I wonder if the CIA will try to assassinate Snowdon in Hong Kong like the Mossad assasinated Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in Dubai. Or, will they try to take him out using a Predator® drone armed with Hellfire™ missiles?

RE: "The Gatekeepers and 5 Broken Cameras have already succeeded in breaking one of Israel’s biggest taboos: airing out its dirty laundry on the big screen, for the whole world to see. Now the two films are both heading to the biggest stage of all: the Academy Awards." ~ Mairav Zonszein

MY COMMENT: According to Guy Davidi, industry insiders warned him that pressure was exerted on the Academy to stop either '5 Broken Cameras' or 'The Gatekeepers' from winning the Oscar® for Best Documentary.

SEE: "Pictures speak volumes in Oscar-nominated Israeli films", By Jonathan Cook, Israeli Occupation Archives, 2/20/13
[EXCERPT] Israelis have been revelling in the prospect of an Oscar night triumph next week, with two Israeli-financed films among the five in the running for Best Documentary. But the country's right-wing government is reported to be quietly fuming that the films, both of which portray Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories in a critical light, have garnered so much attention following their nominations.
Guy Davidi, the Israeli co-director of 5 Broken Cameras, one of the finalists, says industry insiders had warned him that pressure was being exerted on the Academy to stop the films winning the award.
"Many people in Hollywood are working very hard to make sure that neither film wins," he says. "From Israel's point of view, an Oscar would be a public relations disaster and mean more people get to see our films." . . .
SOURCE - http://www.jonathan-cook.net/2013-02-20/pictures-...

RE: "Two documentary films from Israel were passed over for Oscars at the 85th Academy Awards ceremony held last night in Hollywood. ~ Nathan Guttman

MY COMMENT: According to Guy Davidi, industry insiders warned him that pressure was exerted on the Academy to stop either '5 Broken Cameras' or 'The Gatekeepers' from winning the Oscar® for Best Documentary.

SEE: "Pictures speak volumes in Oscar-nominated Israeli films", By Jonathan Cook, Israeli Occupation Archives, 2/20/13
[EXCERPT] Israelis have been revelling in the prospect of an Oscar night triumph next week, with two Israeli-financed films among the five in the running for Best Documentary. But the country's right-wing government is reported to be quietly fuming that the films, both of which portray Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories in a critical light, have garnered so much attention following their nominations.
Guy Davidi, the Israeli co-director of 5 Broken Cameras, one of the finalists, says industry insiders had warned him that pressure was being exerted on the Academy to stop the films winning the award.
"Many people in Hollywood are working very hard to make sure that neither film wins," he says. "From Israel's point of view, an Oscar would be a public relations disaster and mean more people get to see our films." . . .
SOURCE - http://www.jonathan-cook.net/2013-02-20/pictures-...

RE: "From the Cato Institute, here’s a graph showing the value of the Iranian rial hitting an all time low."

MY COMMENT: It is possible that currency manipulation by the U.S. is partly responsible (see below). I have read that the U.S. also used currency manipulation against the Soviet Union (back in the 1980s).

SEE: "Iran: Who's Diddling Democracy?", by: Steve Weissman, t r u t h o u t, 6/18/09
RELEVANT EXCERPT: . . . Back in 2007, ABC News reported that President George W. Bush had signed a secret “Presidential finding” authorizing the CIA to mount covert “black” operations to destabilize the Iranian government. According to current and former intelligence officials, these operations included “a coordinated campaign of propaganda broadcasts, placement of negative newspaper articles, and the manipulation of Iran’s currency and international banking transactions.” . . .
SOURCE - http://archive.truthout.org/061809J

I'm sick and tired of you pinko liberals always blaming America. It was an Apache helicopter dagnabbit, so it's all the fault of the Native Americans!
And don't even get me started about the Tomahawk cruise missile!

RE: "But now, thanks to Israeli security checkpoints and a separation barrier begun a decade ago after a series of bloody Palestinian suicide bombings, East Jerusalem is isolated from its customer base in the West Bank" ~ Ben Lynfield

FOR A LITTLE CONTEXT SEE: "The Dogs of War: The Next Intifada", By Uri Avnery, Counterpunch, 9/03/11 (excerpt)...The second (“al-Aqsa”) intifada started after the breakdown of the 2000 Camp David conference and Ariel Sharon’s deliberately provocative “visit” to the Temple Mount. The Palestinians held non-violent mass demonstrations. The army responded with selective killings. A sharpshooter accompanied by an officer would take position in the path of the protest, and the officer would point out selected targets – protesters who looked like “ringleaders”. They were killed.
This was highly effective. Soon the non-violent demonstrations ceased and were replaced by very violent (“terrorist”) actions. With those the army was back on familiar ground. . . ENTIRE COMMENTARY - http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/09/02/the-next-i...

