TBR News April 2, 2016
The Voice of the White House
Washington, D.C., April 2, 2016: “The Kurds, an entity of approximately 18 million people, are the fourth largest ethnic group in the Middle East. They occupy about 500,000 square miles in Iraq, Iran Syria, Turkey and the Russian Republic. In Turkey, the Kurds are currently a heavily persecuted minorities in Turkey where they represent one quarter of the Turkish population. The Turks, who murdered nearly a million Armenian Christians in 1916, population have consistently persecuted the Kurds since 1918 and as Kurdish attempts to form their own country increase, so does violent Turkish repression..
With the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, an ally of Imperial Germany,in 1918, the victories allies planned an independent Kurdistan by the Treaty of Severes. This was never ratified and subsequently, the Treaty of Lausanne created the modern states of Turkey, Iraq, and Syria, but Kurdistan was ignored. During Turkey’s subsequent war for independence, post-war Turkish leaders, promised Kurds a Turkish-Kurdish federated state in return for their assistance in that war. However, after the modern Turkish state was established, the Turks reneged on their pledge to the Kurds and began their escalating persecutions of them.
Ankara, under the pretext of creating an “indivisible nation,” adopted an ideology aimed at eliminating, both physically and culturally, non-Turkish elements within their new Republic. These entities were primarily Kurdish and Armenian.
A 1924 official Turkish policy forbade any Kurdish schools, organizations and publications. Even the words “Kurd” and “Kurdistan” were outlawed, making any written or spoken acknowledgement of their existence illegal.
According to Association France-Kurdistan, between 1925 and 1939, 1.5 million Kurds, a third of the population, were either forcefully deported or murdered.
While Kurdish persecution became more selective during World War II, largely restricted to Kurdish intellectuals, the overall policy of expulsion or extermination of the Turkiish Kurd population was firmly established
Under Turkey’s present regime, Kurds are subjected to deliberate harassment and terrorization. The most frequent legal justification for these arrests are Articles 141 and 142 of the Turkish penal code that “protect the economic institutions and social foundations of the nation” and prescribe 5-15 years imprisonment for those “seeking to destroy the political and legal order of the state.”
This is aimed at both the Kurdish and Armenian population of Turkey.
It is illegal for parents to give children Kurdish names; they must select Turkish names or face punishment.
In a raid on the village of Doganbey, the gendarmerie, whose garrison commander was quoted as saying, “We shall exterminate all Kurds,” tortured the imam (holy man) of the village for several hours. The inhabitants were then forced to speak Turkish. The women, who did not speak Turkish, however, could not understand the commands. When the village guard translated them into Kurdish he was beaten. When he tried to explain that he had to translate because the women spoke no Turkish, the commander ordered the villagers tortured because they did not speak Turkish.
Turkey is not content to persecute Kurds within its borders. In 1980 the Turkish Embassy in Denmark ordered the Union of Workers from Turkey to discontinue a Kurdish language course organized by the Copenhagen Evening School. The course was aimed at incorporating Kurdish in the home language teaching program in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and West-German schools. The Embassy Councillor asked, “Are you not Turkish citizens? You must not teach Kurdish to Kurdish children.”
Turkey is in clear violation of the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention of Human Rights. As both a member of the UN and the Council of Europe, Turkey is mandated to respect the fundamental human rights of its minorities.
The Council of Europe has condemned Turkey for its “suppression of political parties and organizations, imprisonment and torture of political dissidents” and its judiciary processes that “guarantee no protection for the accused.” The Council has demanded that Turkey reinstate democratic institutions, including the right to free speech and safeguards for religious minorities and that it release political prisoners and permit a Red Cross examination of prison conditions.
Turkey’s current government justifies its brutal and repressive policies as being essential “for the restoration of democracy.”
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The persecution of Kurds is without contemporary equivalent in Europe, yet is condoned by the silence of Western powers who, in the recent past, continued to furnish Turkey with military and economic aid.As part of their encirclement policy aimed at Russia, the CIA has a strong presence in Turkey and has consistently reassured the current Turkish government that if Turkish attacks on Russia are met with a military Russian response, the US-controlled Nato will respond. That Nato has declined to become involved in Turkish affairs seems to have no effect on CIA blandishments. The shooting-down, by Turkish military aircraft of a Russian military plain involved in the anti Sunni Muslim IS campaign had its roots in the mistaken belief that the United States would support Turkey, with force if necessary, against any Russian reactions. That Putin took immediate economic retaliation against Turkey was unexpected and when the promised Western support was obviously not forthcoming, the Turks are now, according to a high-level German intelligence source, planning to sink block ships in the narrow Bosporus by Istanbul in order to prevent any commercial shipping from entering the Black Sea. The Turks are aware that Russia would immediately react with force to such an act and are hoping to force the US and Nato into action. And reports in the Western media about Turkish ongoing brutality towards the area’s Kurdish population are infuriating the Turks who are sternly demanding the immediate halt to such reports.”
Conversations with the Crow
On October 8th, 2000, Robert Trumbull Crowley, once a leader of the CIA’s Clandestine Operations Division, died in a Washington hospital of heart failure and the end effects of Alzheimer’s Disease. Before the late Assistant Director Crowley was cold, Joseph Trento, a writer of light-weight books on the CIA, descended on Crowley’s widow at her town house on Cathedral Hill Drive in Washington and hauled away over fifty boxes of Crowley’s CIA files.
Once Trento had his new find secure in his house in Front Royal , Virginia, he called a well-known Washington fix lawyer with the news of his success in securing what the CIA had always considered to be a potential major embarrassment. Three months before, July 20th of that year, retired Marine Corps colonel William R. Corson, and an associate of Crowley, died of emphysema and lung cancer at a hospital in Bethesda, Md. After Corson’s death, Trento and his Washington lawyer went to Corson’s bank, got into his safe deposit box and removed a manuscript entitled ‘Zipper.’ This manuscript, which dealt with Crowley’s involvement in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, vanished into a CIA burn-bag and the matter was considered to be closed forever
After Crowley’s death and Trento’s raid on the Crowley files, huge gaps were subsequently discovered by horrified CIA officials and when Crowley’s friends mentioned Gregory Douglas, it was discovered that Crowley’s son had shipped two large boxes to Douglas. No one knew their contents but because Douglas was viewed as an uncontrollable loose cannon who had done considerable damage to the CIA’s reputation by his on-going publication of the history of Gestapo-Mueller, they bent every effort both to identify the missing files and make some effort to retrieve them before Douglas made any use of them.
