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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
12/11/2016 10:42:19 AM

Syrians stream out of eastern Aleppo as fighting rages

PHILIP ISSA and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, third left, and France's Foreign Minister Jean Marc Ayrault, fifth left, attend a meeting with others on Syria in Paris, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2016. Kerry, Ayrault and leading diplomats are trying to find solutions for Syria's desperate opposition, as Syrian government forces squeeze rebels out of Aleppo after a devastating blitz. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, Pool)

BEIRUT (AP) — Hundreds more civilians fled what remained of the Syrian opposition's enclave in Aleppo on Saturday as rebels and government forces exchanged artillery and mortar fire across the northern city.

In central Syria, reports circulated that a government warplane crashed while flying raids against the Islamic State group near the historic city of Palmyra.

The group's Aamaq news agency claimed its militants downed the jet near the Jazal oil fields west of the city.

Syrian government forces backed by the Russian military recaptured Palmyra and its famed ancient Roman ruins from the IS group in March this year. The two militaries have since turned their attention to fighting local opposition forces in Aleppo and Damascus.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a government jet crashed in the Jazal area. It reported IS militants were attacking government positions 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from Palmyra, which the government recaptured from the extremists to great fanfare in March. The activist-run Palmyra Coordination Committee said the jet was a MiG-23.

The Observatory said Friday that the IS assault near Palmyra has killed at least 49 pro-government forces.

The Syrian government did not comment on the reports.

The Observatory reported heavy clashes in Aleppo's southern neighborhoods, but rebels appeared to have held their ground on Saturday after two weeks of advances by government forces and allied militias nearly erased them from the city.

Syrian state media said nine civilians were killed in retaliatory rebel shelling on government-held areas of the city. The Observatory reported 24 civilians were killed in the past 24 hours.

Opposition activists accused the government of dropping bombs laden with poisonous chlorine gas on the Kalaseh neighborhood, one of the few still held in the city by the opposition, in the early hours Saturday.

Wissam Zarqa, an English teacher trapped inside the government's siege, said he could still smell chlorine around midday.

State television station al-Ikhbaria showed footage of hundreds of people carrying children and belongings crossing on foot to the city's government-held areas, where they were being received by state social workers and security services personnel.

The U.N.'s humanitarian response agency OCHA reported Saturday that the government was confiscating IDs to vet the people seeking refuge. The agency expressed concerns about the vetting process. The U.N. human rights office has expressed concern about reports that hundreds of men have disappeared after crossing from eastern Aleppo into government-controlled areas.

State media and other outlets loyal to the Syrian government are pushing to show a return to normalcy for Aleppo, delivering on President Bashar Assad's promise throughout the six-year war to return to the status quo ante.

Lebanon's Al-Manar TV channel aired interviews with displaced Aleppo residents it said were arriving from around the country to inspect their homes in the city's formerly opposition-held neighborhoods. Interviewees praised the military's advances and sang chants in support of Assad. Al-Manar is run by the militant group Hezbollah, which is fighting alongside government forces in Aleppo.

But some of those who have already returned to see their homes a href='https://apnews.com/02a8f4bd75b84093aed2b62e36635d59/'We-have-lost-everything':-Syrians-return-to-ravaged-Aleppo'have broken down/a at the sight of looting and the damage wrought on the city's formerly rebel-held eastern neighborhoods.

The government's push, preceded by months of air strikes that destroyed schools, hospitals, and first responder centers, has laid waste to the city's eastern neighborhoods, which have been held by the opposition since 2012.

Russia's Defense Ministry, which is supporting Syrian government operations in Aleppo, said some 50,000 civilians had fled eastern Aleppo over the past two days in a "constant stream."

Such figures are impossible to verify. The Observatory said "hundreds" have fled in recent days but over 80,000 have been displaced over the past two weeks. The U.N. estimates the tally at over 30,000.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the Russian military was providing civilians who have left eastern Aleppo with temporary accommodation, hot meals and medical assistance.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and European and Arab diplomats are meeting members of Syria's opposition in Paris on Saturday. Kerry said he is working to ensure their safety and to save Aleppo "from being absolutely, completely destroyed."

U.S. and Russian military experts and diplomats are meeting in Geneva on Saturday to work out details of the rebels' exit from eastern Aleppo.

