a respectworthy, hopeful, popular, and mostly secular movement to depose the tyrant Assad. But little by little it was co-opted by militant takfiri ideology and the superior logistical capability of its forces-- thanks to Quatr, KSA, UAR, Turkey, and these being aided by the bungling "assistance"" of CIA and our so-called "Western powers". ( IOW, those Powers whose interest lies in the preservation and protection of the "petro-dollar".)

For the sake of raw survival and military necessity (if not inclination) anti-Assad rebels of all stripes have been forced to ally themselves with foreign-sponsored jihadi ideologues. What started out as a home-grown revolution has devolved into a trans-national power play. Legality or the lack of it plays no part in this drama. Nor is there a right side or a wrong side. But it is a war, and one side must lose and the other side must win. Assad will either remain in power or he will not. I'd bet my bottom dollar that the vast majority of Syrians are hoping that Assad's SSA will emerge victorious -- and that, as soon as possible.

But apparently there's more involved than the pipeline; there was a huge Syrian fossil fuel find discovered by a Russian corporation licensed exploration just before all hell broke out, according to articles I'd previously read and am now having trouble finding.

Yup, most of what I'd found earlier seems to have vanished from search, or at least the top of the page, especially when 'Russian Corporation' is included - the one which was licensed for exploration and exploitation.

This turned up; haven't verified the claims here, but it fits (although mixing lies with truth makes for a more plausible con and is often used by polluting industry and their ilk) and I hope that someone with fewer search/health issues will research this properly. If true, what was additionally done to Greece is even more sickening than I would have thought possible - and it already was.

But the source given has almost no links and contains standard RW/corporate nonsense in other articles, so, verify before trusting... but that source does state that the purpose of the site is to make people aware of illegal and traitorous actions taken by government, so here (a fair bit of) it is.

https://counterpsyops.com/2012/12/02/oil-and-gas-find-offshore-syria-mot...

Oil and Gas find offshore Syria motive for US Israeli mercenary uprising and bloodshed in Syria

US GEOPOLITICAL TERRORISM PLATFORM

Why are US Israeli mercenaries in Syria? Same reason why the US illegally attacked Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya and Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian civilian population – oil and gas. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the Levant Basin, which covers Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus and Palestine, contains around 122 trillion cubic feet of gas and at least 1.7 billion barrels of oil.

The Israeli government plans to build a floating liquefied natural gas terminal with a sea-based defense radar system off its Mediterranean coast while forming a naval force to protect what it claims is its rich offshore gas fields. However, Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus and Palestine all have Levant Basin oil and gas rights.

Israel sent its Mossad and their foreign mercenaries into Syria to help the US and its mercenaries start a bloody uprising to take from Syria its oil and gas rights in the Levant Basin. Israel attacked Palestine and is grabbing land from them to deny them their oil and gas rights in the Levant Basin. The people of Palestine are being slaughtered to extinction (genocide) because of the oil and gas in the Levant Basin.

Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said that Israel is “ignoring the fact that according to the maps the deposit extends into Lebanese waters,” Lebanese Energy Minister Gebran Bassil said June 17 his country “will not allow Israel or any company working for Israeli interests to take any amount of our gas that is falling in our zone.” He said Noble was warned not to work close to Lebanon’s economic zone.

A coastal state is entitled to explore for oil and gas in its economic zone, which extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers), according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the area includes the coastal states of Palestine (Gaza), Lebanon and Syria. So according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria are all entitled to explore and recover oil and gas in their respective economic zones.

Hundreds of US government financed mercenaries from Xe Services LL, formerly known as Blackwater, and Academi have been captured and killed by Syrian forces in Syria. As many as 700 foreign mercenaries of Arab and Western descent along with Israeli, US and European-made weapons were seized in the Homs neighborhood of Baba Amro in March of this year.

European journalists in Syria see a totally different story that is propagandized by the anti-sovereignty United Nations and the US government. The picture painted by the US media does not match the reality. Foreign journalists are confirming “cross-border terrorism” from Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon into Syria. They have uncovered evidence of the US government government involvement in the Syrian uprising. US paid mercenaries are the ones killing innocent civilians. Mercenaries from Xe Services LL. Syrian government forces are battling US and foreign mercenaries in Syria. US mercenaries have illegally infiltrated Syria to start an uprising by committing terrorist acts and armed assaults against Syria’s civilian population.

On March 2nd, 2007 retired general of the United States Army Wesley Clark revealed that the US government had planned just 10 days after 9/11 to attack seven countries in five years, “starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Iran”. As George W Bush is quoted as saying “Mission Accomplished” for Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, Somalia and Libya. Only 2 more to go – Syria and Iran. Obama illegally attacked Libya (didn’t seek nor get Congressional authorization for use of force or a declaration of war). Because an election is coming in the fall Obama chose again to defy Congress and blatantly violate the US Constitution and his oath of office by secretly waging an illegal war against Syria using foreign mercenaries.

While NATO and Washington condemn the Assad government, Syrian civilians from across Syria tell chilling stories of atrocities committed by foreign fighters, who kidnap and kill anyone at will. Xe mercenaries are blocking the Red Cross and Red Crescent ambulances from entering the battle stricken towns for fear that they will leak to the outside World what is really going on. Xe doesn’t want the Red Cross to witness foreign fighters fighting against Syrian government forces nor do they want the Red Cross to treat its own wounded mercenaries because a dead mercenaries can’t talk, but more importantly, can’t collect what is owed.

On June 21, 2012 the Vice-President of the Turkish Labor Party, Bulent Aslanoglu, told the United Nations that he had evidence that about six thousand foreigners of different Arab, Afghan and Turkish nationalities, have been recruited by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to commit terrorist acts in Syria.