P.S. ALSO SEE THIS SERIES OF THREE ARTICLES BY RICHARD SILVERSTEIN:
• "The Israel Project’s Secret Hasbara Handbook Exposed", 7/10/09 - http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2009...
• "Republican Pollster Crafts Secret Handbook for Israel Lobby (Part 2) " , 7/11/09 - http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2009...
• "Frank Luntz’s Hasbara ‘Fictionary’ (Part 3)", 7/13/09 - http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2009...

MY COMMENT: It is the "2009 Global Language Dictionary" by Frank Luntz that Scott Horton was referring to just after the break. It was commissioned by The Israel Project, a right-wing pro-Israel group.

FROM WIKIPEDIA [Israel Project]: (excerpt) The Israel Project (TIP) is a US-based 501(c)(3) non-profit, educational organization that gets facts about Israel and the Middle East to press, public officials and the public. . .
• 2009 Global Language Dictionary
The Israel Project commissioned a study by Frank Luntz who ran polls and focus groups to determine the best language to use to promote Israeli settlements to the American public.[12] The study was marked, “Not for distribution or publication” and was leaked to Newsweek online. It recommends being positive, framing the issue as being about peace not settlements and to claim that the rejection of Jewish settlements is anti-Semitic and "ethnic cleansing". The document also lists arguments that don't work, in particular noting that religious, ownership and "scapegoat" arguments failed to sway listeners, that Arab housing is being demolished in East Jerusalem because it fails to meet the building code, the worst claim by this group in the guide is "Israel is so rich and so strong that they fail to see why it is necessary for armored tanks to shoot at unarmed kids" para (3) page 90. This study states that "public opinion is hostile to the settlements - even among supporters of Israel" so instead of dwelling on settlements one should always talk positively and focus on past peace achievement. [12] [13]
Critics such as J Street describe the advice as "If you get a question about settlements, change the subject. If pressed, say stopping settlements is "a kind of ethnic cleansing". J Street sent a mailing to their organization asking their members to send letters to TIP asking them to "remove pro-settlement fear-mongering talking points from The Israel Project's materials".[3] . . .
SOURCE - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Project#2009_...

P.S. ALSO FROM WIKIPEDIA [Iran–Contra affair]: (excerpts) . . .Michael Ledeen, a consultant of National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane, requested assistance from Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres for help in the sale of arms to Iran.[21][22] At the time, Iran was in the midst of the Iran–Iraq War and could find few Western nations willing to supply it with weapons.[23] The idea behind the plan was for Israel to ship weapons through an intermediary (identified as Manucher Ghorbanifar)[2] to a supposedly moderate, politically influential Iranian group opposed to the Ayatollah Khomeni;[24] after the transaction, the U.S. would reimburse Israel with the same weapons, while receiving monetary benefits. . .
. . . Following the Israeli-U.S. meeting, Israel requested permission from the U.S. to sell a small number of TOW antitank missiles . . .
. . . Reagan initially rejected the plan, until Israel sent information to the U.S. showing that the "moderate" Iranians were opposed to terrorism and had fought against it.[28] Now having a reason to trust the "moderates", Reagan approved the transaction, which was meant to be between Israel and the "moderates" in Iran, with the U.S. reimbursing Israel.[25] . . .
. . . On August 20, 1985, Israel sent 96 American-made BGM-71 TOW antitank missiles to Iran through an arms dealer named Manucher Ghorbanifar, a friend of Iran's Prime Minister, Mir-Hossein Mousavi. . .

MY COMMENT: The Kurdish people have good reason to be wary of both the U.S. and Israel. After all, the U.S. assisted Saddam Hussein in developing chemical weapons (supposedly to use against Iran) which he then also used against the Kurds. As for Israel, they supplied Iran with military hardware (most notably as part of the Iran-Contra affair) during the Iran–Iraq War (which Iraq, an American 'client state', had initiated by attacking Iran).

FROM WIKIPEDIA [Halabja poison gas attack]: (excerpts). . . The Halabja poison gas attack, also known as Halabja massacre or Bloody Friday,[1] was a genocidal massacre against the Kurdish people that took place on March 16, 1988, during the closing days of the Iran–Iraq War, when chemical weapons were used by the Iraqi government forces in the Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The attack killed between 3,200 and 5,000 people. . .
. . . The provision of chemical precursors from United States companies to Iraq was enabled by a Ronald Reagan administration policy that removed Iraq from the State Department's list of State Sponsors of Terrorism. Leaked portions of Iraq's "Full, Final and Complete" disclosure of the sources for its weapons programs shows that thiodiglycol, a substance needed to manufacture mustard gas, was among the chemical precursors provided to Iraq from US companies such as Alcolac International and Phillips. . .