Hillary Clinton's Open Admission: "We created Al-Qaeda"

Source : Axisoflogic.com

Editor's Comment:
Hillary Clinton's "confession" that the U.S. created Al Queda was anything but spontaneous and honest. In this videotaped announcement, she attempted to justify the decision to fund, train and employ Al Queda to defeat the Soviets in Afghanistan. In the same argument she tried to justify US aggression against Pakistan. She also lied when she depicted their use of Al Queda only as a thing of the past. The implication of course is that the U.S. no longer uses these terrorist groups and mercenaries in their current aggressions in Pakistan and Syria, intent on the destruction of Iran. There is clear evidence that the US continued to use Al Queda, other terrorist groups and independent mercenaries in their destruction of Libya. They continue to use the same foreign assassins in Syria today.

Clinton's statements also have another important function. By admitting their past support of Al Queda in the open, government/corporate controlled media, she seeks to absolve the U.S. and blame other US regimes for the "mistakes that were made." Some ordinary folk in the U.S. and Europe will be duped by this clumsy media propaganda. Many others can see and know what is happening.

Today, the U.S. government is lying about the Assad government and the "protests" by the Syrian people. They are placing snipers in buildings, killing Syrians regardless of their religion or politics and blaming the Assad military for their own crimes. This is meant to demoralize the people and turn them against Assad. But it does not appear to be working. A large majority of Syrians see through this deadly charade, continue to support their president and want foreign terrorists out of their country.

There are no words to describe Hillary Clinton and the other architects and spokespersons of U.S. aggression in the Middle East outside the parlance of psychopathology and the reality of evil. One thing their murder and mayhem does show is that human beings are still capable of doing anything - and rationalizing anything. In their sick and evil minds they think that they have covered any and all contingencies that could possibly hold them accountable for their "Full Spectrum Dominance." Only time will tell.

Report: Saudis Buying Balkan Arms for Syrian Rebels

Via :   Naharnet

Source : Agence France

Presse Saudi Arabia has been supplying Syrian rebels battling the regime of President Bashar Assad with arms bought from Croatia, according to The New York Times.

Citing unnamed U.S. and western officials, the newspaper reported late Monday that the Saudi-financed "large purchase of infantry weapons" was part of an "undeclared surplus" of arms left over from the Balkan wars in the 1990s and that they began reaching anti-regime fighters via Jordan in December.

That was when many Yugoslav weapons started showing up in YouTube videos posted by rebels, it said.

Since then, The Times added, officials said "multiple planeloads" of weapons have left Croatia, with one quoted as saying the shipments included "thousands of rifles and hundreds of machine guns," as well as an "unknown quantity of ammunition."

A spokeswoman for the Croatian Foreign Ministry told The Times that, since the start of the Arab Spring, the Balkan country had not sold any weapons to either Saudi Arabia or the Syrian rebels. Saudi and Jordanian officials meanwhile declined to comment, the newspaper added.

The Times said Washington's role, if any at all, was unclear.

However, it quoted one senior U.S. official as describing the shipments as "a maturing of the opposition's logistical pipeline."

Rebels have been fighting Assad's regime since an uprising against his rule erupted in March 2011 and now control large parts of the country, especially in the north. According to the United Nations, the fighting has claimed 70,000 lives.

On Monday, Syria's opposition canceled a planned boycott of an international conference on the conflict, to be held in Rome on Thursday, after appeals from Britain and the United States.

The Syrian National Coalition said Saturday it was withdrawing from the 11-nation meeting and planned visits to Washington and Moscow in protest at the world's silence over the mounting civilian death toll in Syria.

Syria: European Union Snubs the Terrorist, Sectarian and Seditious Plans of the UK

Source :   Modern Tokyo Times

The United Kingdom faced a major setback when the European Union overwhelmingly rejected plans to funnel military arms to sectarian terrorists in Syria. Germany and over twenty other European nations rejected the demands of the British government. Despite this, the British Foreign Secretary tried to spin the final outcome because William Hague claimed to have achieved forward momentum. William Hague stated this despite nearly every European Union nation disagreeing with his desired terrorist rat lines.

It must be stated that the United Kingdom alongside other nations like America, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, were all responsible for arming international jihadists in the 1980s and early 1990s in Afghanistan. The United Kingdom also helped to create the “sectarian nightmare” of Iraq after joining the US led invasion of this nation. Following on from this, more than half the Christian population fled Iraq. Then the United Kingdom assisted America, France and international jihadists in Libya, whereby many Gaddafi loyalists and black Africans were massacred in the ensuing chaos which followed outside meddling. The upshot of the Libya debacle is yet another failed state like Afghanistan and Iraq whereby central power is very limited.

