Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Classified report: Russia tied to blast at U.S. embassy

The Washington Times is reporting that " Russia’s military intelligence (GRU) was responsible for a bomb blast that occurred at an exterior wall of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, in September." According to the Washington Times, the highly classified report about the Sept. 22 incident was described to the paper by two U.S. officials who have read it. They said the report supports the findings of the Georgian Interior Ministry, which traced the bombing to a Russian military intelligence officer. This is just more evidence that Putin and the Nu-Soviets are not friends of the United States and will resort to cold war tactics to advance their cause.


Putin resents the fact the United States supports and trains the Georgian military and if it wasn't for that support, Putin would have recaptured the former Soviet state. Ever since the "Rose Revolution" and the resignation of former Communist Eduard Shevardnadze in 2003, the Republic of Georgia has been in the cross-hairs of Nu-Soviet aggression. Russian troops invaded the Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in 2008 after skirmishes broke out between Georgian and Russian forces in South Ossetia. To this day, Russian troops remain in the provinces.


READ ENTIRE WASHINGTON TIMES ARTICLE

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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Iran threatens to strike US and NATO assets in Turkey


Turkey is reportedly ready to send troops into Syria to set up a buffer-zone to protect Syrian protesters. Several thousand Syrians have fled into southern Turkey fearing a military assault by President Assad's murdering armed forces, but Turkey now fears that number to increase exponentially. Syria's military has moved into a village near the border with Turkey causing more Syrians to flee the violence. The death toll of Syrian protesters is climbing near the 2,000 mark, which Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has finally condemned. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has expressed his concerns about Turkish intervention in a meeting with Iranian Ayatollah Khamenei, which prompted the Iranian Ayatollah to warn Turkey not to provide any territory to NATO, otherwise it would strike U.S. and NATO targets on Turkish soil.


Iranian warships and submarines have been deployed in the Red Sea and are said to be tracking the movements of United States aircraft carriers. Currently, the USS Enterprise and USS George H. W Bush are patrolling the the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The United States Navy has a huge concentration of naval missile interceptor assets in the area, and the Los Angeles-class USS Bremerton nuclear-powered attack submarine off Bahrain opposite Iran. In early June, the United States Navy deployed the USS Bataan amphibian air carrier strike vessel opposite Syria's Mediterranean coast with 2,000 marines, 6 war planes, 15 attack helicopters, including new V-22 Ospreys, and 27 choppers for landing forces aboard.


To make matters worse, Lebanon braces for the U.N. probe into the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which is reportedly going to be released within days. If this report names members of Hezbollah and the Syrain regime, new violence could break out in Lebanon. I think it's reasonable to assume that if hostilities break out between Turkey/U.S. and Iran, Israel will be drawn into the conflict. Iran will do all they can (including war) to keep Assad propped up, because Syria is their most important ally in the region. Iran's Great Prophet Mohammad War Games VI, which was launched June 27, should be seen as a warning to Turkey, U.S. and Israeli leaders.


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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Obama wants credit for cleaning up ‘big mess’??


President Obama told supporters at a fundraiser in Miami on Monday night that he deserves credit for cleaning up the mess he inherited. The new talking point of the this administration is that Obama has created 2 million new jobs. Let's assume for a minute they are right and then let's examine the new jobs. The quality of the jobs the U.S. is creating right now in terms of pay, benefits, hours, and skills leaves a lot to be desired. Half of last month's new jobs came from a single employer — McDonald's. 90% of the new jobs created in the private sector since Obama's immaculation have been created by temporary job agencies.


According to Rightpundits.com, a new study by Ohio State economists, Timothy Conley and Bill Dupor, concludes that the Barack Obama Stimulus program from 2009 may have saved 450,000 state and local government jobs, but destroyed one million private sector jobs in the process. Known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the program was promised to stem the rising unemployment rate following the financial crash. The Obama administration trotted out endless officials from the White House saying that the nearly $1 Trillion dollars in Federal stimulus would keep the unemployment rate below 8%. Not only did the rate exceed 10%, combined with the long-term unemployed and under-employed, about one in four adult, working-age Americans either have no job or are barely working just to make ends meet.


