Terrorist Saudi OIL Money Comes to Beverly Hills

Blood soaked oil money from the terrorist state of Saudi Arabia comes back to America in the form of a mega-million dollar mansion in Beverly Hills, Ca.

A mystery landowner's plan to build an 85,000-square-foot family compound has set off a major kerfuffle in a tony Hollywood hills neighborhood whose residents include Bruce Springsteen, Jay Leno, and David Beckham, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The proposed "mega-mansion"—which would be located in the iconic 90210 zip code—will include a 42,681-square-foot main house, a double-winged "son's villa" of more than 27,000 square feet, a 4,400-square-foot guest house, a 5,300-square-foot staff quarters and a 2,700-square-foot gatehouse.

The owner's identity is being kept secret. But there are indications he could be a member of the Saudi royal family. A special business created to buy the land lists as its president Mansour Fustok of London. Fustok--who described the mansion to the Times as "just a normal Mediterranean-style house"--is the uncle of Prince Abdulaziz ibn Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz al Saud, one of Saudi King Abdullah's sons.
The owner of the 5.2-acre property in Tower Lane has kept his identity well-hidden behind an especially set-up property firm, fuelling rumours he could be a senior Saudi prince.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1368975/Beverly-Hills-Benedict-Canyon-residents-fight-Saudi-princes-mega-mansion-plans.html#ixzz1Hbwyul7a


And the complex may be intended for the prince himself. According to a representative of Fustok's business, the owner is a single father of three. Prince Abdulaziz is divorced and has three children.

But residents of the Benedict Canyon neighborhood—including Hollywood honcho Michael Ovitz (pictured)—are worried about the project's potential for noise, pollution, and environmental damage. They've organized a campaign to block it, arguing that the owners are trying to get around a legally mandated environmental review.

Ovitz may not be the best front-man for the campaign. He himself once proposed a 28,000-square-foot megamansion on property straddling the Los Angeles-Beverly Hills border, which also generated heated opposition. The home, which ultimately was built, sits a stone's throw away from the site of the proposed compound.

One neighbour, Martha Karsh, told the Los Angeles Times: 'It's commercial-scale construction, like building a Wal-Mart in the heart of a quiet residential neighbourhood.'

The project was too big for the area's narrow streets, the house would create mudslide and fire hazards - and claimed the mystery developer wasn't being 'neighbourly'.

The entire development would dwarf even the Griffith Observatory, as well as Spelling's $150million 'The Manor' in Holmby Hills, which covers 56,500 square feet.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the owner of the existing property has created a firm called Tower Lane Properties Inc to buy the three neighbouring plots of land for $12million.

Great Satan Prepares to Attack Again, Libya to be Bombed into Democracy

Military action against Gaddafi 'within hours' of UN vote

The Great Satan Speaks (Israel, USA, UK and France), next they will bomb Libya into submission.. While the greasy Saudis look on, with blood lust coursing their oily veins as they jack up oil prices around the globe.. 15 of the 19 'hijackers' CAME FROM SAUDI ARABIA! (RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia acknowledged for the first time that 15 of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackers were Saudi citizens, but said Wednesday that the oil-rich kingdom bears no responsibility for their actions.)

And the Great Satan responds by destroying Iraq, decimating life there and are now in their 9th year of death and destruction in Afghanistan...

All the while, the snakes, the oily serpents, the TRUE terrorist of the WORLD, Saudi Arabia reap the benefits of the war machine that chugs along on its path of global destruction and global domination..

..

Security council resolution calls for states to protect Libyan civilians, with Britain, France and US confident bill will pass

By Ewen MacAskill in Washington and Nicholas Watt

March 17, 2011 "The Guardian" -- Britain, France and the US, along with several Arab countries, are to join forces to throw a protective ring around the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi as soon as a UN security council vote on military action is authorized, according to security council sources.

A source at UN headquarters in New York said military forces could be deployed "within hours" of a new security council resolution calling for states to protect civilians by halting attacks by Muammar Gaddafi's forces by air, land and sea.

The resolution would impose a no-fly zone over Libya – but a no-fly zone was no longer enough, the source said. "The resolution authorizes air strikes against tank columns advancing on Benghazi or engaging naval ships bombarding Benghazi," he said.

Britain, France and Lebanon sponsored the new resolution, which provides the moral and legal basis for military action.

