Why The Saudis Hold the Cards Right Now

(OilandGasInvestmentBulletin) – Current OPEC spare capacity would suggest a lower world oil price, but the distribution of this spare capacity could be one reason why oil prices are higher than many experts think it should be.

Usually the more spare capacity (supply) in a market there is the lower the price – simple economics. But the reality is that Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world with significant spare capacity to produce more oil in the world and influence prices. And they currently favour a $70-$80 barrel oil price.

In 2003, OPEC had 2 million barrels a day LESS spare capacity it has now, and oil was under $40/barrel – but spare capacity was more evenly spread out among the 11 member states.

If everybody has spare capacity, the potential for cheating on production quotas is greatly increased and that carries a higher downside risk for prices. Should the world economy grow more quickly, only the Saudis have the ability to increase production enough to meet demand and influence prices. Read entire article

World War

(CagePrisoners) – Murders at Guantánamo: The Cover-Up Continues

Sometimes the truth is so sickening that no one in a position of authority — senior government officials, lawmakers, the mainstream media — wants to go anywhere near it. Read More Here

(StrategicCultureFoundation) – Iran and the Balkans: Russia Risks Making the Same Mistakes

UN Security Council Resolution Slapping Sanctions on Iran: Defeat for Russian Diplomacy Read More Here

(CounterPunch) – Obama’s Doublespeak on Iran – Extending Hands or Clenching Fists? – Read More Here

(PressTV) – 50 ships may join Freedom Flotilla II

The next Freedom Flotilla will be much bigger than the first one, the head of a non-governmental organization says.

Yasser Qashlaq, the director of the Free Palestine Movement, said on Thursday that up to 50 ships could join the Freedom Flotilla II, the International Middle East Media Center reported. Read More Here

(FutureOfFreedomFoundation) – Terrorism: Made in the U.S.A. – Sheldon Richman

It’s a perilous world, as our so-called leaders love to remind us. And for a change they’re right. It is a perilous world. But guess who is most responsible for the peril to Americans? Those very same “leaders” and a long line of predecessors.

Moreover, they — along with anyone else who takes time to examine the matter — know that they create the greatest dangers Americans face. They just don’t care. They have bigger fish to fry than keeping Americans safe. Besides, the dangers they create provide excuses for more power. Read More Here

REPOST – (McClatchy) – Israeli document: Gaza blockade isn’t about security

As Israel ordered a slight easing of its blockade of the Gaza Strip Wednesday, McClatchy obtained an Israeli government document that describes the blockade not as a security measure but as “economic warfare” against the Islamist group Hamas, which rules the Palestinian territory. Read More Here

(LondonTimes) – Saudi Arabia gives Israel clear skies to attack Iranian nuclear sites

Saudi Arabia has conducted tests to stand down its air defences to enable Israeli jets to make a bombing raid on Iran’s nuclear facilities, The Times can reveal. Read More Here

(PressTV) – US accepts Israeli probe of Flotilla – Read More Here

(AP) – NKorea vows to blow up South propaganda facilities

North Korea says it will attack South Korean loudspeakers and other propaganda facilities along its border, warning it can even turn Seoul into a “sea of flame.” Read More Here

(MSNBC) – Video: Saudi Arabia Approves Israeli Jets To Use Saudi Airspace To Bomb Iran!

FLASHBACK – 2007 – Video: Interview – Confessions of an Economic Hit Man – John Perkins –

World War

(PTINews) – Russian strategic bombers on 23-hour record mission

Two Russian Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers have carried out a record 23-hour patrol covering a distance of 18,000 kilometres without touching the ground. Read More Here

(Spiegel) – German-Jewish Boat to Challenge Israeli Blockade – Read More Here

(NYTimes) – McCain Urges Obama to Back Regime Change in Iran

Senator John McCain called on the United States on Thursday to support regime change in Iran, saying that the latest United Nations sanctions are “inadequate” and that it is unrealistic to expect the current government in Tehran to stop pursuing nuclear weapons, supporting terrorism and cracking down on its own people. Read More Here

(Debka) – Iran’s Gaza-bound ships ready for clash with Israel – Ahmadinejad – Read More Here

