Greg Mitchell's Blog, page 163

Another Black Santa

Mr. James Hendrix plays "Little Drummer Boy" and "Silent Night" on his axe for all you children.

U.N. Claims Two Chemical Attacks AGAINST Assad Forces

The United Nations probe of use of chemical agents in Syria this year out tonight with a major finding--the probable use of chems against government forces by rebels in two cases since the famous August 21 assault.  The UN in all confirms a half dozen attacks but does not yet lay blame on either side for that deadly August 21 attack.  But the claim of rebel use will make news, especially after Seymour Hersh wrote this week that they were capable of this--which some disputed.

The report, prepared by chemical weapons specialists and doctors who traveled to Syria to conduct interviews and collect samples amid active fighting, is the most detailed and comprehensive independent assessment of facts and allegations surrounding the use of chemical weapons in the conflict.

It was the first time the United Nations asserted as fact that chemical weapons had been used on multiple occasions in the fighting between the forces of President Bashar al-Assad and the insurgents seeking to topple him, including chemical weapons use after world outrage over the Aug. 21 attack, which killed hundreds of civilians including children.

Full Nelson

Tracy just friended me at Facebook.  Reviewed one of her Mother Earth albums at Crawdaddy--in 1971.  Still one of the greatest vocal performances ever (and why some of us always preferred her to Janis).

One Wedding and (a Few) Funerals

Drone strike strikes again--another wedding party in Yemen, another 15 dead civilians.  Jeremy Scahill tweets it best: "US drone strikes: winning hearts and minds one wedding massacre at a time." 
Reuters:  "Fifteen people on their way to a wedding in Yemen were killed in an air strike after their party was mistaken for an al Qaeda convoy, local security officials said on Thursday. The officials did not identify the plane in the strike in central al-Bayda province, but tribal and local media sources said that it was a drone.  'An air strike missed its target and hit a wedding car convoy, ten people were killed immediately and another five who were injured died after being admitted to the hospital,' one security official said.

"Five more people were injured, the officials said."

One Wedding and (Few) Funerals

Drone strike strikes again--another wedding party in Yemen, another 15 dead civilians.  Jeremy Scahill tweets it best: "US drone strikes: winning hearts and minds one wedding massacre at a time." 
Reuters:  "Fifteen people on their way to a wedding in Yemen were killed in an air strike after their party was mistaken for an al Qaeda convoy, local security officials said on Thursday. The officials did not identify the plane in the strike in central al-Bayda province, but tribal and local media sources said that it was a drone.  'An air strike missed its target and hit a wedding car convoy, ten people were killed immediately and another five who were injured died after being admitted to the hospital,' one security official said.

"Five more people were injured, the officials said."

Our Man in Iran

Don't miss scoop just posted by the AP on missing American in Iran who...was working for the CIA.  And against all protocols.  Hired by a rogue element. (Plus here's AP defending why they are publishing now even though it presents some risk to the CIA man, if still alive.)

In an extraordinary breach of the most basic CIA rules, a team of analysts - with no authority to run spy operations - paid Levinson to gather intelligence from some of the world's darkest corners. He vanished while investigating the Iranian government for the U.S.

The CIA was slow to respond to Levinson's disappearance and spent the first several months denying any involvement. When Congress eventually discovered what happened, one of the biggest scandals in recent CIA history erupted.

Behind closed doors, three veteran analysts were forced out of the agency and seven others were disciplined. The CIA paid Levinson's family $2.5 million to pre-empt a revealing lawsuit, and the agency rewrote its rules restricting how analysts can work with outsiders.

But even after the White House, FBI and State Department officials learned of Levinson's CIA ties, the official story remained unchanged.  "He's a private citizen involved in private business in Iran," the State Department said in 2007, shortly after Levinson's disappearance.

Take It Up With HIM

You say there's no such thing as a black Santa?  Well, argue the point with Sonny Liston in his prime, then.  Or James Brown.

The Killer Cop

The story of renegade-with-manifesto LAPD cop Chris Dorner captured the attention of the nation last year before he met his end in a fiery cabin.  You may have forgotten all about it until you started reading this post.  Not so in California, and this week the L.A. Times has been running a series of fascinating, sometimes surreal, features on the case, from Dorner's killing to the killing of Dorner (with some very good and very bad police work along the way). 

That Other Steubenville Case

When school officials in Steubenville were indicted recently as part of a "cover-up" most in the media and readers/viewers probably assumed it stemmed directly and only from the infamous rape case involving local football players.  But as I pointed out at the time, much of this case was related to a second case, involving a girl, 14, and what happened involving baseball players at a coach's house.   The Toledo Blade catches up with this today in a lengthy story.  The girl dropped her complaint but the officials are still on the hook.

Gun Country

NYT today with two expansive takes on guns.  They post upcoming magazine piece by Robert Draper on the power of the NRA.  And also on their site: a major special project, words and graphis, on America's fascination with firearms (I guess to mark anniverasary of Sandy Hook massacre).    Personal and varied stories.   Funeral director.  Woman whose father owns a gun store.  Competitive rifle shooter.  Guns on the street.  Young hunter.  "They bring families together and tear them apart. They kill innocent people and protect them. The United States continues to love and revile its hundreds of millions of firearms. Here is a look at that complicated relationship, told through the personal stories of Americans."