British and French forces are understood to have been placed on standby after the US said it was prepared to support the measure if Arab countries agreed to take an active role.

The security council was scheduled to vote on the new resolution this evening, and its backers expressed confidence it would pass after hours of negotiation.

In London, William Hague, the foreign secretary, indicated to MPs that military preparations to protect Benghazi were at an advanced stage. The no-fly zone would be imposed from land, and not from aircraft carriers.

"No, it is not the case that carrier-borne aircraft are necessary to do such a thing," Hague said. "In the contingency plans of all the nations, none of them involve an aircraft carrier."

The increase in military preparations came as Gaddafi announced that his forces would invade Benghazi tonight and would show no mercy on fighters who resisted them.

"No more fear, no more hesitation, the moment of truth has come," he declared. "There will be no mercy. Our troops will be coming to Benghazi tonight."

Residents and a rebel spokesman reported three air strikes on the outskirts of the city, including at the airport, and another air raid further south.

There was also heavy fighting in residential areas of nearby Ajdabiyah, where around 30 people were killed, Al Arabiya reported.

Libyan authorities also warned that all maritime traffic in the Mediterranean would be in danger if it was targeted by foreign forces.

In a statement broadcast on Libyan television, the defense ministry said: "Any foreign military act against Libya will expose all air and maritime traffic in the Mediterranean Sea to danger, and civilian and military [facilities] will become targets of Libya's counterattack," the statement said. "The Mediterranean basin will face danger not just in the short-term, but also in the long-term."

The UN resolution, which calls for "all necessary measures short of an occupation force" to protect civilians, needs the support of a further six further members of the security council to pass – and to avoid vetoes from Russia and China.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "The prime minister has been making a series of calls on Libya. He has spoken to a number of Arab and African leaders. We can now confirm that he has also spoken to several European leaders.

"In all his calls, the prime minister has made the case for strong action by the UN security council, to increase the pressure on Gaddafi and put a stop to the campaign he is waging against the Libyan people. The prime minister will be making further calls this evening."

The move marks a last-gasp attempt to keep the Libyan uprising alive.

It has been relatively rare in recent years for the UN to give the go-ahead for military action – the security council, for example, refused to support the Iraq invasion. The resolution reflects the extent of despair felt in Britain, France, the US and parts of the Arab world at the prospect of total victory by Gaddafi and fears of a massacre in Benghazi.

After weeks of prevarication by the US, Washington backed the resolution. The Obama administration was stalled by a split between the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, who favored a no-fly zone, and the defense secretary, Robert Gates, who was opposed. The White House, caught in the middle, dithered.

Gates redeployed US naval vessels close to the Libyan coast and told Barack Obama that, though heavily engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military was capable of fighting on a third front.

The US, crucially, insisted it would only act if there was Arab support, in order to avoid it being seen as a western intervention. Several Arab countries have promised to provide planes, but insisted upon their identity being withheld until the resolution was passed.

Speculation as to which countries would participate include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

There is no plan to send in ground troops, other than for isolated incidents such as rescuing downed pilots.

Supporters of the resolution, speaking before the vote, said they were confident of achieving the necessary nine votes in the 15-member chamber. A source who was present at the talks said that China and Russia have vetoes that could scupper the resolution, but indicated they would abstain.

Brazil, Germany and India expressed skepticism over military action, but their votes were not needed to secure a majority.

John Kerry, the chairman of the US Senate foreign affairs committee, said: "The international community cannot simply watch from the sidelines as the Libyan people's quest for democratic reform is met with violence … Time is running out for the Libyan people. The world needs to respond immediately."

See also - US Pushing for Broader Military Authorization Against Libya: The U.S.is pushing for the resolution to authorize international forces to stop attacks by Gadhafi's forces on its people conducted on land and by sea as well.

High-ranking members of US military part of ‘Knights of Malta,’ ‘Opus Dei,’ Proof Wars Faught for Christianity.

Veteran investigative reporter Seymour Hersh has broken some massive stories in his day, but uncovering secret societies within the highest echelons of America's military would probably be the biggest of his career.

Well, get ready for the media storm, because that's essentially what Hersh told an audience in Doha, Qatar recently, according to a report published earlier this week by Foreign Policy.

