceful end to the 10-month crackdown” in Syria at the UN is no less than a crude regime change drive. Usual suspects Washington, London and Paris have been forced to fall over themselves to assure the real international community this is not another mandate for NATO bombing – a la Libya. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described it as “a path for a political transition that would preserve Syria’s unity and institutions”.

But BRICS members Russia and China see it for what it is. Another BRICS member – India – alongside Pakistan and South Africa, have all raised serious objections to the NATOGCC-peddled draft UN resolution.

There won’t be another Libya-style no fly zone; after all the Assad regime is not exactly deploying Migs against civilians. A UN regime change resolution will be blocked – again – by Russia and China. Even NATOGCC is in disarray, as each block of players – Washington, Ankara, and the House of Saud-Doha duo – has a different long-term geopolitical agenda. Not to mention crucial Syrian neighbor and trading partner Iraq; Baghdad is on the record against any regime change scheme.

So here’s a suggestion to the House of Saud and Qatar; since you’re so seduced by the prospect of “democracy” in Syria, why don’t you use all your American weaponry and invade in the dead of night – like you did to Bahrain – and execute regime change by yourselves?

By Pepe Escobar

6 February 2012

@ Asia Times

Pepe Escobar is the roving correspondent for Asia Times and an analyst for the Real News Network. His latest book is Obama does Globalistan. He may be reached at pepeasia@yahoo.com

A number of recent reports confirm that the European economy is contracting. Years of austerity have pushed a number of countries into prolonged recession, depressing incomes and consumer spending across the continent. Now Europe as a whole confronts negative growth.

On Thursday, the European Commission revised downward its growth forecast for the euro zone for 2012, saying it expects the European economy to contract by at least 0.3 percent. In the autumn of last year the Commission was predicting positive growth for the European region.

Figures for the final quarter of 2011 revealed that the European economy had contracted by 0.3 percent. In addition, the purchasing managers’ index was in negative territory in February, falling to 49.7. Any valuation under 50 is regarded as an indicator of negative growth.

European stock markets have generally been buoyant over the first two months of the year, with bank stocks particularly bullish, but this bears little relation to the real state of the European economy. The upturn in bank stocks is rather a consequence of the policy of the European Central Bank, which has flooded the financial markets with cheap money since December of last year. A second factor is the feverish efforts of the European Union to ensure that the banks get the most favourable deal possible for their investments in Greek government bonds.

The figure of 0.3 percent negative growth for Europe as a whole obscures large variations between individual economies. The European Commission anticipates a huge 1.3 percent contraction for the Italian economy this year and a 1 percent decline for Spain. The previous forecast by the Commission anticipated 0.7 percent growth for the Spanish economy.

Greece is undergoing the most severe economic contraction in Europe. It has been singled out by the banks and the European Union as the testing ground for their strategy of social counterrevolution in Europe.

Earlier this month, the Greek economics ministry announced revised figures for the downturn in gross domestic product (GDP) for the last quarter of 2011. Instead of the anticipated 5.5–6.0 percent drop, GDP fell by an estimated 7 percent. Since 2009, Greek GDP has fallen by a staggering 13 percent. The latest figures for 2011 confirm that this tendency downwards is accelerating and sending the Greek economy into free-fall.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, major economies such as Britain experienced a total fall in GDP of around 10 percent. By the end of this year, Greek GDP is expected to have plunged by double that amount.

While the eye of the storm is in southern Europe, northern economies are also being drawn into the maelstrom.

In Britain, a new survey of managers (the Institute of Directors) showed 35 percent of those questioned believing the UK to face a high risk of recession in 2012, with 53 percent concluding the risk to be moderate. The threat of recession prompted the Bank of England to call upon the British government to pump another 50 billion pounds into the economy.

In one of Europe’s most prosperous economies, Sweden, which grew faster than any other European Union economy in 2010, the finance minister announced that the government is slashing its economic growth forecast for 2012. According to the Swedish Central Bank: “Sluggish growth in the euro area has subdued the demand for Swedish exports, which slowed down significantly in 2011. The weaker outlook means households are spending less and companies are delaying investment.”

A similar trend is at work in Europe’s biggest economies, Germany and France. The German and French purchasing managers’ index figures showed a fall-off in February from the previous month, with private-sector companies reducing their workforces in both countries.

As a result of the deteriorating economic situation, German tax revenues fell in January for the first time since 2010. Major German companies such as Siemens are planning large-scale restructurings of their operations, involving thousands of new redundancies. The major printing press manufacturer Manroland recently declared bankruptcy and sacked thousands of its workers. In Central Europe, the Czech Republic, which has close economic ties to Germany, also slid into recession.

In France, Europe’s second-largest carmaker, Peugeot, last week announced plans to slash spending by 1 billion euros to offset huge losses incurred in 2011. It is now in talks with General Motors to rationalise its European operations.

In recent years, Germany has successfully worked to increase its market share in Asian countries, particularly China. The latest figures from China, however, reveal a significant drop in exports. This will have significant negative repercussions for Germany and Europe as a whole. Europe is China’s biggest export market.

Bound up with the statistics of economic decline is the destruction of the livelihoods of millions of workers across Europe. In many countries, unemployment is reaching levels not seen since the 1930s.

In Greece, the official unemployment rate has topped 20 percent; in Spain, 23 percent; and in neighbouring Portugal, 14 percent. Youth unemployment is much higher, ranging between 35 and 50 percent in the above-mentioned countries, with many other nations recording record highs.

By Stefan Steinberg

24 February 2012

@ WSWS.org

NEW YORK City police officers were shown a movie called The Third Jihad which warns that ordinary Muslims are part of an age-old conspiracy to dominate the world. The police chief and his spokesperson participated in this “counter-terrorism training,” and then lied about their involvement. And Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who touts himself as a champion of religious tolerance, doesn’t plan to do anything about it.

This latest series of events that unfolded in late January only sheds more light on the depth of anti-Muslim racism in New York City. Home to about 800,000 Muslims, as well as the world’s largest police department, the Big Apple has become the crucible of entrenched Islamophobic policies enacted by the state since September 11.

“This is not stereotyping,” Talat Hamdani said at a January 26 press conference at City Hall.

Talat’s son Salman died on 9/11 as a first responder, but his sacrifice has never been officially recognized because police initially viewed him as a suspect in the attacks. “This is legal persecution of American Muslims,” Talat said. “This is our city, our state, our country.”

Almost a year ago, in January 2011, Tom Robbins of the Village Voice broke the story about the NYPD showing this racist film to its officers. At the time, police spokesman Paul Browne claimed the movie was only screened a few times, and that the clips of Ray Kelly in it were from old footageand not the police commissioner’s direct participation with right-wing filmmakers.

But when police were forced to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request from the Brennan Center for Justice, it came to light that the movie was a regular part of training for months, that more than 1,500 officers had viewed the film, and that Kelly had given a 90-minute interview for the pseudo-documentary.

After a year of denials and evasions, the truth was out, and it received some attention in the mainstream media. Yet this is only the tip of the iceberg.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

The Islamophobia network

The NYPD now wants to dismiss this film as a “wacky movie”–in Paul Browne’s words–and to distance themselves from it. Yet the list of interviewees for the film include a number of establishment figures, such as former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, former CIA Director James Woolsey, former head of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman and others. This pseudo-documentary is part of an effort by a well-established network of Islamophobic groups whose credibility is based on their connections to the security and political establishments.

The Third Jihad was produced by the Clarion Fund, which was previously best known for mailing millions of free copies of another anti-Muslim film called Obsession to swing-state voters just before the 2008 election.