The government of the United Kingdom and the morals of William Hague are laid out in the open because of the friendly relations with Saudi Arabia and other feudal monarchs in the Gulf. After all, in Saudi Arabia apostates to Christianity face the death penalty, no non-Muslim places of worship are allowed, old men can marry young girls of 8 and 9 years of age, women face being whipped if they don’t cover up from head to toe – and a host of other brutal realities. However, this doesn’t concern William Hague and the government based in London because their only concern is to sell more military arms in order to prop up “institutional Talibanization in Saudi Arabia.”

Images of minorities being beheaded in Syria, countless alliances between Al Qaeda factions of various different Islamist groups and the Free Syrian Army (FSA), car bombings, cleansing of religious minorities, killing journalists – and a host of other brutal realities – doesn’t hit the radar in the United Kingdom. Instead, the British government desires to side with the forces of sedition, sectarianism and terrorism.

In a twist of “unreality” and “ridiculous logic” the British government is worried about the rise of British jihadists going to Syria in order to kill religious minorities and cause mayhem. Yet, instead of supporting government forces in Syria which are fighting international jihadists and terrorists throughout this nation; William Hague refuses to pin the blame on Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, for supporting terrorism and sectarianism. Therefore, the United Kingdom wants to support “a mythical peace force” in Syria in order to further pressure the Syrian government while this nation faces the daily threat of international terrorism.

The Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn stated that “With more arms, there are more killed, more atrocities.” Likewise, apart from France and Italy which sided with the British point of view – all the other European Union nations rejected the stance of William Hague. Indeed, even France is much more lukewarm now because of events in Mali. Given this reality, the view of the Luxembourg Foreign Minister was shared by Germany and more than 20 other European nations. This reality highlights how out of touch the British government is.

Guido Westerwelle, the German Foreign Minister, stated that Germany was against lifting the military arms embargo because “That would lead to a further escalation of violence and many more victims.”

The German media group Deutsche Welle reports that “The arms ban imposed by the EU, the US and other countries has been porous right from the start. Qatar and Saudi Arabia, in particular, are said to be supplying the rebels with money and arms. To what extent Turkey is also supporting the opposition is not clear, says Brzoska. Furthermore, Lebanese arms dealers are smuggling material into Syria. Brzoska also noted that secret supplies are channeled to the rebels from the West. “Already deliveries are coming from Western intelligence services, but not much is known about them.”

It is essential that a diplomatic solution is found because every day Syrians are being killed because of the meddling of outside nations. The situation needs to be contained by honest brokers and not by the threat of military force. Iraq and Lebanon are feeling the regional convulsions and Jordan is alarmed by Islamists at home. Similarly, many Tunisian jihadists are using the terrorist angle in order to crush secular forces at home – including killing a senior secular politician – while causing mayhem in Syria and Algeria. Therefore, it is essential that the United Kingdom is sidelined and that nations sponsoring the carnage in Syria are forced to stop their brutal actions.

http://www.dw.de/eu-controversy-over-arming-syrian-rebels/a-16609989

leejay@moderntokyotimes.com

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Israel instructs Obama: “Iranian and Syrian Sanctions are Not Painful Enough!”

Source : 

On 3/26/2013 Iran is expected to meet other world powers in Astana, Kazakhstan to discuss its nuclear program. Discussions that the occupiers of Palestine fervently hope will not be successful. It is toward this end that their key demand this week to the US Congress, the White House and the European Union is “to cast responsibility on the Iranians by blaming them for the talks’ failure in the clearest terms possible.”

According to the Al- Monitor of 3/19/13, Israel also demands that the countries meeting in Kazakhstan “make it perfectly clear that slogans such as ‘negotiations can’t go on forever’ are their marching orders to the White House, and they want the Kazakhstan attendees to act “so severely that the Iranians realize that they face a greater threat than just Israeli military action.” “The message must be that this time the entire west, behind Israel’s leadership, is contemplating the launch of a massive military action.” Unsaid is that “the entire West” is expected to confront Iran militarily while Tel Aviv’s forces will mop up Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Syria if necessary.

Pending the above arrangements, Israel this week is further demanding that the Obama White House issue another Executive Order dramatically ratcheting up the US-led Sanctions against Iran and Syria while it prepares for a hoped for “ game changing international economic blockade, including no-fly zones enforced by NATO.

To achieve yet another lawyer of severe sanctions, and at the behest of AIPAC, a “legislative planning” meeting was called by Congressman Eliot Engel, who represents New Yorks 17th District (the Bronx) and who is the Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Ros-Lehtinen (Florida’s 27th District), Chair of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa. The session was held in a posh Georgetown restaurant and participant’s included representatives from AIPAC, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain plus half a dozen Congressional staffers.

Congressman Engel has co-sponsored virtually every anti-Arab, anti-Islam, anti- Palestinian, anti-Iran, and anti-Syrian Congressional broadside since he entered Congress a quarter-century ago. His campaign literature last fall stated: “I am a strong supporter of sanctions against those who repeatedly reject calls to behave as responsible nations. (Israel excepted-ed). I have authored or helped author numerous bills which have been signed into law to impose sanctions against rogue states including Iran and Syria.” Ros-Lehtinen and Engel led all members with AIPAC donations on the House side in last fall’s Congressional elections. They are ranked number one and two respectively as still serving career recipients of Israel-AIPAC’s “indirect” campaign donations.