Speaking at a campus operated by Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, Hersh said he was working on a new book that details "how eight or nine neoconservative, radicals if you will, overthrew the American government."

"It's not only that the neocons took it over but how easily they did it -- how Congress disappeared, how the press became part of it, how the public acquiesced," he continued, according to the published quotes.

Hersh also lamented President Obama's continuance of the Bush administration's worst abuses.

"Just when we needed an angry black man, we didn't get one," he reportedly said.

The Foreign Policy report added that in 2003, those "in the Cheney shop" were not concerned about the havoc the invasion of Iraq was destined to cause.

"[The] attitude was, 'What's this? What are they all worried about, the politicians and the press, they're all worried about some looting?" Hersh was quoted as saying. "Don't they get it? We're gonna change moseques into cathedrals. And when we get all the oil, nobody's gonna give a damn.' That's the attitude. We're gonna change mosques into cathedrals. That's an attitude that pervades, I'm here to say, a large percentage of the Joint Special Operations Command [JSOC]."

He further claimed that Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Vice Admiral William McRaven and others in the JSOC were members of the "Knights of Malta" and "Opus Dei," two little known Catholic orders.

"They do see what they're doing -- and this is not an atypical attitude among some military -- it's a crusade, literally," Hersh reportedly continued. "They see themselves as the protectors of the Christians. They're protecting them from the Muslims [as in] the 13th century. And this is their function."

He added that members of these societies have developed a secret set of insignias that represent "the whole notion that this is a culture war" between religions.

It was President George W. Bush who first invoked images of a holy war in the Middle East, when he suggested soon after Sept. 11, 2001 that the US was on a "crusade" in the region.

The "Knights of Malta" were a Catholic order founded in 1085 as a group of monks who cared for the wounded. It evolved into a military order that safeguarded Christian pilgrims from Muslims during the nine "Crusades," where Europe's Christian states laid siege to Muslims for control of Jerusalem.

"Opus Dei," popularly depicted in the Hollywood film "The DaVinci Code," was founded in 1928 and officially accepted as part of the Catholic church in 1947. The group's website claimed their principle calling was to bring about a "Christian renewal" around the world.

Doubts, denials and a distinctive trend

Raw Story reached out to Hersh and The New Yorker to confirm the accuracy of his quotes, placing this report on hold until they responded. Both declined to make any further statement, neither confirming nor denying the quotes.

However, one source close to Hersh who spoke to Raw Story off the record, suggested that Foreign Policy's report was indeed correct.

Raw Story followed-up on the quotes due to a widely-reported false claim attributed to Hersh in May 2009, where he'd allegedly said former Vice President Dick Cheney ordered the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

The report, which appeared to have originated in Pakistan, was picked up by The Wall Street Journal and the conservative-leaning American Spectator, but both removed the links after Raw Story published a denial from Hersh. A link to Raw Story's original report was unavailable due to a database malfunction.

Hersh, a Pulitzer-winning author and reporter, has previously reported that the JSOC was set up by former Vice President Cheney as something of an "executive assassination squad" that operated outside of congressional authority.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who resigned after Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings quoted him mocking the US civilian command, led JSOC before taking command of America's war effort in Afghanistan.

In an email to the military's Stars and Stripes publication, McChrystal's spokesman, David Bolger, panned Hersh's claim.

“The allegations recently made by Seymour Hersh relating to General McChrystal’s involvement with an organization called The Knights of Malta are completely false and without basis in fact,” he reportedly wrote. “General McChrystal is not and has never been a member of that organization.”

The religious indoctrination of US soldiers has been in headlines in recent weeks as soldiers who "failed" the "spiritual fitness" portion of the "comprehensive soldier fitness" test claimed they were forced to attend Christian ceremonies and become "born again" by professing love for the Christian deity.

Similarly, GQ magazine uncovered last year a series of top-secret military briefings prepared by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld that included passages from the Bible.

Trijicon Inc., a defense contractor, was also discovered last January to have been for years placing scriptural references on gun sights used by the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Their actions revealed Trijicon was forced to provide the Pentagon with kits to remove the codes.