Douglas had been in close contact with Crowley and had long phone conversations with him. He found this so interesting and informative that he taped and later transcribed them.
These conversations have been published in a book: ‘Conversations with the Crow” and this is an excerpt.
Conversation No. 29
Date: Tuesday July 30, 1996
Commenced: 8:30 AM CST
Concluded: 8:55 AM CST
GD: Good morning, Robert.
RTC: And the same to you, Gregory.
GD: Robert, I know you were not in the CIA’s technical branch but I often wonder when I am on the phone, am I being listened to?
RTC: You don’t have to be from the technical people to know the answer to that one. It’s not so much that you are being snooped on but that you can be observed by almost anyone at any time. We listened in on people and opened mail. That’s the reason why Jim was sacked but that was only an excuse. He was getting crazy. But as far as the telephone is concerned, yes, you could be listened to at any time. It’s not a bug on your phone so much as full and complete cooperation by the telephone people with various agencies. We did it, the FBI and the NSA do it and probably others as well. Your mail can be opened, addresses copied and so on. For instance, if you have a private Swiss bank account, we have the postal people copy down and forward to us the cover of any letter sent by a Swiss bank to an American addressee. We don’t have to open the letter to know it’s a monthly bank statement. And then we know where your account is. And the NSA listened in on each and every phone call overseas. You see, they tap into the communications satellites. Of course there are huge numbers of calls every day so their computers are set to pick out certain words. Like Abu Nidal for instance. Once a key word comes up, the conversation is taped and listened to later.
GD: And the television sets can be used as a monitoring device but only if they’re connected to the cable TV system.
RTC: I’ve heard that but then I rarely watch the garbage on television.
GD: You can circumvent that simply by disconnecting your set from the cable system. Just take out the plug. Put it back later. Or, what I would do, would be to hold a really sizzling but totally fake disinformation conversation right in front of the set. You know…’the Russians really pay well for that information…’ and also ‘ yes the entire building has been mined. One push of a button and we can make the front pages of every newspaper in the world.’ Can you imagine the uproar on the other end? Of course you never are specific and just enough to drive them into a frenzy. I’ve done this a number of times but only twice did I ever find out what a huge stink I caused. Loved it then and I love it now. Oh yes, Bill told me the other day that he saved Bobby Inman from exposure once. When I asked him from what, he shut down. Can you comment on this?
RTC: Probably the homosexual issue. They are very sensitive to that one.
GD: Why? And is Inman a faggot?
RTC: Now, now, I’ll let Bill discuss this with you. My information would only be second hand. And it has been long felt that if an agent were a fairy, he could be gotten at by the Russians and blackmailed or set up and turned.
GD: Well, that makes sense but there are so many people like that in DC that it would be difficult not to find a few in various agencies. I think it must be the military bases with their legions of muscled hustlers that draws these people. And the, of course, one gets into an agency and of course has to have company.
RTC: Yes. The Jews are the same way. You let one in and pretty soon, the office looks like a synagogue. And it’s always us against them. The same way with the fairies. That’s the main reason why I object to having them on board.
GD: But the problem with Inman….
RTC: Back in 1980 there was a fairy scare over at NSA. Real McCarthy purges, finger pointing, anonymous letters and so on. A number of the top brass there were scared shitless lest they, too, got exposed. Bill knows some of this and he has known Inman for a long time. There was an ugly incident when he was in law school. I was told that Bill was able to shut the matter down. That is one of the reasons Bill has such good rapport in certain circles.
GD: He’s blackmailing them?
RTC: In a sense. During the Carter days, Bill could pretty well get what he wanted from certain highly placed intelligence people. I think I should leave it at that, Gregory. Talk to Bill about this if you like but I doubt he’ll tell you anything and, yes, you are right. Washington is indeed full of those people. A lot in Congress, the military, especially the Air Force and various agencies. The FBI is rather picky but we and NSA have quite a few queers on board. The NSG has more than its share. And if you go into some of the faggot bars here, you might see a number of the prominent dancing around in mesh stockings and wearing really bad wigs.
GD: Oh, I’ve seen these in San Francisco. The wigs look like dead cats. They don’t look any more like women than my dog but who argues with self-delusion? Five kids and a wife at home and into the lavatories with the holes in the partitions after work. During the week, his name is George but on Saturdays, his name is Phyllis.
RTC: (Laughter) Yes, we are overrun here.
GD: Well, at least you can’t dump that one on Clinton although God knows that the weird Christian freaks might try. My God, they hate him and as far as I am concerned, these bone headed twits are far worse than the queens. They believe in the strangest things and are really obnoxious swine. They believe the world is only six thousand years old, that Noah’s ark came to ground at 5,000 feet on a mountain side and God only knows what other myths. I mean, Robert, if another religious cult arose that worshipped the Easter Bunny, it wouldn’t any more unbelievable than the Evangelicals. By the way, did you know that Crisco’s main production plant in New Jersey burned down last night? Yes. Millions now living will never fry.
RTC: (Laughter) Ah, Gregory, I can see why so many hate you so much.
GD: Well, one day, it will come out that Heini Mueller, head of the Gestapo and number two man on the wanted Nazi escapee list was living right near you and visiting the White House.
RTC: We may have to wait a while before that gets to be public knowledge. My God, the Hebes would scream so loud we would have to stuff hundred dollar bills into their mouths like a mama bird shoving worms into her babies. They are such arrogant and demanding people.
GD: Yes, God’s chosen people, Robert. I wonder what God chose them for? Probably to wait in line for the showers somewhere in Poland.
RTC: If that’s true, Gregory, God should have finished the job.