Some Congressional operatives accuse Rep. Ros-Lehtinen of being a bit lazy and neglecting the bread and butter needs of her Florida constituents. But others argue that it depends on which constituents one has in mind. Her election mailings and her Congressional website claim that the Congresswoman “led all Congressional efforts tirelessly to generate votes to block what she views as anti- Israel resolutions offered at the former UN Commission on Human Rights.”

A big fan of US-led sanctions against Iran and Syria, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen introduced the Iran Freedom Support Act on January 6, 2005, which increased sanctions and expanded punitive measures against the Iranian people until the Iranian regime has dismantled its nuclear plants. Rep. Ros-Lehtinen also introduced H.R. 957, the Iran Sanctions Amendments Act, which she claims “will close loopholes in current law by holding export credit agencies, insurers, and other financial institutions accountable for their facilitation of investments in Iran and sanction them as well.” In addition, H.R. 957 seeks to impose liability on parent companies for violations of sanctions by their foreign entities. She also co-sponsored H.R 1357 which requires “U.S. government pension funds to divest from companies that do any business with any country that does business with Iran.” Her campaign literature states that, “She was proud to be the leading Republican sponsor of H.R. 1400, the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act. This bill applies and enhances a wide range of additional sanctions.”

In addition, last year Illeana introduced H.R. 394, which enlarges US Federal Court Jurisdiction regarding claims by American citizens their claims in U.S. courts. Unclear is whether she realizes that one consequence of her initiative would be to open even wider US courtroom doors to Iranian-Americans and Syria-Americans who today are being targeted and damaged by the lady’s ravenous insatiable craving for civilian targeting economic sanctions. But Ileana and Elliot appear to be fretting.

The easons are several and they include the fact that the US-led sanctions have failed to date to achieve the accomplishments they were designed to produce. These being to cripple the Iranian economy, provoke a popular protest among the Iranian people over inflation and scarcity of food and medicines, weaken Iran as much as possible before adopting military measures against it, and, most essentially, achieving regime change to turn the clock back to those comfortable days of our submissive, compliant Shah.

Zionist prospects for Syria aren’t any better at the moment. Tel Aviv’s to intimidate the White House into invading Syria have not worked. Plan A has failed miserably according to the Israeli embassy people attending the Engel-Ros Litinen’s informal conflab. Neither did the “how about we just arm the opposition” plan that originated last year with David H. Petraeus and was supported by Hillary Clinton while being pushed by AIPAC. The goal was to create allies in Syria that the US and Israel could control if Mr. Assad was removed from power. Moreover, the White House believes that there are no good options for Obama. It has vetoed 4 recent Israeli proposals including arming the rebels and is said to believe that Syria is already dangerously awash with “unreliable arms.”

The recent shriveling in Israeli prospects for a dramatic Pentagon intervention in Syria reflect White House war weariness. And also Israel’s predilection to bomb targets itself in Syria, as it did recently to assassinate a senior Iranian officer in the Quds force of the Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Hassan Shateri. Contrary to the false story that Israel attacked a missiles convoy, some unassembled equipment was damaged but that was not the primary target according to Fred Hof, a former U.S. State Department official. Gen. Shateri was.

Making matters worse for Tel Aviv, the Israeli military is reportedly becoming skittish due to its deteriorating political and military status in the region and its troops have recently completed subterranean warfare drills to prepare them for a potential clash with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the Jerusalem Post reported on 2/20/13. “Today during training, we simulated a northern terrain, that included what we might encounter,” Israeli Lt. Sagiv Shoker, commander of a military Reconnaissance Unit of the Engineering Corps, based at the Elikim base in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon explained. Shoker added that his units spent a week focused on how to approach Hezbollah’s alleged underground bunkers and tunnels in South Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley quietly and quickly. Israeli forces commander Gantz has been complaining recently to the Israeli cabinet that Hezbollah Special Forces are gaining much valuable experience in Syria fighting highly skilled and motivated al Nusra jihadists and his troops may not be prepared to face them on the battlefield if a conflict erupts. It has been known since 2006 that Israeli soldiers “are having motivation deficits” as Gantz and others have complained.

Algerian army kill eight militants in east

Source :   Xinhua

ALGIERS, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- A total of eight militants were killed Saturday morning by the Algerian army in Timzrit of Boumerdes province, some 50 km east of the capital Algiers, official APS news agency reported.

Citing a security source, APS said the militants, who are yet to be identified, were killed during a search operation conducted by the National Army forces.

A load of Kalashnikovs and ammunition were confiscated in this operation, which is still going on, the source added.