Ousted Tunisian president 'living in remote USA Friendly Saudi area known for al-Qaeda links'

The land that brought the USA 15 of the 19 hijackers that 'supposedly' brought down the World Trade Centers and forced America's hand into the Bush led 'War on Terror' now offers a lending hand to a dictator in need.. How charming.. The wonderful country that is filled with rabid Islamists that profess pure hatred for Israel and refuse to allow any Jew into their country, have allowed another dictator protection and asylum in their land. I'm sure the Bush's and their Nazi kin are dancing beneath their white hoods and sheets as I am writing this.

It brings tears to ones eyes as we remember the sweet surrender of George Bush and Prince Abdullah holding hands as they walked along and chatted like schoolgirls.

The two terrorists were obviously enamored in their mutual lust for violence and war..

Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali, the ex-president of Tunisia, has been sent to live in a conservative southern province of Saudi Arabia known for its links to al-Qaeda, according to reports.

Mr Ben Ali flew to the Red Sea city of Jeddah on Friday night after being refused permission to land in France, Tunisia's former colonial master.

He stayed briefly there and is even rumoured to have paid a brief pilgrimage to nearby Mecca. But according to local reports, he has now been found somewhere to stay 300 miles to the south in Abha, the capital of Asir province, which neighbours Yemen.

Although Saudi al-Qaeda members come from all over the country, a high proportion come from relatively conservative, economically underdeveloped provinces such as Asir, including several of the 9/11 attackers. In a recording, Osama bin Laden later said of them: "Asir's tribes formed the lion's share."

Said al-Shehri, deputy commander of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, is from Khamis Mushayt, not far from Abha.

That Mr Ben Ali, who banned Islamist parties and was well known for high-living, has been granted asylum by puritanical Saudi Arabia is already subject of a number of jokes in the Arab world.

According to Mustafa Alani, an analyst based in Dubai with good Saudi connections, he has been allowed to stay in Saudi Arabia on condition he takes no part in politics and does not speak to the media - conditions that also applied to other political leaders who sought refuge there, from Idi Amin of Uganda to ex-prime ministerNawaz Sharif of Pakistan.

In keeping with their tradition of offering a home to former leaders, the kingdom's rulers are likely to resist all calls to have the family returned to face trial, despite assurances by the Tunisian prime minister, Mohamed Ghanouchi, that anyone involved in orders to crack down on last week's protests would face justice.

He is also said to have been joined in Saudi Arabia by his unpopular wife, Leila, after she flew at first to Dubai with a number of her relatives. It is the second marriage for both of the couple, and they have two daughters and a son.

Their two daughters, Nesrine and Cyrine, are staying in Disneyland Paris, along with Nesrine's husband, Sakher El Materi.

Mrs Trabelsi also has a large clan of brothers and nephews, one of whom, Imed Trabelsi, is said to have been killed by an angry mob as he tried to fly out of the country on Friday.

Nigeria to drop Dick Cheney Charges after Bush plea bargains to Save his War Criminal Buddy

Nigeria's anti-corruption police have dropped charges against Dick Cheney, the former US vice-president, over a multi-million dollar bribery case after the energy firm Halliburton agreed to pay up to $250m (£161m) in fines.

The move followed the intervention of ex-president George Bush Sr and former secretary of state James Baker, according to Nigerian press reports.

The country's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it met officials representing Cheney and Halliburton in London last week after filing 16-count charges relating to the construction of a liquefied natural gas plant in the conflict-ridden Niger delta.

Femi Babafemi, a spokesman for the EFCC, said: "There was a plea bargain on the part of the company to pay $250m as fines in lieu of prosecution."

The sum consists of $120m (£77m) in penalties and the repatriation of $130m (£83m) trapped in Switzerland, he added.

Babafemi said he expected Nigeria's attorney general Mohammed Adoke to ratify the decision . "I can tell you authoritatively that an agreement has been reached."

Several Nigerian newspapers added that Bush and Baker took part in negotiations through conference calls with Adoke and other officials, but Babafemi could not confirm this.

Houston-based engineering firm KBR, a former Halliburton unit, pleaded guilty last year to US charges that it paid $180m in bribes between 1994 and 2004 to Nigerian officials to secure $6bn in contracts for the Bonny Island liquefied natural gas project in the delta. KBR and Halliburton reached a $579m settlement in America but Nigeria, France and Switzerland have conducted their own investigations into the case.


Last week, the EFCC charged Halliburton chief executive David Lesar, Cheney, and two other executives. It also filed charges against Halliburton as a company, which was headed by Cheney during the 1990s, and four associated businesses.