___

Isachenkov reported from Moscow. Associated Press writer Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria contributed to this report.


(Yahoo News)


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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
12/11/2016 11:01:44 AM

Bush War Crimes Trial Live December 12th!

Saturday, December 10, 2016 9:24



Get this information out everywhere! It’s being censored by all fake news! George W. Bush is being dragged into court on December 12th for war crimes over the Iraq war! Circuit judges in San Francisco, Susan Graber and Andrew Hurwitz as well as District Court Judge Richard Boulware will hear hear oral arguments in Saleh v. Bush!

“We are pleased that the Ninth Circuit will hear argument. To my knowledge, this is the first time a court will entertain arguments that the Iraq War was illegal under domestic and international law,” Saleh’s attorney D. Inder Comar, legal director at Comar LLP, said. “This is also the first time since World War II that a court is being asked to scrutinize whether the war itself was an illegal act of aggression — a special war crime that was defined at the Nuremberg Trials in 1946.” Comar is handling Saleh’s case pro bono.

Ms. Saleh is also arguing that Bush administration officials knowingly lied to the public by fraudulently tying Hussein to Al Qaida and the threat of weapons of mass destruction. Such misrepresentations would also make them personally liable for their conduct under relevant law.

http://www.stewwebb.com/2016/12/09/george-w-bush-fraud-lock-him-up/

Ms. Saleh is arguing on appeal that the Defendants should not be immunized. She alleges that the Defendants were acting from personally held convictions that the US should invade Iraq, regardless of any legitimate policy reasons. Specifically, she is pointing to a record of statements made by some of the Defendants in leading neoconservative outlets in which they called for the military overthrow of the Hussein regime as early as 1997.

She is also arguing that Bush administration officials knowingly lied to the public by fraudulently tying Hussein to Al Qaida and the threat of weapons of mass destruction. Such misrepresentations would also make them personally liable for their conduct under relevant law.

The Ninth Circuit has not indicated when it will issue a ruling on the appeal.

What is the Chilcot Report?

The Chilcot Report is the final report issued by the Iraq Inquiry, a committee established by the British Government in 2009 to investigate what happened during the run up to the Iraq War. Composed of British “privy counsellors,” the report was released on July 6, 2016 after more than 6 years of investigation, research, and drafting.

Why is the Chilcot Report important to the Saleh v. Bush lawsuit?

The Chilcot Report contains (i) factual conclusions by the privy counsellors about what happened during the run up to the Iraq War, (ii) actual documentation (including written notes between Blair and Bush) that show a plan to go to war in Iraq as early as October 2001, and (iii) statements of international law by distinguished experts who have concluded that the Iraq War was illegal and constituted aggression against Iraq.

What are some of the pieces of evidence submitted to the Ninth Circuit?

These are some of the excerpts that we highlighted for the Ninth Circuit as evidence that the Iraq War was illegal, and that government leaders were not acting within the lawful scope of their employment authority when they planned and executed the Iraq War:

Conclusions of the Iraq Inquiry Committee:

  1. President Bush decided at the end of 2001 to pursue a policy of regime change in Iraq.
  1. On 26 February 2002, Sir Richard Dearlove, the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, advised that the US Administration had concluded that containment would not work, was drawing up plans for a military campaign later in the year, and was considering presenting Saddam Hussein with an ultimatum for the return of inspectors while setting the bar “so high that Saddam Hussein would be unable to comply.”
  1. Mr Straw’s advice of 25 March proposed that the US and UK should seek an ultimatum to Saddam Hussein to re-admit weapons inspectors. That would provide a route for the UK to align itself with the US without adopting the US objective of regime change. This reflected advice that regime change would be unlawful.
  1. Sir Richard Dearlove reported that he had been told that the US had already taken a decision on action – “the question was only how and when;” and that he had been told it intended to set the threshold on weapons inspections so high that Iraq would not be able to hold up US policy.