Russia and China have both vetoed every UN Resolution put forward by the United States to use military force against Syria. Both Russia and China know that the uprising in Syria was orchestrated by the United States using CIA mercenaries. Russia and China know that the United States was involved and the United States was fabricating evidence against Syria in order to get a UN Resolution to use military force against Syria. Now that use of force is unauthorized by 2 permanent members of the UN Security Council the US is now working with the UNations to overthrow Assad using another UNdiplomatic coup. The US has brought in the butcher of Baghdad, Kofi Annan, to oversee the overthrow. Kofi Annan oversaw the “Oil for Food” genocide scheme in Iraq wherein 3 million Iraqi children were murdered by Annan when he denied them any essential humanitarian aid, including medicine and food.

An internal investigation found Annan guilty of corruption in prewar Iraq’s oil-for-food program and delivered a scathing rebuke of the former Secretary General Kofi Annan’s management of the largest U.N. humanitarian aid operation and concluded that Annan took advantage of his position to profit from the system. Kofi Annan secretly had steered lucrative Iraqi oil contracts to a Swiss company, Cotecna, where his son worked.

10 years ago the US openly attacked Iraq to overthrow its government and take control of its oil. Today, the US is secretly attacking Syria to overthrow its government and take control of its huge untapped oil and gas reserves. In late 2010 huge natural gas deposits off Syria’s Mediterranean shores were discovered. The initial results revealed that the “entire” eastern Mediterranean is swimming in huge untapped oil and gas reserves.

Two years ago, in June 2010, the Leviathan, the largest gas field in the Eastern Mediterranean that stretches from Egypt to Syria was discovered by Houston Texas based Noble Energy. The natural gas reserves in that find that are in Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian territorial waters are estimated to be something in the range of 25 trillion cubic feet (Tcf). Some experts are estimating that there might also be up to 600 million barrels of oil. And that is not all. Preliminary exploration has confirmed similarly impressive reserves of gas and oil in the waters off Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and Syria.

That discovery is now causing enormous political, geopolitical as well as economic consequences. It the whole reason why Israel also has mercenaries and Mossad killing squads in Syria.

The Leviathan gas field is the reason why the US orchestrated the political uprising in Egypt and the political coup in Greece.

In December 2010, when it seemed the Greek crisis might be resolved without the huge bailouts or privatizations, Greece’s Energy Ministry formed a special group of experts to research the prospects for oil and gas in Greek waters. Greece’s Energean Oil & Gas began increased investment into drilling in the offshore waters after a successful smaller oil discovery in 2009. Major geological surveys were made. Preliminary estimates now are that total offshore oil in Greek waters exceeds 22 billion barrels in the Ionian Sea off western Greece and some 4 billion barrels in the northern Aegean Sea.

According to one Greek analyst, Aristotle Vassilakis, “surveys already done that have measured the amount of natural gas estimate it to reach some nine trillion dollars.” Even if only a fraction of that is available, it would has transformed the finances of Greece and the entire region. It would have made the whole region independent of the interest bearing loan sharks from the World Bank and the IMF.

Tulane University oil expert David Hynes told an audience in Athens recently that Greece could have solved its entire public debt crisis through development of its new-found gas and oil. He conservatively estimates that exploitation of the reserves already discovered could bring the country more than €302 billion over 25 years. The Greek government instead has just been forced to agree to huge government layoffs, wage cuts and pension cuts to get access to a second EU and IMF interest bearing enslavement loan. ...

...Two years ago, in June 2010, the Leviathan, the largest gas field in the Eastern Mediterranean that stretches from Egypt to Syria was discovered by Houston Texas based Noble Energy. The natural gas reserves in that find that are in Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian territorial waters are estimated to be something in the range of 25 trillion cubic feet (Tcf). Some experts are estimating that there might also be up to 600 million barrels of oil. And that is not all. Preliminary exploration has confirmed similarly impressive reserves of gas and oil in the waters off Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and Syria.

That discovery is now causing enormous political, geopolitical as well as economic consequences. It the whole reason why Israel also has mercenaries and Mossad killing squads in Syria.

The Leviathan gas field is the reason why the US orchestrated the political uprising in Egypt and the political coup in Greece.

In December 2010, when it seemed the Greek crisis might be resolved without the huge bailouts or privatizations, Greece’s Energy Ministry formed a special group of experts to research the prospects for oil and gas in Greek waters. Greece’s Energean Oil & Gas began increased investment into drilling in the offshore waters after a successful smaller oil discovery in 2009. Major geological surveys were made. Preliminary estimates now are that total offshore oil in Greek waters exceeds 22 billion barrels in the Ionian Sea off western Greece and some 4 billion barrels in the northern Aegean Sea.

According to one Greek analyst, Aristotle Vassilakis, “surveys already done that have measured the amount of natural gas estimate it to reach some nine trillion dollars.” Even if only a fraction of that is available, it would has transformed the finances of Greece and the entire region. It would have made the whole region independent of the interest bearing loan sharks from the World Bank and the IMF.

Tulane University oil expert David Hynes told an audience in Athens recently that Greece could have solved its entire public debt crisis through development of its new-found gas and oil. He conservatively estimates that exploitation of the reserves already discovered could bring the country more than €302 billion over 25 years. The Greek government instead has just been forced to agree to huge government layoffs, wage cuts and pension cuts to get access to a second EU and IMF interest bearing enslavement loan.

Greece oil potential far exceeds Canada’s undersea oil potential. Three undersea oil reservoirs: Hibernia (with estimated recoverable reserves of about 1.3 billion barrels of oil), Terra Nova (400 million barrels), and White Rose (440 million barrels). The combined oil reserves of the 3 wells pales in comparison to the 22 billion barrels in the Ionian Sea off western Greece and the 4 billion barrels in the northern Aegean Sea.