Campaigners in the Niger delta expressed disappointment at the plea bargain. Celestine AkpoBari, programme officer at Social Action Nigeria, said: "I would have loved to see Dick Cheney in chains in our court and facing justice in our prisons. That would have been a very big point that would have lifted Nigeria out of its woes."

Kentebe Ebiaridor, a project assistant at Environment Rights Action, suggested that Bush and Baker took part to protect America's huge oil interests in the region. "They are trying not to jeopardise the relationship," he said. "But if Dick Cheney is guilty, he should be brought to book."

Cheney, Bush, KBR Crime Spree Continues

Cheney/Bush Crime Syndicates, KBR Inc., has been awarded a $35 million Pentagon contract involving major electrical work, even as it is under criminal investigation in the electrocution deaths of at least two U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

The announcement of the new KBR contract came just months after the Pentagon, in strongly worded correspondence obtained by The AP, rejected the company's explanation of serious mistakes in Iraq and its proposed improvements. A senior Pentagon official, David J. Graff, cited the company's "continuing quality deficiencies" and said KBR executives were "not sufficiently in touch with the urgency or realities of what was actually occurring on the ground."

"Many within DOD (the Department of Defense) have lost or are losing all remaining confidence in KBR's ability to successfully and repeatedly perform the required electrical support services mission in Iraq," wrote Graff, commander of the Defense Contract Management Agency, in a Sept. 30 letter.

Graff rejected the company's claims that it wasn't required to follow U.S. electrical codes for its work on U.S. military facilities in Iraq. KBR has said it would cost an extra $560 million to refurbish buildings in Iraq used by the U.S. military, including Saddam Hussein's palaces, which among other problems are based on a 220-volt standard rather than the American 120-volt standard.

KBR announced last week it won a new $35.4 million contract from the Army Corps of Engineers to design and build a convoy support center at Camp Adder in southern Iraq. It will include a power plant, electrical distribution center, water purification and distribution systems, wastewater and information systems and road paving.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said the new KBR contract was inappropriate. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said he has formally asked the Corps of Engineers whether it was confident KBR could accomplish it and whether the Corps had any alternatives.

"This is hardly the time to award KBR a new contract for work they've already failed to perform adequately, and which put U.S. soldiers at even greater risk," Dorgan said in a statement. "Ultimately, contractors must be held accountable, and so should those who continue to award these contracts."

A KBR Criminal spokeswoman, Heather Browne, said the Crime Syndicate is committed to providing quality services and would comply with the military's requirements in its work on the Camp Adder contract.

The AP has learned that Army criminal agents have reopened the death investigation of Staff Sgt. Christopher Lee Everett, 23, a member of the Texas Army National Guard. Everett was killed September 2005 in Iraq when the power washer he was using to clean a vehicle short-circuited. KBR and another contractor, Arkel International, performed the electrical work on the device's generator, according to a civil lawsuit filed by Everett's family.

"I think it's something that needs to be done so these electrocutions don't continue to happen," Everett's mother, Larraine McGee of Huntsville, Texas, told the AP in a phone interview. "There's no excuse for this whatsoever." McGee said the Army's senior criminal investigator at Fort Hood notified her about the reopened investigation.

The AP reported that the Army has reclassified another soldier's electrocution death as a negligent homicide caused by KBR and two of its supervisors. Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, a Green Beret from Pittsburgh, was electrocuted in his barracks shower. An Army investigator said KBR's contractor failed to ensure qualified electricians and plumbers did the work. The case is under legal review, and KBR has said it was not responsible for Maseth's death.

The deaths of Everett and Maseth are among the 18 under review by the Pentagon's inspector general. Some of the deaths have been blamed on improperly installed or maintained electrical equipment. In three cases, service members were shocked while showering. Families of Maseth and Everett also have sued KBR in federal court for wrongful death; the company is attempting to have the lawsuits dismissed.

The Corps of Engineers said KBR has earned $615 million on 30 similar contracts as the newest it awarded to the company and noted that KBR has not been banned or suspended from winning U.S. government contracts. The government can ban companies in cases of fraud, antitrust violations, bribery, tax evasion or for actions that reflect "a lack of business integrity or business honesty," according to federal rules.