Although security has improved in the North African nation compared with that of the 1990s, some eastern regions, including the provinces of Tizi Ouzou and Boumerdes, still witness clashes between security forces and terror groups.

N.Korea warns US forces of "destruction" ahead of war drills:

Source : Voice of Russia

North Korea on Sunday warned the top US military commander stationed in South Korea that his forces would "meet a miserable destruction" if they go ahead with scheduled military drills with South Korean troops, North Korean state media said.

Pak Rim-su, chief delegate of the North Korean military mission to the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom, gave the message by phone to Gen. James Thurman, the commander of the US Forces Korea, KCNA news agency said.

It came amid escalating tension on the divided Korean peninsula after the North's third nuclear test earlier this month, in defiance of U.N. resolutions, drew harsh international condemnation.

A direct message from the North's Panmunjom mission to the U.S. commander is rare.

North and South Korea are technically still at war after their 1950- 53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

The U.S.-South Korean Combined Forces Command is holding an annual computer-based simulation war drill, Key Resolve, from March 11 to 25, involving 10,000 South Korean and 3,500 US troops.

Russia Warns of Mali Conflict ‘Escalation’

Vesti Kavkaza

Moscow is calling on the international community to step up its efforts in Mali to prevent the conflict there spreading throughout the region, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN special envoy to the Sahel region, Romano Prodi, discussed the ongoing fighting in the west African country in Moscow on Thursday.

French troops went into Mali last month to help the African state’s army battle Islamist rebels.

French and Malian troops fought Islamists on the streets of Gao, in Mali’s desert north, on Thursday, just weeks before Paris plans to withdraw some of its 4,000 troops in the country.

Afghan soldiers to train in Georgia

Source : Vesti Kavkaza

Georgian Defense Minister Irakly Alasania met Afghan Defense Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi at the NATO headquarters in Brussels. They discussed the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, security responsibility and training, Trend reports.

Alasania noted that Georgian peacekeepers will help Afghan soldiers after 2014. The minister offered to train Afghan security officers at Georgian education centers. Mohammadi thanked Georgia for support and said that the soldiers will visit Georgia for training.

How to save Libya from ‘Somalization’?

Source : Voice of Russia

January 2013, France sold 50 patrol boats to Libya in a move followed by Italy donating 20 armed personnel carriers to its former colony. In another development, a UK warship is due to enter waters off Libya in April 2013. Destroying the Jamahiriya, the EU began to arm the legally incompetent government of the country that is already on the verge of fragmentation that may occur in line with the Somali scenario.

Actually, the government, the power bodies and the army act as nominal structures in modern-day Libya. In reality, the territory of the country is divided between a whole array of groups formed in accordance with territorial, tribal, religious and other aspects. The new regime, endorsed by the West’s military efforts, is unable to keep the country from being disintegrated, says Rifayat Sayyed Ahmed of the Center for Strategic Studies in Cairo.

"As a matter of fact, the country is now being ruled by 45,000 well- armed and well-trained volunteers, who only report to al-Qaeda and The Justice and Construction Party, the Muslim Brotherhood’s political party in Libya. Western commentators prefer to call these volunteers militiamen, while those who were known as revolutionaries disappeared and dissolved into militiamen’s ranks. Their ideology boils down to the lust for power and distribution of oil resources. We got an extremely militarized and bellicose community of potential terrorists in Northern Africa, something that adds significantly to the collapse of Libya’s statehood."

The simplified variant of the current state of affairs in Libya is as following. In Benghazi, the capital of the oil-rich Cyrenaica region, local elites act on an autonomous basis, while the town of Bani Walid is ruled by Gaddafi supporters. The industrial district of Misrata seeks to obtain the status of an independent enclave, with tribes from western Libya’s Tripolitania region sitting on a political fence. As for the government, it is based in the capital Tripoli. There are smaller powerhouses with well-armed volunteers in each and every region of Libya.

Many analysts liken the current situation in Libya to the latest events in Somalia, where a civil war between the dictatorial regime of Mohammed Siad Barre and the opposition started in 1988. Shortly after, this revolution was transformed into a full-fledged inter-tribal war that is still under way. The scenario of Libya being turned into a second Somalia is rather likely, Sergei Seryogichev of the Moscow- based Middle East Institute told the Voice of Russia on Friday.

"Generally speaking, the main problem in Libya is the absence of a single centralized power, Seryogichev said. In other words, a new dictator is needed so that he can replace the late Gaddafi, Seryogichev added, citing the West’s failed attempts to transfer its democratic model to Libya. Meanwhile, various political and tribal groups in Libya continue to capitalize on this model, pursuing their own selfish interests."

According to Seryogichev, speaking of democracy in Libya is irrelevant because the level of the country’s socio-economic development is on a par with the level related to medieval Europe’s feudal fragmentation period. Theoretically, Libya could be turned into a federate nation, a scenario that Seryogichev says will almost certainly see the continuation of a tribal war there. In the end, all this may lead to the international community losing Libya as a unified state.