Most of the stimulus money went into propping up state and local school systems, as well as help propping up state Medicare outlays. Less than 10% went for building highways, bridges, etc, those much talked about shovel-ready infrastructure. The ARRA was promised to “save or create” some 2 to 3 Million jobs. But according to this latest study, the number is much lower, around 443,000 government jobs, most being just temporary jobs at that. The counter-effect of the ARRA stimulus program was the loss of some 772,000 HELP service jobs. HELP standing for Health, Education, Leisure and Professional. In the area of Goods-producing, the loss was 362,000 jobs. In other words, the Obama stimulus was an utter failure, as others and myself have been saying all along. The economy is still mired in uncertainty and volatility. Today′s housing news on new home starts shows a major decline in the past year of around 25%. The housing sector has always been the bell-ringer for the entire consumer market.


The new study published by the Ohio State economists cuts through the talking points and exposes the real numbers. The number of unemployed Americans at present is 13.9 million and the unemployment rate is a misleading 9.1 percent. The Labor Department's statistics don't include the underemployed and those who have stopped looking for work. This alternative measure creates a much higher number and it hovers around 16%-17%. You want credit for these numbers Mr. President?? I will give you all the credit you deserve, your policies didn't create this financial mess, but they have made it worse. It is your policies sir that are driving our economy into a double-dip recession. If Obama's true record is exposed, he should lose his re-election bid by 10 points.


IN A RELATED ARTICLE BY CNSNEWS.COM--READ THIS. 1.9 Million Fewer Americans Have Jobs Today Than When Obama Signed Stimulus

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Friday, June 10, 2011

The death of NATO


The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 as a combined military force to stem the Communist tide in Europe. The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, famously stated the organization's goal was "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down" and for next 40 years that goal was pretty much attained. In 1966, France being France, President Charles de Gaulle pulled France out of NATO's military command and relied on it's own nuclear deterrent to protect them against the Soviet threat. During the decades long Cold War, NATO successfully kept the Soviets and the Warsaw Pact from invading the democratic nations of Europe. In the early 80's, President Ronald Reagan made the controversial decision to place GLCM cruise missiles and the Pershing II missiles in Europe to counter the Warsaw Pact's nuclear capabilities. The first cracks in European support for NATO began to emerge and it wasn't until the USSR shot down a Korean airliner in 1983 did it galvanize support for the missile deployment.

The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact in 1991 removed the de facto main adversary of NATO and this was the beginning of the end for NATO. The end of the Cold War caused a strategic re-evaluation of NATO's military purpose, nature and tasks. In practice this ended up entailing a gradual (and still ongoing) expansion of NATO to Eastern Europe, much to the chagrin to the former Soviet Union. The first military operation carried out by NATO was the bombing of Bosnia and Herzegovina in August of 1995 to undermine the Bosnian Serb Army. This operation was considered successful in regards to a military fighting unit, as it involved 400 NATO aircraft and 5,000 personnel from 15 nations. The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 marked the second major combat operation in its history and again was considered successful by military standards.

In 2001, the United States and the United Kingdom attacked the Taliban led government in Afghanistan to root out the al-Qaeda terrorist network. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was established by the UN Security Council at the end of December 2001 to secure Kabul and the surrounding areas. NATO assumed control of ISAF in 2003 and the ISAF initially included troops from 42 countries. The military roles and quality of NATO troops has been controversial during this conflict. NATO member states have what is called "national caveats", which is a restriction that NATO members place on the use of their forces in combat. These caveats have created opportunities for the insurgents in parts of Afghanistan, while also causing friction within NATO between those nations willing to send their soldiers to the dangerous parts of the country (to fight), and those not willing to do so.