(MSNBC) – Suicide blast slays 40 at Afghan wedding party – Read More Here

(RUVR) – Russia, Iran to boost energy and space cooperation – Read More Here

(InfoClearingHouse) – Video: Israeli Commandos Execute American Citizen

Israeli soldiers allegedly killing Furkan Dogan 19 years

See also: American, 19, Among Gaza Flotilla Dead: Furkan Dogan Was Shot Five Times, Including Four Times in Head Video Link Here

(ABCNews) – White House Official: UN Sanctions Alone “Not Be Sufficient” to Change Iran’s Behavior — Much More to Come

Senior White House officials acknowledged Wednesday afternoon that the new regime of UN Security Council sanctions against Iran “would not be sufficient” in and of itself to change the behavior of the Iranian government and convince its leaders to stop its nuclear weapons program. Read More Here

(McClatchy) – Gaza Blockade: Economic Warfare Against Palestinian People

As Israel ordered a slight easing of its blockade of the Gaza Strip Wednesday, McClatchy obtained an Israeli government document that describes the blockade not as a security measure but as “economic warfare” against the Islamist group Hamas, which rules the Palestinian territory. Read More Here

(Neithercorp) – Flashpoints For Global War

As the economic collapse progresses through 2010 and its fiscal consequences become more certain, the field of view reaching towards our social and political future has become more vague and unclear. Every analyst or researcher of the New World Order and the global elite now seems to have a different insight into how our situation will develop once the financial implosion peaks, and people actually start to react to the obviously severe circumstances. Read More Here

(TheIntelHub) – USNORTHCOM Gears Up For Potential Attack On U.S. Soil

USNORTHCOM has admitted that they are preparing military operations within the United States. This is the first time in history this has been done and they will be working with DHS, state and local law enforcement on U.S. soil. Read More Here

(RawStory) – Kucinich: ‘We may be funding our own killers in Afghanistan’

On June 7, the day Afghanistan became America’s longest-ever war, the New York Times reported on an ongoing investigation poised to prove that private security companies “are using American money to bribe the Taliban” to fuel combat and thus enhance demand for their services. The news follows a “series of events last month that suggested all-out collusion with the insurgents,” the Times said. Read More Here

(PressTV) – Blair ‘100 percent on Israel’s side’

As the world presses Israel to heed calls for an international probe into its deadly Flotilla attack, former British Premier Tony Blair echoes Tel Aviv’s alleged security concerns. Read More Here

(PressTV) – UNSC slaps new sanctions on Iran

The UN Security Council (UNSC) has voted in favor of imposing a fourth round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. Read More Here

(PressTV) – Prince warns S. Arabia of apocalypse

In a letter published by Wagze news agency on Tuesday, the Cairo-based prince warned Saudi Arabia’s ruling family of a fate similar to that of Iraq’s executed dictator Saddam Hussein and the ousted Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, calling on them to escape before people “cut off our heads in streets.” Read More Here

(PressTV) – Video: Israel Admits It Doctored Flotilla Audio Tapes

The IDF admitted today in a press release that it doctored audio footage from its exchanges with the Gaza flotilla in order to paint the flotilla passengers as anti-Semites.

Russia Proves ‘Peak Oil’ Is A Misleading Scam

FLASHBACK – (Rense) – In 1970, the Russians started drilling Kola SG-3, an exploration well which finally reached a staggering world record depth of 40,230 feet. Since then, Russian oil majors including Yukos have quietly drilled more than 310 successful super-deep oil wells, and put them into production. Last Year Russia overtook Saudi Arabia as the world’s biggest single oil producer, and is now set to completely dominate global oil production and sales for the next century.

Kagan helped shield Saudis from 9/11 lawsuits

(RawStory) – Elena Kagan, President Barack Obama’s latest nominee to the Supreme Court, helped protect the Saudi royal family from lawsuits that sought to hold al Qaeda financiers responsible in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

The suits were filed by thousands family members and others affected by the Sept. 11 attacks. In court papers, they provided evidence that members of the Saudi royal family had channeled millions to al Qaeda prior to the bombings, often in contravention of direct guidance from the United States.