Conclusions of the Iraq Inquiry Committee related to the legal analysis of the British government leading up to the war:

  1. Despite being told that advice was not needed for Mr Blair’s meeting with President Bush on 31 January, Lord Goldsmith wrote on 30 January to emphasise that his view remained that resolution 1441 did not authorise the use of military force without a further determination by the Security Council.
  1. Mr Wood had warned Mr Straw on 24 January that “without a further decision by the Council, and absent extraordinary circumstances”, the UK would not be able lawfully to use force against Iraq.
  1. Mr Wood wrote that Kosovo was “no precedent”: the legal basis was the need to avert an overwhelming humanitarian catastrophe; no draft resolution had been put to the Security Council; and no draft had been vetoed. He hoped there was: “… no doubt in anyone’s mind that without a further decision of the Council, and absent extraordinary circumstances (of which at present there is no sign), the United Kingdom cannot lawfully use force against Iraq to ensure compliance with its SCR WMD obligations. To use force without Security Council authority would amount to the crime of aggression.”
  1. Lord Goldsmith recognised that there was a possibility of a legal challenge

Underlying statements and facts relied on by the Iraq Inquiry Committee

15 January 2010 Statement by Foreign & Commonwealth Office legal advisor Sir Michael Wood to the Iraq Inquiry Committee

I considered that the use of force against Iraq in March 2003 was contrary to international law. In my opinion, that use of force had not been authorized by the Security Council, and had no other legal basis in international law.

18 January 2010 Statement by Foreign & Commonwealth Office legal advisor Elizabeth Wilmshurst to the Iraq Inquiry Committee

I regarded the invasion of Iraq as illegal, and I therefore did not feel able to continue in my post. I would have been required to support and maintain the Government’s position in international fora. The rules of international law on the use of force by States are at the heart of international law. Collective security, as opposed to unilateral military action, is a central purpose of the Charter of the United Nations. Acting contrary to the Charter, as I perceived the Government to be doing, would have the consequence of damaging the United Kingdom’s reputation as a State committed to the rule of law in international relations and to the United Nations.

12 July 2010 Statement by Carne Ross, First Secretary of the U.K. Permanent Mission to the U.N. to the Iraq Inquiry Committee

This process of exaggeration was gradual, and proceeded by accretion and editing from document to document, in a way that allowed those participating to convince themselves that they were not engaged in blatant dishonesty. But this process led to highly misleading statements about the UK assessment of the Iraqi threat that were, in their totality, lies.

October 11, 2001 message from former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to George W. Bush

I have no doubt we need to deal with Saddam. But if we hit Iraq now, we would lose the Arab world, Russia, probably half of the EU …

However, I am sure we can devise a strategy for Saddam deliverable at a later date. My suggestion is, in order to give ourselves space that we say: phase 1 is the military action focused on Afghanistan because it’s there that perpetrators of 11 September hide. Phase 2 is the medium and longer term campaign against terrorism in all its forms. …

(Mr. Blair was apparently discussing with Defendant-Appellee Bush regime change in Iraq just one month after the attacks that took place on September 11, 2001. Mr. Blair’s suggestion for “phase 1” of the U.S.-U.K. strategy on the war on terrorism to first direct military action toward “Afghanistan because it’s there that perpetrators of 11 September hide,” further supports allegations that U.S. officials used an unrelated terrorist attack to execute a pre-existing plan of regime change in Iraq. Mr. Blair then went on to discuss a “phase 2” that would include invading Iraq).

December 4, 2001 message from former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to George W. Bush

Iraq is a threat because it has WMD capability … But any link to 11 September and AQ [Al Qaeda] is at best very tenuous; and at present international opinion would be reluctant, outside the US/UK, to support immediate military action … So we need a strategy for regime change that builds over time. …

(This note supports allegations that U.S. government leaders were aware that Iraq had no link to the 9/11 attacks or Al Qaeda and support allegations that U.S. government leaders made false statements to the public about the threat Iraq posed, or its connection to Al Qaeda, in order to support a war and satisfy personally-held objectives of regime change that had no legitimate policy underpinning)

July 28, 2002 message from former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to George W. Bush:

I will be with you, whatever …

The Evidence. Again, I have been told the US thinks this unnecessary. But we still need to make the case. If we recapitulate all the WMD evidence; add his attempts to secure nuclear capability; and, as seems possible, add on Al Qaida link, it will be hugely persuasive over here.

(This note confirms that U.S. government official’s intent to invade Iraq was well-formed by July 2002. Mr. Blair’s July 2002 note to George W. Bush observed that U.S. officials thought evidence supporting regime change was “unnecessary” and that an “Al Qaida link” could be simply be tacked onto government messaging in order to sell the war).


