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Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 1:10 am Post Subject: Sabre Rattling This Week Over Syria
Been a few bits of concerning news this week...
Russian warships off Syria, US carriers near Iran DEBKAfile Exclusive Report November 21, 2011, 6:20 PM (GMT+02:00)
Big power gunboat diplomacy is in full spate in the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf. Washington is underscoring its military option against Iran's nuclear program, while Russia is demonstrating its resolve to prevent NATO attacking Syria after Libya and defending Bashar Assad's regime. Monday, Nov. 21,
Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov accused Western nations of "political provocation" by urging the Syrian opposition to refuse to negotiate a settlement with Assad.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, for his part, advised Assad: "You can only continue with tanks and guns to a certain point, the day will come when you will go."
debkafile's military sources note that Russia and America adopted aggressive postures on Nov. 12, when two American carriers, the USS Bush and USS Stennis sailed through the Strait of Hormuz side by side and took up position opposite the Iranian coast.
That was also the day when a mysterious explosion at the Revolutionary Guards base near Tehran wiped out the entire leadership of Iran's ballistic missile program.
Five days later, on Nov. 17, the Syrian news agency reported three Russian naval vessels on the Mediterranean were heading toward Syria.
Monday, Nov. 21, presidential sources in Damascus announced three warships had entered Syrian territorial waters outside Tartus port.
Those sources stressed the Russian ships would not anchor in the Syrian port, indicating that their mission was not just to show the flag for the Assad regime but was on operational duty along its coasts to resist any foreign intervention in Syria unrest.
Our military sources are watching to see whether the Russian flotilla targets the small craft transporting arms from Lebanon and Turkey to Syrian rebels fighting the regime. If so, Moscow would be able to present these strikes as actions against piracy which would fall under a UN Security Council resolution.
While Moscow and Damascus kept the identity of the Russian warships dark, Arab sources said at least two of them are equipped for gathering intelligence and electronic warfare.
As the Russian warships entered Syrian territorial waters, Canadian Defense Minister Peter McKay announced that in the light of the Syrian crisis, the Royal Canadian Navy would keep back in the Mediterranean until the end of 2012 certain vessels which took part in the Libyan campaign.
debkafile's military sources report he was referring to two frigates:
HMCS Vancouver will stay in the Mediterranean Sea until early next year," he said, taking part in "locating, tracking, reporting (and) boarding vessels of interest suspected of international terrorism." It would be relieved by HMCS Charlottetown until the end of 2012.
Defense Minister Mckay explained: "... a lot of dictators are on notice that this type of behavior isn't going to be tolerated. How we go about it and what comes next is done on... an escalating scale before making any final decisions about intervention."
The Canadian defense minister was the first prominent Western official to admit the possibility of Western military intervention in Syria.
Three more events affecting the fate of the Assad regime, Tehran's closest ally, followed in quick succession Monday:
British Foreign Secretary William Hague received a delegation of the opposition Syrian National Council in London. Shortly before the interview the SNC published its plan for the transition of power from the Assad regime in Damascus, calling also for "international protection for Syrian civilians."
In Syria itself, three buses carrying Turkish pilgrims home from Mecca were accosted by a Syrian checkpoint at Cizre near Homs. The passengers were ordered to disembark for their papers to be inspected. The Syrian soldiers then started shooting at them, injuring a passenger and one of the drivers. This incident will not be treated lightly by the Erdogan government.
Until now, despite vocal threats, Ankara has not intervened directly in the nine-month Syrian uprising aside from arming and training rebels.
Also Monday, Jordan's King Abdullah II paid a surprise visit to Ramallah for talks with the Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas. One of the items on his agenda was an attempt to find out where the Palestinian leader stands vis-à-vis the Arab Revolt, especially on the conflict in Syria.
Aircraft Carrier CVN-77 Parks Next Door To Syria Just As US Urges Americans To Leave Country "Immediately" Submitted by Tyler Durden on 11/23/2011 13:36 -0500
Yesterday we reported that the Arab League (with European and US support) are preparing to institute a no fly zone over Syria. Today, we get an escalation which confirms we may be on the edge. Just out from CBS: "The U.S. Embassy in Damascus urged its citizens in Syria to depart "immediately," and Turkey's foreign ministry urged Turkish pilgrims to opt for flights to return home from Saudi Arabia to avoid traveling through Syria." But probably the most damning evidence that the "western world" is about to do the unthinkable and invade Syria, and in the process force Iran to retaliate, is the weekly naval update from Stratfor, which always has some very interesting if always controversial view on geopolitics, where we find that for the first time in many months, CVN 77 George H.W. Bush has left its traditional theater of operations just off the Straits of Hormuz, a critical choke point, where it traditionally accompanies the Stennis, and has parked... right next to Syria.
"The U.S. Embassy continues to urge U.S. citizens in Syria to depart immediately while commercial transportation is available," said a statement issued to the American community in Syria Wednesday and posted on the Embassy's website. "The number of airlines serving Syria has decreased significantly since the summer, while many of those airlines remaining have reduced their number of flights."
The warning followed an announcement in Washington this week that Ambassador Robert Ford would not return to Syria this month as planned, indicating concerns over his safety.
The Obama administration quietly pulled Ford out of Syria last month, citing credible personal threats against him.
The Turkish foreign ministry on Wednesday urged Turkish pilgrims to opt for flights to return home from Saudi Arabia and avoid traveling through Syria for security reasons.
The warning came two days after Syrian soldiers opened fire on at least two buses carrying Turkish citizens, witnesses and officials said, apparent retaliation for Turkey's criticism of Assad. The Turks were returning from Saudi Arabia after performing the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
Syria faces Arab sanctions deadline over monitors By Dominic Evans | Reuters – 12 hours ago
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria faces a Friday deadline to sign an Arab deal allowing monitors into the country or incur sanctions over its crackdown on protests including halting flights, curbing trade and stopping deals with the central bank.
Arab foreign ministers warned in Cairo that unless Syria agreed to let the monitors in to assess progress of an Arab League plan to end eight months of bloodshed, officials would consider imposing sanctions on Saturday.
Under a November 2 Arab League initiative, Syria agreed to withdraw troops from urban centres, release political prisoners, start a dialogue with the opposition and allow monitors and international media into the country.
Since then hundreds of people, including civilians, security forces and army deserters, have been killed as the unrest which the United Nations says has claimed at least 3,500 lives since March continued unabated.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based opposition group, said at least 47 people were killed in Syria on Thursday, including 16 soldiers and 17 army deserters, mostly around the rebellious city of Homs and near the town of Rastan to the north.
The violence has prompted former ally Turkey to bluntly tell President Bashar al-Assad to step down and led France to propose "humanitarian corridors" in Syria to help transport medicines or other supplies to civilians in need.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said he would discuss the idea with the Arab League but a source at the 22-member body said the proposal was not brought up at the Cairo meeting.
"In the case that Syria does not sign the protocol ... or that it later violates the commitments that it entails, and does not stop the killing or does not release the detainees ... (Arab League officials) will meet on Saturday to consider sanctions on Syria," the Arab ministers said in a statement.
They said possible sanctions, which were not intended to affect ordinary Syrians, included suspending flights to Syria, stopping dealings with the central bank, freezing Syrian government bank accounts and halting financial dealings.
They could also decide to stop commercial trade with the Syrian government "with the exception of strategic commodities so as not to impact the Syrian people," the statement said.
Syria's economy is already reeling from the eight months of unrest, aggravated by U.S. and European sanctions on oil exports and several state businesses.
"HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS"
After months in which the international community has seemed determined to avoid direct entanglement in a core Middle East country, the diplomatic consensus seems to be changing.
The Arab League suspended Syria's membership two weeks ago, while this week the prime minister of neighbouring Turkey - a NATO member with the military wherewithal to mount a cross-border operation - told Assad to quit and said he should be mindful of the fate of fallen dictators such as Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Libya's deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi.
France became the first major power to seek international intervention in Syria when it called for "humanitarian corridors" in Syria to alleviate civilian suffering.
A Western diplomatic source said the French plan, with or without approval from Damascus, could link Syrian civilian centres to the frontiers of Turkey and Lebanon, to the Mediterranean coast or to an airport.
Its aim would enable transport of humanitarian supplies or medicines to a population that is suffering.
Juppe insisted the plan fell short of a military intervention, but acknowledged that humanitarian convoys would need armed protection.
"There are two possible ways: That the international community, Arab League and the United Nations can get the regime to allow these humanitarian corridors," he told French radio. "But if that isn't the case we'd have to look at other solutions ... with international observers."
Asked if humanitarian convoys would need military protection, he said: "Of course... by international observers, but there is no question of military intervention in Syria."
"MOST DANGEROUS PHASE"
The Syrian Observatory said 15 army deserters were killed in clashes with the military west of Rastan and in raids by security forces. Eleven military and security personnel were killed by army deserters in the city of Houla, it said.
Alongside the mainly peaceful protests, armed insurgents have increasingly attacked military targets in recent weeks.
State media have reported the funerals of 34 soldiers and police in the last four days. Since the outbreak of the uprising officials have blamed armed groups for the violence and say 1,100 members of the security forces have been killed.
"The Syrian crisis may or may not have entered its final phase, but it undoubtedly has entered its most dangerous one to date," the International Crisis Group said.
"Many in Syria and abroad are now banking on the regime's imminent collapse and wagering that all then will be for the better. That is a luxury and optimism they cannot afford."
Washington repeated an appeal on Wednesday for U.S. citizens to leave Syria: "The U.S. Embassy continues to urge U.S. citizens in Syria to depart immediately while commercial transportation is available," the embassy said on its website.
Assad, 46, seems prepared to fight it out, playing on fears of a sectarian war if Syria's complex ethno-sectarian mosaic shatters and relying on support of senior officials and the military to suppress the protests, inspired by Arab uprisings which toppled the leaders of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen.
However many experts say Assad, who can depend mainly on the loyalty of two elite units dominated by his Alawite minority community, cannot maintain current military operations without cracks emerging in the mainly Sunni Muslim army.
Heading For War On Syria? By Stephen Lendman
11-24-11
Libya's model is being replicated in Syria. So far, it's short of war. For how long is uncertain. Expect it if current tactics fail. More on that below.
At issue is regime change, establishing another client state, and isolating Iran ahead of similar tactics there. It's part of America's Middle East project to redraw the region according to US/Israeli geopolitical aims.
Washington's dirty hands lie behind what's happening. Partners include Israel, Britain, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Lebanon's March 8 Alliance, Jordan, and other despotic Arab League states.
Obama, the peace candidate, wages wars like a crazed psychopath. Already fighting multiple failed ones, he can't wait to start another. Someone please post a sign outside the White House saying stop me before I bomb again.
