via @faz_net

Ich weiß, dass er seinen Mitgefangenen eine Quelle der Zuversicht war. Ich weiß, dass er dort gesungen hat. Ich weiß dass sie ihne zusammengeschlagen haben. Ich weiß, dass sie ihm die Finger und die Handgelenke gebrochen haben. Ich weiß, dass sie ihm befohlen haben zu singen – Canta! – und ihm danach die Zunge herausgeschnitten haben.“ Dann hängten ihn die Schergen des Militärregimes an den Händen auf, „bis die Hoffnung Südamerikas gestorben und erlöst war“, wie die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung zehn Jahre später in einem bewegenden Nachruf anlässlich eines Gedenkkonzertes für Victor Jara in der Frankfurter Alten Oper schrieb.

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Now, as the Senate Intelligence Committee prepares to make public some of the findings of its investigation into CIA torture after 9/11, let‘s hope we can start a much needed public reckoning over a tragic mistake that has undermined the very principles I and many others felt we stood for.

Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress on Tuesday that he would recommend deploying United States combat forces against Islamic extremists in specific operations if the current strategy of airstrikes was not successful, raising the possibility of the kind of escalation that President Obama has flatly ruled out.

President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday received Faleh al-Fayyad, the Iraqi National Security Advisor and envoy of the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

Al-Fayyad briefed President al-Assad on the latest developments in Iraq and the efforts exerted by the Iraqi government and people to confront terrorists, with emphasis during the meeting on the need to bolster cooperation and coordination between the two countries in the field of combating the terrorism which is affecting Syria and Iraq and which poses a threat to the region and the world.

Italy is supplying arms to Iraqi Kurdish fighters and aid to Iraq and Syria.

The U.S. Congress appeared poised on Tuesday to quickly approve President Barack Obama‘s plan to arm and train Syrian rebels, a major part of the effort he announced this week to fight Islamic State militants.

Since Operation Protective Edge began in Gaza in early July, Israel has strengthened economic relationships with its closest allies. Within days of the air campaign starting, the U.S. and Israel penned a mutual recognition customs agreement which will lift screening barriers and tariffs. Then on Monday Israel cinched a similar Declaration of Intent from Canada, while focusing on the threat of ISIS, Hamas and Hezbollah.

Azerbaijani capital of Baku is hosting NATO training courses on psychological operations.

Azerbaijani Defense Ministry told Trend Sept. 16 that the NATO Brunssum Joint Mobile Training Team launched its training courses titled “NATO Psychological Operations”.

Azerbaijan is a strategic partner of the United States, said Samad Seyidov, MP and rector of the Azerbaijan University of Languages at a joint event with the U.S. embassy, dedicated to the opening of the Baku American Center after an overhaul.

“Thanks to its position and policy, Azerbaijan can be an example for the countries in the region, as well as other countries,” he added.

Barbara Lee was the lone dissenter in the post-9/11 vote authorizing military force. Many called her a traitor. But her constituents shared her concerns—and history has vindicated them.

Section 1 – Short Title

This joint resolution may be cited as the ‚Authorization for Use of Military Force Against ISIL‘.

Section 2 – Authorization for Use of United States Armed Forces

(a) IN GENERAL- That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against ISIL.

a) GEOGRAPHICAL LIMITATION – The authorization in this section shall be confined to the territory of the Republic of Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic.

b) NO AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF ROTATIONAL GROUND FORCES.-Except for special operations forces and other forces that may be deployed in atraining and advisory role, the authorization in this section does not include authorization for the use of rotational ground forces.

(b) TERMINATION: – The authority of subsection (a) shall terminate eighteen months from the enactment of this joint resolution.

Section 3 – Repeal of Prior Authorization For Use of United States Armed Forces

(a) The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243; 50 U.S.C. 26 1541 note) is hereby repealed.

(b) Effective eighteen months from the date of enactment of this joint resolution, the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107-40; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note) is hereby repealed.

While running for President in 2007, then-Senator Barack Obama sponsored a resolution to require President George W. Bush to get explicit authorization from Congress before waging war against Iran. Today, the Obama White House says the war on ISIS is legally permissible without explicit authorization from Congress, because it‘s covered by the 2001 Authorization of Use of Military Force (AUMF) — which Obama wanted to repeal as recently as last year.