Statements by legal experts who have concluded that the Iraq War was illegal

10 September 2010 Submission by Philippe Sands QC to the Iraq Inquiry Committee

Distinguished members of the legal community in the United Kingdom have also concluded without ambiguity that the war was unlawful.

9 September 2010 Statement by Professor Nicholas Grief to the Iraq Inquiry Committee (emphasis added).

A second Security Council resolution specifically and unambiguously authorising military action was required. The vague warning of ‘serious consequences’ in resolution 1441 did not suffice, and to interpret resolution 678 as granting the necessary authority was not ‘good faith’ interpretation as required by international law. Without such a resolution, the invasion of Iraq constituted an act of aggression, contrary to Article 2(4) of the UN Charter.

What happens next?

The Department of Justice has indicated that it will oppose the filing of these portions from the Chilcot Report with the Ninth Circuit. We will circulate the DOJ opposition once it has been filed.

Source:

http://www.stewwebb.com/2016/12/09/george-w-bush-fraud-lock-him-up/


Saleh alleges former Bush administration leaders along with George W. Bush himself committed the crime of aggression when they planned and executed the Iraq War, a war crime that was called the “supreme international crime” at the Nuremberg Trials in 1946!

Stew Webb talks about this trial in his latest Intelligence update in the video above. He’s heard these judges are not the typical Bush Clinton Crime Syndicate judges that will dismiss the case. We shall soon see! Will George W. Bush finally be rightfully exposed for committing war crimes?

George W. Bush’s trial will be live streamed on the Ninth Circuit’s Youtube Channel! Everybody is being encouraged to spread this story and watch the Court begin case at 9:00 am Pacific Time one December 12th. The case will likely be heard later in the morning as it is last on the Court’s calendar.

Also named in this court case is Richard Cheney, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfield and Paul Wolfowitcz as defendants for starting the illegal Iraq War killing more than 500,000 ultimately. This case was originally dismissed in 2014 saying the defendants were immune from further proceedings because of the federal Westfall Act which immunizes former federal officials in civil lawsuits if a court determines they were acting in the legitimate scope of their jobs. Saleh now disputes this immunity saying the planning and waging of a war of aggression against Iraq fell outside the legitimate scope of employment of former President bush and the other defendants! This could get very interesting if Stew’s sources are correct and these judges are patriots!


References

http://www.stewwebb.com/2016/12/09/george-w-bush-fraud-lock-him-up/

http://www.globalresearch.ca/breaking-george-w-bush-on-trial-saleh-v-bush-in-california-court-on-charges-of-crimes-of-aggression-against-iraq/5560800

(beforeitsnews.com)





"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
12/11/2016 11:26:09 AM
US Sending 200 Additional Troops to Syria



(abcNEWS)

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
12/11/2016 4:52:36 PM

ISIS militants re-enter Syria's historic Palmyra


What recapture of Palmyra means for fight against ISIS


ISIS militants re-entered the historic city of Palmyra in central Syria on Saturday for the first time since they were expelled by Syrian and Russian forces nine months ago.

The activist-run Palmyra Coordination network said the militants had nearly encircled the city and entered its northern and northwestern neighborhoods. The group, which maintains contacts inside the city, said ISIS fighters were approaching the city's UNESCO heritage site as well.

Osama al-Khatib said government soldiers were fleeing Palmyra.

"The army as an institution has dissolved," he said. Some soldiers and militiamen remain in the city, along with 120 families who have not been able to leave, Khatib said. He spoke to The Associated Press from Gaziantep, Turkey.

"There is strong fighting on all sides," he reported. "There is no exit except through a corridor to the west."

The dramatic reversal in Palmyra comes days after ISIS militants in the Iraqi city of Mosul launched a major counterattack that surprised Iraqi soldiers, killing at least 20 and halting their advance. Iraqi special forces units have entered the eastern outskirts of the largest remaining ISIS-held city, but their advance has been greatly slowed by both a desire to limit civilian casualties and the resilience of the ISIS fighters.

On Saturday U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced that an additional 200 U.S. soldiers would be dispatched to Syria to accelerate the push on the self-declared ISIS capital of Raqqa. The 200, to include special operations troops, are in addition to 300 already authorized for the effort to recruit, organize, train and advise local Syrian Arab and Kurdish forces to fight ISIS.