In mid-November, Russia's Vladimir Putin called NATO's Libyan intervention "a complete affront to the international community."
Meeting with Valdai groups members in Moscow, he warned against similar tactics in Syria. He also accused Washington and other Western states of hypocritically attacking regimes they previously supported.
Saying he'll be as internationally combative if again elected president next March, he stressed that Russia won't support interventionist anti-Syrian Security Council resolutions similar to ones targeting Libya.
Last winter, externally generated Syrian uprisings began. National Security Council strategic communications director Ben Rhodes called the Libyan model a template for future US/NATO interventions, but "(h)ow much we translate to Syria remains to be seen."
"The Syrian opposition doesn't want foreign military forces, but do want more countries to cut trade with the regime and break with it politically." After that, anything is possible, including war.
Throughout the conflict, heavily armed insurgents are de facto death squads. They've targeted civilians, state security forces, and government buildings. Hypocritically, Assad's blamed for confronting them.
Syria remains the region's only independent secular state. Despite legitimate political, economic and social grievances, mass rallies confirm considerable Assad support. Typically this happens during conflicts when people back government efforts against them.
Imported Al Qaeda elements are involved, similar to Libya's insurgency. Their agenda isn't freedom fighting. It's transforming Syria into a Saudi-like sheikdom under Sharia law, much different from what most Syrians know and want.
So far, Assad's military remains largely intact. Ruling Alawites control key units. If loyalty to the regime holds, insurgents without NATO's help won't defeat it.
Stiff sanctions were also imposed. For the most part, civilians are harmed. Deposing governments this way doesn't work. They didn't topple Saddam Hussain or Gaddafi. They haven't unseated governments in Iran or Sudan. Nor in besieged Gaza, despite severe poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, and overall deprivation, compounded by regular Israeli attacks.
International law issues are also raised. Sanctions must conform to international human rights and humanitarian principles so civilian populations aren't harmed.
Specifically, food, medical and other essential supplies and services can't be embargoed. Humanitarian assistance must be offered. Geneva and Additional Protocols call for assurances during armed conflict.
The right to life, medical care, health, food, clothing, housing, and other essentials fall under their principles. As a result, sanctions must include humanitarian considerations. Harm to civilian populations must be minimized. Permitting undo suffering is unacceptable.
"No protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited....Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited."
Western imposed economic sanctions violate fundamental international law provisions.
Pro-Western Arab League Duplicity
On November 16, Arab League officials proposed deploying 500 civilian and military monitors to assess whether Syria's abiding by their brokered peace plan to end conflict they support.
Syria requested modifications. Arab League officials rejected them. Assad said "(t)h conflict will continue, and the pressure to subjugate Syria will continue. However, I assure you that Syria will not bow down and that it will continue to resist the pressure being imposed on it."
Deployed monitors are a step short of occupation. It's reminiscent of events preceding NATO's 1999 Serbia/Kosovo war. In March 1999, Slobodon Milosovic got an acceptable ultimatum, the so-called Rambouillet Agreement. It was a take-it-or-leave it deal no responsible leader would accept.
It involved surrendering Serbia's sovereignty to NATO occupation with unimpeded access throughout the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), including its airspace and territorial waters. Moreover, NATO demanded use of any area or facilities therein for its mission, irrespective of FRY laws.
It also required Milosevic's full cooperation. It was an offer designed for rejection. War, mass destruction and slaughter followed. Serbia's sovereign Kosovo territory was lost.
It's now a Washington/NATO occupied colony, home to Camp Bondsteel, one of America's largest military bases. It's run by Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, an unindicted drug trafficker with known organized crime ties.
Washington has similar designs on Syria. War's perhaps planned. Pro-Western Arab League despots supported NATO's Libya war, mass slaughter and destruction. At the same time, they ignore ongoing atrocities in Bahrain, Yemen, Somalia, Palestine, elsewhere in the region, and internally.
Since March, they supported Western-backed anti-Syrian insurgents. War, occupation, and regional instability may follow.
On and off for months, half or more of League members attacked, killed, arrested, imprisoned, and/or brutalized their own people for protesting against political, economic and social injustice.
Expect them shortly to recognize the illegitimate Syrian National Council. It's similar to Libya's puppet Transitional National Council (TNC). They both abhor democracy. SNC hard-liners support Western military intervention.
Originally formed in 2005, it was revived on August 23, 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey. It represents Western-backed internal opposition elements against the rights and interests of most Syrians.
Iran's also being pressured. The road to Tehran runs through Damascus. With Arab League backing, general war's possible, no matter how potentially disastrous.
Everything's being orchestrated in Washington. Its agenda includes ravaging the world one country at a time. Syria and Iran are targeted.
As a result, no one anywhere is safe, including Americans ruled by rogue leaders.
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
Report: US & Arab States Set To Impose No Fly Zone Over Syria
Plan to cripple Assad’s military forces within 24 hours
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Wedneday, November 23, 2011
Reports out of Kuwait suggest that Arab states are set to impose a no fly zone over Syria with US logistical support, advancing the prospect of a military assault to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad under a “humanitarian” pretext.
“Senior European sources said that Arab jet fighters, and possibly Turkish warplanes, backed by American logistic support will implement a no fly zone in Syria’s skies, after the Arab League will issue a decision, under its Charter, calling for the protection of Syrian civilians,” reports Albawaba, citing Kuwait’s al Rai daily.
YNet news, the website for Israel’s most widely read newspaper, also carried the report.
As part of a plan to cripple the country’s military forces within 24 hours, the “movement of Syrian military vehicles, including tanks, personnel carriers and artillery,” would all be banned under the terms of the no fly zone.
Syrian opposition forces have repeatedly called for a no fly zone to be enforced over the country, but last month NATO all but ruled out the prospect. Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry has also called on the Obama administration to impose a no fly zone without waiting for a green light from the United Nations.
“If indeed Europe and the Western world is dead set upon an aerial campaign above Syria, then all eyes turn to the East, and specifically Russia and China, which have made it very clear they will not tolerate any intervention. And naturally the biggest unknown of all is Iran, which has said than any invasion of Syria will be dealt with swiftly and severely,” reports Zero Hedge.
Hostilities have accelerated in recent days, with Russian warships entering Syrian territorial waters on Friday in an aggressive maneuver designed to discourage any NATO-led attack.
Without Russia’s help, Syria would be largely defenseless against a NATO attack. “I don’t see any purely military problems. Syria has no defence against Western systems … [But] it would be more risky than Libya. It would be a heavy military operation,” former French air force chief Jean Rannou commented.
While NATO powers have accused the Syrian regime of carrying out atrocities against its citizens, others have framed the bloodshed in the context of a civil war. As we saw with Libya, rebel fighters who were commandeering fighter jets and firing rocket-propelled grenades were still being described as “protesters” by the establishment media days before the no fly zone was imposed and the bombing campaign began.
As we saw prior to the attack on Libya, which was also framed as a “humanitarian intervention,” NATO powers are keen to demonize Assad’s government by characterizing attacks by his forces as atrocities while largely ignoring similar attacks by opposition forces, such as a raid on a Syrian air force intelligence complex earlier this month that killed or wounded 20 security police.
Russia Retaliates Against US: Puts Radar Station On Combat Alert, Prepares To Take Out European Missile Defense Systems Submitted by Tyler Durden on 11/23/2011 22:50 -0500
Earlier today, we presented the latest developments in the escalating possibility of an imminent air (and potentially land) campaign targeting Syria by the "western world", a move that would infuriate not only Iran, but also Russia and China, both of which have made it clear they would not sit idly by and let such an "aggression" stand. Now it is Russia's turn to retaliate. Cutting straight to the chase - in a nationally televized appearance by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev: in response to what the Russian believes is an active incursion and a potential act of eventual aggression on behalf of NATO countries in Eastern Europe (and hence the US), he he said the following (7 minutes in): "First, I am instructing the Defense Ministry to immediately put the missile attack early warning radar station in Kaliningrad on combat alert. Second, protective cover of Russia's strategic nuclear weapons, will be reinforced as a priority measure under the programme to develop out air and space defenses. Third, the new strategic ballistic missiles commissioned by the Strategic Missile Forces and the Navy will be equipped with advanced missile defense penetration systems and new highly-effective warheads. Fourth, I have instructed the Armed Forces to draw up measures for disabling missile defense system data and guidance systems if need be... Fifth, if the above measures prove insufficient, the Russian Federation will deploy modern offensive weapon systems in the west and south of the country, ensuring our ability to take out any part of the US missile defense system, in Europe. One step in this process will be to deploy Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad Region. Other measures to counter the European missile defense system will be drawn up and implemented as necessary. Furthermore, if the situation continues to develop not in Russia's favor we reserve the right to discontinue further disarmament and arms control measures. Besides, given the intrinsic link between strategic offensive and defensive arms, conditions for our withdrawal from the New START Treaty could also arise." That said, he concludes that Russia is still open to dialog. However, if Obama merely intends to bomb any nation at will, we are very much concerned that everything Medvedev has just threatened will be enacted. And exponentially more so when Putin comes back in charge. One thing is certain - Russia is not North Korea, and taking this speech for more empty jawboning is probably not the wisest option.
Full must watch address to the public: for English closed captioning hit the CC button.
Dmitry Medvedev threatens US over planned missile defence shield
Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president embraced the fiery rhetoric of the Cold War threatening to target and if necessary destroy America's planned European missile defence shield once it is built.
A Russian Topol-12M mobile nuclear missile
By Andrew Osborn, Moscow
8:15PM GMT 23 Nov 2011
In what may be the most serious blow to US-Russia relations since President Barack Obama came to power, Mr Medvedev raised the prospect of Russia launching missile attacks on European Union member states such as Poland, Romania and Spain as well as Nato member Turkey.
"I have given the armed forces the task of drawing up plans to destroy the information and command and control systems of the (US/Nato) anti-missile shield," he said.
"Our Nato partners are not for now showing any readiness to take our concerns about the architecture of the European missile shield into account, something which convinces us that their plans are aimed at Russia." Upping the ante further, he said Russia's anxiety was so great that it would reserve the right to tear up existing nuclear arms control treaties and halt talks about new treaties.
The White House immediately rebuffed Mr Medvedev, making it clear Washington would not be altering its plans in any way.
"We will not in any way limit or change our deployment plans in Europe," said Tommy Vietor, a National Security Council spokesman. "In multiple channels, we have explained to Russian officials that the missile defence systems planned for deployment in Europe do not and cannot threaten Russia's strategic deterrent."
The shield that Russia objects to so strongly is designed to shoot down missiles from rogue states such as Iran but is years away from being operational. Turkey, Poland, Romania and Spain have all agreed to join what is a diluted version of a controversial plan first proposed by former President George W. Bush.