(10. September) CBS News has learned that Obama plans to expand U.S. airstrikes against ISIS targets in Iraq, and eventually Syria. But the Pentagon is still working to develop targets there.

The president will also ask Congress to authorize $500 million to support moderate Syrian opposition forces fighting the militants.

Watch below via the Senate Armed Services Committee:

– Hagel says he has approved strikes inside Syria
– Saudi Arabia will host training ground for Syrian opposition
– Pentagon: ‘This won’t look like a shock-and-awe campaign’

Stewart, somehow, thought “we’re all gonna die” was maybe a bit of an overstatement, and showed clip after clip of Graham “sustain[ing] this level of panic for 13 years.”

Russland richtet wirklich seinen Blick nach Asien, Lateinamerika, Afrika und anderswohin. Seine Diplomaten werden weiterhin reden, lächeln, von “Partnern” und “Freunden” sprechen, aber ich glaube wir sind Zeugen eines historischen Ereignisses: Zum ersten Mal seid dem 13 Jahrhundert wendet sich Russland wieder vom Westen ab und setzt auf eine Zukunft mit Asien (und dem Rest des Planeten).

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#Ukraine #Bundeswehr

Der Entsendung des Erkundungsteams sind Gespräche zwischen Bundeskanzleramt, Auswärtigem Amt, Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, den französischen Partnern und der OSZE vorausgegangen. (…)

Der Obmann der Linksfraktion im Verteidigungsausschuss, Alexander Neu, merkt gegenüber »nd« an, Deutschland und Frankreich seien keine neutralen Akteure, sondern ebenfalls Konfliktparteien.

#Ukraine #Irak #Syrien #PlanetErde

Die Bundeswehr soll helfen, die Waffenruhe in der Ukraine zu überwachen. Auf Wunsch der OSZE wird zunächst ein Erkundungsteam die Einsatzbedingungen prüfen.

Trotz der Ukraine-Krise zwingt die von der Terrorgruppe „Islamischer Staat“ (IS) ausgehende Gefahr Russland und den Westen zum Zusammenschluss, schreibt die Zeitung „Kommersant“ in ihrer Dienstagsausgabe.

Die Maschine sei im Raum ar-Raqqa abgestürzt, teilte die in London ansässige Syrische Beobachtungsstelle für Menschenrechte der Agentur AFP mit.

The U.N. commission investigating war crimes in Syria says President Bashar Assad‘s government is committing the bulk of atrocities inside the war-torn country, exceeding the toll from the horrific massacres perpetrated by Islamic State fighters.

Officials also told Fox News that the U.S. has a good sense of where the Syrian air defenses, along with their command and control centers, are located. If Assad were to use those capabilities to threaten U.S. forces, it would put his air defenses at risk, a senior official told Fox News.

Die Veröffentlichung steht in direktem Zusammenhang mit der jüngsten Veröffentlichung eines Hacks, der von einem Finfisher-Server stammt. In der etwa 40 GByte umfassenden Dateisammlung sind unter anderem Logfiles, die zeigen, „dass die Kundenbetreuer von Gamma zwischen 2010 und 2012 mit einem Kunden in Bahrain kommunizierten und ihm Lizenzen für die gleichzeitige Überwachung von mindestens 30 Computern verkauft hatten“.

On the 15th of September 2014 WikiLeaks released its last batch of leaked Spy Files – which it had started releasing in 2011. One of Silk‘s data journalists Alice Corona cleaned and structured the data to build an interactive database combining the four Spy Files releases.

For an analysis only of the Spy Files 4 data, click here. You will be able to visualize interactive and filterable graphs, like a map of the known customers of Gamma‘s FinFisher.

Today, 15 September 2014, WikiLeaks releases previously unseen copies of weaponised German surveillance malware used by intelligence agencies around the world to spy on journalists, political dissidents and others.

FinFisher (formerly part of the UK based Gamma Group International until late 2013) is a German company that produces and sells computer intrusion systems, software exploits and remote monitoring systems that are capable of intercepting communications and data from OS X, Windows and Linux computers as well as Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile devices. FinFisher first came to public attention in December 2011 when WikiLeaks published documents detailing their products and business in the first SpyFiles release.