Department of Defense Covertly Dismantled a Terrorist Message Board… Created By the CIA

(Gizmodo) – An incident from 2008, brought to light recently by the Washington Post, reveals just how discombobulated our nation’s cybersecurity efforts actually are. A terrorist-tracking forum, created by the CIA and Saudi government, was shut down by the National Security Agency.

World War

(KurtNimmo) – False Flag Imminent?

Infowars received the following forwarded email. It is dated Friday, March 19, 2010: Read More Here

(KurtNimmo) – Video: If Republicans Think Going Into Iraq Was a Mistake, Why Are We Still There?

Reps. Dana Rohrabacher,Tom McClintock and John Duncan, all Republicans, said during a Cato Institute panel that in retrospect invading Iraq was a mistake. They said all of their colleagues in the House Republican Caucus believe invading Iraq was a mistake. Rohrabacher went so far as to say he opposed going into Iraq before the invasion. Read More Here

(Haaretz) – Netanyahu to ask Obama for weapons to strike Iran

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will use a visit to Washington this week to press the U.S. to release advanced weapons needed for a possible strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, the Sunday Times reported. Read More Here

(ArutzSheva) – Saudi Arabia Seeks Strike on Iran

The German news magazine Der Spiegel has reported that Saudi Arabia is hoping Israel will strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, and is even prepared to open its skies to Israeli warplanes to allow such an operation to take place. Similar reports were published in 2009, and denied by both Israel and Saudi Arabia. Read More Here

(InformationClearingHouse) – Stumbling About In the Graveyard of Empires

If there was ever a decent justification visible for the American war in Afghanistan, there isn’t now. Read More Here

(PoliticsDaily) – Iraq War Triumphalism Ignores a Key Matter: Dead Civilians

Whenever there’s an election in Iraq, U.S. triumphalism follows. In a recent column, Peter Wehner, my PoliticsDaily.com colleague, touts George W. Bush’s war in Iraq and joins others in the it-hasn’t-turned-out-so-bad chorus. But these pronouncements serve as a reminder that it’s rather easy to be a freedom fighter with somebody else’s blood. Read More Here

(MailOnline) – How Criminals Profit From War – Blair’s Fight to Keep his Oil Cash Secret – Read More Here

(GlobalResearch) – Preparations for a Hit against Iran: Stopping Israel’s Next War

“A new war in the region is inevitable.” This is the pronouncement made by Mohammad Seyyed Selim, political scientist and professor at the universities of Cairo and Kuweit. Prof. Selim delivered his forecast on February 13, in a program on Nile TV’s “Cairo Watch,” in which I also participated. The moderator, Mohamed Abdel-Rahim, started off by asking what crisis situations in the region were most acute; Iran and the Arab-Israeli conflict were the obvious answers. Read More Here

(GlobalResearch) – The Most Barbaric Wars in Human History: The Political Relevance of Mahatma Gandhi

The world over these are apocalyptic times. We are witnessing the financial and economic collapse of regions which historically owed the most to capitalist development and simultaneously the most barbaric wars in human history, to re-colonize and to destroy independent nation states in all continents, to seize every nation’s budget and the entire economic space and markets of countries, directly targeting for elimination or mass displacement the civilian population considered rivals for the consumption and use of resources. Read More Here

(Ind) – British military intelligence ‘ran renegade torture unit in Iraq’

Fresh evidence has emerged that British military intelligence ran a secret operation in Iraq which authorised degrading and unlawful treatment of prisoners. Documents reveal that prisoners were kept hooded for long periods in intense heat and deprived of sleep by defence intelligence officers. They also reveal that officers running the operation claimed to be answerable only “directly to London”. Read More Here

(PressTV) – China won’t turn blind eye to possible US sanctions

The Chinese commerce minister says Beijing will respond to Washington should the US decide to impose sanctions on the Chinese currency, the Yuan. Read More Here

(PoliticalTheatrics) – US Plots Against Iran While Offering Dialogue

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei accused on Sunday the United States of “plotting” against the Islamic republic even as it offers talks. Read More Here

Video: Michael Springman on Alex Jones Tv – CIA Ordered Visas For 15 of The 19 9/11 Hijackers in Jeddah

(FLASHBACK) – J. Michael Springmann, formerly chief of the visa section at the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has testified that he rejected hundreds of suspicious visa applications by Saudi Arabian men similar to those named as the 9/11 Hijackers Patsies when we was head of the consular section of the US embassy in Jeddah, but C.I.A. officers repeatedly overruled him and ordered the visas to be issued.