For a decade now more than 2 million US soldiers have been sent thousands of miles to a foreign country to fight and even give their life (6,514) to protect and restore foreigners’ rights and freedoms when their own rights and freedoms are being quietly stripped away at home, on US soil, by their president and his government. ...

...US Code

Title 18 › Part I › Chapter 113B › § 2331

(1) the term “international terrorism” means activities that—
(A) involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States orof any State;
(B) appear to be intended—
(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
(C) occur primarily outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to intimidate or coerce, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum;

That is exactly what happened in Libya and is now happening in Syria. Foreign terrorists have infiltrated Syria and are engaging in activities that involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life with the intent to intimidate or coerce the Syrian civilian population, to influence the policy of the Syrian government by intimidation or coercion and to affect the conduct of the Syrian government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping.

Source: PressCore ( August 21st 2012 )

But Presscore did have some interesting comments:

http://presscore.ca/oil-and-gas-find-in-shores-off-syria-reason-why-us-b...

4 Comments for “Oil and Gas find offshore Syria motive for US Israeli mercenary uprising and bloodshed in Syria”
Paul W Kincaid
July 6, 2012 - 5:50 PM

How did the foreign Syrian terrorists get formed and armed so quickly? The answer is the same as every previous US government backed war – by the CIA. The Syrian terrorists have been recruited, financed and armed by the United States government – through the CIA. The CIA orders are to commit acts of terrorism in Syria to overthrow the Syrian government. The Syrian rebels work for the US. Democracy isn’t the agenda in Syria, control of the offshore oil and natural gas is and the US is backing the foreign terrorists in Syria to covertly steal the financial future of the Syrian, Lebanese, and Palestinian people.

One only has to refer to the CIA’s own website to find proof that the uprising and bloodshed in Syria is no different than any other US initiated coup in a country that the United States has a corporate interest in.

CIA operations follow the same recurring script. First, American business interests abroad are threatened by a popular or democratically elected leader. The people support their leader because he intends to conduct land reform, strengthen unions, redistribute wealth, nationalize foreign-owned industry, and regulate business to protect workers, consumers and the environment.

So, on behalf of American business, and often with their help, the CIA mobilizes the opposition. First it identifies right-wing groups within the country (usually the military), and offers them a deal: “We’ll put you in power if you maintain a favorable business climate for us.” If the US cannot buy the targeted country’s military the Agency then hires, trains and controls foreign terrorists to overthrow the existing government (usually a democracy).

It uses every trick in the book: propaganda, stuffed ballot boxes, purchased elections, extortion, blackmail, sexual intrigue, false stories about opponents in the local media, infiltration and disruption of opposing political parties, kidnapping, beating, torture, intimidation, economic sabotage, death squads, assassination and acts of terrorism. These efforts culminate in a military coup, which installs a right-wing dictator. The CIA trains the installed dictator’s security apparatus to crack down on the traditional enemies of big business, using interrogation, torture and murder. The victims are said to be “communists” or “terrorists” but they are just peasants, liberals, moderates, labor union leaders, political opponents and advocates of free speech and democracy. Widespread human rights abuses follow.

This scenario has been repeated so many times that the CIA actually teaches it in a special school, the notorious “School of the Americas.” (It opened in Panama but later moved to Fort Benning, Georgia.) Critics have nicknamed it the “School of the Dictators” and “School of the Assassins.” Here, the CIA trains mercenaries and other foreign terrorists how to conduct coups, including the use of interrogation, torture and murder.

The Association for Responsible Dissent estimates that by 1987, 6 million people had died as a result of CIA covert operations. Former State Department official William Blum calls this an “American Holocaust.”

The CIA justified their criminal activities as part of its war against communism. Today the CIA justifies their atrocities as part of the United States “War on Terror”. But coups do not involve a communist threat nor a terrorist threat. Unlucky nations are targeted for a wide variety of reasons: not only threats to American business interests abroad, but also liberal or even moderate social reforms, political instability, the unwillingness of a leader to carry out Washington’s dictates.

The ironic thing about all this intervention is that it frequently fails to achieve US objectives. Often the newly installed dictator grows comfortable with the security apparatus the CIA has built for him. He becomes an expert at running a police state. And because the dictator knows he cannot be overthrown, he becomes independent and defiant of Washington’s will. The CIA then finds it cannot overthrow him, because the police and military are under the dictator’s control, afraid to cooperate with American spies for fear of torture and execution. The only two options for the U.S at this point are impotence or war. Examples of this “boomerang effect” include the Shah of Iran, General Noriega, Hamid Karzai,Saddam Hussein, Hosni Mubarak, and Muammar Gaddafi. The boomerang effect also explains why the CIA has proven highly successful at overthrowing democracies, but a wretched failure at overthrowing dictatorships.

The following time line should confirm that the CIA as we know it is the only state sponsored terrorist group in the World.