"KBR has not been debarred, suspended, nor have they been proposed for debarment from government contracting," Corps spokeswoman Joan Kibler said.

KBR was previously owned by Halliburton Co., the oil services conglomerate that former Vice President Dick Cheney once led. Democrats have long complained it benefited from ties to Cheney.

Separately, court papers filed in Houston on Friday show KBR is preparing to plead guilty to federal bribery charges for promising and paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes to officials in Nigeria in exchange for engineering and construction contracts between 1995 and 2004.

Browne, the Criminal KBR spokeswoman, said the company had no comment. The company is expected to appear in federal court next week as part of a plea deal.

UK's Brown Calls for NWO --to "beat recession"

Prime Minister Gordon Brown today sets out a five-point plan to create a "stronger and more just" world order in the wake of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.


Mr Brown calls on fellow world leaders to use the current worldwide economic downturn as an opportunity to thoroughly reform international financial institutions and create a new "truly global society" with Britain, the US and Europe leading the way.

His call comes ahead of an emergency summit of world leaders and finance ministers from 20 major countries, the G20, in Washington next weekend.

Mr Brown says the DC meeting must establish a new Bretton Woods-style framework for the international financial system, featuring a reformed International Monetary Fund which will act as a global early-warning system for financial problems.

The original Bretton Woods agreements, signed in New Hampshire in 1944, established post-war international monetary protocols governing trade, banking and other financial relations among nations, including fixed exchange rates and the IMF.

Mr Brown's plan for strengthening the global economy involves recapitalisation of banks to permit the resumption of normal lending to households and businesses, better international co-ordination of fiscal and monetary policy and a new IMF fund to help failing economies and stop financial problems spreading between nations.

He also wants agreement on a world trade deal and reform of the international financial system based on principles of "transparency, integrity, responsibility, sound banking practice and global governance with co-ordination across borders".

As Britain moves into recession Mr Brown has staked his own leadership on finding a way out of the global crisis.

In a speech to City financiers at the annual Lord Mayor's banquet in London he says: "The British Government will begin a new Bretton Woods with a new IMF that offers, by its surveillance of every economy, an early warning system and a crisis prevention mechanism for the whole world.

"The alliance between the UK, US, and the EU, must provide leadership, not in order to make the rules ourselves, but to lead the global effort to build a stronger and more just international order.

"My message is that we must be internationalist not protectionist, interventionist not neutral, progressive not reactive and forward-looking not frozen by events. We can seize the moment and in doing so build a truly global society."

Mr Brown has already discussed IMF reforms with French Pres. Sarkozy and German Chanc. Merkel and has called on countries including China and the oil-rich Gulf States to fund the bulk of an increase in the IMF's bailout pot.

He believes that in electing Barack Obama, US voters have showed their belief in a "progressive" agenda of government intervention to help families and businesses through the current crisis.

He says: "Uniquely in this global age, it is now in our power to come together so that 2008 is remembered not just for the failure of a financial crash that engulfed the world but for the resilience and optimism with which we faced the storm, endured it and prevailed."

However, the head of the IMF played down expectations of a new Bretton Woods system ahead of the G20 summit.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the IMF's managing director, said: "Expectations should not be oversold. Things are not going to change overnight. Bretton Woods took two years to prepare. A lot of people are talking about Bretton Woods II. The words sound nice but we are not going to create a new international treaty."

The EU has called for an overhaul of the IMF with French Pres. Sarkozy, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, saying: "We want to change the rules of the game".

The US, however, has been more lukewarm on the possibility of radical change.

North Korea Blackmails, Embarrasses Bush

The Bush administration has made a very dangerous enemy and the present agreement does nothing to lessen that threat. It clearly sends a message to America's rivals that the US can be blackmailed if the stakes are high enough. The United States has been humiliated by a man who many believe is an unstable and ruthless tyrant.

On Thursday, Bush announced that he would remove North Korea from the terrorism list and lift economic sanctions. This follows an earlier decision to provide Kim with massive quantities of oil to meet the North's energy needs; a fact that is ignored by the main stream media. On virtually every issue, N. Korea's leader has gotten whatever he's asked for. This has infuriated many of Bush's biggest supporters. Last week, former United Nations ambassador John Bolton blasted the agreement saying:

“I think it’s a clear victory for North Korea.” They've gained “enormous political legitimacy by being taken off our list of state sponsors of terrorism and out from under the prohibitions of the Trading With the Enemy Act. It’s a very sad day for Bush supporters. It's the final collapse of Bush's foreign policy."