The Clarion Fund received over $18 million from 2001 to 2009 from several wealthy right-wing organizations like the Richard Mellon Scaife Foundation, Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and the Fairbrook Foundation, a pro-Zionist organization. These foundations also pour money into other Islamophobic organizations such as Robert Spencer’s Jihad Watch, Daniel Pipes’ Middle East Forum and more.

The Islamophobic network believes there is a conspiracy by Muslims to take over the U.S. and to replace the constitution with Muslim or Sharia law.

“This is the true agenda of much of Islam in America…to infiltrate and dominate America,” says the narrator of The Third Jihad, as an image of the White House topped by a supposedly Islamic flag appears on screen.

In the time-honored tradition of demagogues, the narrator of The Third Jihad argues that the Muslims who “seem” to be decent ordinary people are the most dangerous of all: “Americans are being told that most of the mainstream Muslim groups are moderate, when in fact, if you look a little closer, you’ll see a very different reality. One of their primary tactics is deception.”

Any doubts the officers in training might have had about whether the movie reflected official police department views would have been dispelled by the appearance of Ray Kelly, who is interviewed in the movie about the threat of a nuclear attack.

It short, this is not a “wacky” movie by some fringe elements. Rather, it reflects the efforts of the security establishment and the political elite to create an atmosphere of fear and suspicion in order to win public consent for the “war on terror.”

This isn’t the first time that police have been subjected to these warped and racist views. A nine-month investigation by Thom Cincotta and Political Research Associates found that the Islamophobic network routinely holds counter-terrorism training sessions with law enforcement personnel around the country. The use of The Third Jihad to train NYPD officers is but the latest revelation of such practices.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Racial profiling

After a year of NYPD scandals and cover-ups over from the brutality unleashed on Occupy Wall Street protesters and an epidemic of corruption cases, it’s not earth-shattering news to most New Yorkers to hear that Ray Kelly and Paul Browne have been caught lying again.

But this latest deception is especially ominous coming on the heels of the revelation–also initially denied by Kelly and Browne–that the department worked with a CIA agent to create a “Demographics Unit” that has been spying on hundreds of mosques, Islamic bookstores and Muslim campus organizations.

According to the Associated Press, which broke this scandal, “[P]olice subjected entire neighborhoods to surveillance and scrutiny, often because of the ethnicity of the residents, not because of any accusations of crimes. Hundreds of mosques and Muslim student groups were investigated and dozens were infiltrated.”

To add injury to insult, Muslim Americans who had come forward to help law enforcement were also spied upon. As CBS News reported, “Some of the same mosques that city leaders visited to hail their strong alliances with the Muslim community have also been placed under NYPD surveillance–in some cases infiltrated by undercover police officers and informants.”

As the furor grew over the last week of January, Ray Kelly was finally forced to apologize for his participation and use of The Third Jihad. But the NYPD has announced no plans to find out who was responsible for showing the film or to give a corrective training for officers who watched it. Furthermore, Kelly has consistently defended the tactics of the Demographics Unit and the larger trend of what Associated Press reporters have called “the NYPD’s transformation from a police department solving murders and muggings to a domestic intelligence agency.”

As a result, a growing number of Muslim leaders and allies have called for Kelly’s resignation. Retired police sergeant Noel Leader explained the reasoning on Democracy Now!:

“Under the New York City Police Department Patrol Guide, under prohibited conduct, it clearly states that no member of the New York City Police Department can associate themselves with hateful organizations, hateful material or hateful individuals. Police Commissioner Kelly clearly violated this procedure, and he should resign. If he doesn’t resign, the mayor should terminate him.”

But Bloomberg says he supports his police chief: “I think it’s fair to say that there is a little bit of embarrassment that this film was made. I think anything like this doesn’t help credibility…You know, Ray Kelly probably visits more mosques than a lot of other people who believe in the faith and practice there.”

“A little bit of an embarrassment” captures well the billionaire mayor’s view of the issue. Bloomberg would rather his police department’s policies not be made public because he has spoken eloquently and often in favor of religious tolerance–most prominently voiced in 2010 regarding construction of the Park51 Cultural Center in lower Manhattan (the “ground zero mosque” to its opponents.)

Bloomberg didn’t do this for the 800,000 Muslims living in his city, whose civil liberties he has grievously abused. His chief concerns were his image as an “open-minded” politician and the image of New York as a cosmopolitan center free from the sway of ignorant bigots.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg hasn’t hesitated in defending the NYPD–even when its racist policies are exposed to the light of day.

For instance, in 2007, the NYPD Intelligence Division produced a report titled “Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat,” which argued that counter-terrorism efforts need to “shift focus to a much earlier point” than the plotting of violent acts. The report argues that police need to identify potential terrorists before violent thoughts have even entered their heads.

The report’s authors describe a four-step “radicalization process.” Police, they argue, need to stop this sinister sequence in the early “Pre-radicalization” and “Identification” phases, before it gets to the later “Indoctrination” and “Jihadization” phases.

Thus, the NYPD authors believe that the department’s focus should be on Muslims who don’t “seem like” terrorists and might not even know that they are terrorists, which makes the final section of “Radicalization in the West” almost identical to the central point of the The Third Jihad:

“The subtle and non-criminal nature of the behaviors involved in the process of radicalization makes it difficult to identify or even monitor from a law enforcement standpoint. Taken in isolation, individual behaviors can be seen as innocuous; however, when seen as part of the continuum of the radicalization process, their significance becomes more important…

The individuals are not on the law enforcement radar. Most have never been arrested or involved in any kind of legal trouble. Other than some commonalities in age and religion, individuals undergoing radicalization appear as “ordinary” citizens, who look, act, talk and walk like everyone around them.”

And it isn’t just the NYPD that has been involved in such activities. Around the U.S., Muslims and Arabs have been subjected to a form of racial profiling that has been referred to as “pre-emptive” prosecution. Muslims who have done nothing illegal are being targeted on the assumption that they might do something. Agent provocateurs have infiltrated mosques and Muslim communities to entice people into “terrorist” plots–when they aren’t entirely fabricated. Through this process, hundreds have been arrested and put in jail.

The net effect has been the demonization of an entire community. In the 1940s, more than 100,000 people of Japanese descent were put into concentration camps following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the beginning of the Second World War. Today, Muslim Americans are being targeted in the same way for the events of 9/11.

As Abdul Malik Mujahid, a leader of the Muslim Peace Council, put it:

“The Muslim community in the United States has been living in a virtual internment camp ever since 9/11. Since then, more than 700,000 Muslims have been interviewed by the FBI. That means nearly 50 percent of all Muslim households have been touched by this “investigation.” Practically all mosques have been “checked for nuclear bombs” or other fear-provoking reasons. That’s the level of trust we “enjoy” in the Muslim community.”

This is the standard way in which nations at war operate. In every instance, a menacing enemy must be found–whether it’s Germans who endured anti-German raids during the First World War or the Japanese internment camps during the Second World War.

Now, the “war on terror” has applied this same intense scapegoating to a conflict that is seemingly endless and borderless.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Fighting Back

The latest revelations are galvanizing Muslims and supporters of religious freedom to organize around the call for Ray Kelly’s resignation. A week after the initial press conference, hundreds marched to NYPD headquarters.

“This is the year of revealed truths,” Imam Al-Hajj Talib Abdur-Rashid, president of the Islamic Leadership Council of New York, told the crowd. “Around the world the purposely deceptive are being exposed…Now is the time to trust in Allah, break through fear, and stand for justice.”

Many speakers connected the NYPD’s lies and hostility towards Muslims with its daily humiliation and brutality towards African Americans and Latinos, including the fatal shooting of an unarmed Bronx teenager the day before the march.