The Kremlin has dismissed US assurances as meaningless and initially demanded and was refused the right to be an equal partner in the project.
In practice, that would have meant granting Moscow so-called "red button" rights, giving the Russian military an operational say in when and if a rogue missile was physically shot down.
Giving America's former Cold war foe such a big say in such a sensitive military system was regarded as politically unacceptable in Washington which has tried to repair damaged Russian pride by offering to share detailed information about the system.
But Russia has rejected those overtures and is now demanding legally binding guarantees from Washington that the new system will never be used against Russia.
Mr Medvedev, who is due to step down from the Russian presidency next May in favour of his mentor Vladimir Putin, did not therefore pull his punches.
Detailing a long list of concrete military steps his country would now take, he threatened a series of political counter measures that, if implemented, would take Russia's relations with the West back to the Cold War.
The measures he ordered to be taken included extending the targeting range of Russia's strategic nuclear missile forces, installing a missile early warning system in Russia's Kaliningrad exclave, and re-equipping Russian's nuclear arsenal with new warheads that would allegedly be capable of piercing the nascent defence shield.
"The (missile) shield is causing us concern," he explained. "The fact is that it foresees the deployment of missiles and other anti-missile systems close to the Russian border and in areas close by." If necessary, he said Russia would deploy Iskander missiles, which are believed to have a range of 310 miles, in the Kaliningrad exclave that borders EU members Poland and Lithuania. The same missiles could also be deployed in southern Russia close to Georgia and Turkey, he added.
Accusing the United States of ignoring Russian concerns and presenting it with a fait accompli, he said the Kremlin could not sit idly by and watch Washington build a missile system that would alter the balance of nuclear weapons in America's favour.
"We will not agree to take part in a programme that in a relatively short period of time, in 5, 6 or perhaps 8 years time is capable of weakening our (nuclear) deterrent potential. (And) this is precisely what the European missile defence shield has started to turn into reality."
Russian opposition politicians claimed Mr Medvedev's unusually hawkish declaration was an attempt to drum up nationalist votes ahead of a parliamentary election next month by trying to exploit the idea of an external enemy.
"They just forgot that the arms race led to the collapse of the Soviet Union," said opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. Mikhail Kasyanov, a former prime minister turned Kremlin critic, said Mr Medvedev was doing Mr Putin's bidding and artificially creating tensions that his master could later defuse. He said: "Medvedev is continuing to play his role which is drawing negative reaction to clear the way for the Putin manoeuvre."
Joined: 15 May 2007
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Location: north-east victoria
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 10:54 am Post Subject:
What are the odds that the whole thing is staged?
Bruce Cathies discovery point towards the whole cold war as being largely a charade to oppress the people and give the cratocrats an excuse for secrecy and space to establish advantage.
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Posts: 1853
Location: The Wild West
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 8:52 am Post Subject:
DISCLAIMER: I most certainly don't share any religious views the maker of the Black Friday video might have. It was posted for the bulk of what it was saying, not the tiny "God save..." bit at the end :wink:
Joined: 07 Aug 2008
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Location: The Wild West
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 8:56 am Post Subject:
Pakistan has had enough Sunday 27 November 2011 20.35 GMT
Readers of Dawn newspaper, commenting online, were in no doubt how the Pakistani government should respond to Saturday's killing by US forces of 24 soldiers on Pakistan's side of the Afghan border. "Pakistan should acquire anti-aircraft defence systems ... so that in the future Pakistan can give Nato forces a proper reply," said Ali. "This is outrageous," wrote another reader, Zia Khan. "We should cut off all ties with the US. As long as we are getting US [anti-terror] aid ... Pakistan will be attacked in such a manner. They can never be trusted." Another, Obaid, turned his wrath on the Pakistani authorities: "Our self-centred establishment with their fickle loyalties can't even demand that the killers be tried in a neutral court ... What is the ability of our armed forces? If they can't repel or intercept an attack of this intensity, then what's their purpose? This is not a time to get mad. It's time to get even."
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 8:59 am Post Subject:
Nato 'ignored plea to stop attacks' Press Association, Monday November 28 2011
The Nato air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers went on for almost two hours and continued even after Pakistani commanders had pleaded with coalition forces to stop, the army has claimed.
Nato has apologised for the deaths in Saturday's incident and promised a full investigation.
The coalition has yet to give its side of the story, but unnamed Afghan officials have said that a joint Afghan-Nato force on the Afghan side of the border received incoming fire from the direction of the Pakistani posts, and called in air strikes.
Ties between Pakistan and the United States were already deteriorating before the deadly attack and have sunk to new lows since, delivering a major setback to American hopes of enlisting Islamabad's help in negotiating an end to the 10-year old Afghan war.
Army spokesman major general Athar Abbas said the Pakistani troops at two border posts were the victims of unprovoked aggression.
He said the attack lasted almost two hours and commanders had contacted Nato counterparts while it was going on, asking "they get this fire to cease, but somehow it continued".
The strikes have added to popular anger in Pakistan against the US-led coalition presence in Afghanistan. Many in the army, parliament, general population and media already believe that the US and Nato are hostile to Pakistan and that the Afghan Taliban are not the enemy.
Pakistani army accounts of the incident have strengthened this narrative, showing the level of mistrust between Islamabad and the coalition forces.
Maj Gen Abbas dismissed Afghanistan's claims that the joint Afghan-Nato troops were fired upon first.
"At this point, Nato and Afghanistan are trying to wriggle out of the situation by offering excuses," he said. "Where are their casualties?"
Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2011, All Rights Reserved.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:01 am Post Subject:
Nato braces for reprisals after deadly air strike on Pakistan border post
Concerns the ISI intelligence agency could use its suspected influence over insurgent groups to launch reprisal attacks
Julian Borger in Kabul and Saeed Shah in Karachi
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 27 November 2011 20.52 GMT
Admiral Mike Mullen, the former chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, says the ISI uses
Afghan insurgents as proxies.
Nato forces in Afghanistan are bracing for possible reprisals from Pakistani-backed insurgents following the coalition air strike along the border that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
Senior officers from the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), were scrambling to resume contacts with their Pakistani counterparts in the hopes of setting up a joint investigation into the incident.
But Pakistani officers severed communications and Islamabad cut Isaf's two supply routes running through Pakistan.
It also gave the US two weeks to vacate the Shamsi airbase in Balochistan, which has been used to launch American drone aircraft.
One Isaf source voiced concern that the Pakistani intelligence agency, the ISI, could go much further and use its suspected influence over insurgent groups in the tribal areas along the Afghan border to launch reprisal attacks on Nato. "This will come back at us, and at a time and a place of their [the ISI's] choosing," the source predicted. In September the then chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said the ISI was using insurgent groups such as the Haqqani network to wage a "proxy war" in Afghanistan.
The incident, and the subsequent breakdown in relations with Pakistan, is a particular blow to the Isaf commander, US general John Allen, who sees the insurgent sanctuaries in Pakistan as one of the keys to the Afghan conflict and who had been in Pakistan the day before the border incident for talks with the Pakistani army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, to discuss border co-operation.
In an interview in Kabul on Sunday, Allen refused to discuss details of the incident, saying it was under investigation. But he said: "We don't know where all of this will end up with Pakistan. We have been good friends with them for a long, long time, and this is a tragedy."
Isaf officers say the strike on Pakistani border positions took place when a joint force of Afghan and Isaf special forces carrying out a counterinsurgency operation in southern Kunar province came under fire and called in "close air support" from Nato aircraft. The air strikes hit two Pakistani border posts in the Mohmand tribal area on Saturday.
Pakistan's military refused to accept that its checkposts had been hit by accident, insisting that Isaf knew the location of the posts, on a mountaintop at Salala, next to the Afghan border.
Major General Athar Abbas, chief spokesman for the Pakistan military, told the Guardian on Sunday that he did not believe Isaf or Afghan forces had received fire from the Pakistani side. "I cannot rule out the possibility that this was a deliberate attack by Isaf," said Abbas. "If Isaf was receiving fire, then they must tell us what their losses were."
Pakistani officials said the posts hit are 300 metres into Pakistani territory, but Isaf officers say the border in that area is disputed.
Abbas said, however, that the firing lasted for over an hour, while Isaf made "no attempt" to contact the Pakistani side using an established border co-ordination system to report that they had come under fire. He said that the map references of the posts were previously passed to Isaf.
"This was a totally unprovoked attack. There are no safe havens or hideouts left there [for militants] in Mohmand," he said.
"This was a visible, well-made post, on top of ridges, made of concrete. Militants don't operate from mountaintops, from concrete structures."
• This article was amended on 29 November 2011. The original referred Admiral Mike Mullen as chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff. This has been clarified.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:04 am Post Subject:
Pakistan permanently closes borders to Nato after air strike By Rob Crilly, Islamabad and Ben Farmer in Kabul
9:56AM GMT 28 Nov 2011
Pakistan has permanently closed its borders to Nato convoys supplying international troops in Afghanistan, according to the country's interior minister, following an air strike that killed 24 soldiers at the weekend.
The announcement came as the Pakistan army claimed the attack lasted almost two hours and continued even after commanders at the bases pleaded with coalition forces to stop.
Closing the crossings will choke off almost half of all supplies destined for the Nato-led force — including British troops.
Accounts still differ about what happened in the early hours of Saturday when American aircraft attacked two border posts inside Pakistan.
But the fallout is clear: a deep diplomatic crisis threatening co-operation against Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.
Pakistan immediately shut its borders to convoys taking fuel and supplies to forces in Afghanistan and says it is reviewing all military and diplomatic ties with the US and Nato.
Last year the main crossing between the two countries was shut for 11 days but reopened when the US apologised for an attack that killed two Pakistani personnel.
This time, Rehman Malik, Pakistan’s interior minister, said the closure was permanent.
“Nato forces should respect the feelings of the Pakistani nation,” he told reporters in Islamabad, adding that trucks and tankers already in the country would not be allowed to continue their journeys.
Although the US is transporting more and more of its equipment, food and fuel through Central Asia in an attempt to reduce Pakistani leverage, the route through Karachi still accounts for 49% of supplies destined for the 140,000-strong foreign force.
The Pakistan route is cheaper and shorter but officials with the Nato-led force have played down the impact of closing the road.
Lieutenant Gregory Keeley, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul insisted: “ISAF uses a vast supply and distribution network to ensure coalition forces remain well-stocked in order to carry out their assigned mission across Afghanistan.” Both sides have blamed each other for the tragedy.
Western and Afghan officials in Kabul say the raid was launched in response to firing that came from the Pakistani side of the border.