A nuclear-armed North Korea creates bigger challenges for the US in the Middle East. The Wall Street Journal summed it up like this in an editorial on Friday:

"Most troubling is the message all of this sends to Iran, and other rogue states. The lesson is that when you build a weapon, your political leverage increases. Play enough brinkmanship, and you can even receive diplomatic absolution without admitting to having the kind of nuclear device you exploded less than two years earlier. We understand that diplomacy often includes winks and nods, but it shouldn't require denial." (Wall Street Journal, "Leap of Faith")

There's no doubt that Tehran is watching Bush's backpedaling with great amusement or that the Mullahs have seen that the only way to stop the relentless provocation of the US is by building a nuclear weapon. The only difference between North Korea and the last-remaining member of the "axis of evil" (Iran) is five or six 15 megaton nuclear warheads. If that's what it takes to gain the respect of the "international community"; so be it.

The western media has described Bush's capitulation as "a triumph" because Kim blew up the already shut down cooling tower at Yongbyon. Big deal. North Korea did not develop its nuclear weapons at the plutonium plant, but in an underground program which made bomb fuel from enriched uranium. No one denies this. The demolition of the tower was a meaningless public relations photo-op to confuse the American people and help Bush save face. The people who follow developments with North Korea know the truth, that the Bush administration has once again dragged the US through the mud.

The harshest critics of the new deal have been Bush's far-right supporters, like Claudia Rosett, of "The Rosett Report" (a favorite at the Weekly Standard and the American Enterprise Institute) Here's what she says:

"The lesson is that America, faced with a nuclear blackmail, will bow down, dignify tyrants, fork over loot, and celebrate the process as a victory for diplomacy. Were North Korea to detonate a nuclear bomb over Los Angeles tomorrow, I wonder if Condi Rice and Chris Hill, would describe the cataclysm as "troubling" and then re-cast it as a candid and informative addendum to North Korea's promised declaration of its nuclear program."

The message to foreign leaders is clear; the only way to change minds in Washington is by putting a loaded gun to their heads. Countries without WMD simply have no bargaining power. That's the real lesson here and other countries are bound to draw the same conclusion. In 2002, Dick Cheney made his famous statement, “We don’t negotiate with evil; we defeat it”.

Bullshit Dick, you are a coward, and YOU are evil in its purest form...

Immediately after the North detonated a nuclear bomb in 2006, Bush administration officials met in a face-to-face meeting in Berlin. The meeting was kept secret to conceal Bush’s eagerness to meet one-on-one with the North Korean leader. Up until then, the arrogant Bushies had refused to negotiate in person; choosing instead to cower behind the 6 party talks. Kim’s nuclear experiment changed all that and brought about a sudden reversal in the administration’s approach.
“According to Japan’s Asashi newspaper, the two sides signed an agreement under which North Korea would make steps towards denuclearization when the US resumes annual shipments of 500,000 tonnes of oil, which were halted in 2002.” (UK Guardian) Bush was only too happy to oblige.

So much for Cheney's "We don’t negotiate with evil". In fact, we don't negotiate; we cave in and give them everything they want, including the farm.

The crisis with North Korea could have been avoided with skillful diplomacy and a willingness to compromise on the central issues. Now Bush has backed himself into a corner and will have to grovel his way out. That means he'll have to engage in two-party negotiations and work out a deal at the bargaining table. Good luck.

Presently, Kim Jong-il has a stockpile of 6 to 10 nuclear warheads. With a few finishing touches to his Taepodong ICBM-system, he'll be able to wipe out the 9 western states with a flip of the switch. Bush's bungling has put half the country in the crosshairs of a man whose sanity has always been in doubt.

You're doin' a heckuva job, Georgie!

CIA Agent Chasing Israeli "Suitcase Nuke" in Houston, Killed by Cops

RADIATION DETECTORS WERE TRIPPING AS CHASE REACHED 122 MPH; HOUSTON COPS SHOT CIA AGENT; NUKE GOT AWAY

Federal sources close to this case have told me CIA Agent Roland Carnaby had proof a "suitcase nuke" had arrived inside the U.S. from Israel on Tuesday. He was chasing the device and the Israelis who had it.