(Concluded at 8:55 AM CST)
Reddit change sparks concerns about U.S. government spying
April 1, 2016
by Dustin Volz
Reuters
WASHINGTON-Digital privacy advocates and users of Reddit expressed their alarm on Friday over a change in the forum’s transparency report that suggested it may have been asked to give customer data to FBI investigators under a secretive government authority.
The annual report lists a variety of requests the site has received for information on users and for removal of content. On Thursday, Reddit deleted a paragraph known as a “warrant canary.”
The paragraph had said that Reddit had not been subject to national security letters, which are used by the FBI to conduct electronic surveillance without the need for court approval, or “any other classified request for user information.”
Privacy advocates have long contested the letters, saying they are not subject to sufficient judicial oversight or transparency safeguards.
Brett Max Kaufman, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said on Friday that authorities were possibly seeking the IP address, or an identifying number that corresponds to a specific computer, of an anonymous user on Reddit. Private messages between users could also be subject to search.
Reddit collects relatively little customer data that could be subject to a national security letter and useful for investigators, Kaufman said. Reddit does not require users to reveal their identities and stores less customer data overall compared to email or other social media such as Facebook, he said.
Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who gave classified documents about U.S. spying to journalists in 2013, expressed concern on Twitter.
“Is dissent a threat to national security?” tweeted Snowden (@Snowden), whose leaks prompted a vigorous international debate about digital privacy and surveillance.
The leaks helped popularize the use of “warrant canaries” by tech firms eager to display resistance to government attempts to obtain access to user data.
“When you ask someone ‘Are you helping authorities in investigations?’ and they say ‘I’m not allowed to discuss that with you,’ I think the question has been answered,” wrote Reddit user khegiobridge.
National security letters are almost always accompanied by an open-ended gag order barring companies from disclosing the contents of the demand for customer data, making it difficult for firms to openly discuss how they handle the subpoenas.
That has led many companies to rely on somewhat vague warnings. Apple previously had a “warrant canary” but removed it in 2014.
“I’ve been advised not to say anything one way or the other,” Reddit Chief Executive Officer Steve Huffman, who goes by “spez” on the site, said in a thread discussing the change. “Even with the canaries, we’re treading a fine line.”
The FBI can use national security letters to compel Internet and telecommunications firms to hand over a wide range of customer data, including web browsing history and records of online purchases.
San Francisco-based Reddit did not respond to a request for comment. The Federal Bureau of Investigation did not respond to a request for comment.
National security letters have been available as a law enforcement tool since the 1970s, but their frequency and breadth expanded dramatically under the USA Patriot Act, which was passed shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States by Islamist militants.
Several thousand of the letters are now issued by the FBI every year. At one point more than 50,000 such letters were issued annually.
In 2014, Twitter sued the U.S. Department of Justice on grounds that the restrictions placed on its ability to reveal information about government surveillance orders violates free speech rights. Reddit and others have filed friend of the court briefs in Twitter’s lawsuit.
(Reporting by Dustin Volz; Additional reporting by Amy Tennery, Anjali Athavaley and Melissa Fares in New York; editing by Frances Kerry and Grant McCool)
Turkey is key supplier of weapons, military hardware to ISIS – Russian envoy to UN
April 1, 2016
RT
Moscow has submitted data on Turkey’s illegal arms and military hardware supply to Islamic State in Syria to the UN Security Council. Supplies are supervised by the Turkish intelligence service, Russian UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said as cited by Russian media.
“The main supplier of weapons and military equipment to ISIL fighters is Turkey, which is doing so through non-governmental organizations. Work in this area is overseen by the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey,” Churkin wrote.
According to the envoy, transportation “mainly involves vehicles, including as part of humanitarian aid convoys.”
The letter mentioned several NGOs – funded from Turkish and foreign sources – which sent different cargo, including military equipment, to Syria last year.
“The Besar foundation (President — D. Sanli) is most actively engaged in pursuing these objectives and, in 2015, formed around 50 convoys to the Turkmen areas of Bayirbucak and Kiziltepe (260km north of Damascus),” Churkin stressed, adding that the Iyilikder Foundation and the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms were also involved.
The deliveries are performed through various checkpoints on the Turkish-Syrian border as well as waterways, particularly the Euphrates River, the letter said.
The weaponry received by the terrorists in recent months included TOW anti-tank missile systems, RPG-7 grenade launchers, M-60 recoilless rifles, and hand grenades, as well as various ammunition and communications tools, it added.
According to the Russian envoy, terrorist groups operating in Syria received explosive materials worth $1.9 million from Turkey last year.
“Total supplies to terrorists through Turkey were as follows in 2015: 2,500 tons of ammonium nitrate (worth approximately US$788,700); 456 tons of potassium nitrate ($468,700); 75 tons of aluminum powder ($496,500); sodium nitrate ($19,400); glycerin ($102,500); and nitric acid ($34,000),” Churkin wrote.
Calls have intensified for an international investigation into Turkey’s links with Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants, following RT’s reports implicating Ankara in IS’s illegal oil trade and the smuggling of looted antiquities
In a recent interview with Sputnik, Syrian President Bashar Assad labelled the militants fighting in his country as “the army of Recep Tayyip Erdogan,” accusing his Turkish counterpart of directly supporting the terrorists
In late 2015, the Russian military released a batch of evidence, including satellite images, of columns of oil tanker trucks moving into Turkey from the areas controlled by Islamic State in Syria.
Since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Turkey has been the main transit route for foreign recruits joining Islamic State, Al-Nusra Front and other terror groups in its neighbor state, with reports suggesting the militants were allowed to cross the border unimpeded.
Third Republic: Germany Enters a Dangerous New Political Era
Stability used to define Germany’s political system. But the refugee crisis has fundamentally changed the country’s party landscape. The rise of the fringe has eroded the traditional centers of power.
by Dirk Kurbjuweit
Spiegel
Seven or eight months ago, Germany was a different country than it is today. There were no controversial political issues demanding immediate action and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s leadership was uncontested. It was quiet and comfortable. But then the refugees began streaming into Europe and the country’s sleepy tranquility came to a sudden end. Since then, disgusting eruptions of xenophobia have come in quick succession, a right-wing populist party is on its way to holding seats in several state parliaments, Merkel has gained approval from the center-left Social Democrats and from the Greens, some conservatives want to throw her out and the state is overwhelmed. Does anyone know what is happening? What is wrong with this country?
