United States Department of Justice requested that George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Paul 
Wolfowitz be granted procedural immunity in a case alleging that they planned and waged the Iraq War in violation of international law. Does this imply they did breach the law? Why does Obama want to shield the ex-President from prosecution? And why aren’t Bush & Co. held accountable for the Iraq disaster? CrossTalking with Inder Comar and Ed Krayewski.
RT: Eyes right! Austrian elections follow Europe’s rightist trend
Austria’s far-right Freedom Party gained over one-fifth of the votes in Sunday’s general election, while the ruling two-party centrist coalition got its worst-ever 
result. The swing comes amid a Europe-wide surge in support for the far right.
Though Austria’s two major centrist political parties, the conservative Popular Party and the center-left Social Democrats, have retained their majority in parliament, the resurrection of the far-right in Europe is a solid tendency marking a shift in the political mentality of Europeans.
Euroskeptic and right-wing parties in Austria have gained support from people who think the issues that matter most to them aren’t being addressed.
The extreme, radical right is drawing mass support from working-class, blue-collar voters, Sylvia Kritzinger, a political scientist at the University of Vienna, tells RT’s Peter Oliver. “Because of the policies they put forward, like immigration reform, anti-European integration, anti-corruption in the political system.”
The Viennese people Peter Oliver talked to are certain they want to “slow down immigration,” stop the EU “dictating everything” and “put Austria’s interests first.”
The leader of the Freedom Party, Christian Heinz Strache, insists he is not a racist. “I love Austria, I don’t hate foreigners,” he says.
Across Europe, there’s a tide that’s turning right. Britain’s UK Independence Party (UKIP), which favors pulling out of the EU altogether, is being talked about as the country’s legitimate third party. Meanwhile, another euroskeptic party, Alternative for Germany, just missed out on a place in the Bundestag. Greece’s Golden Dawn ultranationalist is the country’s third-largest political group. Norway’s conservative government came to power with tough immigration promises and there have also been far-right gains in Sweden and Finland. The latest country to swing to the right is Austria.
Austria is one of the four EU economies that underpin the eurozone, so a challenge to the parties who support the common European currency in the country could potentially affect the continent’s economic course.
Many Austrians have voted for the Freedom Party, which many critics call xenophobic, because they “don’t trust politicians in Brussels and Austrian decision-makers anymore,” Barbara Kolm, director of the Austrian Economic Center, tells RT. “They don’t believe they find the right solutions. After all it is just redistribution on a supranational level. It’s Austria’s tax euros going to other countries and just washed down the drain.”
This time the Freedom Party adopted a different campaign tactic from in previous elections.
“Their message is about religious values,” says Kritzinger. “They talked about ‘love your neighbor,’ which is a very Catholic way of thinking, but of course the hidden message behind this is that they are against Islam and Muslims.”
ISIL threatens Erdoğan with suicide bombings in Ankara, İstanbul
Turkey has closed the Öncüpınar border gate after an al Qaeda-affiliated opposition group clashed with units of the Arab- and Western-backed Free Syrian Army in 
the Syrian town of Azaz near the Turkish frontier. (Photo: İHA, Mehmet Ali Dağ)
30 September 2013 /TODAYSZAMAN.COM, İSTANBUL
The al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has threatened Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with initiating a series of “suicide attacks” in İstanbul and Ankara and demanded that Turkey reopen the Bab al-Hawa and Bab al-Salameh crossing points, which authorities closed after ISIL seized control of the town of Azaz.
According to a statement attributed to the radical extremist al-Qaeda-linked group, ISIL has given Erdoğan’s government a deadline of no later than next Monday, Oct. 7, to open the border crossings.
The organization also claimed responsibility for twin car bombings in the town of Reyhanlı in the southern province of Hatay which killed 53 people and wounded more than 100 in May. Reyhanlı is an important refuge point for Syrian refugees who have fled the violence in their country.
The confrontation in the town of Azaz in mid-September that preceded the closures was one of the most serious clashes between the al-Qaeda affiliate, made up mostly of foreign fighters, and the more ideologically moderate homegrown opposition forces trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
The struggle of ISIL, however, is less about ideology and more about a fight for territory, resources and the spoils of war — with armed ISIL fighters positioned to defend the town and a nearby opposition brigade trying to broker a cease-fire.
Turkey has been one of the strongest backers of the opposition forces in the two-and-a-half-year uprising against Assad. While it denies arming them, fighters including extremists have been able to cross its border into Syria.