During the Libyan uprising against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi by rebel forces, NATO was once again called upon to take military action against a non-European threat. NATO began enforcing UN resolution 1973 in March of 2011, which calls for a ceasefire, and authorizes military action to protect civilians from Gaddaf'si troops. Divisions within the alliance have surfaced because only eight of twenty-eight member states have actually participated in combat operations. France and Britain have taken the lead role in combat operations, while the United States military continues to fade into the background. NATO has become weak politically and militarily and it really cannot be seen as a cohesive fighting force any longer. Europe has been underfunding its defense capabilities for more than a decade and their political leadership are becoming more like Neville Chamberlain every day. NATO has a long-standing self-obligation for all members to spend at least 2% of their gross national product (GNP) on defense. Currently, only five of 28 members fulfill that obligation and this trend is expected to continue.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates stated today (June 10th 2011) that NATO faces a "dim, if not dismal" future. Secretary Gates went on to say, "The blunt reality is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the U.S. Congress -- and in the American body politic writ large -- to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defense." Without US funding, NATO is finished as a fighting force. There are three budgets within NATO: one civil and two military. Each NATO member country pays an amount into the budgets based on an agreed cost-sharing formula. The United States contributed about $470 million directly to NATO to support its three commonly funded budgets in 1997. In 2010, for the first time in its 60-year history, NATO was operating in the red with a $700 million deficit. Because of a lack of will and funding, the mightiest military alliance in the history of the world will be no more. Rest in peace NATO!

****ITALY BREAKS RANK WITH NATO***** READ STORY HERE

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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Is Obama finally going to take action against Syria?


DEBKAFILE is reporting the Obama administration is ready to step-up to the plate and finally take action against Syria for the murderous crackdown on protesters. The death toll is reported to be around one thousand, but I suspect it’s quite higher than that as a mass grave has been found near Deraa. Citizens from the southern city of Deraa say hundreds of Syrians are unaccounted for since a crackdown on protests began on March 18th and intensified when the army moved in on April 25th. President Obama is said to be readying sanctions on Syrian dictator Assad and plans to recall the American Ambassador Robert Ford for consultations. Obama has also decided to give the IAEA authorization to report Syria to the UN Security Council in regards to Syria’s apparent violation in building a plutonium reactor for military purposes at Deir A-Zour.

President Obama has been tardy when it comes to making decisive decisions in the foreign policy realm. Obama failed twice during the Iranian election fraud protests and was seen as weak in his response. Obama’s wavering response in Egypt left the State Department scrambling in trying to stay on the same page as the White House. In the end, longtime ally President Mubarak was essentially thrown under the proverbial bus, which helped pave the way for the Muslim Brotherhood to fill the leadership vacuum. When the protests erupted in Libya, Obama was once again asleep at the wheel…or should I say asleep at the golf cart wheel on the 19th hole. The President dithered while the world watched as the protesters were routed by Col. Gaddafi’s henchmen. At a time, there was a small window of opportunity when the protesters could have captured Tripoli, but Obama waited until that opportune time had passed.

Whether or not Obama’s Syrian strategy will be successful remains to be seen, but I think more action is required. President Obama needs to put pressure on the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for President Assad and his brother Maher Assad for murder. Strong unilateral sanctions need to be applied to Syria. If the United States will actually lead in this arena, I surmise most of the International community will follow suit. The United Nations must be avoided for the most part because China and Russia will veto any meaningful sanctions. When it comes to Iran or their Syrian ally, Obama appears to be gun-shy about making real decisions. I appreciate the fact that Iran and Syria can make trouble for our national security interests in that region if we push too hard, but the failure to act because of that fact is seen as weak and is very dangerous. The Obama White House is currently in 2012 campaign mode and I’m confident most of the decisions they make will have political calculations aimed at the election. That could be good for our foreign policy because Obama will want to look decisive instead of looking like the dithering wimp he has been for the past two and half years.

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Monday, May 2, 2011

Pakistan helped Bin Laden, Bush-era intel may have lead to hit


I think there is now no question that the Pakistani ISI helped Osama Bin Laden hide from U.S. forces. It has always been suspected Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISID) supported terrorist elements, but now the proof is in. Bin Laden was eventually tracked down and killed in a compound located just a few hundred yards from Pakistan’s prestigious military academy in Abbotabad and I don’t think that was by accident. In December 2009, the government of Tajikistanwarned the United States that efforts to catch bin Laden were being thwarted by corrupt Pakistani spies. According to a United States diplomatic dispatch, General Abdullo Sadulloevich Nazarov, a senior Tajik counterterrorism official, told the Americans that “many” inside Pakistan knew where bin Laden was. The document revealed: “In Pakistan, Osama Bin Laden wasn’t an invisible man, and many knew his whereabouts in North Waziristan, but whenever security forces attempted a raid on his hideouts, the enemy received warning of their approach from sources in the security forces.” It's time Congress takes a look at our relationship with Pakistan and withdraws all economic aid that goes to this country.