1945 Operation PAPERCLIP – While other American agencies are hunting down Nazi war criminals for arrest, the U.S. intelligence community is smuggling them into America, unpunished, for their use against the Soviets. The most important of these is Reinhard Gehlen, Hitler’s master spy who had built up an intelligence network in the Soviet Union. With full U.S. blessing, he creates the “Gehlen Organization,” a band of refugee Nazi spies who reactivate their networks in Russia. These include SS intelligence officers Alfred Six and Emil Augsburg (who massacred Jews in the Holocaust), Klaus Barbie (the “Butcher of Lyon”), Otto von Bolschwing (the Holocaust mastermind who worked with Eichmann) and SS Colonel Otto Skorzeny (a personal friend of Hitler’s). The Gehlen Organization supplies the U.S. with its only intelligence on the Soviet Union for the next ten years, serving as a bridge between the abolishment of the OSS and the creation of the CIA. However, much of the “intelligence” the former Nazis provide is bogus. Gehlen inflates Soviet military capabilities at a time when Russia is still rebuilding its devastated society, in order to inflate his own importance to the Americans (who might otherwise punish him). In 1948, Gehlen almost convinces the Americans that war is imminent, and the West should make a preemptive strike. In the 50s he produces a fictitious “missile gap.” To make matters worse, the Russians have thoroughly penetrated the Gehlen Organization with double agents, undermining the very American security that Gehlen was supposed to protect.

1947 Greece — President Truman requests military aid to Greece to support right-wing forces fighting communist rebels. For the rest of the Cold War, Washington and the CIA will back notorious Greek leaders with deplorable human rights records.

CIA created — President Truman signs the National Security Act of 1947, creating the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Council. The CIA is accountable to the president through the NSC — there is no democratic or congressional oversight. Its charter allows the CIA to “perform such other functions and duties… as the National Security Council may from time to time direct.” This loophole opens the door to covert action and dirty tricks.

1948 Covert-action wing created — The CIA recreates a covert action wing, innocuously called the Office of Policy Coordination, led by Wall Street lawyer Frank Wisner. According to its secret charter, its responsibilities include “propaganda, economic warfare, preventive direct action, including sabotage, antisabotage, demolition and evacuation procedures; subversion against hostile states, including assistance to underground resistance groups, and support of indigenous anti-communist elements in threatened countries of the free world.”

Italy — The CIA corrupts democratic elections in Italy, where Italian communists threaten to win the elections. The CIA buys votes, broadcasts propaganda, threatens and beats up opposition leaders, and infiltrates and disrupts their organizations. It works — the communists are defeated.

1949 Radio Free Europe — The CIA creates its first major propaganda outlet, Radio Free Europe. Over the next several decades, its broadcasts are so blatantly false that for a time it is considered illegal to publish transcripts of them in the U.S.

Late 40s Operation MOCKINGBIRD — The CIA begins recruiting American news organizations and journalists to become spies and disseminators of propaganda. The effort is headed by Frank Wisner, Allan Dulles, Richard Helms and Philip Graham. Graham is publisher of The Washington Post, which becomes a major CIA player. Eventually, the CIA’s media assets will include ABC, NBC, CBS, Time, Newsweek, Associated Press, United Press International, Reuters, Hearst Newspapers, Scripps-Howard, Copley News Service, CNN and more. By the CIA’s own admission, at least 25 organizations and 400 journalists will become CIA assets.

1953 Iran – The CIA overthrows the democratically elected Mohammed Mossadegh in a military coup, after he threatened to nationalize British oil. The CIA replaces him with a dictator, the Shah of Iran, whose secret police, SAVAK, is as brutal as the Gestapo.

Operation MK-ULTRA — Inspired by North Korea’s brainwashing program, the CIA begins experiments on mind control. The most notorious part of this project involves giving LSD and other drugs to American subjects without their knowledge or against their will, causing several to commit suicide. However, the operation involves far more than this. Funded in part by the Rockefeller and Ford foundations, research includes propaganda, brainwashing, public relations, advertising, hypnosis, and other forms of suggestion.

1954 Guatemala — CIA overthrows the democratically elected Jacob Arbenz in a military coup. Arbenz has threatened to nationalize the Rockefeller-owned United Fruit Company, in which CIA Director Allen Dulles also owns stock. Arbenz is replaced with a series of right-wing dictators whose bloodthirsty policies will kill over 100,000 Guatemalans in the next 40 years.

1954-1958 North Vietnam — CIA officer Edward Lansdale spends four years trying to overthrow the communist government of North Vietnam, using all the usual dirty tricks. The CIA also attempts to legitimize a tyrannical puppet regime in South Vietnam, headed by Ngo Dinh Diem. These efforts fail to win the hearts and minds of the South Vietnamese because the Diem government is opposed to true democracy, land reform and poverty reduction measures. The CIA’s continuing failure results in escalating American intervention, culminating in the Vietnam War.

1956 Hungary — Radio Free Europe incites Hungary to revolt by broadcasting Khruschev’s Secret Speech, in which he denounced Stalin. It also hints that American aid will help the Hungarians fight. This aid fails to materialize as Hungarians launch a doomed armed revolt, which only invites a major Soviet invasion. The conflict kills 7,000 Soviets and 30,000 Hungarians.

1957-1973 Laos — The CIA carries out approximately one coup per year trying to nullify Laos’ democratic elections. The problem is the Pathet Lao, a leftist group with enough popular support to be a member of any coalition government. In the late 50s, the CIA even creates an “Armee Clandestine” of Asian mercenaries to attack the Pathet Lao. After the CIA’s army suffers numerous defeats, the U.S. starts bombing, dropping more bombs on Laos than all the U.S. bombs dropped in World War II. A quarter of all Laotians will eventually become refugees, many living in caves.

1959 Haiti — The U.S. military helps “Papa Doc” Duvalier become dictator of Haiti. He creates his own private police force, the “Tonton Macoutes,” who terrorize the population with machetes. They will kill over 100,000 during the Duvalier family reign. The U.S. does not protest their dismal human rights record.

1961 The Bay of Pigs — The CIA sends 1,500 Cuban exiles to invade Castro’s Cuba. But “Operation Mongoose” fails, due to poor planning, security and backing. The planners had imagined that the invasion will spark a popular uprising against Castro -– which never happens. Kennedy refuses to provide air support. This is the CIA’s first public setback, causing President Kennedy to fire CIA Director Allen Dulles. This CIA failure and the firing of Dulles as CIA director gave the CIA motive to assassinate the president of the United States on November 22, 1963.