Pakistani soldiers wounded in the attack have told The Daily Telegraph, however, there was no militant activity in the area and the attack was unprovoked.
On Monday, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas¸ Army spokesman¸ confirmed their account saying the troops were the victims of an unprovoked aggression.
He said the attack lasted almost two hours and that commanders had contacted Nato counterparts while it was going on, asking that “they get this fire to cease, but somehow it continued”.
The attack was condemned yesterday by China, a country which Pakistan increasingly sees as its closest friend.
“China is deeply shocked at the incident and expresses strong concerns and deep condolences to the victims in Pakistan,” said Hong Lei, foreign ministry spokesman.
The escalating crisis has also scuppered plans for the first cricket match between a touring British Army team and a Pakistani military XI.
It had been hoped that the one day fixture and a 20-20 game, due to be played this week, would foster closer relations between the two countries.
However, a Pakistani military official said the home players felt they could not take to the field so soon after their colleagues had been killed.
A spokesman for the British High Commission in Islamabad said: “There was a match to be due to be played between the British Army team and the Pakistani Army cricket team but it was mutually agreed that this was not the time to hold the match.”
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:06 am Post Subject:
China supports Pakistan in row over Nato border attack
China says it is 'deeply shocked' by Pakistani soldiers' deaths, as Afghan and Nato officials again say they came under fire first
Saeed Shah in Karachi, Jon Boone in Kabul and Ed Pilkington in New York
guardian.co.uk, Monday 28 November 2011 12.02 GMT
China has stepped into the toxic diplomatic dispute between Pakistan and the United States, expressing its "deep shock and strong concern" over the deaths of Pakistani soldiers bombarded by Nato helicopters at a border post.
The intervention by the Chinese foreign ministry comes at a time when relations between the US and Pakistan are at their most strained for many years. It is being seen as a move by Beijing to strengthen its already close ties with Islamabad in the wake of Saturday's air attack in which 24 Pakistani soldiers died.
The prime minister of Pakistan, Yousaf Raza Gilani, has threatened to "revisit" engagement with Nato following the deaths at the Mohmand border post, the deadliest such incident since the start of the Afghan war in 2001. "Business as usual will not be there," Gilani told CNN .
Pakistan has suggested it may now boycott the 5 December international conference on Afghanistan's future at Bonn, in Germany.
China's comments were the product of a 40-minute conversation between the Chinese foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, and his opposite number in Pakistan, Hina Rabbani Khar. After the exchange, the Chinese foreign ministry said that "China is deeply shocked by these events, and expresses strong concern for the victims and profound condolences to Pakistan".
A foreign ministry spokesman added: "China believes that Pakistan's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected and the incident should be thoroughly investigated and be handled properly."
The border incident has thrown the coalition strategy in Afghanistan into crisis. The Pakistan military insists the attack on the checkpoint was "unprovoked" and that it lasted for two hours, even though Pakistani forces had contacted Nato, pleading for the firing to stop. Afghan officials continue to claim that the airstrikes were called in after they came under fire first from the Pakistani side of the border.
On Saturday, Pakistan closed the border for supplies to Nato troops in Afghanistan. There is no indication when the border crossing will be reopened. Half the supplies to coalition soldiers pass by land through Pakistan, including most of the fuel supplies, using local transport companies. , the All Pakistan Oil Tanker Owners Association said it would only resume transport if Islamabad and the Pakistani military accepted an apology for the incident.
The Chinese intervention carries a significance beyond the immediate dispute. Islamabad considers Beijing to be its closest ally and an alternative partner to the west, while both governments oppose US plans to have bases in Afghanistan beyond the 2014 date for ending the coalition's combat operations there.
Coincidentally, Pakistan and China began a joint military exercise in Punjab province involving about 500 soldiers and designed to show, as the Pakistan army put it, that the "Pakistan-China friendship is higher than the mountains and deeper than oceans". It was the fourth military collaboration between the two countries since 2004.
The former spokesman for the US state department, PJ Crowley, who now holds a professorship at Dickinson college and Penn State school of law, said China was seizing the moment. "China sees this as a target of opportunity, both to tweak the US and to subtly suggest to Pakistan that if it really sours of its relationship with the US, it has an alternative."
As US diplomats struggle to limit the damage from Saturday's events, much will depend on the outcome of the investigation Nato has promised into the airstrike. The inquiry is likely to be led by a senior US officer.
The focus of the investigation will be on the poorly marked border between the Afghan province of Kunar and Mohmand. Coalition and Afghan troops believe they received fire from insurgents operating from close to the Pakistani post, which is located 300 metres into Pakistani territory.
Pakistan says there were no militants operating on its side.
A senior Afghan official told the Guardian that a combined Afghan-Nato squad had received incoming fire from "the so-called Pakistani post", prompting them to call for air support. "The most important point here is that they were receiving fire from the direction of that post."
The official, who did not want to be named, added: "The Pakistanis are blowing this thing totally out of proportion by responding the way they have, so severely and strongly. But we hope that they will at least come to Bonn and it will not affect the steps that we have started to take in terms of rebuilding our relationship with Pakistan."
Afghan and coalition officials have accused Pakistan repeatedly in the past of failing to act to stop Taliban militants using its territory.
Afghans living in Kunar said they were delighted by the airstrike against the bases, saying they believed Taliban fighters were being harboured by the Pakistani army.
"These terrorists wear civilian clothes and then when they have done their attacks in Afghanistan they go to the Pakistan checkpoints," said Qari Ehsanullah Ehsan, a tribal leader from the province. "Some of them wear fake beards and then put on Pakistani military clothes when they finish their operations. The people of Kunar are happy. We have been telling the Americans for a long time that the Pakistanis are bringing the Taliban to our villages."
The fall-out from the attack continued to reverberate around the region.
On Monday, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference also condemned the attack on the checkpost, while over the weekend Turkey promised to raise the issue at Nato headquarters in Brussels.
There were further protests on the streets of Pakistan on Monday, including a boycott of the courts by lawyers. The striking lawyers in Karachi and Lahore chanted "Go America, go".
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:10 am Post Subject:
Meanwhile, back to Syria...
US carrier strike force enters Syrian waters. Russian carrier en route DEBKAfile Special Report November 26, 2011, 11:33 AM (GMT+02:00)
The Syrian crisis aassumed a big power dimension this week with the build-up of rival United States and Russia naval air carrier armadas in Syrian waters, debkafile's military sources report.
The USS George H.W. Bush arrived Wednesday, Nov. 23, in the wake of the three Russian warships anchored earlier opposite Tartus which established a command post in the Syrian port. They will be augmented by Russia's only air carrier the Admiral Kuznetsov, which is due in mid-week.
By deploying 70 ship-borne fighter-bombers plus three heavy guided missile cruisers and five guided missile destroyers opposite Syria, Washington has laid down military support for any intervention the Arab League in conjunction with Turkey may decide on.
Bashar Assad can see for himself that Washington has hoisted a nuclear aerial umbrella to protect its allies, Israel, Turkey, and Jordan, against the retaliation his armed forces high command pledged Friday for the deaths of six Syrian air force elite pilots in an ambush Thursday.
For some time, Ankara has been weighing the creation of a protected haven for rebels and refugees inside Syria. France has proposed slicing "humanitarian corridors" through Syria for them to flee safely from military tank and gunfire and secure supply of food, medicines and other essential supplies to the cities under army siege.
Both plans would depend on being safeguarded by substantial ground and air strength inside Syria which would certainly face fierce resistance from Assad's military.
The Arab League has scheduled weekend meetings to decide how to proceed after Damascus ignored its Friday deadline for accepting hundreds of monitors. Saturday, Nov. 26, AL finance ministers will discuss economic sanctions. In the past 48 hours, at least 70 people were reported killed as the Syrian army continued its crackdown in the face of spreading armed opposition.
The Russian Kuznetzov carrier and its accompanying strike vessels will join the three Russian warships parked opposite Tartus for more than a week. It will enter the same Syrian offshore waters as the USS Bush and the US Sixth Fleet, which is permanently posted in the Mediterranean.
The Syrian crisis is therefore building up to a superpower face-off unparalleled since the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union ended in the nineties, debkafile's military sources note.
While Washington clearly stands ready to back operations against the Assad regime, Moscow is drawing a red line around his presidential palace in Damascus. The Kremlin is warning the US, NATO and the Arab League that they will not be allowed to repeat their feat in Libya of overthrowing Muammar Qaddafi against Assad.
In the face of this escalating big power standoff and the high possibility of the Syrian ruler deciding to lash out against his country's neighbors, the Israeli, Jordanian and Turkey armies have declared a high state of war preparedness.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:12 am Post Subject:
Russia Considers Blocking NATO Supply Routes By ALAN CULLISON
MOSCOW—Russia said it may not let NATO use its territory to supply troops in Afghanistan if the alliance doesn't seriously consider its objections to a U.S.-led missile shield for Europe, Russia's ambassador to NATO said Monday.
Russia has stepped up its objections to the antimissile system in Europe, threatening last week to deploy its own ballistic missiles on the border of the European Union to counter the move. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization says the shield is meant to thwart an attack from a rogue state such as Iran, that it poses no threat to Russia, and that the alliance will go ahead with the plan despite Moscow's objections.
If NATO doesn't give a serious response, "we have to address matters in relations in other areas," Russian news services reported Dmitri Rogozin, ambassador to NATO, as saying. He added that Russia's cooperation on Afghanistan may be an area for review, the news services reported.
Threats to the NATO supply line through Russia come at an awkward time for the alliance. NATO has become increasingly reliant on the Russian route as problems in Pakistan—its primary supply route—have escalated. Over the weekend, Pakistan closed its border to trucks delivering supplies in response to coalition airstrikes Saturday that killed 25 Pakistani soldiers.
NATO began shipping its supplies through Russia in 2009, after the so-called reset in relations between Moscow and the U.S., allowing the alliance a safer route for supplies into Afghanistan. But U.S.-Russian relations have been strained lately by the approach of elections in both countries. In the past week, the Kremlin has sharply stepped up its anti-Western rhetoric ahead of parliamentary elections on Dec. 4.
Ivan Safranchuk, deputy director of the Moscow-based Institute of Contemporary International Studies, said Russia is unlikely to cut off the flow of NATO supplies to Afghanistan as an immediate response to missile-defense decisions. But Russia does want its objections to the missile shield to be taken more seriously, he said.
"If the U.S. is not responsive, then a cutoff could be a reality at some point," Mr. Safranchuk said. "Russia would like the U.S. to be more serious about Russian concerns."
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:14 am Post Subject:
Moving to Iran...