These actions are positive first steps, building on several years of increased organization and activism against Islamophobia, from the rallies in defense of the Park51 Cultural Center, to the participation of 100 imams in an antiwar rally last April, to Muslim leaders’ boycott of Bloomberg’s interfaith breakfast last month.

As this movement builds in the coming weeks, we need to recognize that we are not just up against an isolated incident or misguided police policy. We are challenging the logic of a nation in semi-permanent war to dominate the world’s largest oil- and gas-producing regions, which happen to lie beneath the feet of woman and men who mostly practice Islam.

At the press conference, some city council people called for the police to continue fighting terrorism, but to do so without religious profiling. But as NYPD Confidential blogger Leonard Levitt wrote, “In the department’s best-publicized cases that have emerged from this spying, the suspects all seem to be people with mental problems, susceptible to being talked into plotting terrorism by well-paid informants.”

Trying to separate counterterrorism from profiling is like asking for an omelet without eggs–because the “war on terror” is not about keeping us safe, but about keeping us afraid, and therefore supportive of war–precisely through religious profiling. The image of the “Islamic terrorist,” which has been cultivated since the 1980s, is about creating a menacing enemy against whom endless war can be waged.

In this sense, it functions exactly as the “red scare” and the McCarthyism of the Cold War era functioned. Back then, Americans were told to spy on “reds” and radicals, who were seen as agents of the former USSR, bent on physically destroying the U.S. and the “American way of life.” Today, the “green scare” is about creating a Muslim enemy that acts as an agent of al-Qaeda or Hamas, and whose goal is to destroy the U.S. from within.

Just as McCarthyism created a climate of fear that made the prosecution of the Cold War much easier for the political elite, today, Islamophobia serves as the ideological handmaiden of the “war on terror.”

Whatever possibilities of terror attacks that do exist aren’t because Muslims are susceptible to some four-stage process of radicalization, but because their co-religionists have suffered grave offenses at the hand of the U.s. government. Any talk about counter-terrorism that doesn’t start with ending U.S. wars and occupations will inevitably strengthen the rhetoric of Islamophobia and the practice of racist scapegoating.

“When we talk about Muslims being stereotyped and criminalized, and I think that can’t happen to me, I’m completely wrong,” says Virgilio Aran, an organizer with Laundry Workers Center United. Virgilio and another Latino activist tried to attend the January 26 press conference, but weren’t allowed onto the steps of City Hall when they refused a request to produce identification papers, a request not made of other attendees.

“The struggle of our Muslim brothers is the struggle of every community,” says Aran. “That was a reinforcement of it in my consciousness.”

It’s time for all those interested in justice to break through fear and take a stand against the “war on terror.”

6 February 2012

By Deepa

@ empirebytes.com

This article first appeared on Socialistworker.org and is a co-authored work with Danny Lucia.

OVER the last few days, the media and representatives of certain governments traditionally committed to anti-Cuba subversion have unleashed a new campaign of accusations, unscrupulously taking advantage of a lamentable event: the death of an ordinary prisoner, which possibly only in the case of Cuba, is converted into news of international repercussion.

The method utilized is the same one as always: fruitlessly attempting, through repetition, to demonize Cuba, in this case through the deliberate manipulation of an incident which is absolutely exceptional in this country.

This so-called political prisoner was serving a four-year sentence after a fair legal process during which he was at liberty and a trial in accordance with the law, for a brutal physical attack on his wife in public and violent resistance to arrest by police agents.

This man died from multi-organ failure due to an acute respiratory infection, despite having received appropriate medical attention, including specialized medication and treatment in the intensive care room of Santiago de Cuba’s principal hospital.

Why did Spanish authorities and certain members of the European Union hasten to condemn Cuba without any investigation into the incident? Why do they always utilize pre-fabricated lies in the context of Cuba? Why, in addition to lying, do they censor the truth? Why is the voice and truth about Cuba openly denied the smallest space in the international media?

They are acting both cynically and hypocritically. How would they describe the recent manifestations of police brutality in Spain and a large part of “educated and civilized” Europe against the indignados movement?

Why is there no concern over the dramatic situation of overcrowding in Spanish jails with a high immigrant population – in excess of 35% of total prisoners in the country – according to the most recent report by the ACAIP prison union, dated April 3, 2010?

Who has made any effort to investigate the death in July of 2011 in the Spanish penitentiary of Teruel, of Tohuami Hamdaoui, an ordinary prisoner of Moroccan origin after a hunger strike of several months? Who has reflected the fact that he has insisted he is innocent?

Has the Chilean spokesperson slandering us by asserting that the dead man was a political dissident on his 50th day of hunger strike lost his memory and sense of reality? He must remember his days as a student leader linked to Pinochet’s troops, who massacred Chileans and instituted disappearances and torture throughout the Southern Cone via Plan Condor, while there have been no statements about the harsh repression of students peacefully demonstrating in defense of the human right to universal and free education. Is he one of those who supported re-labeling the Pinochet dictatorship a military regime in school textbooks? Has he made any statement about the repressive and arbitrary Anti-Terrorist Law implemented against Mapuche prisoners on hunger strike?

The United States government, the principal instigator of any effort to discredit Cuba in order to justify its policy of hostility, subversion and the economic, political and media blockade of Cuba, could not be missing from this campaign.

The hypocrisy of spokespersons for the United States, a country with a poor human rights record at home and abroad, is staggering. The UN Human Rights Council has acknowledged frequent serious violations in this country of women’s rights, in the treatment of persons, racial and ethnic discrimination, inhuman conditions in prisons, neglect of inmates, a differentiated racial standard and frequent judicial errors in imposing capital punishment, and the execution of minors and the mentally ill. This is compounded by abuses of the migratory detention system, deaths along the militarized southern border, atrocious acts against human dignity and the killing of innocent civilians by U.S. army troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries, not to mention arbitrary detentions and acts of torture perpetrated in the illegally occupied Guantánamo Naval Base.

It is barely known that three people died in the United States last November 2011 during a mass hunger strike of prisoners in California. According to testimonies from prisoners in adjoining cells, prison guards offered no assistance whatsoever and ignored their cries for help, as opposed to the abusive practice of force feeding hunger strikers.

A few weeks previously, African American Troy Davis was executed despite a large body of evidence demonstrating legal errors in his case. The White House and the Department of State did nothing about this case.

A total of 90 prisoners have been executed since January 2010 to date in the United States, while a further 3,220 remain on death row. The government frequently brutally represses those who dare to expose injustices within the system.

This new attack on Cuba is clearly politically motivated and has nothing to do with legitimate concerns for the lives of Cuban men and women. It is fuelled by the complicity of the financial-media corporations such as the Prisa Group and the corporation running CNN en Español, in the finest style of the Miami Mafia. It is irrationally accusing the Cuban government without having made any investigation into the facts. Condemnation and judgment are made a priori.

It is apparent from the immediate and crude response of authorities and the apparatus in the service of media aggression against Cuba that they did not even take the trouble to confirm the information. The truth is unimportant if the intention is to fabricate and sell a false image of alleged flagrant and systematic violations of civil liberties in Cuba which could one day justify an intervention in order to “protect defenseless Cuban civilians.”

The attempt to impose a distorted image of Cuba meant to indicate a notable deterioration in human rights, to construct an allegedly victimized opposition dying in prison, where health services are denied, is evident.

The humanist vocation of Cuban doctors and health personnel, who spare no effort or the country’s scant resources – to a large extent the result of the criminal 50-year blockade imposed on the Cuban people – to save lives and improve the health standards of their own people and in many other nations is well known.

Cuba is respected and admired by many peoples and governments who recognize its social undertakings at home and abroad.

Deeds speak louder than words. Anti-Cuban campaigns will not inflict any damage on the Cuban Revolution or the people, who will continue improving their socialism.

