Ron Paul: After ‘CIA coup,’ agency ‘runs military’

By Raw StoryWednesday, January 20th, 2010 -- 6:10 pm
US House Rep. Ron Paul says the CIA has in effect carried out a "coup" against the US government, and the intelligence agency needs to be "taken out."
Speaking to an audience of like-minded libertarians at a Campaign for Liberty regional conference in Atlanta this past weekend, the Texas Republican said:
There's been a coup, have you heard? It's the CIA coup. The CIA runs everything, they run the military. They're the ones who are over there lobbing missiles and bombs on countries. ... And of course the CIA is every bit as secretive as the Federal Reserve. ... And yet think of the harm they have done since they were established [after] World War II. They are a government unto themselves. They're in businesses, in drug businesses, they take out dictators ... We need to take out the CIA.
Paul's comments, made last weekend, were met with a loud round of applause, but they didn't gather attention until bloggers noticed a clip of the event at YouTube.
Paul appeared to be referring to news reports that the CIA is deeply involved in air strikes against Al Qaeda targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A suicide bombing late last year against Forward Operating Base Chapman in Afghanistan took the lives of seven of CIA operatives, including two contracted from Blackwater. The event highlighted the CIA's deep involvement in the war effort.
Story continues below...

Paul's reference to the CIA being "in the drug business" refers to long-running allegations that the CIA has funded some of its covert operations with proceeds from drug-running. That claim was most famously made in a 1996 investigative report from the San Jose Mercury-News, which alleged that cocaine from the Contra-Sandinista civil war in Nicaragua was making its way to the streets of L.A. via the CIA.

The following video was uploaded to the Web by user TNSONSOFLIBERTY, Jan, 15, 2010.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dECSYm5bSM

http://rawstory.com/2010/01/ron-paul-cia/

Muslim clerics send warning message to London Conference

Posted in: Front Page
Written By: Zaid al-Alaya’a
Article Date: Jan 14, 2010 - 11:39:30 PM

YEMEN - Over 150 religious scholars from all governorates of Yemen issued a statement rejecting any direct or indirect interference in Yemen’s affairs from foreign forces. Tens of scholars gathered today at al-Mushhd Mosque to express their absolute rejection of foreign sides interfering in Yemen.

Any intervention, the statement said, from any foreign side, will be rejected and have major consequences. “Islam allows for Jihad, a right to defend it’s own land in case of any invasion to Yemen,” the statement read. The Islamic scholars rejected military bases or structures in lands or territorial water.

Islam prohibits the killing of citizens, non-Muslim civilians, and any attacks against these groups are bound by Islamic law. The statement expressed the scholars’ reaction to the air raid attacks in Arhab. “The killings in Arhab, which resulted in the loss of civilians, should be sent to prosecution to provide justice for the innocent.”

In the statement, they expressed their refusal of invasion or any destruction of Yemen’s sovereignty. They also called upon the government to nullify and reject any political or security interference in Yemen’s affairs: any violations of Yemen’s religion, independence, or Yemeni land.

The statement mentioned that military cooperation with any foreign side is rejected in Islamic Sharia, and would harm the country’s interest.

The religious scholars decided to establish a committee to look at the incidents, reasons, and consequences to work out solutions from the Sharia. They call upon all Yemenis to refer to the Quran and Islamic Sharia, in order to unite. They also asked that the Arab League and Islamic organizations to stand with them.

Sheikh Abdul-Majid al-Zindani warned against foreign interference in Yemen, claiming that those who try to justify it by saying the Yemeni government is collapsing, are only trying to exploit the country’s riches, similar to what happened in Iraq. He also expressed satisfaction with Obama’s announcement that they are not planning to send any troops to Yemen and encouraged the US administration to not interfere in any affairs that are the Yemeni affairs.

He also questioned the upcoming conference that will be held in London saying that Yemenis have to solve their issues themselves. He said that the religious scholars’ statement came as a result of the worries of Yemenis at large from the interference of foreign sides in Yemeni issues.

http://www.yobserver.com/front-page/10017957.html

Thousands Expected to die in 2010 in Fight against Al-Qaeda

Thousands Expected to die in 2010 in Fight against Al-Qaeda
Last updated: 09:34:02 AM GMT(+03) Monday, 04, January, 2010
By Hakim Almasmari

It seems that the government of Yemen is addictive to war. This week, the government has been trying to stop the ongoing war in Sa’ada and start peace negotiations with Houthis. Houthis agreed to the conditions the government put on the table.

With the Houthi war maybe nearing to an end, the government is finding other ways to keep Yemeni blood dripping. The open war it announced against Al-Qaeda was hailed internationally but angered many in Yemen.

The anger does not come because Yemenis support Al-Qaeda, but rather because Yemenis feel that hundreds of innocent civilians will be killed by Yemeni and U.S. airstrikes on Al-Qaeda targets under the slogan of hunting Al-Qaeda members.

The last attacks on Al-Qaeda in Abyan and Shabwa killed 102 civilians and two Al-Qaeda members. Do you expect families of innocent civilians who were killed in the raids against Al-Qaeda to stay quiet after the death of their loved ones? I personally expect them to join hands with Al-Qaeda just to try to get revenge from the government or the U.S. for killings their brothers, sisters, parents or even friends.

If we go back in history just five years ago, we will see that Houthis were only 2000 in number. However, after the government imprisoned thousands, air raided over 20,000 homes and killed more than 2300 innocent civilians, Houthi followers gradually increased. Today Houthis number over 100,000 fighters.

We expect the current small number of Al-Qaeda followers to reach tens of thousands in the next couple of years if the attacks against them start harming innocent children and women. Al-Qaeda followers in Yemen do not exceed 400 in total. This might change if Yemen fights Al-Qaeda in the same way the U.S. forces have fought them in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Hakim Almasmari is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Yemen Post Newspaper. Mr. Almasmari is also a university lecturer in the field of international media. He is a political analyst who has been a guest on many international TV stations discussing current local and international affairs. He is based in Sana'a, Yemen. Occasionally, he is also based in the Yemen Post's United States office.

Source: Yemen Post Newspaper