If Iran attacked it will teach U.S. how to fight: defense minister On Line: 27 November 2011 18:43
In Print: Monday 28 November 2011
BUSHEHR – Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi has said that if the United States attacks Iran, the Iranian Armed Forces will teach it “how to fight and (make it) realize what fighting and a razmandeh (true combatant) mean”.
It the enemy attacks Iran, it must be ready to answer some questions such as how long it can fight against the Islamic Republic and “how much it is ready to watch the sinking of its warships and ships,” Vahidi told a parade of 50 thousand revolutionary devotees of the Muslim world in the southwestern city of Bushehr on Sunday.
The defense minister said that the U.S. should not think that it can wage a war against Iran as it did in Iraq and Afghanistan, adding that in Iraq, Saddam Hussein “retreated” and, in Afghanistan, there was “no one to fight”.
“(But) in Vietnam, everyone noticed what happened to them,” Vahidi said in an indirect reference to the Vietnam War in which the U.S. army got bogged down in a quagmire.
He said that since the end of the World War II in 1945, the U.S. army has conducted about 100 military operations, but it has not been engaged in a full-fledged war during this period to show how they can fight, but the Iranian troops are “armed with the weapon of faith and are different from others.”
Commenting on the recent military threats issued by the Zionist regime against Tehran, Vahidi said that if Israel tries to carry out its threats against Iran, the Basiji warriors will “take revenge on this regime” for its years of atrocities against “oppressed nations”.
He said, “The Zionist regime has not yet paid the price” for the massacres it committed in Sabra and Shatila and the Gaza Strip, and, if this regime attacks Iran, the Islamic Republic will take revenge for those crimes.
“Why does the Zionist regime issue such threats? For how many missiles has it readied itself: 10 thousands, 20 thousands, 50 thousands, 100 thousands, 150 thousands, or more?”
If Israel attacks Iran, “the Basijis will not even give Israel the time to breathe.”
Message of parade is preparedness to defense country
Vahidi also commemorated the Basij Week and said that the message of the parade across the Persian Gulf waters is to prove that the Iranian people are ready to defend every inch of their land.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:18 am Post Subject:
Report: Explosion rocks Iran city of Isfahan, home to key nuclear facility
Semi-official Fars news agency says blast heard distinctly in several parts of the western Iran city; a uranium conversion plant near Isfahan went online in 2004.
By Yossi Melman and Reuters
Published 18:38 28.11.11
Latest update 18:38 28.11.11
An explosion rocked the western Iranian city of Isfahan on Monday, the semi-official Fars news agency reported, adding that the blast was heard in several parts of the city.
According to reports, frightened residents called the fire department after the blast, forcing the city authorities to admit there had been an explosion.Residents reported that their windows shook from the explosion's force.
Original report of blast in Iranian city of Isfahan as appeared
on Fars website, Nov. 28, 2011.
Speaking to an Iranian news website, the government of Isfahan said that the explosion occurred as a result of a military drill, denying reports that the blast was somehow related to the nearby nuclear facility.
"There is no such thing, the blast was entirely from the military maneuver," the Iranian official said.
The Isfahan uranium conversion plant operates under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and is frequented by its inspectors and surveyed by cameras that broadcast to the IAEA headquarters in Vienna.
Thus, had the explosion occurred at the nuclear site, the UN's nuclear watchdog would have known of the incident.
Speaking with Fars news agency earlier Monday, Isfahan’s deputy mayor initially confirmed the reports and said the authorities are investigating the matter. However, after the incident was reported in Israel, the report was taken off the Fars website.
It seems that city authorities and the Iranian government were embarrassed by the reports of a blasts, releasing contradictory versions of the alleged events. One example is a statement given by the same deputy mayor to the Mehr news agency, saying he had no reports of an explosion.
Another confirmation came from the head of the city's judiciary, who said an explosion-like sound was heard. Meanwhile, the Mehr news agency reported there has been a blast at a petrol station near the city. Another report pointed to a training accident.
The reported incident occurred about two weeks after Gen. Hasan Tehrani Moghaddam was killed together with 20 other Guard members Nov. 12 at a military site outside Bidganeh village, 40 kilometers southwest of Tehran.
The Revolutionary Guard said the accidental explosion occurred while military personnel were transporting munitions.
It should be noted that Iran operates a uranium conversion plant near Isfahan, one with an important function in the chain of Iran's nuclear program.
It first went into operation in 2004, taking uranium from mines and producing uranium fluoride gas, which then feeds the centrifuges that enrich the uranium.
Since 2004, thousands of kilograms of uranium flouride gas were stockpiled at Isfahan and subsequently sent to the enrichment plant in Natanz.
Commenting on the report of an explosion in Isfahan, U.S. State Department Spokesman Mark Toner said: "We don't have any information at this time other than what we've seen in the press as well. But certainly we're looking into it."
"As you know, we're somewhat limited in our ability to glean information on the ground there, but we're certainly looking into it," Toner added.
North Korea supplying Syria, Iran with prohibited nuclear technology, report says
IDF official: Iran explosion may delay Tehran's missile development track
Iran insists Israel not behind blast that killed missile expert
Earlier Monday, a top Israeli security official said that the recent explosion that rocked an Iranian missile base near Tehran could delay or stop further Iranian surface-to-surface missile development.
The official added, however that the Iranian nuclear program was continuing to gain ground, despite considerable international pressure and attempts to destabilize the Iranian regime.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:21 am Post Subject:
Mystery explosion rocks Iran city By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
6:55PM GMT 28 Nov 2011
A large explosion has been reported in the Iranian city of Isfahan as the regime issued conflicting reports apparently designed to deny any suggestions of a sabotage attack on its nuclear facilities.
Iran's uranium processing site just outside the city of Isfahan
Officials gave varying accounts of a "huge explosion" in the ancient city, which hosts one of Iran's main facilities for refining uranium in its nuclear programme.
While some sources told news agencies there had been a blast on military facilities, others said there had been a fireball at a petrol station.
Residents of the city were independently telling relatives and friends overseas that the city had been shaken by a massive blast in the early afternoon.
The reports immediately prompted speculation that Iran had suffered another sabotage attack, just two weeks after a blast at a missile base gave rise to similar suspicions.
Isfahan is home to Iran's largest facility for research and development of ballistic missiles. Multiple reports said the blast did not emanate from the nuclear facility.
Alireza Zakeri, the provincial governor of Isfahan, was quoted as saying that the blast took place during military exercises at a military airbase.
"An explosion has happened in Isfahan relates to a military exercise in one part of the city and is not particularly any problem," he said.
"The exercise has been in the 8th Airbase and around the airport in north east of Isfahan but the authorities had not informed us about it in advance so that we could have let the public know about it happening"
Gholamreza Ansari, the head of the judiciary in the province, also confirmed there was a blast.
The Mehr news agency however reported that the blast was at a fuel facility. There were no reports of casualties.
Confusion was compounded by the withdrawal of the original report on Fars, a news outfit linked to the Revolutionary Guards, which first reported the blast.
The incident comes just two weeks after the head of Iran's ballistic missile development programme, was killed in a massive blast 25 miles south of Tehran.
In contrast to previously unexplained attacks on key scientists, Iran said that incident was an accident that occurred in routine manoeuvres.
Military analysts however said the intensity of the explosion suggested a targeted attempt at sabotaging Iran's nuclear-related missile development programme, most probably carried out by Mossad.
"If the Iranian government confirms its intention to act on this, we shall respond robustly in consultation with our international partners," Mr Hague said.
The bill – passed by an overwhelming majority yesterday – requires both Iran and Britain to withdraw their ambassadors from the other country and reduce representation to the level of charge d'affaires.
It also calls for trade between the two countries to be reduced to "minimum levels".
The EU is due to consider an oil embargo on Iranian experts as well as the imposition of targeted sanctions on 180 Iranian officials in response to a report from UN weapons inspectors confirming Iran has undertaken work to build a nuclear bomb.
However diplomats said the French-backed proposal to impose an oil embargo would not receive Europe-wide support.
Libya's Berbers have warned of a campaign against the Libyan government
Some of the new government have arrived from abroad; some hold foreign passports.
Libya is now a dictatorship which has at various points been run by:
1. Mahmoud Jibril, who is linked to the CIA.
At his university in the USA, Jibril was looked after by a CIA officer, who had been involved in the 1953 CIA coup in Iran.
Mahmoud Jibril with his minders - Bernard-Henri-Levy, Nicolas Sarkozy and David Cameron
2. Belhadj, who worked for the CIA in Aghanistan and Iraq.
He is al Qaeda.
Belhadj.
3. Abdurrahim El-Keib, who is an American.
He is now Prime Minister.
El-Keib
4. Ali Tarhouni from the University of Washington.
Libya's new CIA government is now sending weapons to Syria's rebels, in the hope that Assad can be replaced by CIA assets. (Libya Sending Arms to Syrian Rebels, Arab League Imposes Sanctions)
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:45 am Post Subject:
Fury at 'deliberate' Nato attack rises in Pakistan
Fury at 'deliberate' Nato attack rises in PakistanFury at 'deliberate' Nato attack rises in Pakistan
Omar Waraich
Islamabad
Tuesday 29 November 2011
Pakistan has angrily rejected claims that its troops opened fire on Afghan and Nato forces before Nato airstrikes left 24 Pakistani soldiers dead on Saturday. In an escalation of tensions, the Pakistan army has said that the attack was deliberate and unprovoked.
"There was no fire from this direction," said Major General Athar Abbas, the Pakistan military's chief spokesman. "If there was any fire, where are the casualties on their side? Where's the effect of our firing?"
Afghan officials had claimed that the Pakistanis started the firing, forcing them to call for close Nato air support that led to a retaliatory strike.
Gen Abbas also said that Pakistan had already given Nato the coordinates of two border posts that were attacked, 300 metres inside Pakistani territory, dismissing suggestions of a mistake.
The border posts were established in the Mohmand tribal agency after the Pakistan army pushed militants across the border into Afghanistan. Some 24 Pakistani soldiers and officers manned each of the posts.
The Nato airstrike lasted for nearly two hours and continued despite requests for it to be halted, a senior Pakistani military official said. When the attack started, a message was sent up through the chain of command to the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi. At that point, the military official said, the director general of military operations called a Nato commander in Afghanistan and asked him to stop the firing. "There was no response," the military official said. The use of helicopters has been determined, but it is unclear whether Nato jets were involved. The Pakistan army alleges that the precision with which the strike took place is evidence of a jet assault.
Nato says that it is investigating the incident. On Sunday, the Western military alliance's secretary general expressed his regret in a statement. "This was a tragic, unintended incident," said Anders Fogh Rasmussen. "I offer my deepest condolences and sympathy to the families of the Pakistani officers and soldiers who lost their lives..."