US think tank seeks to connect Iran, Yemen, Qaeda

(PressTV) – A report says a high-profile neoconservative think tank in the United States is reportedly working to establish a link between Iran, the Yemeni opposition groups and al-Qaeda militants.

Conflicts of interest? Clinton Foundation top donors include Norway, Saudi Arabia, Gates Foundation

(BusinessWeek) – COMMENT: The original headline, ‘Clinton donor list doesn’t say who gave in ‘09′ reflects an earlier lack of reporting; the Foundation has now updated with greater disclosure. As the AP reports, “The foundation released a donor list Friday morning that didn’t identify who gave in 2009, but then updated it to provide that information.” Therefore, Business Week’s headline is no longer up-to-date while the report is still worthwhile.

Arab Dictatorships Take 4 of Top 5 Spots in Purchase of U.S. Weapons and Services

Most of the leading buyers of American military hardware in 2008 had two characteristics in common: they speak Arabic and their governments are opposed to democracy and basic freedoms. Information compiled by the Congressional Research Service revealed that the biggest recipients of U.S. arms sales last year were (in order): the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Iraq and Egypt. With the exception of the popularly-elected government in Baghdad, all of these American military partners are ruled by autocratic or theocratic regimes.

Video: US Attack Kills 120 In Yemen

(RussiaToday) – On orders from President Barack Obama, the U.S. military launched cruise missiles early Thursday against two suspected al-Qaeda sites in Yemen, administration officials told ABC News in a report broadcast on ABC World News with Charles Gibson.

‘US fighter jets attack Yemeni fighters’

(PressTV) – Yemen’s Houthi fighters say the US fighter jets have launched 28 attacks on the northwestern province of Sa’ada.

Video: Saudi Arabia Calls for an Independent Investigation into Climategate

(RussiaToday) – Saudi Arabia called for an independent investigation into Climategate Monday, warning that the scandal over stolen e-mails threatened to undermine the global-warming negotiations beginning in Copenhagen. We believe this scandal — or what has been referred to as the climategate scandal — we think this is definitely going to affect the nature of what could be trusted in our deliberations, the Saudi Arabian negotiator said.

Yemeni Civilians Showered With Saudi Bombs

(PressTV) – Saudi forces have reportedly launched several air raids on civilian areas in northern Yemen after Houthi fighters inflicted heavy losses on them overnight.

‘Saudi jets pour toxic materials on Yemeni civilians’

(PressTV) – Houthi fighters say Saudi forces have intensified their attacks on northern Yemen, using unconventional weapons against civilians in residential areas.

MSM: Saudis drop WTI oil contract

(FinancialTimes) – Saudi Arabia yesterday decided to drop the widely used West Texas Intermediate oil contract as the benchmark for pricing its oil, dealing a serious blow to the New York Mercantile Exchange.

MSM: Israeli military strike more likely after Iran misses nuclear deadline

(Telegraph) – The deal put forward in Vienna would not have ended Iran’s nuclear programme, even if Tehran had given a prompt “yes”.

Rsponse to Christopher Ketcham’s take on Bob Baer (CIA)

Ketcham keeps bolstering the Big Lie by pretending that the incompetence theory of 9/11 has merit. In numerous ways he defends the criminal actions of high level players who have a long history of helping terrorists and funding their networks. While admitting to such practices in the distant past, Ketchum ignores the period leading up to 9/11 as well as the present.

Iran to completely drop dollar from foreign exchange

(PressTV) – Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization has announced a near future plan to completely exclude the US dollar from the country’s foreign revenues and reserves.