Nagorno-Karabakh dam joins GUWAA water cleaning event
Nagorno-Karabakh’s Sarsang Dam has joined the Global Underwater Awareness Association’s (GUWAA) water cleaning event dedicated to the memory of the renowned water diver Jacques-Yves Cousteau.
The initiative is sponsored by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, President of the Formula I Corporation Bernie Ecclestone, and the a friend of Yves Cousteau, Francois Sarano (who is the main sponsor).
The organizers will try to pave their way to the Guinness World Records by making the event the most massive under-water cleaning project in the world history.
Armenia to get CSTO support if attacked
September 30, 2013 – 18:04 AMT
All the provisions of the Charter of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) apply to Armenia, as a CSTO member, and in case of a military strike against 
Armenia, these norms will come into force, director general of the Institute for Caspian Cooperation Sergei Mikheev said when commenting on Azerbaijan’s threats to use force against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.
However, as he noted during Moscow-Yerevan spacebridge, Karbakh positions itself as an independent state and not as part of Armenia, and, therefore, it’s beyond the CSTO jurisdiction, according to Armenia Today.
For his part, head of the analytical center at MGIMO Institute of International Studies Andrey Kazantsev commented on Armenia’s decision to join the Customs Union, what, in his opinion, was a strategic move. “The CSTO membership and the Organization’s balancing role in the South Caucasus are of great value for Armenia,” he said.
Meanwhile, according to Novosti Armenia, representative of the CSTO Secretariat, professors Igor Panarin, said that all issues are being resolved within the CSTO in a balanced way.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military alliance which was signed on May 15, 1992. The CSTO employs a “rotating presidency” system in which the country leading the CSTO alternates every year.
Source; PanARMENIAN.Net
CSTO
The Collective Security Treaty Organization, formed under the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States, serves as a mutual defense alliance among Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. The Collective Security Treaty (CST) was signed on May 15, 1992 for five-year term, with the possibility of prolongation. On December 2, 2004 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Resolution to grant the observer status to the Collective Security Treaty Organization in the General Assembly of the United Nations. The goal of the Collective Security Treaty Organization is to strengthen peace and international and regional security and stability and to ensure collective protection of independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Member States, in the attainment of which Member States shall give priority to political methods. On February 4, 2009, the CSTO leaders approved formation of Collective Rapid Reaction Force (RRF).
Sergey Mikheyev: CSTO norms do not extend to Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh represents itself as an independent state and not as part of Armenia and therefore the CSTO norms do not extend to Nagorno-Karabakh, Director 
General of the Institute of Caspian Cooperation Sergey Mikheyev said at Yerevan-Moscow space bridge.
He noted that all norms of CSTO extend to Armenia and the joint defense provisions will work in case of aggression against Armenia.
Coordinator of the CSTO Analytical Association Igor Panarin, speaking of Armenia’s decision to join the Customs Union, said that CSTO is a “security umbrella” in the territory of Eurasia.
“I welcome the wish of the Armenian leadership to join the Customs Union. It is a right decision,” Mr Panarin said.
Multiple explosions kill 6 in Iraq’s Kurdish region Arbil
At least six people have been killed and 29 others injured when several powerful explosions ripped through the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, 
Arbil, Press TV reports.
Arbil, Press TV reports.On Sunday, four explosive-laden cars went off outside a security directorate in the city of Arbil, situated 320 kilometers (198 miles) north of Baghdad.
Law enforcement forces cordoned off the area after the blasts and launched an investigation.
Four of those killed in the bomb attacks are reportedly members of the local Asayesh security force. Health officials say the death toll is expected to rise as some of the injured people are in critical condition.
Earlier in the day, fourteen people, including Iraqi security forces, were killed and dozens more wounded in a series of attacks across Iraq.
In the town of Tarmiyah, located about 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad, houses belonging to Iraqi security forces came under attack in the late hours of Saturday. Four people, including a soldier, died and 15 others were injured.
A policeman was also killed and another wounded in southeastern Baghdad, when a sticky bomb targeted their patrol vehicle.
In addition, one person died and eight others sustained injuries when a separate explosion ripped through a market in Baghdad.
Elsewhere in the Iraqi capital, an Electricity Ministry employee was killed in a bomb attack. Two bombs also killed one person and wounded six others outside a cafe.
Violence has surged across Iraq in recent months, reaching its highest level since 2008. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said that attacks in the country aim to “reignite sectarian strife.”
According to the United Nations, more than 5,000 people have been killed in acts of violence so far this year in Iraq, 800 of them in August alone with Baghdad Province worst hit.