In a display of its outrage,Pakistan has cut off the Nato supply routes that run through its territory, ordered the evacuation of the Shamsi airbase used for CIA drones, and threatened to boycott the forthcoming Bonn security conference on Afghanistan.
During episodes of tension with the US, Pakistan has ritually shut off the Nato supply routes, only to reopen them days later. On this occasion, however, the Interior Minister Rehman Malik claimed that they have been "shut permanently". Nato has diminished its reliance on the routes through the Khyber Pass and Chaman, in the south western province of Baluchistan. Now only 40 per cent of non-lethal supplies travel along a journey that once accounted for three-quarters of all supplies.
The tragedy has yielded opposition politicians an opportunity to call on Pakistan to pull out from America's "war on terror". "Pakistan is going to implode if we keep taking instructions from the US," said Imran Khan, the former cricketer whose popularity as a politician is soaring. "This war has radicalised our society and devastated our economy. After this attack, how can a country that has suffered a loss of 40,000 lives continue fighting for an ally that kills its soldiers?"
Angry demonstrators, led by an assortment of militant groups calling for revenge, have taken to the streets of Pakistan's cities . The Pakistani Taliban have exhorted the government and the army to declare jihad on the United States. The army is also under pressure from its middle and lower ranks. Since the 2 May raid that killed Osama bin Laden, they have simmered with rage against what they see as a US violation of their sovereignty and their leadership's weak response.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:49 am Post Subject:
Target Syria By Stephen Lendman
11-29-11
Washington's Greater Middle East project involves waring against the region one country at a time to replace independent regimes with client ones.
Softer targets were attacked first. Tougher ones remain, notably Iran and Syria. Subduing them may involve turning the entire region into an uncontrollable cauldron, not least because China and Russia have interests to defend.
Russia maintains a strategic naval base at Tartus, Syria, its only Mediterranean location. It considers it vital protection for its Black Sea Fleet. It's being modernized to accommodate heavy warships after 2012. Russia came to stay.
Three Russian warships now patrol Syrian waters. Unofficial sources confirm it, saying Russia's there to protect strategic and national security interests, as well as prevent war.
About 120,000 Russian citizens are in Syria. Moscow's obligated to protect them the way they aided South Ossetian Russians after Georgia attacked the province in August 2008.
Provocatively, America's nuclear carrier USS George HW Bush anchored off Syria. Its Strike Group and additional vessels are conducting maritime security and support operations nearby. The US 6th Fleet patrols the area.
Meanwhile, Washington and Turkey urged their citizens to leave Syria. A November 23 US statement said "depart immediately while commercial transportation is available." Whether something's brewing isn't known. Tough talk alone doesn't suggest it. Nonetheless, it's worrisome.
Syria's being assaulted like Libya. Heavily armed insurgents are involved. Washington orchestrated everything. Neighboring countries are involved, including Israel. Syria's blamed for defending itself. Libya redux looks possible. Continued violence and escalating tensions suggest it.
An anonymous Russian intelligence official said America "is playing a very dangerous game here. One that may result in Russia taking defensive actions to protect itself, its military installation and Russian citizens."
A Russian military expert called US carriers "expensive floating targets that are vulnerable to attacks by aircraft, missiles and torpedos. They were designed for Cold War scenarios, and are less useful in establishing control of areas close to shore."
According to Pravda.ru, Center for Military Forecasts analyst Anatoly Tsyganok said Washington no longer will inform Russia about planned troop deployments.
"Apparently, it is connected with the situation in the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "One may assume that NATO will create a military group near Russia's southern borders to strike Syria."
"They will most likely raise this issue at the NATO summit in December. They will try to analyze Syria's actions in case NATO conducts a military operation against the country, like (earlier) in Libya."
Itar-Tass contributor Anatoly Lazarev accused Washington of "initia(ting) the campaign for strangling Damascus." Russia stresses dialogue for conflict resolution. "Washington obviously does not like the stand assumed by Moscow. By all appearances, it wishes to play first the Libyan and now the Syrian card" to ensure its regional interests "at all costs." Then on to new targets to control the entire region.
International Crisis Group (ICG) Comments on Syria
Founded in 1995 by World Bank vice president Mark Malloch Brown and former US diplomat Morton Abramowitz, ICG supports power, not popular interests. Comments on its Middle East Project Director Peter Harling's analysis follows below.
Titled, "Uncharted Waters: Thinking Through Syria's Dynamics," he assessed where things now stand, saying:
"The Syrian crisis may or may not have entered its final phase, but it undoubtedly has entered its most dangerous one to date. The current stage is defined by an explosive mix of heightened strategic stakes tying into a regional and wider international competition on the one hand and emotionally charged attitudes, communal polarisation and political wishful thinking on the other."
Based in Damascus, Harling's observing events firsthand. Entirely missing from current considerations, he believes, "is a sober assessment of the challenges provoked by (balance of power) shifts and the very real risk that they could derail or even foreclose the possibility of a successful transition."
Of course, it's for Syrians, not outside powers, to decide. Intervening in other nations' internal affairs is illegal. For Washington, its NATO partners, and Israel it's standard practice. Harding's analysis omitted international law issues, focusing on imperial ones instead.
Five key issues are excluded from Syria's debate, he believes, including:
the dominant Alawite community's fate;
Syrian and Lebanese ties;
implications of international intervention;
impact of the protest movement's militarization; and
"creeping social, economic and institutional decay."
Assad linked the Alawite community's fate to his own to assure loyalty among people who've gained little from the regime. Crisis conditions bonded them to Assad's government. The same holds for Syrian Christians.
Critically, the regime controls Damascus and Aleppo, Syria's largest city. It secured them because protests there remain peaceful. Its "divide-and-rule tactics have kept most Alawites, many Christians, as well as some Druze and Sunnis on its side."
Nonetheless, civil society segments support insurgents. The longer conflict persists, the greater the incentive for affected business, middle class, and other elements to seek ways to end it. At issue is protecting their own self-interest. They want calm to get back to business as soon as possible.
At the same time, Assad won't step down or be deposed internally. Regime officials need him. He's been instrumental in keeping support among BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and other countries. He's also popular so why remove a regime prop.
As for sanctions, civilians are mostly harmed much like everywhere they're imposed. Assad said parliamentary elections will be held next February or March. Constitutional review will follow. So will presidential elections if new provisions in it say so.
If Syrians agree to test him, violence might subside but won't end as long as criminal insurgents are encouraged by Washington, Turkey and other regional states to maintain pressure.
Nonetheless, without a political solution, violence will continue. Civilians will suffer horrifically. Military intervention may follow. For now, Assad's holding firm. Violence hasn't reached critical mass to topple him. Regime change isn't imminent. Syria's military supports him. Turkey's pressure is limited, he believes.
Arab League states have no credibility whatever. They condoned Libya's ravaging, say nothing about NATO's plans to colonize another Arab state, ignore Bahraini and other regional atrocities, and brutalize their own people protesting against political, economic and social injustice.
On November 27, DEBKAfile said Syria's neighbors are preparing for potential retaliation after League members imposed sanctions. Israel moved armored brigades to its Lebanese and Syrian borders. Turkey's military is on alert. Lebanon and Jordan also responded defensively.
"Military sources in the Gulf report that 150 Iranian Revolutionary Guards specialists had landed at a military airport south of Damascus on their way to Lebanon to join Hizbollah which began bringing its rockets out of their hideouts."
Russia's supplying Syria super-advanced S-300 anti-missile systems, as well as advanced Pantsir-1 (SA-22 Greyhound) anti-air missiles and supersonic Yakhont (SS-26) missiles for targeting vessels blockading Syria's coast.
Resolution's nowhere in sight. Conditions remain fluid. War winds are blowing. Redrawing the region is planned. Arab Spring talk belies strategies to do it. Perhaps destroying it comes first.
A Final Comment
On November 27, Arab League states approved stiff anti-Syrian economic sanctions. Their 14-point plan includes travel bans on regime officials, asset freezes, blocking sale of "nonessential" commodities, halting transactions with Syria's central bank, and ending financing for Arab-funded projects in the country.
Sanctions are effective immediately. Ordinary people will be hurt most. At issue is weakening popular support for Assad to facilitate regime change more easily. In fact, people under duress usually rally behind sitting governments for support. It remains to be seen if Syrians follow suit.
On November 28, Mathaba.net reported that Kuwait's al Rai daily learned from unnamed senior European sources that Arab states, with US logistical support, will impose a no-fly zone over Syria once an authorizing Arab League charter decree is issued, calling for the protection of Syrian civilians.
With or without one, attacking a nonbelligerent state is illegal. Nations may only respond against others defensively. Intervening militarily in their internal affairs is prohibited. Nonetheless, doing it for humanitarian reasons will be invoked. It doesn't wash but may work, with or without a Security Council resolution.
America and NATO partners aren't deterred by international or statute laws. As a result, Syria is increasingly vulnerable.
According to al Rai, a no-fly ban will target Syrian artillery and military vehicles, including tanks and armored personnel carriers. They'll be prohibited from moving freely. European sources say they'd be crippled "in less than 24 hours."
Saber-rattling rhetoric in the Middle East is reaching new heights. Israel is reportedly deploying its long-range Jericho missiles around Jerusalem, while the Iranian defense minister threatened massive missile retaliation against Israel.
The threat to launch “150,000 or more” missiles was voiced by Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi on Sunday as he was delivering a speech before army volunteers. Earlier Iranian officials threatened retaliation against both Israel and NATO, should an attack on Iran be carried out.
Meanwhile Israel is reportedly deploying its own missiles around Jerusalem and in the West Bank. The missiles carried into position by military tracks resemble the Jericho missiles, says Aaron Klein, head of the Jerusalem bureau for WorldNetDaily, citing several eyewitness accounts.
The reporter speculates that this may be a military drill, possibly linked to the earlier rocket test fire. The missile launched from the Palmachim test center was reportedly meant to test a new engine for the long-range Jericho III design. Its specifications are classified, but military experts believe the Israeli missile to be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead to any destination in the Middle East, most of Europe, North America and Africa.
Klein believes such a drill may be carried out either as a step in the escalating conflict over Iranian nuclear program or due to the unstable situation in Syria.
Israel’s ongoing row with Iran came back to the fore in the wake of a critical UN nuclear watchdog report, which alleged that Tehran may be working on creating a nuclear weapon and, as some commentators said, gave Israel the grounds for a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear sites.
Syria’s civil unrest and governmental crackdown on the opposition has led to several rounds of sanctions imposed on the country and speculations that an intervention similar to that in Libya may follow. President Assad warned that such a move would result in a major regional conflict. Israel would then become a natural target for Syrian allies like Hamas and Hezbollah in such a scenario.