As local law enforcement was called-in, for some unknown reason cops allegedly began chasing the CIA Agent instead of the Israelis and ultimately shot the CIA Agent dead!

Despite photographic proof that Roland Carnaby was inside CIA Headquaters in Langley, VA (shown above) the CIA is now publicly denying Roland Carnaby worked for them. A cover story is allegedly being fabricated to cover what really went on. Check back later . . . . . developing.

UPDATE 2329 HRS -- -- Federal sources have told me that they fear the detonation of a small nuclear device in or around Houston/Galveston, TX.

They say the old refineries there need to be modernized and expanded, but environmental regulations require companies clean up existing ground pollution before they will allow those refineries to be modernized.

The costs of such environmental clean-up would make new refineries too costly. HOWEVER. . . . . a "terrorist attack" in that region would destroy the refineries and simultaneously shift all the clean up costs to. . . . . . the taxpayer! Gee. How convenient for our Texas Oil Guy President, VP and all their rich Texas Oil Buddies!

SECOND UPDATE 0924 HRS 2 MAY 2008 - The CIA cover story apparently begins: ABC News is reporting (with video of the scene) that Roland Carnaby was, in fact, chased and shot dead by Houston Police. They confirm he presented credentials identifying him as being with the CIA. They report in the written story accompanying the video that Carnaby was shot while handcuffed and laying face down on the ground. Once again, CIA is disavowing the guy despite photographic proof (above) that he was, in fact, inside the CIA HQ in Langley, VA.

UPDATE 0942 HRS -- Houston Chronicle Newspaper Reports: Agent Roland Carnaby called FBI and Houston PD on his cell phone during high speed chase to identify himself!
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Venezuela 'to tax oil windfall'

Venezuela is planning a windfall tax on what it calls "excessive" profits of energy firms to allow state revenues to benefit from high oil prices.

The tax will take 50% of oil revenues above $70 per barrel, and an additional 60% of revenues over $100 per barrel, legislator Angel Rodriguez said.

He told state news agency ABN that oil firms had surpassed "reasonable levels of profitability".

The move will affect foreign oil firms operating in Venezuela such as Chevron.

Oil is currently trading above $104 per barrel.

'Excessive earnings'

The proposed tax comes months after President Hugo Chavez's nationalisation drive forced out two of the world's largest energy companies - Exxon Mobil Corp and Conoco Phillips.

Exxon is seeking $12 billion in compensation from Venezuela after its oilfields were nationalized last year.

The tax will also apply to state oil company PDVSA, which now controls all of Venezuela's oilfields.

"Because of high oil prices, oil companies have excessive earnings that go beyond reasonable levels of profitability," Mr Rodriguez was quoted by Reuters as telling state news agency ABN.

"One way to distribute them to our people, who are the owners of the oil, is to create this tax."

Mr Rodriguez said the measure would get initial approval from the country's Congress this week.

Venezuela diverts Exxon oil to China

Venezuela is sending to China all the oil it previously shipped to a US refinery jointly owned with Exxon Mobil amid a legal battle between the OPEC nation and the US oil giant, Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said on Friday.

''With respect to the shipments, we put them at China's disposal,'' Ramirez told reporters. ''All of it.''

Exxon and Venezuela have been in dispute over supplies to the Louisiana-based Chalmette refinery since Exxon won court orders freezing $US12 billion in Venezuelan assets as part of a legal battle over compensation for Exxon assets Venezuela nationalized in 2007.

State oil company PDVSA halted supplies to Chalmette, a 50-50 joint venture that can process about 193,000 barrels per day of crude, after Exxon began rejecting some of the cargoes that Venezuela destined for the refinery.

Ramirez said PDVSA rerouted the supplies in protest, which he said were meant to pressure Venezuela as part of an international arbitration over the 2007 nationaliSation of the Cerro Negro heavy oil project that Exxon once ran.

Exxon wants at least $US 5 billion in compensation, though PDVSA says it is due less than $US 1 billion.

A London court this month lifted one of the freeze orders, though Exxon still has similar injunctions in Netherlands and Netherlands Antilles courts.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is keen to export more oil to Asia to reduce traditional dependence on United States energy markets.