US: City of Irvine’s annual Global Village Festival September 28 (Video)
The world at the City of Irvine’s annual Global Village Festival on Saturday, September 28, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. at Bill Barber Park. Now celebrating its 12th year, this multicultural event features international cuisine, live entertainment, a kids village with crafts and activities, cultural and religious exhibits and an international marketplace. Festival admission and parking is free.
NYT: N.S.A. Examines Social Networks of U.S. Citizens
N.S.A. Examines Social Networks of U.S. Citizens
Since 2010, the National Security Agency has been exploiting its huge collections of data to create sophisticated graphs of some Americans’ social connections that can identify their associates, their locations at certain times, their traveling companions and other personal information, according to newly disclosed documents and interviews with officials.
The spy agency began allowing the analysis of phone call and e-mail logs in November 2010 to examine Americans’ networks of associations for foreign intelligence purposes after N.S.A. officials lifted restrictions on the practice, according to documents provided by Edward J. Snowden, the former N.S.A. contractor.
The policy shift was intended to help the agency “discover and track” connections between intelligence targets overseas and people in the United States, according to an N.S.A. memorandum from January 2011. The agency was authorized to conduct “large-scale graph analysis on very large sets of communications metadata without having to check foreignness” of every e-mail address, phone number or other identifier, the document said. Because of concerns about infringing on the privacy of American citizens, the computer analysis of such data had previously been permitted only for foreigners.
READ MORE »
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/us/nsa-examines-social-networks-of-us-citizens.html?emc=edit_na_20130928
Pulitzer Winner Journalist Seymour Hersh on Bin Laden Kill: “It’s One Big LIE, Not One Word of It is True”
Friday, 27. September 2013
Sy Hersh is Adamant that Obama is Worse than Bush,
After a long absence, to be exact five years, since President Obama took office, Seymour Hersh is back, out, and talking. And by that I mean really talking. He is calling the reports on Bin Laden’s so-called assassination, by that I mean the mainstream media reports, those dictated by Obama’s White House and Pentagon, big lies, pure bullshit, and not a single word of it true.
Not only that, he is also providing us with our long-sought answer to his long-gone absence- since the election of Barack Obama.
Okay, first let me provide you with some context as to what I mean by a long absence:
Two years ago, On September 25, 2011, I wrote a piece highly critical of Pulitzer-Winner Investigative Journalist Hersh as a follow up to another one of my commentaries on the same subject- questioning his long-absence despite the continuation and expansion of our wars, scandals involving the Pentagon, ongoing simultaneous black ops and covert wars, and the numerous violations of human rights laws internationally and domestically
The Left’s Hypocrisy: Dialing Seymour Hersh
To read my comparison of Mr. Hersh’s investigative work during President Bush and President Obama Click Here
Today, I received an e-mail from my partner Peter B. Collins with a link to an interview with Seymour Hersh. And let me tell you: what an interview! He is talking and I mean really talking. Let me provide you with a few excerpts:
He is angry about the timidity of journalists in America, their failure to challenge the White House and be an unpopular messenger of truth. Don’t even get him started on the New York Times which, he says, spends “so much more time carrying water for Obama than I ever thought they would” – or the death of Osama bin Laden. “Nothing’s been done about that story, it’s one big lie, not one word of it is true,” he says of the dramatic US Navy Seals raid in 2011.
…
He says a recent report put out by an “independent” Pakistani commission about life in the Abottabad compound in which Bin Laden was holed up would not stand up to scrutiny. “The Pakistanis put out a report, don’t get me going on it. Let’s put it this way, it was done with considerable American input. It’s a bullshit report,” he says hinting of revelations to come in his book.
…
He also provides us with an answer as to why we haven’t been seeing any articles from him since Obama took office:
He says in some ways President George Bush’s administration was easier to write about. “The Bush era, I felt it was much easier to be critical than it is [of] Obama. Much more difficult in the Obama era,” he said.
…
Let me interpret the above for some who may require it: He is saying the publishers, the editors, the establishment, have been going to extreme lengths to prevent investigative reports or commentaries truly critical of Barack Obama. Meaning, publications such as the New Yorker or New York Times would not publish Sy Hersh style exposés when they involve Barack Obama.
Oh, please just go and read these explosive allegations and comments from Hersh. I tell you what, I am glad to have him back. Further, I am extremely glad that he is talking again. Now let’s hope we’ll see more of him and hear ear-loads from him. Of course, by that I mean now as in right now, not as in once Obama is gone.
SOURCE: Boiling Frog Post