The Israeli Defense Force would not comment on the alleged missile deployment.
William Hague has warned Iran it faces "serious consequences" over the attack on the British embassy in Tehran.
Hundreds of protesters surged onto two compounds this afternoon, putting the safety of staff at risk and causing "extensive damage" to property, the foreign secretary said.
"Clearly there will be other, further, and serious consequences. I will make a statement updating parliament on this tomorrow [Wednesday]."
Iranian police protected Britain's ambassador and some staff earlier from a large crowd outside, Hague said.
He added: "There has been a confusing situation at times as to the whereabouts of certain staff. I wouldn't use the term hostage. Clearly there have been situations where the Iranian police have intervened to try to ensure the safety of our staff.
"We are grateful for that but this situation should never have been allowed to arise in the first place."
Earlier on Tuesday, Iranian protesters stormed the buildings in Tehran, tearing down the union flag, throwing documents from windows, and reportedly briefly taking hostage six members of staff.
In scenes reminiscent of the takeover of the US mission in the same city in 1980 – which led to a long hostage standoff – crowds protesting against sanctions targeting Iran's nuclear programme smashed windows and burned a building at the main embassy compound, removing the British flag and replacing it with the Iranian one.
Six staff members were taken hostage at the ambassador's residence in northern Tehran, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency, but were later freed by police.
David Cameron chaired a meeting of the government's Cobra security committee on Tuesday afternoon, and the Iranian charge d'affaires was summoned to the FCO.
Hague said Iran had "committed a grave breach" of the Vienna convention, which demands the protection of diplomats and diplomatic premises under all circumstances. He added: "We hold the Iranian government responsible for its failure to take adequate measures to protect our embassy as it is required to do.
"I spoke to the Iranian foreign minister this afternoon to protest in the strongest terms about these events and to demand immediate steps to ensure the safety of our staff in both embassy compounds."
The White House also issued a strong protest.
Iran's foreign ministry later said it regretted the incidents, the ISNA news agency reported. It quoted a government statement that said: "The foreign ministry regrets the protests that led to some unacceptable behaviours.
"We respect and we are committed to international regulations on the immunity and safety of diplomats and diplomatic places."
Hague said of Iran's foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi: "While he said he was sorry for what had happened and that action would be taken in response, this remains a very serious failure by the Iranian government.
"The safety of our staff is our utmost priority. On our latest information, it now appears that all our staff and their dependants are accounted for. We are urgently establishing the whereabouts of our locally engaged security staff to ensure their wellbeing."
British nationals have been warned against "all but essential travel" to Iran, and the small number in the country were told to stay indoors and await advice.
The attack came two days after the Iranian parliament voted to expel the British ambassador, Dominick Chilcott, in retaliation for the new economic sanctions imposed by the west.
Ilna, another semi-official news agency, said the protesters had "conquered" the embassy. The events were shown live on state-run Press TV.
About 1,000 gathered on the street in front of the building, waving pictures of the Iranian nuclear scientist Majid Shahriari, who was assassinated in Tehran last November. Others held pictures of another assassinated Iranian scientist, Masoud Ali Mohammadi, and a senior commander of the elite Revolutionary Guard, Qassem Suleimani, who is said to be in charge of the group's overseas operations.
State TV reported that another group of hardline students had gathered at the gate of the British ambassador's residence in northern Tehran at the same time.
On Sunday, the Iranian parliament passed a bill to cut Iran's diplomatic ties with Britain and downgrade Tehran-London relations from an ambassadorial level to that requiring chargés d'affaires.
The move came in retaliation against the economic sanctions imposed by the west.
Tensions with Britain date back to the 19th century, when the Persian monarchy gave huge industrial concessions to London that led to significant British control over Iran's oil industry.
But they have become increasingly strained as the west accuses Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons – a charge Tehran denies.
During the vote on Sunday, Mehdi Kuchakzadeh, a Tehran MP, suggested Iranians could raid the British embassy, implying a possible recurrence of the 1979 US hostage crisis in Iran. "The British government should know that, if they insist on their evil stances, the Iranian people will punch them in the mouth, exactly as happened against America's den of spies, before it was approved by officials," Kuchakzadeh said.
"We must lock the British embassy and ignore them until they come begging like the Americans," another MP, Mahmoud Ahmadi Bighash, said in quotes carried by the Borna news agency.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:47 pm Post Subject:
Rockets fired across Lebanon, Israel border Reuters - 19 hrs ago
BEIRUT (Reuters) - An exchange of rocket fire hit the Lebanese-Israeli border Tuesday in the first such incident since 2009, coming at a time of heightened regional tensions over Syria and Iran's nuclear program.
UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, said at least one rocket was fired at northern Israel, prompting the Israeli army to return fire. The Lebanese army said Israel launched four rockets in return.
Two buildings in Israel's western Galilee area were damaged, Israeli media said, but there were no reports of casualties. Residents said they heard two explosions and that houses shook.
The Lebanese army said it had deployed extra troops and patrols in the Rmeish area in Lebanon, just 2km (1 mile) from the border, where a rocket launcher was found. UNIFIL said it was inspecting both sides of the border.
A security analyst and former UNIFIL member Timur Goksel said the attack did not bear characteristics of Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shi'ite guerrilla army and political movement that fought a 34-day border war with Israel in 2006.
But he said the attack was unusual, first because it was in a Christian village not usually a site of rocket launchings, and second because the weapon used was a longer range Grad missile that had better aim compared to the older, shorter rockets which are fired randomly.
"This looks more serious. The type of rocket and apparent targeting of settlements suggests they were not noisemakers, they actually hit something and didn't mind causing casualties. This one could have caused huge mayhem," he said.
The Israeli-Lebanese border has been largely quiet in recent years, though some have worried about a possible spillover of tension from a popular revolt in Syria against President Bashar al-Assad, and from a stiffening of Western sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.
Syria, seen as the faultline for the region's geopolitical balance and an ally of Hezbollah, has launched a crackdown to try to quell unrest. The U.N says some 3,500 people have died since March.
CALL FOR RESTRAINT
UNIFIL called for restraint. "This is a serious incident in violation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 and is clearly directed at undermining stability in the area," it said in a statement.
Israel said it was trying to establish who fired the rockets from Lebanon, but that it held the Lebanese government responsible and would deliver a complaint.
"The Lebanese government is responsible for everything that happens in Lebanon and everything that exits from its border," Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said.
The Lebanese army said a rocket launcher was found in the Rmeish area of south Lebanon.
In Lebanon, security sources said the rocket fire hit Israel from an area between the villages of Aita Shaab and Rmeish. They said Israel fired four artillery shells in response, but they landed in fields and caused no damage.
An Israeli military spokesman said the rockets were the first fired since 2009 across the border.
"Several rockets hit western Galilee. The Israeli army considers the incident severe and is targeting the origins of fire," said a statement from the military spokesman's office.
Israel's Ynet news website said residents saw plumes of smoke where the rockets struck.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:52 pm Post Subject:
Turkey is ready to invade Syria M K Bhadrakumar – November 29, 2011
Turkey and its western allies are transferring the Libyan fighters whom they trained and armed to depose Muammar Gaddafi to Syria. Around 600 Libyan ‘volunteers’ have entered Syria. Daily Telegraph reported that secret meetings were held on Friday in Istanbul between the Turkish officials and the Syrian opposition representatives and the Libyan fighters. Large-scale infiltration of weapons from Turkey and Jordan have been going on for months to create civil-war conditions in Syria, but this is the first move to introduce ‘volunteers’.
The move is necessitated by the failure to induce defections form the Syrian armed forces, except a mere handful. Turkey and the western powers are desperate to create the myth of a ‘Syrian resistance’ force without which their blatant aggression will be in full display.
Moscow reacted today indicating it might supply arms to the Syrian regime to defend itself. FM Lavrov just stopped short, calling any arms embargo on Syria as ‘unfair’. Moscow has confirmed that a Russian battle group is sailing toward the Syrian naval base of Tartus on the eastern Mediterranean, close to the Turkish border with Syria. Lavrov criticised the foreign interference in Syria, but without naming Turkey, Jordan, etc.
Things seem to be heading for a flash point, indeed. The sure sign is that US V-P Joseph Biden is heading for Ankara in the weekend. It is a major signal of the US giving the go-ahead to Turkey to act on Syria without fear. Again, Jordanian King, Abdullah, travelled to israel. He is Saudi Arabia’s ‘back channel’ to Israel and a key regional ally for the western intelligence.
Turkey is indeed shedding its fear of the unknown and is coming out into the open on the Syrian situation. Turkish FM Ahmet Davitoglu indicated today for the first time that Turkey is all set for invasion of Syria once it gets the green signal from its western allies. He said this before heading for the combined meeting of EU foreign ministers and Arab League representatives (read Saudi Arabia and Qatar).
The day Davutoglu spoke, November 29, will stand out as a notable date in the chronicle of the Turkish Republic that Kemal Ataturk founded. Ataturk’s ‘red line’ used to be that Turkey should never get entangled in the affairs of the Muslim Middle East but should instead concentrate on its own ‘modernization’. Evidently, the Islamist government in power today thinks Turkey is today ‘modern’ enough already and can now go back and reclaim its Ottoman legacy.
A Turkish army moving into an Arab country - it is a historic point. It is a century after the Turks were driven out by the ‘Arab revolt’. The matrix is dripping with irony. The Arab revolt against the Turks was instigated by Great Britain. And Britain, although a far weaker power today, is still playing a seminal role - except, it is encouraging the Turks to return to the Arab world. One hundred years ago, Britain successfully pitted the Arabs against the Turks. Today, Turks join hands with some Arabs who have a grouse against some other Arabs.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:54 pm Post Subject:
War Clouds Form over Iran by Wayne Madsen
Global Research, November 10, 2011
Israel’s all-powerful lobby in Washington, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), an organization composed of Israeli collaborators, infiltrators, and outright traitors to the United States, is steamrolling through the House of Representatives H.R. 1905, which would prohibit the President of the United States, the Secretary of State, members of the U.S. Foreign Service, or any special envoy from engaging in any sort of diplomatic contact, official or unofficial, with any member or agent of the government of Iran. Only when the President informs the requisite committees may he proceed with engaging on diplomatic contact with Iran. Israel has de facto control over the foreign affairs committees of Congress, so any White House notification of the need to contact Iranian officials would be instantly transmitted to Binyamin Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem and Israel would then circumvent any U.S.-Iranian contact. AIPAC, with its resolution, is further making the United States a vassal of the Jewish state.
Israel’s strategy is to make certain that its plans to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and, perhaps other targets, meet no opposition from diplomatic circles in the United States… Israel has placed its own interests well beyond and in contravention of those of the United States.