Another option is to send occupation troops to Libya, a scenario that will never see the light of day. The West is unwilling to dispatch troops to Libya, where they desperately tried to retain power, suffering huge losses in the course of a guerrilla war. This means that only two variants may sadly be in place in Libya in the near future, namely, a dictatorship or the Somali scenario.

US Tested New Weapon, No Meteor in Chelyabinsk: Russian Politician

Source : http://www.almanar.com

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the head of the Russian Liberal-Democratic Party, said Friday that no meteor fell in the Urals – the US “has tested a new weapon” over the region, he claimed.

“You’re like some primitive tribe. What meteorite?” he said, adding that space is a “universe that has its own laws... When something falls – it’s man- made,” Russia Today news website quotes him as explaining.

Earlier in the week, US Secretary of State John Kerry reportedly tried and failed to reach Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov by telephone for two consecutive days. The State Department said that Kerry wanted to discuss the recent North Korean nuclear test, as well as the conflict in Syria.

However, Zhirinovsky claimed that the top US diplomat “wanted to warn Lavrov about the provocation and that it may affect Russia,” RIA Novosti reported.

On Thursday, Moscow confirmed that on February 12 it had received Washington’s request to organize an urgent phone conversation between Kerry and Lavrov. The Foreign Ministry said, however, that State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland was “inaccurate with her statements” regarding their inability to get in touch with Lavrov for two days.

“Unfortunately, the conversation could not be held because of the intensive schedule of the Russian foreign minister and his working tour to African countries,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alexander Lukashenko said.

EU launches military training mission in Mali

Source : The Daily Star

BRUSSELS: European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels are officially launching a mission to train the military in the African country of Mali.

The first people in the mission - about 70 - have already been sent to Mali so that they could begin working as advisers as soon as Monday's decision was made. EU officials say military instructors will be deployed before the end of March and training will start in April.

The mission is designed to help the government of Mali maintain control of the country.

French and African troops are working to wrest control of the vast northern part of the country from Islamic radicals and other rebel groups.

Is it too late to avert a Cold War?

Source : Voice of Russia

Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies at New York University and professor emeritus of politics at Princeton University, has given a breakdown of key problems in US-Russia relations that could eventually bring about a second Cold War.

In his article, the Russia expert draws the attention to an emerging crisis in Washington’s relations with Moscow, which he says have been unfolding Cold War-like ever since the 1990s. And the fault lies with the US, the pundit stresses.

“The recent spate of punitive legislation and abrogated agreements on both sides reflects a larger, and growing, antagonism,” Mr. Cohen writes, pointing to possible repercussions to America, one of which is less support from Russia in such vital areas of US national security as North Korea, China, Afghanistan, the Middle East and anti-terror cooperation.

There are four major components to the US foreign policy that Moscow has been far from happy about. These include the NATO expansion into Eastern Europe; the so-called “selective cooperation,” which is essentially obtaining concessions from Moscow without reciprocity; “democracy promotion” in Russia, which as often as not boils down to interference with Russia’s home affairs; and the general sentiment in the Kremlin that the US just doesn’t care about Russia’s national security.

Stephen Cohen warns the White House that, if not addressed, these concerns may trigger another spat of Cold War. To fix its relationship with Russia, President Obama needs to assure Moscow that NATO will no longer seek to extend membership to the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Ukraine.

Another important step is to cooperate with the Kremlin on the US European missile shield and give it at least some guarantees of America’s goodwill. “The program is enormously expensive, plagued by technical problems and needlessly provocative,” the expert stresses, adding: “Meeting the Kremlin partway would defuse today’s most militarized issue and avoid a nuclear arms buildup on both sides.” Another good point would be to stop US funding of Russia’s political non-profits, which he says have been all but productive in promoting democracy in the country.

If these steps are taken, there are good reasons to think President Putin would respond positively to America’s rapprochement. The result could well be the post-Cold War partnership expected more than 20 years ago that got lost along the way, Mr. Cohen concludes.

Voice of Russia, Washington Post

U.S. concerned over security situation in Lebanon

Source : Xinhua  English.news.cn

BEIRUT, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly underscored Friday that the United States remains concerned over the developments in Syria that affects security situation in Lebanon.

Connelly emphasized the "U.S. concern for the current security situation in Lebanon and called on all parties to exercise restraint and respect for Lebanon's security and stability."

In a statement released by the U.S. embassy in Beirut following a meeting of the ambassador with Lebanon's army commander General Jean Qahwaji, Connelly also stressed the United States' support in strengthening the capacity of the Lebanese army, "recognizing its importance... to secure Lebanon's borders and defend the sovereignty and independence of the state."

Connelly expressed the United States' "appreciation for the efforts of the Lebanese army and the Internal Security Forces to work together to maintain calm in Lebanon."

The ambassador renewed "the commitment of the United States to a stable, sovereign and independent Lebanon."