The truth of Cuba is that of a country in which human beings are most valued: a life expectancy rate at birth of 77.9 years; free health coverage for the entire population; an infant mortality rate of 4.9 per 1,000 live births, a figure exceeding that of the United States and the lowest on the continent along with Canada; a literate population with full and free access to all levels of education; 96% participation in the 2008 general elections; and a democratic process of discussion of the new economic and social guidelines prior to the 6th Congress of the Communist Party.

The truth of Cuba is that of a country which has taken its universities and schools to penitentiaries holding inmates who had fair and impartial trials, who receive the same wages for work undertaken, and enjoy high levels of medical attention without any distinction in terms of ethnicity, gender, creed or social origin.

It will be demonstrated yet again that lies, however much they are repeated, do not necessarily become truths, because, as José Martí stated, “A just principle, from the depths of a cave, can do more than an army.”

Translated by Granma International

DAMASCUS, (SANA)_ Following is the full text of the Draft Constitution for the Syrian Arab Republic, to be put to referendum on February 26, 2012:

Preamble

Arab civilization, which is part of human heritage, has faced through its long history great challenges aimed at breaking its will and subjecting it to colonial domination, but it has always rose through its own creative abilities to exercise its role in building human civilization.

The Syrian Arab Republic is proud of its Arab identity and the fact that its people are an integral part of the Arab nation. The Syrian Arab Republic embodies this belonging in its national and pan-Arab project and the work to support Arab cooperation in order to promote integration and achieve the unity of the Arab nation.

The Syrian Arab Republic considers international peace and security a key objective and a strategic choice, and it works on achieving both of them under the International Law and the values of right and justice.

The Syrian Arab role has increased on the regional and international levels over the past decades, which has led to achieving human and national aspirations and achievements in all fields and domains. Syria has occupied an important political position as it is the beating heart of Arabism, the forefront of confrontation with the Zionist enemy and the bedrock of resistance against colonial hegemony on the Arab world and its capabilities and wealth. The long struggle and sacrifices of our people for the sake of its independence, progress and national unity has paved the way for building the strong state and promoting cohesion between the people and their Syrian Arab army which is the main guarantor and protector of the homeland’s sovereignty, security, stability and territorial integrity; thus, forming the solid foundation of the people’s struggle for liberating all occupied territories.

The Syrian society with all its components and constituents and through its popular, political and civil institutions and organizations, has managed to accomplish achievements that demonstrated the depth of civilizational accumulation represented by the Syrian society, its unwavering will and its ability to keep pace with the changes and to create the appropriate environment to maintain its human role as a historical and effective power in the march of human civilization.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, Syria, both as people and institutions had faced the challenge of development and modernization during tough regional and international circumstances which targeted its national sovereignty. This has formed the incentive to accomplish this Constitution as the basis for strengthening the rule of law.

The completion of this Constitution is the culmination of the people’s struggle on the road to freedom and democracy. It is a real embodiment of achievements, a response to shifts and changes, an evidence of organizing the march of the state towards the future, a regulator of the movement of its institutions and a source of legislation. All of this is attainable through a system of fundamental principles that enshrines independence, sovereignty and the rule of the people based on election, political and party pluralism and the protection of national unity, cultural diversity, public freedoms, human rights, social justice, equality, equal opportunities, citizenship and the rule of law, where the society and the citizen are the objective and purpose for which every national effort is dedicated. Preserving the dignity of the society and the citizen is an indicator of the civilization of the country and the prestige of the state.

Title I

Basic Principles

Chapter I

Political Principles

Article 1

The Syrian Arab Republic is a democratic state with full sovereignty, indivisible, and may not waive any part of its territory, and is part of the Arab homeland; The people of Syria are part of the Arab nation.

Article 2

The system of governance in the state shall be a republican system; Sovereignty is an attribute of the people; and no individual or group may claim sovereignty. Sovereignty shall be based on the principle of the rule of the people by the people and for the people; The People shall exercise their sovereignty within the aspects and limits prescribed in the Constitution.

Article 3

The religion of the President of the Republic is Islam; Islamic jurisprudence shall be a major source of legislation; The State shall respect all religions, and ensure the freedom to perform all the rituals that do not prejudice public order; The personal status of religious communities shall be protected and respected.

Article 4

The official language of the state is Arabic.

Article 5

The capital of the state is Damascus.

Article 6

The flag of the Syrian Arab Republic consists of three colors: red, white and black, in addition to two stars, each with five heads of green color. The flag is rectangular in shape; its width equals two thirds of its length and consists of three rectangles evenly spaced along the flag, the highest in red, the middle in white and lowest in black, and the two stars are in the middle of the white rectangle; The law identifies the state’s emblem, its national anthem and the respective provisions.

Article 7

The constitutional oath shall be as follows: “I swear by the Almighty God to respect the country’s constitution, laws and Republican system, to look after the interests and freedoms of the people, to safeguard the homeland’s sovereignty, independence, freedom and to defend its territorial integrity and to act in order to achieve social justice and the unity of the Arab Nation”.

Article 8

1. The political system of the state shall be based on the principle of political pluralism, and exercising power democratically through the ballot box;

2. Licensed political parties and constituencies shall contribute to the national political life, and shall respect the principles of national sovereignty and democracy;

3. The law shall regulate the provisions and procedures related to the formation of political parties;

4. Carrying out any political activity or forming any political parties or groupings on the basis of religious, sectarian, tribal, regional, class-based, professional, or on discrimination based on gender, origin, race or color may not be undertaken;

5. Public office or public money may not be exploited for a political, electoral or party interest.

Article 9

As a national heritage that promotes national unity in the framework of territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, the Constitution shall guarantee the protection of cultural diversity of the Syrian society with all its components and the multiplicity of its tributaries.

Article 10

Public organizations, professional unions and associations shall be bodies that group citizens in order to develop society and attain the interests of its members. The State shall guarantee the independence of these bodies and the right to exercise public control and participation in various sectors and councils defined in laws; in areas which achieve their objectives, and in accordance with the terms and conditions prescribed by law.

Article 11

The army and the armed forces shall be a national institution responsible for defending the security of the homeland and its territorial integrity. This institution shall be in the service of the people’s interests and the protection of its objectives and national security.

Article 12

Democratically elected councils at the national or local level shall be institutions through which citizens exercise their role in sovereignty, state-building and leading society.

Chapter II

Economic Principles

Article 13

1. The national economy shall be based on the principle of developing public and private economic activity through economic and social plans aiming at increasing the national income, developing production, raising the individual’s living standards and creating jobs;

2. Economic policy of the state shall aim at meeting the basic needs of individuals and society through the achievement of economic growth and social justice in order to reach comprehensive, balanced and sustainable development;

3. The State shall guarantee the protection of producers and consumers, foster trade and investment, prevent monopoly in various economic fields and work on developing human resources and protecting the labor force in a way that serves the national economy.

Article 14

Natural resources, facilities, institutions and public utilities shall be publicly owned, and the state shall invest and oversee their management for the benefit of all people, and the citizens’ duty is to protect them.

Article 15

Collective and individual private ownership shall be protected in accordance with the following basis:

1. General confiscation of funds shall be prohibited;

2. Private ownership shall not be removed except in the public interest by a decree and against fair compensation according to the law;

3. Confiscation of private property shall not be imposed without a final court ruling;

4. Private property may be confiscated for necessities of war and disasters by a law and against fair compensation;

5. Compensation shall be equivalent to the real value of the property.

Article 16

The law shall determine the maximum level of agricultural ownership and agricultural investment to ensure the protection of the farmer and the agricultural laborer from exploitation and to ensure increased production.