For Germany, this is the second democratic republic, if one leaves out East Germany, since it was only a faux democracy. First came the Weimar Republic, from 1918 to 1933, and then, since 1949, the Federal Republic, which simply continued following the momentous events of 1989. But now, it looks as though the refugee crisis has brought a significant rupture. To be sure, the German constitution and the country’s institutions won’t be called into question any time soon. But the conventions governing Germany’s political interactions are changing with incredible speed.
A crisis of representation is necessarily accompanied by jolts to the political party system. Some of those jolts have been a long time in the making, but they are now becoming apparent as the refugee crisis takes hold. It could be that our country is currently experiencing lasting change. The contours of a Third Republic are becoming apparent.
In modern democracies, politics takes place in a space of dual representation. Politicians represent their voters in parliaments and governments, while in between elections the electorate can exert influence on the public debate, primarily through representation in the media. Tabloids such as Bild operate as the “voice of the people,” while outlets like Die Zeit speak for intellectuals. In truth, though, it is two elites speaking with each other: politicians and journalists. They almost seem like members of the same caste, which would be a problematic state of affairs because it is the media’s job to keep a critical eye on the politicians.
Spinning Out of Control
The Internet has broken apart this intimate twosome. Now, anyone can join the discussion. That in itself is a good thing, but in the refugee crisis, the debate has spun out of control. One of the roles long played by journalists is that of gatekeeper, largely filtering out the hate, conspiracy theories and other lunacy. That allowed for a more temperate, constructive debate. Despite at times passionate disagreement, politicians and journalists were able to find common ground and make compromise possible. Germany worked.
The crisis of representation is particularly intense in eastern Germany. Prior to 1989, East Germans were led to believe that the Communist Party completely represented the will of the people. The claim was easy to see through, but difficult to confront — until East Germans ultimately got rid of their state. But when the revolution was over, those who had risen up as one, found themselves once again represented by others. The refugee crisis has revealed the lack of acceptance that many in eastern Germany have for the federal republic system. They don’t trust the politicians and take action themselves, in the form of protests. They don’t trust the journalists and believe in their own truths. All of that exists in western Germany as well, but it’s not as pronounced.
The two main pillars of political representation in Germany have long been the Christian Democrats (CDU) (along with their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, CSU) on the one hand, and the Social Democrats (SPD) on the other. For decades, these two parties were able to represent the various positions on the right and left side of the political spectrum, respectively. They did so in a media landscape that was likewise divided to the left and right, with each camp serving a like-minded public. Because the two milieus have begun to fragment in recent years, Germany’s two largest parties have begun to shrink. The result has been more parties to choose from. But people are also leaving their milieus to become individual actors. And individuals no longer necessarily need a representative, because they can represent themselves. Their stage is the Internet.
Then along came Angela Merkel. Quite some time ago, she managed to transform the CDU into a green-liberal-social democratic amalgam, having largely exorcised conservatism from the party. Her unique brand of politics can in part be explained by the fact that she isn’t as wed to her party’s traditions to the degree that others — those who spent their youths defending their conservative worldviews against the left-leaning high school mainstream — might be. When the refugees began flowing in, Merkel stirred things up for good.
An Odd Phenomenon
Many in Germany no longer recognize the country’s party landscape. There are those who have spent their lives voting SPD or Green and thinking the CDU was the epitome of evil — and who are now passionate supporters of Merkel. There are those who have spent their lives voting for the CDU and who deified Merkel for her power instincts — and who are now calling for her ouster so that Germany might remain German and Christian.
In shaping her refugee policies, Merkel followed the tenets of humanism and internationalism, both of which are rooted in Christianity but whose political home had thus far been on the left side of the political spectrum. In the campaign ahead of elections this Sunday in Baden-Württemberg, this state of affairs has produced an odd phenomenon: Governor Winfried Kretschmann, of the Green Party, is a passionate adherent of Merkel’s policy course in the refugee crisis while Guido Wolf, the lead candidate from Merkel’s own CDU, has distanced himself from the chancellor. Voting used to be easier. Particularly now that Merkel appears to be distancing herself from herself and is pursuing more restrictive refugee policies. What is one voting for now when one votes for the CDU?
This is, of course, far from the first time that state politicians have run a campaign in opposition to the federal government. It also isn’t the first time that the leaders of the CDU and CSU, despite being paired in a decades-long conservative alliance, have battled it out in public as Merkel and Bavarian Governor Horst Seehofer are doing today. Back in the 1980s, there was little lost love between Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Bavarian Governor Franz Josef Strauss. But Strauss and Kohl were in agreement on the fundamental questions facing their era: nuclear power and defense. By contrast, Merkel and Seehofer are so divided by refugee policy that the CSU is considering challenging Merkel’s refugee policies at the Constitutional Court.
It used to be that the two conservative parties at least had a common enemy, and when it came to attacking the Social Democrats, the CDU and CSU were happy to put their differences behind them. But what do the Social Democrats stand for today? Who do they represent? SPD head Sigmar Gabriel, after all, recently said that the state has to do more for Germans, a position that would find broad agreement among supporters of the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD). Germany’s party landscape has been stood on its head.
Insurance Against the Fringes
Because Merkel has abandoned those on the right wing of the CDU, the AfD has filled the void and has been boosted by the refugee crisis. That, in turn, could spell the end to the CDU’s firm grip on the conservative half of Germany’s political spectrum. It is a development long since seen on the left, with support for the SPD having stagnated in recent years at around 25 percent or lower.
It used to be that the CDU and the SPD dominated the political landscape. Referred to as “Volksparteien,” or “people’s parties,” they consistently divided up 80 percent of the vote between them and their sheer size served as insurance against the fringes. They were guarantors of consensus and compromise. The business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) and the environment-oriented Greens were well-meaning additions to the landscape and were easily integrated.