Information is now being released showing the Bush administrations use of enhanced interrogation techniques on GITMO detainees may have been the genesis behind the intel that resulted in the Bin Laden hit. U.S. officials say some of the initial strands of intelligence that eventually led to Sunday’s military operation came from terror detainees captured after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. We have heard over the years that water-boarding provided useful intel that saved lives and prevented future terrorist attacks. We know that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was water-boarded many times and now it’s being revealed he may have provided the name of the Bin Laden courier, the same courier that was tracked to Osama’s compound in Pakistan. President Obama is taking credit for the killing of Bin Laden and to some degree it’s deserved, but credit needs to be extended to the Bush administration as well. There will be those that will deny water-boarding had anything to do with the death of Osama Bin Laden, but I think history will show a different story. Ultimately, most of the credit goes to the men and women of our military and intelligence services. They are the true heroes!


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Sunday, May 1, 2011

OSAMA BIN LADEN DEAD. Al Qaeda Threatens Nuclear Hellstorm if Bin Laden is caught


According to Fox News, Osama Bin Laden


has been killed by US forces. The US


has been awaiting DNA results before going


public.


Last week it was reported at the


Statesman.net WASHINGTON, 25 APRIL: Al Qaida terrorists have threatened to unleash a “nuclear hellstorm” on the West if their leader and the world's most-wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden, is nabbed.

A senior Al Qaida commander has said that the terror group has stashed away a nuclear bomb in Europe which will be detonated if bin Laden is ever caught or assassinated, according to new top secret files made public by the Internet whistleblower WikiLeaks. The documents are secret details of the background to capture each of the 780 people held at or have passed through the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, along with their medical condition and the information they have provided during interrogations. The documents have been released to select European and US news outlets and reveal that the day 9/11 terror killings took place in the USA, the core of Al Qaida was concentrated in a single city of Karachi in Pakistan. The intellectual author of 11 September attacks watched the horrifying scenes of the planes crashing into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre beamed live on TV with key Al Qaida commanders at a safe house in Karachi. While in a nearby hospital the accused mastermind of the bombing of the USS' Cole off Yemen waters was recovering from a tonsillectomy, the alleged organiser of the 2002 Bali bombing was buying lab equipment for a biological weapons programme. Within a day much of the Al Qaida leadership disappeared back to Afghanistan to plan for a long war, the Washington Post reported quoting the fresh leaks on the whereabouts of the international Al Qaida terror brigade. The cache of classified military documents portray the planning of the 9/11 terror attacks and the whereabouts of its plotters including the world's most-wanted terrorist, Osama Bin Laden, and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri on that fateful day. The Guantanamo detainees are assessed “high or medium or low” in terms of their intelligence value and the threat they pose while in detention and the continued threat they might pose if released. The leaks say that four days after 11 September attacks, bin Laden visited a guest house in Afghanistan's Kanadhar province where he told his gathered Arab fighters to “defend Afghanistan against infidel invaders” and to “fight in the name of Allah”. The Intelligence report says after the 9/11 attacks began a peripatetic three weeks for bin Laden and his deputy as they criss-crossed Afghanistan handing out assignments to followers, meetings with top Taliban leadership and delegating control of Al Qaida to the group's 'shura' council, presumably because he feared being captured or killed as the US forces closed in. ‘ISI a terrorist organisation US authorities have described Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency as a terrorist organisation and considered it as much of a threat as Al Qaida and the Taliban. Recommendations to interrogators at Guantanamo Bay rank the ISI directorate alongside Al Qaida, Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon as threats, The Guardian reported quoting secret US files obtained by it. “Being linked to any of these groups is an indication of terrorist or insurgent activity,” the documents dated September 2007 said. “Through associations with these organisations, a detainee may have provided support to Al Qaida or the Taliban, or engaged in hostilities against USA or coalition forces (in Afghanistan),” the document said.

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