Faced with the prospect of an Israeli attack on Iran, backed by Saudi Arabia – Israel’s secret ally in the region – has had ripple effects across the Middle East and Asia.
Countries in Asia are scrambling to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as full members. Confronted by a belligerent United States, NATO, and Israel intent on toppling the governments of Syria and Iran, the economic, cultural, and de facto collective security pact that comprises Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan announced after its prime ministers' summit in St. Petersburg that SCO would soon be opening its doors for full membership for Pakistan, Iran, and India. The Asian nations want to freeze the United States out of interference in Asia.
Ahead of the St. Petersburg summit, Russia and China strongly warned the West against any military attack on Iran. The words being used in international diplomacy are reminiscent of the Cold War era, however, it is the West that is playing to role of the aggressor, albeit an aggressor led around by Israel and its intelligence spies and assets embedded in the upper echelons of governments in Washington, London, Paris, Berlin, and within the United Nations hierarchy.
Even America's vassal state of Afghanistan, eager to break free of the bonds of NATO and Washington, has attained observer status in SCO. Recent comments by the deputy commander of NATO training in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Major General Peter Fuller, that the Afghan government leadership is erratic, ungrateful, and isolated from reality because President Hamid Karzai said Afghanistan would side with Pakistan in an American war on Pakistan, resulted in Fuller’s firing. Fuller’s comments also resulted in Karzai asking for observer status in SCO as American aggression against the Muslim world and opposition to sovereignty for Palestine has seen Washington’s standing around the world plummet.
Another nation where the CIA, Pentagon, has their agents creeping and crawling, Mongolia, is also a SCO observer. There are also SCO "partners in dialogue" -- nations that could attain SCO observer or membership status in the future. Partners in dialogue nations include Belarus, Sri Lanka, and one that should worry Tel Aviv and Washington, Turkey, a NATO member. Moscow and Ankara agree that Turkey should eventually become a full SCO member. Turkey has close historical and cultural links with the Turkic nations of central Asia and with many of the autonomous Turkic republics of Russia, including Tuva, Bashkortostan, and Adygeya.
Turkey has grown tired of Israeli interference in its internal and external affairs, as witnessed by the vicious and bloody Israeli attack on the Turkish Gaza aid vessel, the Mavi Marmara; Mossad support for Kurdish PKK terrorist attacks in Turkey; and covert Israeli entanglement in the Ergenekon "deep state" network in Turkey.
Iran has now seen Israel's most-open secret ally, Saudi Arabia, appoint the former Egyptian intelligence chief and close Netanyahu friend, Omar Suleiman, as an adviser to Saudi heir apparent, Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, who is also the Interior Minister. The Jerusalem-Riyadh axis is being further cemented as the Obama administration is shifting 4,000 troops from Iraq to Kuwait and beefing up other U.S. military assets in Bahrain -- home of the U.S. Fifth Fleet – and Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Oman. The CIA and Pentagon have set up Predator drone bases in Djibouti, Seychelles, Ethiopia, and, reportedly, Saudi Arabia.
The president-elect of Kyrgyzstan, Prime Minister Almazbek Atambaev, has announced he wants the U.S. and NATO to leave the Manas Transit Center airbase in his country after the current lease expires in 2014. Already, Soros-funded non-governmental organization (NGO) agents in Kyrgyzstan are attempting to suggest that under the new Kyrgyz constitution, Atambaev does not have the authority to close the base. It is this type of U.S. interference in the affairs of the nations of Asia that has SCO readying an expansion of its membership to include two nations that have received direct U.S. military threats: Iran and Pakistan. Suspicion of U.S. intentions and military plans has also made Washington’s request to enter SCO as a partner in dialogue a dead issue. Washington’s interest in attending SCO summits as a “partner” says more about the CIA’s inability to crack into the inner workings of SCO, even through erstwhile “allies” like Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Mongolia, than in having any great desire to “dialogue” with SCO members and observers. After all, AIPAC and its minions have managed to jam through the U.S. House a law that prohibits any U.S. diplomatic contact with Tehran’s officials.
President Obama is under tremendous pressure from the Israel Lobby during an election year to support an Israeli military strike on Iran, action that will inevitably lead the United States military in the Gulf region into war against Iran on behalf of the Tel Aviv/west Jerusalem regime. At the G-20 summit in Cannes, French President Nicolas Sarkozy was overheard telling Obama, "I cannot bear Netanyahu, he's a liar." To which Obama replied, "you're fed up, but I have to deal with him every day."
The Sarkozy-Obama interchange is instructive. Obama did not disagree that Netanyahu is a patent liar who will do anything or say anything to advance Israeli and global Zionist interests over all else, even to the point of lying about a bogus Iranian nuclear weapons threat to promote a military attack on Iran.
Israel, using its agents of influence in the UN delegations of the United States, Britain, Germany, Canada, Sweden, and the Netherlands, has ensured that International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano has tainted his agency's report on Iranian nuclear developments in a manner that would have never been tolerated by his predecessor, Mohammed ElBaradei. Amano certainly took no interest in the fact that his own nation, Japan, was secretly producing nuclear weapons at the Fukushima nuclear complex in contravention of IAEA rules. The aftermath of the destructive earthquake in Japan laid open the secret work going on at Fukushima. Amano is perfectly willing to act as a cipher for Israel and the Israel Lobby in "discovering" IAEA violations by Iran.
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientist's "Doomsday Clock," a measure of how close the world is to nuclear war, now stands at six minutes until midnight. With the machinations of Israel toward Iran, the internal meltdown of Obama's White House staff with the demotion of chief of staff Bill Daley, and the invitation by SCO to Iran to come under the protective security umbrella of Russia and China, the clock has just jumped ahead several minutes.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:58 pm Post Subject:
Dirty dozen: Iran claims arrest of 12 CIA agents Published: 24 November, 2011, 17:05
Parviz Sorouri, a member of Iran's Majlis (parliament) Committee on
National Security and Foreign Policy.
Iran has arrested 12 US Central Intelligence Agency agents, the Iranian news agency reported on Thursday, quoting an influential parliamentarian who said the CIA operatives were intent on damaging Iran “from inside and outside”.
Parviz Sorouri, from the powerful committee on foreign policy and national security, reported the arrest of the spy ring to the official IRNA news agency.
He said the agents were co-operating with Israel’s Mossad and posed a threat to Iran`s security, military forces and nuclear program.
“The US and Zionist regime’s espionage apparatus were trying to damage Iran both from inside and outside with a heavy blow, using regional intelligence services,” Sorouri was quoted as having said on Wednesday.
The lawmaker did not provide any further details of the arrests.
Earlier this week, there were reports that Iran and Lebanon together had unmasked several dozen CIA agents.
The operatives were reportedly exposed due to lack of professionalism. Many of them met with informants in the same pizzeria, making it easy for counter-intelligence services to track them down, the Israeli media claimed.
The alleged arrests closely followed what looked like a successful operation by Western secret services in Iran. On November 12, a major blast at an Iranian military base killed 17 people, including Brigade General Hassan Moghaddam, reputed to be the chief architect of the country’s missile program. Several commentators suggested that either Mossad or the CIA was behind the attack.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 10:00 pm Post Subject:
Russia opposes arms embargo on Syria
Moscow believes international community should stop threatening Damascus with ultimatums
Reuters Published: 11.29.11, 11:26 / Israel News
Russia opposes the imposition of an arms embargo on Syria and believes the international community should stop threatening Damascus with ultimatums, local news agencies quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Tuesday.
The UN Human Rights Council said on Monday that Syrian military and security forces had committed crimes against humanity including murder, torture and rape, and called for an arms embargo on Syria.
Russia teamed up with China last month to veto a Western-backed UN Security Council resolution condemning President Bashar Assad's government for violence the United Nations says has killed more than 3,500 people.
The Arab League approved sweeping economic sanctions against Syria on Sunday, over its crackdown on protesters and the Qatari foreign minister said other powers might intervene if Arabs fail to contain the crisis.
The sanctions, including a travel ban on top Syrian officials and a freeze on assets related to President Bashar Assad's government, were approved by 19 of the League's 22 members to be enforced immediately.
On Monday, the European Union governments agreed to impose additional financial sanctions on Syria.
The new measures include a ban on long-term financial support for trade, excluding food and medicine, and on loans to the government, both bilateral and through international financial institutions.
Last week, Germany's ambassador to the UN, Peter Wittig, urged the Security Council to take action against Syria: “The decision of the Arab League was a really remarkable if not historic,” Wittig said.
"I think the council cannot stand idly by regarding what the regional organization has said so strongly: The council should take up that decision and endorse and reinforce it."
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 10:06 pm Post Subject:
Russia activates early warning radar system
Russia took its first retaliatory step in response to America's missile defence shield build-up on Tuesday by activating an early warning radar system in a Russian enclave bordering the European Union.
President Dmitry Medvedev announced the inauguration of a radar station in Kaliningrad that would track incoming missiles
By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
1:54PM GMT 29 Nov 2011
President Dmitry Medvedev announced the inauguration of a radar station in Kaliningrad that would track incoming missiles.
The Kremlin has taken a belligerent approach to American plans to defend against the growing Iranian missile threat by demanding that Russia is included as a full partner or it will go on its own.
Mr Medvedev heralded a four-stage response to the American plans in a speech last week. By taking the first step so quickly the Kremlin is demonstrating its determination not to be outflanked by America.
Further measures include strengthening defences around Russia's strategic missile stockpiles, upgrading its missiles to penetrate the missile shield and deployment of anti-missile batteries on the borders of America's European allies.
Russia fears that the American system will eventually neutralise its own short-range and intercontinental nuclear missiles.
Washington has described Russia's offer of radar installations on its territory as "interesting" but is unwilling to share command of the system with its Cold War foe.
The Kremlin plans to dispatch Dmitry Rogozin, the Russian ambassador, to China and Iran – both pose potential threats to the US defence shield – to discuss Moscow's knowledge of American plans in January.
A statement in Mr Medvedev's name said Kaliningrad's Voronezh-DM station was moving onto immediate combat readiness.
"I expect that this step will be seen by our partners as the first signal of the readiness of our country to make an adequate response to the threats which the (Western) missile shield poses for our strategic nuclear forces," it said.
Using rhetoric reminiscent of the Cold War, he added: "If this signal is not heard, we will deploy other methods of protection including the taking of tough countermeasures and the deployment of strike forces."
Russia needed to hear more than promises from the West to resolve the standoff.
"Verbal statements do not guarantee our interests. If other steps are made then of course we are ready to listen," it added. "We can no longer be content with verbal promises that the (US missile shield) system is not aimed against Russia. These are empty statements and do not guarantee our security."