Iran's drones would serve Washington right - Rozoff

Source : Voice of Russia

NATO continues to surround the Russian Federation with their missiles, which according to Mr. Rozoff, may soon number in the thousands and NATO also continues to aggressively seek to "integrate" country after country into their "alliance". Rick tells us why the Western media has gone quiet on Syria and comments on the fact that Iran is now producing its own drones, which were reversed engineered from captured American drones. As always Rick has his finger on the pulse.

Robles: Can you give our listeners an update on the latest happenings with NATO please?

Rozoff: Yes. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is continuing its expansion, at least its efforts to expand globally. Within the last few days we’ve seen overtures made by leading NATO officials to previously neutral countries like Ireland, Finland, Sweden in efforts to recruit them into the alliance.

The Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen is in Ireland now, but prior to departing for Ireland, which historically has been a neutral nation during the Cold War, he gave an interview to the Irish Times where he extended an invitation essentially for Ireland to join NATO as a full member.

The Deputy Commander of Allied Command Transformation, the NATO command in the United States in Norfolk Virginia, within the last week or two as well, has welcomed Finland which borders Russia, as a strategic partner of NATO and talked about the further integration of that nation into the NATO sphere of influence and military operations.

And then the commander of the military forces, the top commander in Sweden a couple of days ago made a very provocative statement to the effect that if a war ensued between Sweden and Russia (How probable is that, right?) that Sweden wouldn’t last two days against Russia’s military might and that’s why Sweden needs to be in NATO.

So, as we are seeing there is a concerted effort to consolidate North Atlantic Treaty Organization control over the entire European continent, I mean they are not going to rest until every nation has been pulled in it as a full member. So, we have that going on.

And then we have, although not formally a NATO operation, we have the French military campaign in Mali in northwest Africa with the active assistance of the US, Britain, Germany and other major NATO powers. And so, you know, just off the top of my head, I mean that’s what is going on with NATO: it is consolidating its domination of Europe and it is extending its reach outside of Europe to the point where, an official with the German Marshall Fund of the United States, recently stated that NATO is basically, I don’t want to say a three-ring circus, but something to that effect, saying that there is a ring that is Europe and there is beyond that ring Asia and Africa (this is from Mark Jacobson an Atlantasist think tank expert).

So, we see the persistence of the US dominated military bloc’s efforts to extend itself. As a matter of fact, something I don’t want to forget, the current Russian Ambassador to NATO Alexander Grushko said a couple of days ago at a meeting in NATO headquarters, that Russia would not tolerate NATO declaring itself and functioning as, I believe his words were “an international energy security guarantor”, which is another role that NATO has arrogated onto itself.

Reminder

Robles: Can you tell us anything about, there were reports last week that the infamous missile shield, including Romanian installations, was not workable? Have you heard anything about that?

Rozoff: Yes, there were reports to that effect and one wonders, you know, if these are calculated leaks or if they have any authenticity. I don’t know. But you might recall there were similar concerns expressed about the earlier George W. Bush Administration’s plans for interceptor missiles in Poland that are called ground-based midcourse interceptors. But the concerns that you’ve read or you are alluding to rather are premised on the fact that Iran is supposedly going to be able to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles that need interception in places like Romania and Poland, and I would argue that’s an absurd contention in the first place. So, the basic premises and the conclusions drawn from them would be similarly inaccurate. So, I wouldn’t give too much credence to those reports. The US is still going ahead them.

matter of fact in a recent statement by Anders Fogh Rasmussen “the NATO chieftain”, he boasted particularly about the missile defense “so called” or the interceptor missile system as being, as he put it, at the core of NATO’s defense posture.

He boasted about the deployment of 6 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Interceptor Missile Batteries to southeastern Turkey which have now come unde formal NATO command and control. And he also talked about European countries emulating or joining the US by providing warship with interceptor missile radar and with the interceptor missiles themselves.

We should keep in mind, and I don’t know how well it is known in Russia and elsewhere, is that the United States currently has 62 what are called Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers and 22 Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers, that is altogether 84 warships, that currently, at least the destroyers, can carry as many as 90 missiles apiece.

And it is precisely these ships that are now referred to as Aegis-Class or are in the process of becoming such: that is are equipped to carry, or will be carrying, standard Missile-3Interceptor Missiles of the sort that are going to be based on the ground in Poland and Romania from 2015 to 2018. But the 48 missiles that are going to be in Poland and Romania, 24 apiece, are a formidable challenge enough to Russia. But the fact that there may be several hundred, even thousands, of missiles placed on the US cruisers and destroyers is a much more serious consideration.

Robles: Can you tell us a little bit about what is going on with Syria right now? Everything’s gotten real quiet. After they’ve put those missiles in Turkey, the Patriots you just spoke about, and as we’ve said in the past in our discussions: when they go quiet something is up.