Article 17

The right of inheritance shall be maintained in accordance with the law.

Article 18

1. Taxes, fees and overhead costs shall not be imposed except by a law;

2. The tax system shall be based on a fair basis; and taxes shall be progressive in a way that achieves the principles of equality and social justice.

Chapter III

Social Principles

Article 19

Society in the Syrian Arab Republic shall be based on the basis of solidarity, symbiosis and respect for the principles of social justice, freedom, equality and maintenance of human dignity of every individual.

Article 20

1. The family shall be the nucleus of society and the law shall maintain its existence and strengthen its ties;

2. The state shall protect and encourage marriage, and shall work on removing material and social obstacles that hinder it. The state shall also protect maternity and childhood, take care of young children and youth and provide the suitable conditions for the development of their talents.

Article 21

Martyrdom for the sake of the homeland shall be a supreme value, and the State shall guarantee the families of the martyrs in accordance with the law.

Article 22

1. The state shall guarantee every citizen and his family in cases of emergency, sickness, disability, orphan-hood and old age;

2. The state shall protect the health of citizens and provide them with the means of prevention, treatment and medication.

Article 23

The state shall provide women with all opportunities enabling them to effectively and fully contribute to the political, economic, social and cultural life, and the state shall work on removing the restrictions that prevent their development and participation in building society.

Article 24

The state shall shoulder, in solidarity with the community, the burdens resulting from natural disasters.

Article 25

Education, health and social services shall be the basic pillars for building society, and the state shall work on achieving balanced development among all regions of the Syrian Arab Republic.

Article 26

1. Public service shall be a responsibility and an honor the purpose of which is to achieve public interest and to serve the people;

2. Citizens shall be equal in assuming the functions of public service, and the law shall determine the conditions of assuming such functions and the rights and duties assigned to them.

Article 27

Protection of the environment shall be the responsibility of the state and society and it shall be the duty of every citizen.

Chapter IV

Educational and Cultural Principles

Article 28

The educational system shall be based on creating a generation committed to its identity, heritage, belonging and national unity.

Article 29

1. Education shall be a right guaranteed by the state, and it is free at all levels. The law shall regulate the cases where education could not be free at universities and government institutes;

2. Education shall be compulsory until the end of basic education stage, and the state shall work on extending compulsory education to other stages;

3. The state shall oversee education and direct it in a way that achieves the link between it and the needs of society and the requirements of development;

4. The law shall regulate the state’s supervision of private educational institutions.

Article 30

Physical education shall be an essential pillar in building society; and the state shall encourage it to prepare a generation which is physically, morally and intellectually fit.

Article 31

The state shall support scientific research and all its requirements, ensure the freedom of scientific, literary, artistic and cultural creativity and provide the necessary means for that end. The state shall provide any assistance for the progress of sciences and arts, and shall encourage scientific and technical inventions, creative skills and talents and protect their results.

Article 32

The state shall protect antiquities, archaeological and heritage sites and objects of artistic, historical and cultural value.

Title II

Rights, Freedoms and the Rule of Law

Chapter I

Rights and Freedoms

Article 33

1. Freedom shall be a sacred right and the state shall guarantee the personal freedom of citizens and preserve their dignity and security;

2. Citizenship shall be a fundamental principle which involves rights and duties enjoyed by every citizen and exercised according to law;

3. Citizens shall be equal in rights and duties without discrimination among them on grounds of sex, origin, language, religion or creed;

4. The state shall guarantee the principle of equal opportunities among citizens.

Article 34

Every citizen shall have the right to participate in the political, economic, social and cultural life and the law shall regulate this.

Article 35

Every citizen shall be subjected to the duty of respecting the Constitution and laws.

Article 36

1. The inviolability of private life shall be protected by the law;

2. Houses shall not be entered or inspected except by an order of the competent judicial authority in the cases prescribed by law.

Article 37

Confidentiality of postal correspondence, telecommunications and radio and other communication shall be guaranteed in accordance with the law.

Article 38

1. No citizen may be deported from the country, or prevented from returning to it;

2. No citizen may be extradited to any foreign entity;

3. Every citizen shall have the right to move in or leave the territory of the state, unless prevented by a decision from the competent court or the public prosecution office or in accordance with the laws of public health and safety.

Article 39

Political refugees shall not be extradited because of their political beliefs or for their defense of freedom.

Article 40

1. Work shall be a right and a duty for every citizen, and the state shall endeavor to provide for all citizens, and the law shall organize work, its conditions and the workers’ rights;

2. Each worker shall have a fair wage according to the quality and output of the work; this wage shall be no less than the minimum wage that ensures the requirements of living and changes in living conditions;

3. The state shall guarantee social and health security of workers.

Article 41

Payment of taxes, fees and public costs shall be a duty in accordance with the law.

Article 42

1. Freedom of belief shall be protected in accordance with the law;

2. Every citizen shall have the right to freely and openly express his views whether in writing or orally or by all other means of expression.

Article 43

The state shall guarantee freedom of the press, printing and publishing, the media and its independence in accordance with the law.

Article 44

Citizens shall have the right to assemble, peacefully demonstrate and to strike from work within the framework of the Constitution principles, and the law shall regulate the exercise of these rights.

Article 45

Freedom of forming associations and unions shall be based on a national basis, for lawful purposes and by peaceful means which are guaranteed in accordance with the terms and conditions prescribed by law.

Article 46

1. Compulsory military service shall be a sacred duty and is regulated by a law;

2. Defending the territorial integrity of the homeland and maintaining the secrets of state shall be a duty of every citizen.

Article 47

The state shall guarantee the protection of national unity, and the citizens’ duty is to maintain it.

Article 48

The law shall regulate the Syrian Arab citizenship.

Article 49

Election and referendum are the right and duty of the citizens and the law shall regulate their exercise.

Chapter II

The Rule of Law

Article 50

The rule of law shall be the basis of governance in the state.

Article 51

1. Punishment shall be personal; no crime and no punishment except by a law;

2. Every defendant shall be presumed innocent until convicted by a final court ruling in a fair trial;

3. The right to conduct litigation and remedies, review, and the defense before the judiciary shall be protected by the law, and the state shall guarantee legal aid to those who are incapable to do so, in accordance with the law;

4. Any provision of the law shall prohibit the immunity of any act or administrative decision from judicial review.

Article 52

Provisions of the laws shall only apply to the date of its commencement and shall not have a retroactive effect, and it may apply otherwise in matters other than criminal.

Article 53

1. No one may be investigated or arrested, except under an order or decision issued by the competent judicial authority, or if he was arrested in the case of being caught in the act, or with intent to bring him to the judicial authorities on charges of committing a felony or misdemeanor;

2. No one may be tortured or treated in a humiliating manner, and the law shall define the punishment for those who do so;

3. Any person who is arrested must be informed of the reasons for his arrest and his rights, and may not be incarcerated in front of the administrative authority except by an order of the competent judicial authority;

4. Every person sentenced by a final ruling, carried out his sentence and the ruling proved wrong shall have the right to ask the state for compensation for the damage he suffered.

Article 54

Any assault on individual freedom, on the inviolability of private life or any other rights and public freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution shall be considered a punishable crime by the law.

Title III

State Authorities

Chapter I

Legislative Authority

Article 55

The legislative authority of the state shall be assumed by the People’s Assembly in accordance with the manner prescribed in the Constitution.

Article 56

The People’s Assembly term shall be for four calendar years from the date of its first meeting and it may not be extended except in case of war by a law.

Article 57

Members of the People’s Assembly shall be elected by the public, secret, direct and equal vote in accordance with the provisions of the Election Law.