The Currency Cabal – Campaign for Liberty

On October 6th, The Independent newspaper of London set off shock-waves around the world with a report that secret meetings were held between the OPEC states, China, Russia, and others, in which the participants charted a course toward a new world reserve currency. Not surprisingly, the U.S. dollar nosedived on the news. The rout was only stemmed by Saudi and Chinese officials publicly denying the story.

Is the Dollar Heading Up Or Down?

Arguments for a Long-Term Devaluation of the Dollar
Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know that the dollar is losing its status as world reserve currency.

MSM: The demise of the dollar

(Independent) – In a graphic illustration of the new world order, Arab states have launched secret moves with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading

Saudis will allow Israel to bomb Iran’s nuclear site

Premier British intelligence agency, MI6 chief, has been told that Saudi Arabia will permit Israel to fly over the kingdom to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites.

MSM: Israelis shot Gaza civilians waving white flags – HRW

(Yahoo) – Israeli soldiers shot and killed 11 Palestinian civilians who were waving white flags, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday in a report on the Gaza war whose credibility Israel immediately questionned.

American apocalypse – 5 likeliest scenarios to topple the US

Which is your favorite apocalyptic scenario? If you really had to choose would it be the intergalactic stand-off? Zombie plague?

Video: Webster Tarpley on Alex Jones Tv – Saudi’s Stop Coup Attempt & Obama’s Forced Eugenics Program!!

Alex talks with author and GCN host Webster Griffin Tarpley. Webster’s most recent book is Surviving the Cataclysm, a book that calls for a return to the American System of political economy as exemplified by such figures as Hamilton, Clay, Lincoln, FDR, and JFK.

Obama Ignores Torture – Helen Thomas

Secrecy is endemic in all governments. It goes with the turf, especially if their leaders hope to hide illegal or immoral behavior, such as torture of foreign prisoners.

How the FBI and 9/11 Commission Suppressed Key Evidence about Hani Hanjour

The evidence was crucial because it undermined the official explanation that Hani Hanjour crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon at high speed after executing an extremely difficult top gun maneuver. But to understand how all of this played out, let us review the case in bite-size pieces…

MSM: Saudis give nod to Israeli raid on Iran

(Times) – The head of Mossad, Israel’s overseas intelligence service, has assured Benjamin Netanyahu, its prime minister, that Saudi Arabia would turn a blind eye to Israeli jets flying over the kingdom during any future raid on Iran’s nuclear sites.

Iran Had a Democracy Before We Took It Away

Iranians do not need or want us to teach them about liberty and representative government. They have long embodied this struggle. It is we who need to be taught. It was Washington that orchestrated the 1953 coup to topple Iran’s democratically elected government, the first in the Middle East, and install the compliant shah in power.

MSM: Crops under stress as temperatures fall

(Telegraph) – Our politicians haven’t noticed that the problem may be that the world is not warming but cooling, observes Christopher Booker.

Peak Soil Investment: This Quiet Land Grab is Just Beginning

According to the Economist, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and China have been “quietly” buying up more than $20 billion of this asset.

MSM: Saudi FM to US – Cut off aid if Israel doesn’t end occupation

(Haaretz) – The United States should cut off its aid to Israel if the country does not end its occupation of Arab land, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister told Newsweek in comments published Friday.

Obama Justice Dept. Backs Saudi Royal Family on 9/11 Lawsuit

The Obama administration is supporting efforts by the Saudi royal family to defeat a long-running lawsuit seeking to hold it liable for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

MSM: World War III has started

(Ynet) – One needs to be deaf, blind, and an idiot at this time in order not to understand that the nuclear bomb tested in North Korea two days ago also exploded in the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.

MSM: Obama Announces First Nationwide Regulation of Greenhouse Gases

(W-Post) – President Obama today proposed tough standards for tailpipe emissions from new automobiles, establishing the first nationwide regulation for greenhouse gases.

Saudi files for ‘killer’ tracking chip patent

A Saudi Arabian inventor has filed for a patent on a potentially lethal science fiction-style human tracking microchip, the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) told The Local on Friday.

Video: Indira Singh & P-Tech

Exposing the CIA-front Saudi-terror linked software corporation that made Surveillance-Intervention software for the FAA, NORAD (pre-9/11)