Rozoff: I know what you are talking about John. Watching old adventure films whenever the insects and the animals in the forest or the jungle became quiet, you became nervous. And a situation similar to that I’m sure is obtaining in relation to Syria.

We also have to remember though there is a changing of the guard in Washington. With the Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, who more than anyone else I’m sure has been instrumental in pushing through a campaign of regime change in Damascus, out and John Kerry replacing her as the chief foreign policy diplomat in the US, similarly with the Pentagon with Defense Secretary and with the CIA Director.

So, there may be a short reprise for Damascus, for Syria at this point until the second term Obama Administration’s foreign policy team is in place in which case we may see even mounting offensive again.

Robles: There were reports we’ve just had that Iran captured a US drone, last year, and they reverse engineered it and are now producing massive quantities of their own drones.

Rozoff: It would serve Washington right if they did, I mean it truthfully would. The US has pioneered international drone warfare, this is something it has developed over the last decade, actually over the last 12 years. It is a new form of warfare, it is global in scope, it is deadly as we know.

You were listening to an interview with Mr. Rick Rozoff the manager of the stop NATO website and mailing list.

Obama Vows To Defend Japan With U.S. Nuclear Umbrella

Source : defensenews.com

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama pledged Wednesday a “steadfast” commitment to defend Japan, including preventing nuclear attacks on its ally in the wake of North Korea’s third nuclear test, the White House said.

In a telephone call, Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discussed steps to respond to the “highly provocative violation of North Korea’s international obligations, a White House statement said.

Pyongyang triggered international outrage on Tuesday by carrying out its latest nuclear detonation in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

U.S. and South Korean monitors said the underground nuclear test was much more powerful than North Korea’s previous tests in 2006 and 2009.

Obama and Abe agreed to cooperate on tougher U.N. sanctions against North Korea.

The pair “pledged to work closely together to seek significant action at the United Nations Security Council and to cooperate on measures aimed at impeding North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” the White House said.

A Japanese foreign ministry official said separately the two leaders “agreed to work together for the prompt adoption of a new U.N. resolution on enhancing sanctions” on North Korea.

Obama also “reaffirmed that the United States remains steadfast in its defense commitments to Japan, including the extended deterrence offered by the U.S. nuclear umbrella,” according to the White House.

Abe is due in Washington for talks with Obama later this month.

He also held a telephone summit with South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak on Wednesday, agreeing to push for tougher sanctions on the North.

The U.N. Security Council, including Pyongyang’s nominal ally China, united on Tuesday to condemn the test and accuse North Korea of a “grave violation” of U.N. resolutions.

Obama, in his State of the Union address Tuesday, vowed to take “firm action” against North Korea.

New medal for drone pilots outranks Bronze Star

Source : Military Times

The Pentagon is creating a new high-level military medal that will recognize drone pilots and, in a controversial twist, giving it added clout by placing it above some traditional combat valor medals in the military’s “order of precedence.”

The Distinguished Warfare Medal will be awarded to pilots of unmanned aircraft, offensive cyber war experts or others who are directly involved in combat operations but who are not physically in theater and facing the physical risks that warfare historically entails.

The new medal will rank just below the Distinguished Flying Cross. It will have precedence over — and be worn on a uniform above — the Bronze Star with Valor device, a medal awarded to troops for specific heroic acts performed under fire in combat.

The new medal is a brass pendant, nearly two inches tall, with a laurel wreath that circles a globe. An eagle is in the center. The ribbon has blue, red and white stripes.

“This award recognizes the reality of the kind of technological warfare we are engaged in the 21st century,” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters in Washington on Wednesday.

The new medal will be awarded for specific acts, such as the successful targeting of a particular individual at a critical time.

“Our military reserves its highest decorations obviously for those who display gallantry and valor in actions when their lives are on the line and we will continue to do so,” Panetta said.

“But we should also have the ability to honor the extraordinary actions that make a true difference in combat operations,” Panetta said. “The contribution they make does contribute to the success of combat operations, particularly when they remove the enemy from the field of battle, even if those actions are physically removed from the fight.”

The service secretaries will make the final determination for awarding the Distinguished Warfare Medal.

The order of precedence came as a surprise to Doug Sterner, a military medals expert and the curator of the Military Times Hall of Valor, the largest database of military medal recipients.

“It’s got me puzzled,” Sterner said in an interview Wednesday. “I understand the need to recognize the guys at the console who are doing some pretty important things. But to see it ranking above the Bronze Star [with] V?”

Philippines: Violence escalates in mine area, 2 govt militiamen killed

Source : Asian Correspondent

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – Two government militiamen were slain Tuesday, February 12, when a group of armed men harassed their outpost and later ambushed a convoy of soldiers bringing down the slain body of a Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) member from the remote village of lBong Mal in Kiblawan, Davao del Sur Tuesday, a spokesman of the Philippine Army’s 1002nd Brigade here said.

Capt. William Rodriguez identified the slain militiamen as Arnel Remotigue and Reynaldo Templa.