But SPD missteps and the emergence of the far-left Left Party in 2007 fragmented the left half of the spectrum. The AfD is in the process of doing the same now to the right. Other parties on the extremist right wing, of course, have managed to find their way into some state parliaments, but their successes were largely the product of protest votes. They never really had their own electorates to speak of. The AfD, though, does and has profited from the Internet, transforming itself into the voice of online xenophobic trends and channels. Should the party’s success prove lasting, Germany will end up with a political spectrum that is closer to the European norm — but one which is nonetheless uncomfortable given the country’s history.
Ahead of Sunday’s state election in Baden-Württemberg, pundits are speculating about the creation of a “Germany Coalition,” a coalition that would bring together the CDU, SPD and FPD, whose party colors are those of the German flag. It is reminiscent of the “Weimar Coalition” between the wars, that alliance of center-left parties that was forged to defend democracy, but which proved no match for the dark forces on the fringe. Things aren’t nearly that bad yet, of course, but the system feels more instable than it has in a long time.
The First Steps
On the whole, it seems as though the republic is changing form. It is a slow, largely organic change — and one strongly influenced by eastern Germany. Is that good or bad?
It would, of course, be possible to reestablish the kind of dualism seen in the heyday of the CDU and SPD — via the introduction of a majoritarian system. That would have the advantage of making it easier to form governments, but in a situation like today, many voters would feel as though they were being shut out. That’s not an option. Which is why we have to get used to a more varied party system. The disadvantage is that it will become more difficult for future governments to find consensus. The advantage, though, is that no party will be able to impose its own ideology — pragmatism is the only route to consensus. And the shrunken Volksparteien will have to release their grip on the state and public broadcasters because they no longer represent the country the way they once did.
The United States these days is putting another possible outcome of the crisis of representation on display. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is dependent neither on his party’s establishment nor on the established media. He is creating his own electorate with the help of the Internet. That is the path of extremely direct democracy.
It isn’t difficult to see the black dystopia that may result: Anger, fear, unchallenged claims to truth and conspiracy theories create a mood that elevates those politicians who are best able to manipulate that mood, in part because he or she helped create it. Identity replaces representation, just like in a dictatorship. All checks and balances — including the party system and the media — fall away. Democracy falls prey to emotion.
Germany is still far away from such a fate. But the first steps have been taken.
Erdogan’s Attempt to Suppress German Satire Has the Opposite Effect
March 30, 2016
by Mwlissa Eddy
New York Times
BERLIN — If President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey had hoped that summoning the German ambassador would get a video poking fun at him by a German satire program removed from the Internet, he was wrong.
Instead, the move had any number of consequences, including provoking a diplomatic dust-up with Germany and a fresh round of ridicule of Mr. Erdogan for playing to type.
After all, the video, by the comedy show “extra3,” was a song satirizing the Turkish president as a thin-skinned authoritarian who cracks down on journalists, the news media and opponents he does not like.
Not least, Mr. Erdogan’s move spurred a surge of online interest in the video, which by Thursday had attracted more than four million views — tenfold the program’s usual audience
“Nobody could avoid him,” the show boasted in a Twitter post on Monday.
But Mr. Erdogan was not the only one who did not find the whole thing funny. German commentators pointed to the spat as a demonstration of the dangers of making deals with a leader who has shown an increasingly antidemocratic streak even as he has sought broader recognition and favors from the European Union for agreeing to stem the flow of migrants to Europe.
In the video, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, also comes in for mockery as cozying up to a leader who has been increasingly criticized for flouting the bloc’s democratic ideals.
On Wednesday, the German government did not find much to laugh at in the matter.
Christiane Wirtz, a spokeswoman for Ms. Merkel, confirmed that the German ambassador to Ankara, Martin Erdmann, had been summoned on March 22 over the video, and again on Tuesday for attending the opening of a trial on Friday of two opposition journalists charged with espionage.
The trial was abruptly closed to the public, and Mr. Erdogan criticized the German and other foreign diplomats in the courtroom.
Sawsan Chebli, a spokeswoman for Germany’s Foreign Ministry, said that “the ambassador made clear the position of the German government that the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary and protection of basic rights, which include freedom of the press and freedom of expression, are values that must be protected.”
German officials would not confirm reports that the Turkish side had requested that the video be taken down from the Internet.
But Ms. Chebli said the ambassador and a deputy foreign minister, who called his Turkish counterpart on Tuesday, had “made clear that political satire in Germany is, of course, protected and therefore there is neither a necessity, nor a possibility, for the government to take action.”
The show’s reaction to the dispute was tongue-in-cheek. It posted a political cartoon showing a figure resembling Mr. Erdogan brandishing a fire extinguisher at a laptop, while threatening, “Either you erase this video, or I will extinguish the Internet.”
The cartoon was in keeping with the tone of the video, which derides Mr. Erdogan’s treatment of journalists, the opposition and his country’s Kurdish minority.
“He’s living in grand style; Big boss from Bosporus,” begins the song in the two-minute clip, initially broadcast on March 17 and sung to the melody of a 1980s hit by the German punk-pop diva Nena, of “99 Red Balloons” fame.
The music is set against a mix of actual and digitally altered footage of the Turkish leader and recent events in his country, including the use of water cannons on demonstrators after the closing of the opposition newspaper Zaman.
“When a journalist writes a piece that Erdogan doesn’t like, he quickly ends up in jail,” the song continues, showing images of opposition journalists being taken away by the police and protesters clashing with officers in riot gear.
“Newspaper offices closed down, he doesn’t think twice,” the lyrics add.
“With tear gas and water cannons he is riding through the night.”
The flap is not the first time Germany and Turkey have clashed over freedom of expression, as Mr. Erdogan’s government has cracked down on the press in recent years.
Dozens of journalists and columnists have lost their jobs, and the authorities, acting on court orders, have seized two opposition media companies. Insulting the president is a crime under Turkish law, and more than 1,800 cases have been filed.