Dominican Republic — The CIA assassinates Rafael Trujillo, a murderous dictator Washington had supported since 1930. Trujillo’s business interests have grown so large (about 60 percent of the economy) that they have begun competing with American business interests.

Ecuador — The CIA-backed military forces the democratically elected President Jose Velasco to resign. Vice President Carlos Arosemana replaces him; the CIA fills the now vacant vice presidency with its own man.

Congo (Zaire) — The CIA assassinates the democratically elected Patrice Lumumba. However, public support for Lumumba’s politics runs so high that the CIA cannot clearly install his opponents in power. Four years of political turmoil follow.

1963 Dominican Republic — The CIA overthrows the democratically elected Juan Bosch in a military coup. The CIA installs a repressive, right-wing junta.

Ecuador — A CIA-backed military coup overthrows President Arosemana, whose independent (not socialist) policies have become unacceptable to Washington. A military junta assumes command, cancels the 1964 elections, and begins abusing human rights.

United States – The CIA with the financial backing of th Federal Reserve Bankers assassinate John F Kennedy. CIA puppet Johnson becomes president.

1964 Brazil — A CIA-backed military coup overthrows the democratically elected government of Joao Goulart. The junta that replaces it will, in the next two decades, become one of the most bloodthirsty in history. General Castelo Branco will create Latin America’s first death squads, or bands of secret police who hunt down “communists” for torture, interrogation and murder. Often these “communists” are no more than Branco’s political opponents. Later it is revealed that the CIA trains the death squads.

1965 Indonesia — The CIA overthrows the democratically elected Sukarno with a military coup. The CIA has been trying to eliminate Sukarno since 1957, using everything from attempted assassination to sexual intrigue, for nothing more than his declaring neutrality in the Cold War. His successor, General Suharto, will massacre between 500,000 to 1 million civilians accused of being “communist.” The CIA supplies the names of countless suspects.

Dominican Republic — A popular rebellion breaks out, promising to reinstall Juan Bosch as the country’s elected leader. The revolution is crushed when U.S. Marines land to uphold the military regime by force. The CIA directs everything behind the scenes.

Greece — With the CIA’s backing, the king removes George Papandreous as prime minister. Papandreous has failed to vigorously support U.S. interests in Greece.

Congo (Zaire) — A CIA-backed military coup installs Mobutu Sese Seko as dictator. The hated and repressive Mobutu exploits his desperately poor country for billions.

1966 The Ramparts Affair — The radical magazine Ramparts begins a series of unprecedented anti-CIA articles. Among their scoops: the CIA has paid the University of Michigan $25 million dollars to hire “professors” to train South Vietnamese students in covert police methods. MIT and other universities have received similar payments. Ramparts also reveals that the National Students’ Association is a CIA front. Students are sometimes recruited through blackmail and bribery, including draft deferments.

1967 Greece — A CIA-backed military coup overthrows the government two days before the elections. The favorite to win was George Papandreous, the liberal candidate. During the next six years, the “reign of the colonels” — backed by the CIA — will usher in the widespread use of torture and murder against political opponents. When a Greek ambassador objects to President Johnson about U.S. plans for Cypress, Johnson tells him: “F**k your parliament and your constitution.”

Operation PHEONIX — The CIA helps South Vietnamese agents identify and then murder alleged Viet Cong leaders operating in South Vietnamese villages. According to a 1971 congressional report, this operation killed about 20,000 “Viet Cong.”

1968 Operation CHAOS — The CIA has been illegally spying on American citizens since 1959, but with Operation CHAOS, President Johnson dramatically boosts the effort. CIA agents go undercover as student radicals to spy on and disrupt campus organizations protesting the Vietnam War. They are searching for Russian instigators, which they never find. CHAOS will eventually spy on 7,000 individuals and 1,000 organizations.

Bolivia — A CIA-organized military operation captures legendary guerilla Che Guevara. The CIA wants to keep him alive for interrogation, but the Bolivian government executes him to prevent worldwide calls for clemency.

1969 Uruguay — The notorious CIA torturer Dan Mitrione arrives in Uruguay, a country torn with political strife. Whereas right-wing forces previously used torture only as a last resort, Mitrione convinces them to use it as a routine, widespread practice. “The precise pain, in the precise place, in the precise amount, for the desired effect,” is his motto. The torture techniques he teaches to the death squads rival the Nazis’. He eventually becomes so feared that revolutionaries will kidnap and murder him a year later.

1970 Cambodia — The CIA overthrows Prince Sahounek, who is highly popular among Cambodians for keeping them out of the Vietnam War. He is replaced by CIA puppet Lon Nol, who immediately throws Cambodian troops into battle. This unpopular move strengthens once minor opposition parties like the Khmer Rouge, which achieves power in 1975 and massacres millions of its own people.

1971 Bolivia — After half a decade of CIA-inspired political turmoil, a CIA-backed military coup overthrows the leftist President Juan Torres. In the next two years, dictator Hugo Banzer will have over 2,000 political opponents arrested without trial, then tortured, raped and executed.

Haiti — “Papa Doc” Duvalier dies, leaving his 19-year old son “Baby Doc” Duvalier the dictator of Haiti. His son continues his bloody reign with full support of the CIA.

1972 The Case-Zablocki Act — Congress passes an act requiring congressional review of executive agreements. In theory, this should make CIA operations more accountable. In fact, it is only marginally effective.

Cambodia — Congress votes to cut off CIA funds for its secret war in Cambodia.