"These uniquely skilled operators will join the 300 U.S. special operations forces already in Syria, to continue organizing, training, equipping, and otherwise enabling capable, motivated, local forces to take the fight to ISIL," Carter said, using an alternative acronym for the extremist group. "By combining our capabilities with those of our local partners, we've been squeezing ISIL by applying simultaneous pressure from all sides and across domains, through a series of deliberate actions to continue to build momentum."

In Palmyra, Mohammad Hassan Homsi of the Palmyra News Network reported that a military division withdrew from the city earlier Saturday without leaving a way out for civilians. According to Homsi, only 350 families had returned to the city of its original 30,000 inhabitants after the government retook the city to great fanfare in March.

ISIS militants were shelling the government's military airport to the east of the city, according to the Coordination group.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the militants reached the city's Tadmor Hospital and its wheat silos.

The militants advanced on Palmyra after seizing several government positions, oil fields, and strategic hilltops in the surrounding countryside in a lightning three-day campaign.

Earlier Saturday, the militants' Aamaq News Agency claimed the group shot down a government warplane in the Jazal oil fields west of the city.

The Observatory said the jet had crashed for reasons unknown. It reported the militants had taken the oil fields.

During the 10 months that ISIS held Palmyra, from May 2015 to March 2016, the militants dynamited several of the city's famed ancient Roman monuments and executed its archaeological director.

After the city was retaken, the Russian government staged a classical music concert in the city's soaring Roman amphitheater last May to celebrate the success. The Syrian and Russian government maintain they are defending the global community against Islamic terrorism in the country's devastating five-1/2-year war.

After taking Palmyra, the two states turned their attention to wiping out the internal opposition in Damascus and Aleppo, leaving the historic city relatively unguarded.

Syrian state media had no comment.


(
foxnews.com)

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
12/11/2016 5:32:40 PM
December 10, 2016 12:30 pm
Updated: December 10, 2016 6:11 pm

Extreme cold weather snap contributes to 3 electricity records in Alberta



WATCH ABOVE: Kevin O'Connell has our weather forecast for the Saturday morning news. This extreme cold will last for some time!

With the windchill plunging into the -40 C range and with limited daylight hours, Alberta set three records in a row for electricity consumption.

The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) said the province used a record hourly average amount of electricity between 5 and 6 p.m. on Dec. 8, reaching 11,442 megawatts (MW).

That number surpassed the Dec. 7 record of 11,404 MW and the Dec. 5 record of 11,400 MW.

READ MORE: Alberta electricity demand surges to all-time high as province remains frozen in cold snap

The AESO said the uptick in demand was due to “cold weather, reduced daylight hours and the convergence of Christmas lighting load at homes, businesses, malls and buildings across the province.

“Another factor that contributed was the low market price for electricity – this prevented price sensitive industrial facilities from going offline during peak hours.”

AESO said the average wholesale price for electricity during that peak hour was about $30 per megawatt hour. The agency also said it was not concerned about grid reliability during that time.

READ MORE: Extreme cold warnings issued for areas of central, northern Alberta

Environment Canada has issued an extreme cold warning starting in northwestern B.C., going west through central and northern Alberta, central and southwestern Saskatchewan and southeastern Manitoba.

By Friday afternoon, the extreme cold warning extended to most of central and northern Alberta, including High Level and Fort Chipewyan and as far south as Airdrie and Cochrane.

The temperature is forecast to drop to the low minus 30s, and with the wind chill, it will feel like minus 40 or colder.

The City of Edmonton kept all of its transit centres and LRT stations open overnight as shelter against the frigid temperatures.

Extreme cold warnings are issued when very cold temperatures or wind chill creates an elevated risk to health such as frost bite and hypothermia.

Watch below: Is it cold enough in Calgary to turn boiling water into vapour?



For the latest information from Environment Canada on the extreme cold warnings, click here.

If safe to do so, share your weather photos with us via the Global Edmonton Facebook and Twitter accounts. You can also post updates from your community using the hashtags #yegwx and #abstorm. To report severe weather to Environment Canada, you can email ec.storm.ec@canada.ca.

Want your weather on the go? Download Global News’ Skytracker weather app for iPhone, iPad and Android.

With files from The Canadian Press

© 2016 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc


(globalnews.ca)

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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