Article 58

A member of the People’s Assembly shall represent the whole people, and his/her commission may not be defined by a restriction or condition, and shall exercise duties under the guidance of hi/hers honor and conscience.

Article 59

Voters shall be the citizens who have completed eighteen years of age and met the conditions stipulated in the Election Law.

Article 60

1. The system of electing members of the People’s Assembly, their number and the conditions to be met by the candidates shall be determined by a law;

2. Half of the members of the People’s Assembly at least shall be of the workers and farmers, and the law shall state the definition of the worker and the farmer.

Article 61

The Election Law shall include the provisions that ensure:

1. The freedom of voters to choose their representatives and the safety and integrity of the electoral procedures;

2. The right of candidates to supervise the electoral process;

3. Punishing those who abuse the will of the voters;

4. Identifying the regulations of financing election campaigns;

5. Organizing the election campaign and the use of media outlets.

Article 62

1. Elections shall be held during the sixty days preceding the expiry date of the mandate of the People’s Assembly term;

2. The People’s Assembly shall continue its meetings if no other Assembly is elected and it shall remain in place until a new Assembly is elected.

Article 63

If the membership of a member of the People’s Assembly is vacant for some reason, an alternative shall be elected within sixty days from the date of the membership vacancy, provided that the remaining term of the Assembly is no less than six months. The membership of the new member shall end by the expiry date of the mandate of the Assembly’s term, and the Election Law shall determine the cases of vacant membership.

Article 64

1. The People’s Assembly shall be called to convene by a decree issued by the President of the Republic within fifteen days from the expiry date of the mandate of the existing Assembly or from the date of announcing the election results in case of not having such an Assembly. The People’s Assembly shall be definitely convened on the sixteenth day if the call-to-convene decree is not issued;

2. The Assembly shall elect, at its first meeting, its speaker and members who shall be annually re-elected.

Article 65

1. The Assembly shall call for three regular sessions per year; the total of which should not be less than six months, and the Assembly’s rules of procedure shall set the time and duration of each of them;

2. The Assembly may be invited to extraordinary sessions upon the request of the Speaker, one third of the members of the Assembly or the Assembly’s office;

3. The last legislative session of the year shall remain open until the approval of the state budget.

Article 66

1. The Supreme Constitutional Court shall have jurisdiction to consider appeals related to the elections of the members of the People’s Assembly.

2. Appeals shall be submitted by the candidate within three days from the date of announcing the results; and the court shall decide its final judgments within seven days from the expiry date of submitting appeals.

Article 67

Members of the People’s Assembly shall swear-in the constitutional oath mentioned in Article 7 of the Constitution.

Article 68

The emoluments and compensations of members of the People’s Assembly shall be determined by a law.

Article 69

The People’s Assembly shall put its rules of procedure to regulate the manner of working in it and the way of exercising its functions, and define terms of reference of the Assembly’ office.

Article 70

Members of the People’s Assembly shall not be questioned in a civil or criminal manner because of events or opinions they express or during a vote in public or private meetings and during the work of the committees.

Article 71

Members of the People’s Assembly shall enjoy immunity for the mandate duration of the Assembly. Criminal proceedings against any member of them shall be taken after having a prior permission from the Assembly unless caught in the act. In non-session cases, permission shall be taken from the Assembly’s office, and the Assembly shall be notified by any action taken at its first meeting.

Article 72

1. No member may take advantage of membership in any business;

2. The law shall specify the business which may not be combined with the membership in the Assembly.

Article 73

1. The speaker of the People’s Assembly shall represent the Assembly, sign and speak on its behalf;

2. The People’s Assembly shall have special guards under the authority of the Speaker of the Assembly; and no armed force may enter the Assembly without the permission of its Speaker.

Article 74

Members of the People’s Assembly shall exercise the right of proposing laws and directing questions and inquiries to the cabinet or a minister in accordance with the rules of procedure of the Assembly.

Article 75

The People’s Assembly undertakes the following functions:

1. Approval of laws;

2. Discussing the statement of the cabinet;

3. Perform a vote of no-confidence in the cabinet or a minister;

4. Approval of the general budget and final accounts;

5. Approval of development plans;

6. Approval of international treaties and conventions related to the safety of the state, including treaties of peace, alliance and all treaties related to the rights of sovereignty or conventions which grant privileges to foreign companies or institutions as well as treaties and conventions entailing additional expenses not included in its budget; or treaties and conventions related to loans’ contract or that are contrary to the provisions of the laws in force and requires new legislation which should come into force;

7. Approval of a general amnesty;

8. Accepting or rejecting the resignation of one of the members of the Assembly.

Article 76

1. The Prime Minister shall present the cabinet’s statement within thirty days from the date of its formation to the People’s Assembly for discussion;

2. The cabinet shall be responsible for the implementation of its statement before the People’s Assembly;

3. If the Assembly is not in a regular session, it shall be invited to convene an extraordinary session.

Article 77

1. A vote of no-confidence can only be conducted after the cabinet or one of its ministers is questioned in the Assembly; a vote of no-confidence should be upon a proposal made by at least a fifth of the members of the People’s Assembly and it must be obtained with a majority of the members;

2. If a vote of no-confidence is obtained, the Prime Minister shall submit the cabinet’s resignation to the President, so should the minister who got a vote of no-confidence.

Article 78

The Assembly might form temporary committees from among its members to collect information and find facts on the issues related to exercising its authorities.

Article 79

1. For every fiscal year there shall be one budget; and the beginning of fiscal year shall be determined by a law;

2. The law states the method of preparing the state’s general budget;

3. The draft budget should be presented to the people’s Assembly at least two months before the beginning of the fiscal year.

Article 80

1. The Assembly votes on the budget title by title; and the budget shall not enter into force unless approved by the Assembly;

2. If the Assembly did not complete the process of approving the budget until the beginning of the new fiscal year, the budget of the previous years is used until the new year budget is approved and the revenues are collected in accordance with the laws and regulations in force;

3. Appropriations cannot be transferred from one title to another except according to the provisions of the law;

4. The Assembly might not increase the estimates of total revenues or expenditures while examining the budget.

Article 81

The people’s Assembly might, after approving the budget, approve laws which could create new expenditures and new revenues to cover them.

Article 82

The final accounts of the fiscal year shall be presented to the People’s Assembly within a period not longer than one year as of the end of this year. The final account is done by a law; and the same procedures in approving the budget apply to the final account period.

Chapter Two

The executive authority (1)

The President of the Republic

Article 83

The President of the Republic and the Prime Minister exercise executive authority on behalf of the people within the limits provided for in the constitution.

Article 84

The candidate for the office of President of the Republic should:

1. Have completed forty years of age;

2. Be of Syrian nationality by birth, of parents who are of Syrian nationality by birth;

3. Enjoy civil and political rights and not convicted of a dishonorable felony, even if he was reinstated;

4. Not be married to a non-Syrian wife;

5. Be a resident of the Syrian Arab Republic for no less than 10 years continuously upon being nominated.

Article 85

The nomination of a candidate for the office of President of the Republic shall be as follows:

1. The Speaker of the People’s Assembly calls for the election of the President of the Republic before the end of the term of office of the existing president by no less than 60 days and no more than 90 days;

2. The candidacy application shall be made to the Supreme Constitutional Court, and is entered in a special register, within 10 days of announcing the call for electing the president;

3. The candidacy application shall not be accepted unless the applicant has acquired the support of at least 35 members of the People’s Assembly; and no member of the assembly might support more than one candidate;

4. Applications shall be examined by the Supreme Constitutional Court; and should be ruled on within 5 days of the deadline for application;

5. If the conditions required for candidacy were met by only one candidate during the period set for applying, the Speaker of the people’s assembly should call for fresh nominations according to the same conditions.