Wagergate Break-in — President Nixon sends in a team of burglars to wiretap Democratic offices at Watergate. The team members have extensive CIA histories, including James McCord, E. Howard Hunt and five of the Cuban burglars. They work for the Committee to Reelect the President (CREEP), which does dirty work like disrupting Democratic campaigns and laundering Nixon’s illegal campaign contributions. CREEP’s activities are funded and organized by another CIA front, the Mullen Company.

1973 Chile — The CIA overthrows and assassinates Salvador Allende, Latin America’s first democratically elected socialist leader. The problems begin when Allende nationalizes American-owned firms in Chile. ITT offers the CIA $1 million for a coup (reportedly refused). The CIA replaces Allende with General Augusto Pinochet, who will torture and murder thousands of his own countrymen in a crackdown on labor leaders and the political left.

CIA begins internal investigations — William Colby, the Deputy Director for Operations, orders all CIA personnel to report any and all illegal activities they know about. This information is later reported to Congress.

Watergate Scandal — The CIA’s main collaborating newspaper in America, The Washington Post, reports Nixon’s crimes long before any other newspaper takes up the subject. The two reporters, Woodward and Bernstein, make almost no mention of the CIA’s many fingerprints all over the scandal. It is later revealed that Woodward was a Naval intelligence briefer to the White House, and knows many important intelligence figures, including General Alexander Haig. His main source, “Deep Throat,” is probably one of those.

CIA Director Helms Fired — President Nixon fires CIA Director Richard Helms for failing to help cover up the Watergate scandal. Helms and Nixon have always disliked each other. The new CIA director is William Colby, who is relatively more open to CIA reform.

1974 CHAOS exposed — Pulitzer prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh publishes a story about Operation CHAOS, the domestic surveillance and infiltration of anti-war and civil rights groups in the U.S. The story sparks national outrage.

Angleton fired — Congress holds hearings on the illegal domestic spying efforts of James Jesus Angleton, the CIA’s chief of counterintelligence. His efforts included mail-opening campaigns and secret surveillance of war protesters. The hearings result in his dismissal from the CIA.

House clears CIA in Watergate — The House of Representatives clears the CIA of any complicity in Nixon’s Watergate break-in.

The Hughes Ryan Act — Congress passes an amendment requiring the president to report non intelligence CIA operations to the relevant congressional committees in a timely fashion.

1975 Australia — The CIA helps topple the democratically elected, left-leaning government of Prime Minister Edward Whitlam. The CIA does this by giving an ultimatum to its Governor-General, John Kerr. Kerr, a longtime CIA collaborator, exercises his constitutional right to dissolve the Whitlam government. The Governor-General is a largely ceremonial position appointed by the Queen; the Prime Minister is democratically elected. The use of this archaic and never-used law stuns the nation.

Angola — Eager to demonstrate American military resolve after its defeat in Vietnam, Henry Kissinger launches a CIA-backed war in Angola. Contrary to Kissinger’s assertions, Angola is a country of little strategic importance and not seriously threatened by communism. The CIA backs the brutal leader of UNITAS, Jonas Savimbi. This polarizes Angolan politics and drives his opponents into the arms of Cuba and the Soviet Union for survival. Congress will cut off funds in 1976, but the CIA is able to run the war off the books until 1984, when funding is legalized again. This entirely pointless war kills over 300,000 Angolans.

“The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence” — Victor Marchetti and John Marks publish this whistle-blowing history of CIA crimes and abuses. Marchetti has spent 14 years in the CIA, eventually becoming an executive assistant to the Deputy Director of Intelligence. Marks has spent five years as an intelligence official in the State Department.

“Inside the Company” — Philip Agee publishes a diary of his life inside the CIA. Agee has worked in covert operations in Latin America during the 60s, and details the crimes in which he took part.

Congress investigates CIA wrong-doing — Public outrage compels Congress to hold hearings on CIA crimes. Senator Frank Church heads the Senate investigation (“The Church Committee”), and Representative Otis Pike heads the House investigation. The investigations lead to a number of reforms intended to increase the CIA’s accountability to Congress, including the creation of a standing Senate committee on intelligence. However, the reforms prove ineffective, as the Iran/Contra scandal will show. It turns out the CIA can control, deal with or sidestep Congress with ease.

The Rockefeller Commission — In an attempt to reduce the damage done by the Church Committee, President Ford creates the “Rockefeller Commission” to whitewash CIA history and propose toothless reforms. The commission’s namesake, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, is himself a major CIA figure. Five of the commission’s eight members are also members of the Council on Foreign Relations, a CIA-dominated organization.

1979 Iran — The CIA fails to predict the fall of the Shah of Iran, a longtime CIA puppet, and the rise of Muslim fundamentalists who are furious at the CIA’s backing of SAVAK, the Shah’s bloodthirsty secret police. In revenge, the Muslims take 52 Americans hostage in the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

Afghanistan — The Soviets invade Afghanistan. The CIA immediately begins supplying arms to any faction willing to fight the occupying Soviets. Such indiscriminate arming means that when the Soviets leave Afghanistan, civil war will erupt. Also, fanatical Muslim extremists now possess state-of-the-art weaponry. One of these is Sheik Abdel Rahman, who will become involved in the World Trade Center bombing in New York.

El Salvador — An idealistic group of young military officers, repulsed by the massacre of the poor, overthrows the right-wing government. However, the U.S. compels the inexperienced officers to include many of the old guard in key positions in their new government. Soon, things are back to “normal” — the military government is repressing and killing poor civilian protesters. Many of the young military and civilian reformers, finding themselves powerless, resign in disgust.

