In this issue:

Israel Joins Obama in Jim Crow Racism

Obama Steals Bush's Program on Iran: Chronic War

Kerry: Engage Iran on Afghanistan, Fight Drugs

Turkish PKK Controlled by Ergenekon 'Deep State'

Israel Joins Obama in Jim Crow Racism

July 31 (EIRNS)—The UN Human Rights Committee, a body of 18 independent experts that monitors compliance with the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, found, in a report issued July 30, that Israel is in violation of nearly every civil and political right of the Palestinians. In fact, in its response to the committee, Israel argued that the covenant does not apply to the Palestinians, although they say it does apply to Jewish settlers in the West Bank. "In Israel's written responses to the committee, one could see a total discrimination in the sense that settlers benefitted from the pact," said committee member Christine Chanet, a former French judge and international human rights expert. The committee vehemently disagreed with the Israeli view and noted in its report that the covenant applies to all equally, except under extreme and temporary conditions.

The committee has been backed up by the International Court of Justice, which, in 2004, stated that the provisions of the covenant "apply to the benefit of the population of the occupied territories, including in the Gaza strip," and that Israel has the responsibility to ensure that the rights of the Palestinians under the covenant are protected. However, Chanet noted, "It is very difficult to have a real dialogue" with Israel on these matters.

Among the recommendations in the committee's report, were that Israel should:

* end the military blockade of Gaza because of its adverse effects on the civilian population;

* carry out credible investigations into serious human rights violations, including violations of the right to life, human treatment, freedom of expression, and use of torture;

* end its practice of extrajudicial executions of individuals suspected of involvement in terrorism; and that, since 2003, Israel has carried out 184 extrajudicial executions in Gaza, which also resulted in the deaths of 155 additional individuals;

* incorporate into its laws legislation against the crime of torture, in conformity with the Convention Against Torture;

* end its practice of collective home and property demolitions. It should also stop construction of the separation wall in the West Bank, and the construction of settlements as well.

Obama Steals Bush's Program on Iran: Chronic War

July 30 (EIRNS)—"We have to force people to come to terms with the fact that the biggest war threat comes from Obama's madness," said Lyndon LaRouche concerning the continued drumbeat for war against Iran. LaRouche said that it is "imperative" to keep the spotlight on the war party. Meanwhile, Nerobama is pushing every possible provocation against Iran, and pressuring countries like China and Turkey, which are trying to bring about the possibility of a negotiated solution.

"The reality is: Iran holds the key to a viable exit strategy from both Iraq and Afghanistan," said LaRouche, and given some of the problems with the current Iranian leadership, that means we need some really creative John Quincy Adams-style diplomacy on the part of the United States.

There continue to be opportunities for diplomacy, but Obama is shooting them down, while warmongers like the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post's Charles Krauthammer call for war. A July 30 Journal column by Edward Jay Epstein claims that the entire 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran, that reported that Iran ended its weapons program in 2003, was a fraud based on false intelligence from one or more Iranian "double agents." Also on July 30, Krauthammer wrote about a Sunni Arab/Israel/USA/European alliance to attack Iran that is breathing down the neck of Iranian President Ahmadinejad, leading him to publicly worry that the United States is going to attack two countries in the region in the next few months.

While these war rantings are the daily fare in the U.S. and British press, Iran has indicated that it would end the enrichment of uranium to 20%, "if the United States and other countries agreed to a plan brokered in May for exchanging Iranian uranium," stated Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as quoted in Global Security Newswire. But Obama continues to call for more sanctions against Iran, as in his praise for the European Union's additional sanctions.

Both Russia and China object, reported Agence France Presse on July 30. "China disapproves of the unilateral sanctions put in place by the EU against Iran," according to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu in a released statement. "We hope the relevant parties will adhere to diplomatic means on the issue, and properly resolve the issue through talks and negotiation," she continued, wrote AFP.

But the U.S. is sending "two top envoys" to China in August to press for China to support these sanctions outside the UN resolutions.

Kerry: Engage Iran on Afghanistan, Fight Drugs

Aug. 1 (EIRNS)—In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS show today, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, suggested that now would be a good time for President Obama to engage Iran in a dialogue.

A good place to start, he said, would be to discuss a way forward in Afghanistan. "I think Iran has interests in Afghanistan. They don't like the Taliban. They don't like narcotics being transited. There are reasons they would want a stable government there."

Kerry emphasized that raising the Afghan issue with Iran would also be a way "to get in on the other issues of concern to us, not just nuclear, but the whole regional issue."

Kerry's mention of the drug trade is noteworthy. Lyndon LaRouche has charged that Obama's treasonous protection of the Afghan opium trade, and sending American soldiers to be killed by insurgents financed by that trade—a British imperial policy—is grounds for impeachment. Obama has also refused Russian overtures to work with the U.S. and others to destroy the drug trade.

Asked by Zakaria whether he would support a request by Gen. David Petraeus for more troops in Afghanistan, Kerry responded, "I personally would say, no, I don't think troops are the answer. The answer is a political resolution, and that ... has to come about by engaging to a greater degree with India, with Pakistan itself.... I think we should also engage China, Russia, and I would say to you that the possibility could exist even of Iran playing a role in helping to change the equation on the ground."

Turkish PKK Controlled by Ergenekon 'Deep State'

July 29 (EIRNS)—A former member of the British-controlled narco-terrorist Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) charged that the Turkish "deep state" is controlling the PKK terror operations. This is a reference to the Ergenekon, a network which has been embedded in the military security institutions of Turkey. Well over 100 individuals, including military personnel and officers, have been put on trial as members of Ergenekon over the past two years.

Hueseyin Yildirim, the former right-hand man of Abdullah Ocalan—the jailed leader of the PKK—accused the Ergenekon of being behind the conflict between Turks and Kurds in Turkey, and charged that Ocalan is also under the control of the deep state.

Yildirim, who defected from the PKK years ago, said, in an interview with the Turkish daily, Taraf: "The environment of chaos cannot end unless Turkey does away with Ergenekon. It is Ergenekon that wants a clash between Turks and Kurds. The deep state wants weapons shot. Ocalan controls the PKK and the deep state controls Ocalan." He added that Ocalan made the deal after his capture several years ago, while he was imprisoned in Imrali prison. "Ocalan made an agreement with the deep state at Imrali to save his life. A program was given to him [by the Ergenekon] and he is following it. He had made this public previously. He said that he was told to leave some 500 PKK members in Turkey to be used in clashes, because an environment of clashes is needed for the deep state. This is crystal clear. You have to be blind if you cannot see that," Yildirim said.

These statements were made in the currently tense situation in Turkey, following the handing down of arrest warrants against 102 active-duty and retired military officers, including 25 generals, for their involvement in the Sledgehammer coup plot which had been planned for implementation in 2003, after the current ruling Justice and Development Party came into power. These plotters form the basis of the British Empire's ability to manipulate Turkey. The plot, which was never implemented, included the use of PKK terror to create a strategy of tension behind which the coup could take place. An article in the Turkish English-language newspaper Today's Zaman this week reveals that in the districts where several of the indicted generals were in command, there has been an increase in PKK terrorism.

In a discussion with EIR, one Turkish source feared that a military coup was possible and asked whether U.S. President Obama would support such a coup.