Recently, the Turkish leader appears to have extended his battle against freedom of expression to include the foreign press. Earlier this year, a correspondent for the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel was forced to leave the country after being denied accreditation as a journalist.
The Turkish leader’s attempt to silence German satire “is an indication of a clear misunderstanding of Western press freedoms,” wrote Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger in the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper.
“Apparently the president is under the impression that the German Foreign Ministry can censor German media outlets,” Mr. Frankenberger wrote. “Experienced Turkish diplomats know this is of course untrue, yet Turkey is not like it was under the ‘old’ Erdogan. It has become a more authoritarian country. Erdogan now reacts hysterically to any criticism. This is a woeful state of affairs.”
Andreas Lange, the editor of “extra3,” told the public broadcaster NDR that no one from the show or the broadcaster had been contacted by either the Turkish or German government over the controversy.
He said his team first had heard about it through social media over the holiday weekend.
“We were sitting over our Easter eggs and were pretty puzzled about the whole thing,” Mr. Lange said, later adding that his team had been “shocked” to learn that the reports were true.
Mr. Lange said he could not deny a certain pleasure at the international attention the video has drawn to the show, which has been poking fun at domestic and international leaders for 40 years.
The week after the disputed video ran, “extra3” took on President Obama’s visit to Cuba through a spoof titled “Better Call Raul,” in a nod to the American television series “Better Call Saul.”
“We don’t do this just to be funny. We do it because these are things that we believe need to be addressed,” Mr. Lange said. “Our motto is, if we shoot and someone yells ‘ouch!’ then we have hit the mark.”
Stauffenberg die Tunte
Harry von Johnston, PhD
Nach den 20. Juli attentat, Hitler hatte Heinrich Müller, der Chef von Amt IV (Gestapo) des RSHA stellt einen Sonderkommission auf, um die Implikationen des Anschlags zu untersuchen.
Gemäß auf Mikrofilm aufgenommenen offiziellen Dateien von Müller’s übte Claus Schenck Graf von Stauffenberg, und sein Bruder, Brethold, Homosexuelle sowohl und war früher aktive und teilnehmende Mitglieder des ‘Stefans Georges Kreise’ gewesen, der in der Natur völlig homosexuell war.
Claus und sein Bruder, der im Kreigsmarine als ein Richter war, lebten in Berlin, und nachdem der erfolglose attentat, die Gestapo ihr Haus überfiel. Es wurde mit blackmarket Waren, allem Verbotenen, viele Foto-Alben von nackten jungen Männern und Frauenkleidung vollgestopft, und viele Fotographien fanden auch im Haus, gezeigt deutlich, dass Claus 175er ohne Frage war.
Die Müller Dateien enthalten auch Bilder von Claus in der Frauenunterkleidung, die ich Sie versichere, ist nicht appetitlich.
Seitdem Claus zur politischen Heiligkeit in Deutschland erhoben worden ist, werden irgendwelche Aufzeichnungen bezüglich seiner Verdrehungen, die im Bundesarchiv sein könnten, für die Schambesichtigung geschlossen.
Das ist für die objektive Geschichte glücklich, dass eine volle Kopie von Müller Sonderkommission Papiere den Krieg überlebte, obwohl Müller alle vor dem Ende des Krieges zerstörten Aufzeichnungen von Gestapo bestellte.
Wie Sie nicht wissen könnten, überlebte Heinrich Müller den Krieg, indem er nach der Schweiz unter dem Namen von Schwartzer und 1948 ging, wurde von seinem Stehabgeordneten, SS-Oberführer Willi Krichbaum rekrutiert (späteres Haupt vom Geheime Feldpolizei), wer unten an Schlechtem Reichenhall für den US-amerikanischen Obersten James Critchfield Gehlen Org, dann gelegt an Pullach arbeitete.
Ich habe Kästen der Dokumentation, und Rollen von Mikrofilmen, das sowohl die gegenwärtige deutsche Regierung, der CIA als auch Mitglieder der Stauffenberg Familie, ganz zu schweigen von der Film-Gesellschaft, die jetzt einen Film auf der Rolle von Stauffenberg im attentat vorbereitet, möchten wenn nicht d lieb redigieren wenn nicht zerstören Sie.
Glücklich für die objektive Wahrheit stimme ich mit ihnen nicht überein und in den Monaten zu kommen, vorzuhaben, einige der interessanteren Dokumente … zu veröffentlichen, und fotografiere besonders … für die Errichtung und Ausbildung des Publikums.
Als ein Gegenmittel Tom Cruise strutting um die gesunde Bühne (und vermute ich, dass er für die Rolle festgelegt wurde), können wir Claus in seinem Stief-Ins und beschäftigt mit der homoerotic Tätigkeit mit hübschen jungen Soldaten sehen.
Die kurze Erwähnung der abweichenden Tätigkeiten von Claus in der letzten Ausgabe von tbrnews ist der sich öffnende Schuss, und ich versichere Sie von Herzen gern, es wird viel mehr geben, um zu kommen.
Der wirklich befriedigende Aspekt dieses kompletten Drehbuches ist, dass es absolut nichts gibt, kann irgendjemand tun, um das zu verhindern.
Hochachtungsvoll!
Harry von Johnston, PhD
Die SS Angestellten des CIA/Gehlen Org
Die amerikanischen Mitglieder dieser Gruppe, die Gehlen Organisation wurde völlig von den Vereinigten Staaten kontrolliert. CIA von 1948 bis 1956 und war unter der Kontrolle des Obersten James Critchfield des CIA. Critchfield, durch SS-Oberführer Willi Krichbaum, seinen ersten recruiter und sobald Henirich Müller’s dauerhafter Abgeordneter in der Gestapo, mietete viele vorige SS und SD Personal, die von den Verbündeten für Kriegsverbrechen gewollt wurden. Wir schließen hier eine Auflistung von einigen der prominenteren von diesen CIA Angestellten ein, und es muss betont werden, dass diese kurze Behandlung nur die ernstesten Übertreter bedeckt, und alphabetisch ist und nicht durch die Reihe.