Nicaragua — Anastasios Samoza II, the CIA-backed dictator, falls. The Marxist Sandinistas take over government, and they are initially popular because of their commitment to land and anti-poverty reform. Samoza had a murderous and hated personal army called the National Guard. Remnants of the Guard will become the Contras, who fight a CIA-backed guerilla war against the Sandinista government throughout the 1980s.

1980 El Salvador — The Archbishop of San Salvador, Oscar Romero, pleads with President Carter “Christian to Christian” to stop aiding the military government slaughtering his people. Carter refuses. Shortly afterwards, right-wing leader Roberto D’Aubuisson has Romero shot through the heart while saying Mass. The country soon dissolves into civil war, with the peasants in the hills fighting against the military government. The CIA and U.S. Armed Forces supply the government with overwhelming military and intelligence superiority. CIA-trained death squads roam the countryside, committing atrocities like that of El Mazote in 1982, where they massacre between 700 and 1000 men, women and children. By 1992, some 63,000 Salvadorans will be killed.

1981 Iran/Contra Begins — The CIA begins selling arms to Iran at high prices, using the profits to arm the Contras fighting the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. President Reagan vows that the Sandinistas will be “pressured” until “they say ‘uncle.’” The CIA’s Freedom Fighter’s Manual disbursed to the Contras includes instruction on economic sabotage, propaganda, extortion, bribery, blackmail, interrogation, torture, murder and political assassination.

1983 Honduras — The CIA gives Honduran military officers the Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual – 1983, which teaches how to torture people. Honduras’ notorious “Battalion 316? then uses these techniques, with the CIA’s full knowledge, on thousands of leftist dissidents. At least 184 are murdered.

1984 The Boland Amendment — The last of a series of Boland Amendments is passed. These amendments have reduced CIA aid to the Contras; the last one cuts it off completely. However, CIA Director William Casey is already prepared to “hand off” the operation to Colonel Oliver North, who illegally continues supplying the Contras through the CIA’s informal, secret, and self-financing network. This includes “humanitarian aid” donated by Adolph Coors and William Simon, and military aid funded by Iranian arms sales.

1986 Eugene Hasenfus — Nicaragua shoots down a C-123 transport plane carrying military supplies to the Contras. The lone survivor, Eugene Hasenfus, turns out to be a CIA employee, as are the two dead pilots. The airplane belongs to Southern Air Transport, a CIA front. The incident makes a mockery of President Reagan’s claims that the CIA is not illegally arming the Contras.

Iran/Contra Scandal — Although the details have long been known, the Iran/Contra scandal finally captures the media’s attention in 1986. Congress holds hearings, and several key figures (like Oliver North) lie under oath to protect the intelligence community. CIA Director William Casey dies of brain cancer before Congress can question him. All reforms enacted by Congress after the scandal are purely cosmetic.

Haiti — Rising popular revolt in Haiti means that “Baby Doc” Duvalier will remain “President for Life” only if he has a short one. The U.S., which hates instability in a puppet country, flies the despotic Duvalier to the South of France for a comfortable retirement. The CIA then rigs the upcoming elections in favor of another right-wing military strongman. However, violence keeps the country in political turmoil for another four years. The CIA tries to strengthen the military by creating the National Intelligence Service (SIN), which suppresses popular revolt through torture and assassination.

1989 Panama — The U.S. invades Panama to overthrow a dictator of its own making, General Manuel Noriega. Noriega has been on the CIA’s payroll since 1966, and has been transporting drugs with the CIA’s knowledge since 1972. By the late 80s, Noriega’s growing independence and intransigence have angered Washington… so out he goes.

1990 Haiti — Competing against 10 comparatively wealthy candidates, Catholic priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide captures 68 percent of the vote. After only eight months in power, however, the CIA-backed military deposes him. More military dictators brutalize the country, as thousands of Haitian refugees escape the turmoil in barely seaworthy boats. As popular opinion calls for Aristide’s return, the CIA begins a disinformation campaign painting the courageous priest as mentally unstable.

1991 The Gulf War — The U.S. liberates Kuwait from Iraq. But Iraq’s dictator, Saddam Hussein, is another creature of the CIA. With U.S. encouragement, Hussein invaded Iran in 1980. During this costly eight-year war, the CIA built up Hussein’s forces with sophisticated arms, intelligence, training and financial backing. This cemented Hussein’s power at home, allowing him to crush the many internal rebellions that erupted from time to time, sometimes with poison gas – supplied by the United States through special envoy Donald Rumsfeld to Iraq. It also gave him all the military might he needed to conduct further adventurism — in Kuwait, for example.

The Fall of the Soviet Union — The CIA fails to predict this most important event of the Cold War. This suggests that it has been so busy undermining governments that it hasn’t been doing its primary job: gathering and analyzing information. The fall of the Soviet Union also robs the CIA of its reason for existence: fighting communism. This leads some to accuse the CIA of intentionally failing to predict the downfall of the Soviet Union. Curiously, the intelligence community’s budget is not significantly reduced after the demise of communism.

1992 Economic Espionage — In the years following the end of the Cold War, the CIA is increasingly used for economic espionage. This involves stealing the technological secrets of competing foreign companies and giving them to American ones. Given the CIA’s clear preference for dirty tricks over mere information gathering, the possibility of serious criminal behavior is very great indeed.

1993 Haiti — The chaos in Haiti grows so bad that President Clinton orders the removal of the US backed Haitian military dictator, Raoul Cedras, and threatens a U.S. invasion. The U.S. occupiers do not arrest Haiti’s military leaders for crimes against humanity, but instead ensure their safety and rich retirements. Aristide is returned to power only after being forced to accept an agenda favorable to the country’s ruling class.