Remotigue was slain by sniper fire Tuesday morning that allegedly came from the group of fugitive anti-mining tribal leader Daguil Cafeon, 1002nd Brigade commander Col. Marcos Flores Jr later told a local TV station here.

A team of soldiers transporting the dead body of Remotigue headed by Task Force Kitaco (Kiblawan-Tampakan-Columbio) Capt. Joel Wayagwag was also ambushed near Sitio Nabul in the same day resulting into the death of Templa.

Col. Flores described the incident unfortunate even as the military is now conducting hot pursuit operations against the perpetrators of the twin killings.

The military has warned residents against aiding lawless armed groups in the area.

“The incidents are indications of the strong presence of lawless armed groups who may have the access to communities around the area as their safe havens,” Capt. Rodriguez said in a statement sent to the local media here.

The fresh violence came just two weeks after Kitari Cafeon was also killed in a military raid also in Kimlawis, a village in Kiblawan, Davao del Sur where the main base camp of Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) is located.

Kitari is the younger brother of Daguil Cafeon, a Blaan tribal leader who took up arms to protest alleged encroachment of their ancestral lands by SMI.

In October last year, Daguil’s pregnant wife and their two sons were also killed in a military raid.

Also last week, residents in the violence-prone village, most of them women and elderly, held a dialogue with the military in General Santos in the presence of Marble Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez.

They complained about the presence of the military in their community and said soldiers have been pointing the muzzles of their firearms against their women and children.

The bishop has repeatedly blamed the ongoing activities of SMI for the escalation of violence in quad-boundaries of Tampakan in South Cohabit, Kiblawan in Davao del Sur, Columbio in Sultan Kudarat and Malungon in Sarangani.

Col. Flores promised to look into their complaints but insisted that the military are there to protect villagers against lawless armed group, among them the Cafeon brothers.

He again aired his appeal for the armed group led by Cafeon to surrender and face the charges filed against them.

Cafeon and his band have admitted responsibility in killing of 3 drill contractors of SMI and at least 2 company guards during the last 2 years.

Cafeon, who often gives interviews to the local media here through mobile phone, has not issued any statement owning responsibility in the slaying of the two government militiamen.

UK's Hague: Al-Qaida is biggest threat to Britain

Source : Times Republican

LONDON (AP) — Britain's foreign secretary will say that the U.K. plans to focus on bolstering human rights and the rule of law in foreign countries as part of an effort to improve intelligence-sharing and enhance security relationships in the face of the evolving threat from the al-Qaida terror network.

William Hague is to address the need to be "resolute, decisive and principled" in countering overseas terrorism in a speech Thursday at the Royal United Services Institute in London. His remarks come as recent terror attacks in Algeria and militant activity in the Sahel have drawn attention to changes in how al-Qaida members operate.

Calling al-Qaida "the greatest threat to the United Kingdom," Hague will note that the nature of the terror group's threat has changed in three ways: it is more geographically diverse, more fragmented and based "even more closely on the exploitation of local and regional issues."

"A long term, coordinated international approach is the only way we can defeat terrorism," Hague will say, according to excerpts of his speech released in advance by the Foreign Office. "The bulk of our effort to counter terrorism is now overseas where terrorists train and plan for attacks in the West. We cannot do it without working with other countries."

To make that cooperation possible, Hague will say that more must be done to improve respect for human rights and international norms in some countries where intelligence could be shared. He also will detail how Britain must work to ensure that information is gleaned and shared in ways that are consistent with the U.K.'s laws and values.

"When we detect a terrorist plot originating in a third country, we want to be in a position to share information to stop that planning, and do it in a way that leads to the arrest, investigation and prosecution of the individuals concerned in accordance with our own legal obligations, and with their human rights respected at every stage," Hague is expected to say. "We need to have a coherent approach that is sustainable for the long term, that upholds our laws and has safeguards, and that works to strengthen the ability of other countries to observe human rights and meet their own obligations.

Hague will argue that choosing to disengage with countries lacking the safeguards to share information in such a way could put British citizens at greater risk of a terror attack. Instead, he will propose sharing intelligence "in a carefully controlled way" while developing a more comprehensive approach to respecting human rights.

"This is a framework... to ensure that our counter-terrorism work support justice and the rule of law as well as our security, with the goal of creating the long term conditions for better observance of human rights in countries that have a poor record and where the threat from terrorism is strong," Hague will tell the audience at RUSI.

The approach for "justice and human rights partnerships" will differ country by country, but focus on states where a threat to U.K. security exists alongside weaknesses in law enforcement, human rights and criminal justice infrastructure.

They will include helping overseas security services improve compliance with the law and human rights, working with local authorities to better build cases on evidence rather than confession, supporting prosecutors and judges to ensure they can process terrorism cases through their courts, and working to improve and monitor conditions in detention facilities so that convicted terrorists can be held securely and treated in line with human rights standards