SS-Sturmbannführer Emil Augsberg, SS No 307925. Geboren am 1. Mai 1905. Thema war ein Mitglied des RSHA, der Adjutant zu SS-Gruppenführer Globocnik, wer SS und Polizeiführer im polnischen Bezirk von Lublin war. Er war das Haupt von den Konzentrationslagern von Treblinka und Belzec. Augsburg war später ein Mitglied des Wannsee-Instituts in Berlin, wo er ein Fachmann in polnischen Problemen war. Er beendete den Krieg gegen den persönlichen Personal von Heinrich Himmler.
SS-Obersturmbannführer Dr Fritz Baader, SS No 278278. Geboren am 9. April 1909. Dr Baader war auf dem Personal des Älteren SS und Polizeiführers in Ungarn.
SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Barnewald, SS No 6469. Geboren am 10. Januar 1896. Thema war auf dem Personal des Konzentrationslagers, Buchenwald.
SS-Sturmbannführer Ernst Biberstein, SS No 272692. Geboren am 15. Februar 1899. Biberstein war ein Mitglied des RSHA. Er befahl auch Einsatzkommando 6 von Einsatzgruppe C. Die Einsatzgruppen wurden aus dem RSHA Personal zusammengesetzt und funktionierten hinter den Frontlinien im Krieg gegen Partisanen. Die Tätigkeiten dieser Gruppen überschritten häufig weit ihre Schriftsätze, und viele von ihnen waren für schreckliche Gräueltaten gegen Partisanen, Bürger und Juden verantwortlich. Die Tätigkeiten von Biberstein waren wie, ein Todesurteil durch ein Verbündetes Gericht nach dem Krieg, ein Satz zu sichern, der 1951 eingetauscht wurde, ihn erlaubend, für die Gehlen Organisation zu arbeiten.
SS-Sturmbannführer Ludwig Boehme, SS No 249 802. Geboren am 21. August 1898. Thema war auf dem Personal des Konzentrationslagers an Auschwitz.
SS-Brigadeführer Christoph Diehm, SS No 28 461. Geboren am 1. März 1892. Diehm war Generalstabschef der Kaminiski Brigade. Dieser Einheit wurde von einem Russen genannt Kaminiski befohlen und wurde an kämpfenden Partisanen auf der Ostvorderseite eingeschlossen. Die Einheit nahm am Kämpfen in Warschau 1944 teil, wo sein Benehmen so brutal war, dass es entlassen bestellt wurde und sein Führer schoß.
SS-Sturmbannführer Karl Döring, SS No 67310. Geboren am 5. Februar 1903. Thema war auf dem Personal des Konzentrationslagers an Dachau. Er war der westdeutsche Nachkriegsbotschafter zum Cameroons später.
SS-Sturmbannführer Dr Max Eberl, SS No 680352, Geborener Dezember 26,1892. Dr Eberl war ein Mitglied des RSHA und wurde mit der Euthanasie am Treblinka Konzentrationslager unter Globocnik eingeschlossen.
SS-Standartenführer Hans Eichele, SS No 21640. Geboren am 1. Mai 1901. Eichele war Standortkommandat am Konzentrationslager, Dachau
SS-Sturmbannführer Walter Huppenkoethen, SS No 126 785. Geboren am 31. Dezember 1907. Huppenkoethen war ein Mitglied des RSHA und Befehlshabenden Offiziers des SD und Polizei in Lublin und Krakau (Polen). Er wurde nach dem Krieg für seine Tätigkeiten aburteilt.
SS-Obersturmbannführer Dr Erich Isselhorst, SS No 267 313. Geboren am 5. Februar 1906. Thema war Kommandant der Polizei und des SD an Strassburg und auch Inspektor des SD, Stuttgarts. Er war auch Befehlshabender Offizier von Einsatzkommando 8 von Einsatzgruppe A.
SS- Oberführer Willi Krichbaum, SS No 107 039. Geboren am 7. Mai 1898. Krichbaum war beim RSHA und Chef des Geheime Feldpolizei.
SS-Gruppenführer Heinrich Müller. SS No 107 043. Geboren am 28. April, 1900. Müller war RSHA-Hauptamt Chef Amt IV (Gestapo).
SS-Obersturmbannführer Oswald Poche, SS No 267316. Geboren am 28. Januar 1908. Poche war befehlshabender Offizier der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD, des Tromsö, Norwegens.
SS-Obersturmbannführer Albert Rapp, SS No 280 341. Geboren am 16. November 1908. Thema war Inspektor, Sicherheitspolizei und SD, Braunschwieg und befehlshabender Offizier von Einsatzkommando 7, Einsatzgruppe B.
SS-Standartenführer Walter Rauff, SS No 290947. Geboren am 19. Juni 1906. Rauff war ein Mitglied von RSHA und mit Älterem SS und dem Polizeikommandanten, Italien (Karl Wolff). Rauff war für das Gebäude der Gaskombis verantwortlich und musste sich schließlich nach Südamerika bewegen, um Strafverfolgung zu vermeiden.
SS-Oberführer Dr Franz Sechs, SS No 107 480. Geboren am 12. August 1909. Dr Sechs war ein Mitglied von RSHA, und Befehlshabendem Offizier von Einzatzgruppe Vorkommando Moskau. Sechs war ein frühes Mitglied der Gehlen Organisation, aber wurde schließlich angehalten und sich seine Tätigkeiten 1948 bemüht. Er wurde zum Leben im Gefängnis verurteilt, aber 1951 befreit. Sechs gearbeitet für Porsche und Gehlen nach seiner Ausgabe.
SS-Standartenführer Eugen Steimle, SS No 272575. Geboren am 8. Dezember 1909. Thema war ein Mitglied von RSHA und befehlshabendem Offizier von Einsatzgruppen B und später C. Er wurde nachher durch ein Verbündetes Gericht verurteilt und zu einer langen Sicht im Gefängnis verurteilt, aber 1951 befreit.