Article 86

1. The President of the Republic shall be elected directly by the people;

2. The candidate who wins the election for the President of the Republic is the one who gets the absolute majority of those who take part in the elections. If no candidate receives that majority, a rerun is carried out between the two candidates who receive the largest number of votes;

3. The results shall be announced by the Speaker of the People’s Assembly.

Article 87

1. If the People’s Assembly was dissolved during the period set for electing a new President of the Republic, the existing President of the Republic continues to exercise his duties until after the new Assembly is elected and convened; and the new President of the Republic shall be elected within the 90 days which follow the date of convening this Assembly;

2. If the term of the President of the Republic finished and no new president was elected, the Existing President of the Republic continues to assume his duties until the new president is elected.

Article 88

The President of the Republic is elected for 7 years as of the end of the term of the existing President. The President can be elected for only one more successive term.

Article 89

1. The Supreme Constitutional Court has the jurisdiction to examine the challenges to the election of the President of the Republic;

2. The challenges shall be made by the candidate within 3 days of announcing the results; and the court rules on them finally within 7 days of the end of the deadline for making the challenges.

Article 90

The President of the Republic shall be sworn in before the People’s Assembly before assuming his duties by repeating the constitutional oath mentioned in Article 7 of the Constitution.

Article 91

1. The President of the Republic might name one or more deputies and delegate to them some of his authorities;

2. The Vice-president is sworn in before the President of the Republic by repeating the constitutional oath mentioned in Article 7 of the Constitution.

Article 92

If an impediment prevented the President of the Republic from continuing to carry out his duties, the Vice-president shall deputize for him.

Article 93

1. If the office of the President of the Republic becomes vacant or if he is permanently incapacitated, the first Vice-president assumes the President’s duties for a period of no more than 90 days of the President of the Republic’s office becoming vacant. During this period new presidential elections shall be conducted;

2. If the office of the President of the Republic becomes vacant, and he does not have a Vice-president, his duties shall be assumed temporarily by the Prime Minister for a period of no more than 90 days of the date of the President of the Republic’s office becoming vacant. During this period new presidential elections shall be conducted.

Article 94

If the President of the Republic resigned from office, he should address the resignation letter to the People’s Assembly.

Article 95

The protocol, privileges and allocations required for the office of President of the Republic shall be set out in a law.

Article 96

The President of the Republic shall insure respect for the Constitution, the regular running of public authorities, protection of national unity and survival of the state.

Article 97

The President of the Republic shall name the Prime Minister, his deputies, ministers and their deputies, accept their resignation and dismiss them from office.

Article 98

In a meeting chaired by him, the President of the Republic lays down the general policy of the state and oversees its implementation.

Article 99

The President of the Republic might call the Council of Ministers to a meeting chaired by him; and might ask for reports from the Prime Minister and the ministers.

Article 100

The President of the Republic shall pass the laws approved by the People’s Assembly. He might also reject them through a justified decision within one month of these laws being received by the Presidency. If they are approved a second time by the People’s Assembly with a two thirds majority, they shall be passed by the President of the Republic.

Article 101

The President of the Republic shall pass decrees, decisions and orders in accordance with the laws.

Article 102

The President of the Republic declares war, calls for general mobilization and concludes peace agreements after obtaining the approval of the People’s Assembly.

Article 103

The President of the Republic declares the state of emergency and repeals it in a decree taken at the Council of Ministers chaired by him with a two thirds majority, provided that the decree is presented to the People’s Assembly in its first session. The law sets out the relevant provisions.

Article 104

The President of the Republic accredits heads of diplomatic missions in foreign countries and accepts the credentials of heads of foreign diplomatic missions in the Syrian Arab Republic.

Article 105

The President of the Republic is the Commander in Chief of the army and armed forces; and he issues all the decisions necessary to exercise this authority. He might delegate some of these authorities.

Article 106

The President of the Republic appoints civilian and military employees and ends their services in accordance with the law.

Article 107

The President of the Republic concludes international treaties and agreements and revokes them in accordance with provisions of the Constitution and rules of international law.

Article 108

The President of the Republic grants special amnesty and might reinstate individuals.

Article 109

The President of the Republic has the right to award medals and honors.

Article 110

The President of the Republic might address letters to the People’s Assembly and make statements before it.

Article 111

1. The President of the Republic might decide to dissolve the People’s Assembly in a justified decision he makes;

2. Elections for a new People’s Assembly shall be conducted within 60 days of the date of dissolution;

3. The People’s Assembly might not be dissolved more than once for the same reason.

Article 112

The President of the Republic might prepare draft laws and refer them to the People’s Assembly to consider them for approval.

Article 113

1. The President of the Republic assumes the authority of legislation when the People’s Assembly is not in session, or during sessions if absolute necessity requires this, or in the period during which the Assembly is dissolved.

2. These legislation shall be referred to the Assembly within 15 days of its first session;

3. The Assembly has the right to revoke such legislation or amend them in a law with a majority of two thirds of the members registered for attending the session, provided it is no less than the absolute majority of all its members. Such amendment or revocation shall not have a retroactive effect. If they are not amended or revoked, they shall be considered approved.

Article 114

If a grave danger and a situation threatening national unity, the safety and integrity of the territories of the homeland occurs, or prevents state institutions from shouldering their constitutional responsibilities, the President of the Republic might take the quick measures nictitated by these circumstances to face that danger.

Article 115

The President of the Republic might set up special bodies, councils and committees whose tasks and mandates are set out in the decisions taken to create them.

Article 116

The President of the Republic might call for a referendum on important issues which affect the higher interests of the country. The result of the referendum shall be binding and come into force as of the date of its announcement; and it shall be published by the President of the Republic.

Article 117

The President of the Republic is not responsible for the acts he does in carrying out his duties except in the case of high treason; and the accusation should be made through a People’s Assembly decision taken by the Assembly in a public vote and with a two thirds majority in a secret session based on a proposal made by at least one third of the members. He shall be tried before the Supreme Constitutional Court. (2) The Council of Ministers

Article 118

1. The Council of Ministers is the highest executive and administrative authority of the state. It consists of the Prime Minister, his deputies and the ministers. It supervises the implementation of the laws and regulations and oversees the work of state institutions;

2. The Prime Minister supervises the work of his deputies and the ministers.

Article 119

The allocations and benefits of the Prime Minister, his deputies and the ministers shall be set out in a law.

Article 120

The Prime Minister, his deputies and the ministers shall be sworn in before the President of the Republic when a new government is formed by repeating the constitutional oath mentioned in Article 7 of the Constitution before they start their work. When the government is reshuffled, only the new ministers shall be sworn in.

Article 121

The Prime Minister, his deputies and the ministers shall be responsible before the President of the Republic and the People’s Assembly.

Article 122

The minister is the highest administrative authority in his ministry, and he shall implement the state’s public policy in relation to his ministry.

Article 123

While in office, ministers shall be barred from being members of the boards of private companies or agents for such companies and from carrying out, directly or indirectly, any commercial activity or private profession.

Article 124

1. The Prime Minister, his deputies and the ministers shall be responsible for their acts, from a civil and penal perspective, in accordance with the law;

2. The President of the Republic has the right to refer the Prime Minister, his deputies and the ministers to the courts for any crimes any of them commits while in office or because of such crimes;

3. The accused shall be suspended from office as soon as an indictment is made until a ruling is passed on the accusation made against him. His resignation or dismissal does not prevent his trial. Procedures are conducted as stated in the law.

Article 125

1. The cabinet shall be considered as resigned in the following cases:

a. Upon the end of the term of office of the President of the Republic;

b. Upon the election of a new People’s Assembly;

c. If the majority of the ministers resigned.