2001 – United States — The CIA begins planning for attacks on US soil after the Afghanistan ruling party, the Taliban, give the Trans-Afghan Natural Gas pipeline project to Argentina oil company Bridas Corporation. US Unicol, petitioned the US government to use the US military to expedite a regime change and install a US friendly leader. September 11, 2001 CIA aircraft, repainted to look like US commercial airlines are flown by remote control in the World Trade Center Towers and a CIA owned unmanned aerial drone into the Pentagon. Not one but 3 World Trade Center Towers are “demolished using shape charges and small underground tactical nuke explosions. Immediately the US government takes control of all media reporting to cover up the CIA crimes against the United States. The CIA gave the US government an excuse to launch the first of many pre-emptive wars against Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.

2011 – Libya — CIA backed mercenaries, along with the French, UK and Canadian government overthrow and murder Libyan leader leader Muammar Gaddafi. As with the Afghanistan and Iraq wars the motive was to take control of Libya’s oil interests. Oil reserves in Libya are the largest in Africa and the Fifth largest in the world. CIA military transport planes use Saudi airfields to launch airlifts to drop foreign mercenaries and weaponry to CIA controlled foreign mercenaries in Libya. US, French, UK and Canadian war planes completely destroyed the Libya infrastructure and slaughtered tens of thousands of Libyan civilians in their efforts to take control of the Libyan oil installations. After Gaddafi was murdered the CIA started eliminating their own foreign mercenaries in an effort to renege on their debt and to protect alias Barack Obama and his co-conspirator in the French, UK and Canadian governments from being indicted for war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against peace.
PC
July 6, 2012 - 5:19 PM

In Feb 2012 Oil and Gas UK said their medium to long-term prospects were being “frustrated by the structure and instability of the current fiscal regime”. This is the sole motive for the UK government calling for regime change in Syria and for financially supporting the foreign terrorists in Syria. This is the same rhetoric US Unicol spatted out when they petitioned the US government of Bill and Hillary Clinto to overthrow the Taliban in Afghanistan so that they could take control of the Trans-Afgan Natural Gas Pipeline.

The CIA began planning for the false flag attacks on US soil immediately after the Afghanistan ruling party, the Taliban, give the Trans-Afghan Natural Gas pipeline project to Argentina oil company Bridas Corporation. US Unicol and the US government had already made plans to invade Afghanstan months before the US government false flag attack on September 11, 2001 to expedite a regime change and install a US friendly leader – CIA asset and Opium Drug Trafficking Warlord Hamid Karzai.

Unocal petitioned the US government (The Clinton administration) to overthrow the Afghan Taliban government to build a US controlled Trans-Afghan gas pipeline during a FEBRUARY 12, 1998 US Congressional hearing –

“The key question then is how the energy resources of Central Asia can be made available to nearby Asian markets. There are two possible solutions, with several variations. One option is to go east across China, but this would mean constructing a pipeline of more than 3,000 kilometers just to reach Central China. In addition, there would have to be a 2,000-kilometer connection to reach the main population centers along the coast. The question then is what will be the cost of transporting oil through this pipeline, and what would be the netback which the producers would receive.” …

“The second option is to build a pipeline south from Central Asia to the Indian Ocean. One obvious route south would cross Iran, but this is foreclosed for American companies because of U.S. sanctions legislation. The only other possible route is across Afghanistan, which has of course its own unique challenges. The country has been involved in bitter warfare for almost two decades, and is still divided by civil war. From the outset, we have made it clear that construction of the pipeline we have proposed across Afghanistan could not begin until a recognized government is in place that has the confidence of governments, lenders, and our company.”

p.33 US government source – http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/intlrel/hfa48119.000/hfa48119_0.HTM
PC

July 6, 2012 - 4:58 PM

In 2008 Dove Energy, an Aberdeen, Scotland-based oil and gas company, and its partner Larsen Oil and Gas, were negotiating with the Syrian Petroleum Company and the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources for a license to drill exploration wells in Syrian waters.

In 2007 Syria offered four blocks offshore Syria with a total area of 5,000 square kilometers. Dove, which started work in Syria in 2005 in partnership with Norwegian oil company DNO International ASA, reported in 2008 that they would invest between $5 million and $10 million on exploration in in Syria,.
PC

Just to add that some people are apparently abandoning Bernie and even demanding that he resign from politics for not overcoming all this (and more unmentioned here) in a nomination rigged by those who won't allow other people's countries to retain/institute democracies??? Gee, I wonder who started this propaganda to con Progressives into (yet again) turning on their allies - to prevent themselves from getting anywhere?

If Dubya hadn't decided on a quick war in Iraq?

and its list of signatories. And who among them may have been involved with this?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_support_for_Iraq_during_the_...–Iraq_war

United States support for Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War, against post-revolutionary Iran, included several billion dollars' worth of economic aid, the sale of dual-use technology, non-U.S. origin weaponry, military intelligence, and Special Operations training.

If you'd been running the universe, the world would be full of prosperous citizens living in democracy and far more ecologically balanced.

We can do very nicely (incredibly much better, in fact) without giant, overly powerful corporations destroying the world and paying starvation wages to all but a few - and the corporations can do without being giant, overly powerful and with owners, CEO's and major investors suffering from delusions of surviving their own global domination to wind up with all of the money in the world only to discover that it's become a worthless souvenir with no people, purchases or economy to give it any point... and no breathable air outside their luxury bunkers and the system just glitched on that last update - and there goes the power in that monster storm - and damn, I can't see in the pitch blackness, but I think that last massive earthquake just split the bunker because I'm breathing straight methane and pollution now... and I can't...

I wish we had a couple of hundred more like her.