SS-Sturmbannführer Alois Thaler, SS No 347 142. Geboren am 28. November 1909. Thema war ein Mitglied von RSHA und war Älterer SS und der Polizeikommandant, Italien.
SS-Obersturmbannführer Dr Ernst Weimann, SS No 263985. Geboren am 5. August 1906. Befehlshabender Offizier, Sicherheitspolizei und SD, Bergen, Norwegen
SS-Sturmbannführer Kurt Weisse, SS. No 563159. Geboren am 11. Oktober 1909. Thema war ein Mitglied des SS-Regiments Dirlewanger. Oskar Dirlewanger war ein verurteilter Kinderbelästiger und Freund von Himmler. Seine Einheit wurde aus bedingt entlassenen Verurteilten zusammengesetzt und verwendet, um mit den Partisanen zu kämpfen. Wie die Kaminiski Einheit war ihre Aufzeichnung so entsetzlich, dass sie vom Kampf durch die Ordnung von Hitler zurückgezogen wurden. Dirlewanger verschwand am Ende des Krieges
SS-Sturmbannführer Eugen Wenner, SS No 200581. Geboren am 15. November 1912. Wenner war ein Mitglied von RSHA und war mit dem Älteren SS und dem Polizeikommandanten, Italien.
SS-Obersturmbannführer Wilhelm Wiebens, SS No 16 617. Geboren am 17. März 1906. Thema war ein Mitglied von RSHA und Befehlshabendem Offizier von Einzatzkommando 9 unter Einsatzgruppe B.
Das Exzerpt von CIA interview mit Heinrich Müller am 2. September 48
Ort: Genf, Schweiz
Q = James Speyer Kronthal, CIA Chef der Station, Bern, Schweiz
M = Heinrich Müller, vormals RSHA Chef von Amt IV
Datei Nr. WU13-75-96-1 des CIA: Geheime Reichssache
M Stauffenberg war nicht der Führer alles andere als eines kleinen Kults von jungen Männern und ihren älteren Freunden. Er kam in die Mordangelegenheit durch einen Onkel und einige Freunde, aber sein Hintergrund wird mit sehr hässlichen Tatsachen gefüllt. Wenn Sie wollen würden, dass ich fortsetzte, ich, aber wenn sich Ihre Leute nicht interessieren würden, werde ich mein Schweigen behalten.
Q Wozu würde das gehen? Stauffenberg hat eine Art historisches folgendes jetzt in Deutschland, aber wir verwenden seinen Namen für irgendetwas nicht. Hat das zur sowjetischen Verbindung Beziehungen?
M Einige.
Q Dann vielleicht sollten wir weitergehen.
M Ich denke, dass die Persönlichkeit von Stauffenberg wichtig ist zu überlegen. Jeder fähige Polizist mag wissen, so viel wie er über einen Verdächtigen kann. Es gab einen Mann genannt Stefan George, ein Dichter, der 1933 starb. Er unterrichtete elitäres Denken und Rassenüberlegenheit über einen Kreis von jungen Männern, die ihn immer umgaben. Er war der Typ von Oskar Wilde.
Q George war ein Homosexueller, mit anderen Worten.
M Ja, natürlich. Ich lernte von dieser Angelegenheit nach dem 20. davon M Ja, natürlich. Ich lernte von dieser Angelegenheit nach dem 20. Juli durch einen Kameraden in der Münchener Polizei, der Zugang zu einem langen offiziellen Bericht über George von den früheren Zeiten hatte. George hatte einen hübschen Jungen in München verführt, und seine Familie fing widerliche Liebe-Gedichte ab, die George diesem Jungen geschrieben hatte. Beschwerden wurden vorgebracht, und einer Untersuchung gefolgt. Die Namen der Brüder Stauffenberg kamen an mehreren Punkten herauf. George war in Heidelberg und hatte eine Art religiösen Kult mit allen Arten von heimlichen Zeremonien mit jungen Männern, die nackte Tänze und so weiter durchführen. Der Aufruhr des Benehmens.
Q Und Stauffenberg war in dieser Gruppe?
M Ja, er und seine Brüder. Stauffenberg war ziemlich hübsch, wenn Sie seine Bilder gesehen haben. Er war hoch und mit guten Eigenschaften schlank, so nehme ich an, dass George zu ihm angezogen wurde. Stauffenberg selbst schloß sich diesem Kult an, als er siebzehn war. George floh vor Deutschland nach der Einnahme der Macht 1933 und des Stauffenbergs, und andere schloßen sich ihm bei der Schweiz an. George starb darin
Q Aber war das eine dauerhafte Lebensweise für Stauffenberg oder gerade etwas, dass er mit als ein junger Mann experimentierte?
M Ich konnte irgendetwas sicher aber viele Mitstabsoffiziere von Stauffenberg nie beweisen, glaubte, dass er ein tappendes Tantchen war. Oder ein Homosexueller, um mehr formell zu sein. Er umgab immer sich mit hübschen jungen Offizieren, zu denen er griechische Kultur predigte. Er ging über den Körper schön und die Seele vollkommen weiter, oder jedoch nannte er es. Viele älter, normal fanden Offiziere ihn laut und anstößig, sehr schmutzig in seiner persönlichen Hygiene und protestierten stark gegen seinen männlichen Harem, den er um die Büros schleppte.
Außerdem sprach dieser George über ein heimliches Deutschland, das von seinen speziellen jungen Freunden geführt werden sollte, nachdem er sie zu seiner verdrehten Lebensweise umgewandelt hatte. Ich habe viele Papiere, die mir zeigen, dass das sogenannte heimliche Deutschland in Wirklichkeit eine Clique von Homosexuellen mit einem Interesse an jüngeren Männern war und ich denke, dass Argumente sehr gut vorgebracht werden könnten, dass einige der Verschwörer, , wer mit Stauffenberg verbunden wurden, interessierten sich als für das Widerrufen der sehr ausschließlich angewandten Staatsgesetze gegen die Homosexualität als im Stürzen von Hitler. Das ganze Geschäft roch nach der Verdrehung. Wie der Redl Fall.