2. The cabinet carries on in a care taker capacity until a decree is passed naming a new cabinet.

Article 126

An individual can be a minister and a member of the People’s Assembly at the same time.

Article 127

Provisions applying to ministers apply to deputy ministers.

Article 128

The mandate of the Council of Ministers is as follows:

1. It draws the executive plans of the state’s general policy;

2. It guides the work of ministers and other public bodies;

3. It draws the state’s draft budget;

4. It drafts laws;

5. It prepares development plans and plans for upgrading production and the exploitation of national resources and everything that could support and develop the economy and increase national income;

6. It concludes loan contracts and grants loans in accordance with provisions of the constitution;

7. Concludes treaties and agreements in accordance with provisions of the constitution;

8. Follows up on enforcing the laws and protects the interests and the security of the state and protects the freedoms and rights of the population;

9. Passes administrative decisions in accordance with the laws and regulations and oversees their implementation.

Article 129

The Prime Minister and the ministers exercise the authorities provided for in the laws in force in a manner that does not contravene the authorities given to other authorities in the Constitution, in addition to the other authorities stated in its provisions. (2) Local Councils

Article 130

The Syrian Arab Republic consists of administrative units; and the law states their number, boundaries, authorities and the extent to which they enjoy the status of a legal entity, financial and administrative independence.

Article 131

1. The organization of local administration units is based on applying the principle of decentralization of authorities and responsibilities. The law states the relationship between these units and the central authority, their mandate, financial revenues and control over their work. It also states the way their heads are appointed or elected, their authorities and the authorities of heads of sectors.

2. Local administration units shall have councils elected in a general, secret, direct and equal manner.

Chapter III

The Judicial Authority (1)

The Courts and Attorney General’s Office

Article 132

The judicial authority is independent; and the President of the Republic insures this independence assisted by the Supreme Judicial Council.

Article 133

1. The Supreme Judicial Council is headed by the President of the Republic; and the law states the way it shall be formed, its mandate and its rules of procedures;

2. The Supreme Judicial Council insures the provision of the guarantees necessary for the independence of the judiciary.

Article 134

1. Judges are independent and there is no authority over them except that of the law;

2. The judges’ honor, conscience and impartiality constitute the guarantees for people’s rights and freedoms.

Article 135

The law regulates the different branches, categories and degrees of the judicial system. It also states the rules for the mandates of different courts.

Article 136

The law states the conditions for appointing judges, promoting, transferring, disciplining and dismissing them.

Article 137

The Attorney General’s Office is a single judicial institution headed by the Minister of Justice. The law regulates its function and mandate.

Article 138

1. Judicial rulings are made in the name of the Arab people of Syria;

2. Not implementing judicial rulings or obstructing their implementation is a crime punished in accordance with provisions of the law.

(2) Administrative Judiciary

Article 139

The State’s Council is in charge of Administrative Judiciary. It is an independent judicial and advisory body. The law states its mandate and conditions for appointing, promoting, transferring, disciplining and dismissing them.

Title Four

The Supreme Constitutional Court

Article 140

The Supreme Constitutional Court is an independent judicial body based in Damascus.

Article 141

The Supreme Constitutional Court consists of at least seven members, one of them shall be named president in a decree passed by the President of the Republic.

Article 142

An individual cannot be a member of the Supreme Constitutional Court and a minister or a member of the People’s Assembly at the same time. The law states the other jobs that cannot be done by a member of the Court.

Article 143

The duration of membership of the Supreme Constitutional Court shall be four years renewable. Article 144 Members of the Supreme Constitutional Court cannot be dismissed from its membership except in accordance with the law.

Article 145

President and members of the Supreme Constitutional Court shall be sworn in before the President of the Republic in the presence of the Speaker of the People’s Assembly before they assume their duties. They repeat the following oath: “I swear by the Great Almighty to respect the Constitution and the laws of the country and to carry out my responsibilities with integrity and impartiality”.

Article 146

The mandate of the Supreme Constitutional Court is as follows:

1. Control over the constitutionality of the laws, legislative decrees, bylaws and regulations;

2. Expressing opinion, upon the request of the President of the Republic, on the constitutionality of the draft laws and legislative decrees and the legality of draft decrees;

3. Supervising the election of the President of the Republic and organizing the relevant procedures;

4. Considering the challenges made to the soundness of the measures of electing the President of the Republic and members of the People’s Assembly and ruling on these challenges;

5. Trying the President of the Republic in the case of high treason;

6. The law states its other authorities.

Article 147

1. The Supreme Constitutional Court is charged with control over the constitutionality of the laws as follows:

a. If the President of the Republic or a fifth of the members of the People’s Assembly object to a law before it is passed, on the grounds of its unconstitutionality, it shall be suspended until the Court rules on it within 15 days of the date of lodging the objection at the Court. If the law is urgently needed, the Court shall rule on it within 7 days;

b. If a fifth of the members of the People’s Assembly object to a legislative decree, on the grounds of its unconstitutionality within 15 days of it is being presented to the Assembly, the Court shall rule on it within 15 days of lodging the objection at the Court;

c. If the Court ruled that the law, the legislative decree or the bylaw was unconstitutional, the items found to be unconstitutional shall be annulled with retroactive effect and all their consequences shall be removed.

2. Considering the claim of the unconstitutionality of a law or a legislative decree and ruling on it takes place as follows:

a. If an opponent making a challenge claimed the unconstitutionality of a legal text applied by the court whose ruling is being challenged, and if the court considering the challenge found that the claim was serious and should be ruled on, it halts the proceedings of the case and refers it to the Supreme Constitutional Court;

b. The Supreme Constitutional Court shall rule on the claim within 30 days of being entered in its register.

Article 148

The Supreme Constitutional Court shall not consider the constitutionality of the laws put by the President of the Republic to a referendum and obtained the approval of the people.

Article 149

The law regulates the principles of considering and ruling on the issues under the mandate of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The law states the number of its staff and the conditions which need to be met by its members. It also states their immunity, responsibilities, salaries and privileges.

Title Five

Amending the Constitution

Article 150

1. The President of the Republic, and so does a third of the members of the People’s Assembly, might propose amending the Constitution;

2. The proposal for amending the Constitution shall state the text proposed to be amended and the reasons for making the amendment;

3. As soon as the People’s Assembly receives the proposal for amendment, it sets up a special committee to examine it.

4. The Assembly discusses the proposal for amendment. If it approved it with a three quarters majority, the amendment shall be considered final provided that it is also approved by the President of the Republic.

Title Six

General and Transitional Provisions

Article 151

The Preamble of the Constitution is considered part and parcel of the Constitution

Article 152

No person carrying another nationality, in addition to the nationality of the Syrian Arab Republic, might occupy the office of President of the Republic, Vice-president, Prime Minister, deputy prime ministers, ministers, members of the People’s Assembly or members of the Supreme Constitutional Court.

Article 153

This constitution shall not be amended before 18 months of coming into force.

Article 154

The legislation in force and passed before approving this Constitution remain in force until they are amended in accordance with its provisions, provided that the amendment is done within a period of no longer than 3 years.

Article 155

The term of office of the current President of the Republic terminates after 7 years of his being sworn in as President. He has the right to stand again for the office of President of the Republic. Provisions of Article 88 of this Constitution apply to him as of the next presidential elections.

Article 156

Elections for the first People’s Assembly under this Constitution shall be held within 90 days of the date of its being approved through referendum.

Article 157

This Constitution shall be published in the official bulletin and enters into force as of being approved.

Damascus… 2012

President of the Republic

Bashar al-Assad

Source: The Embassy of Syrian Arab Republican in Kuala Lumpur.