Wednesday, 18 September 2013

The European Union Times

10 reasons why diplomatic solution is unlikely in Syria

Posted: 14 Sep 2013 03:07 AM PDT

Over the past few days, there has been a tremendous wave of optimism that it may be possible for war with Syria to be averted. Unfortunately, it appears that a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria is extremely unlikely.
Assad is certainly willing to give up his chemical weapons, but he wants the US to accept a bunch of concessions that it will never agree to. And it certainly sounds like the Obama administration has already decided that “diplomacy” is going to fail, and they continue to position military assets for the upcoming conflict with Syria. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey are all going to continue to heavily pressure the Obama administration. They have invested a huge amount of time and resources into the conflict in Syria, and they desperately want the US military to intervene. Fortunately, overwhelming domestic and global opposition to an attack on Syria has slowed down the march toward war for the moment, but unfortunately that probably will not be enough to stop it completely. The following are ten reasons why war is almost certainly coming…
#1 Assad wants a guarantee that he will not be attacked by the United States or by anyone else before he will give up his chemical weapons.
That is extremely unlikely to happen.
#2 Assad is not going to agree to any chemical weapons deal unless the US stops giving weapons to al-Qaeda terrorists and other jihadist rebels that are fighting against the Syrian government.
That is extremely unlikely to happen.
In fact, according to the Washington Post, the US has been ramping up the delivery of weapons to jihadist rebels in Syria…
The CIA has begun delivering weapons to rebels in Syria, ending months of delay in lethal aid that had been promised by the Obama administration, according to US officials and Syrian figures. The shipments began streaming into the country over the past two weeks, along with separate deliveries by the State Department of vehicles and other gear – a flow of material that marks a major escalation of the US role in Syria’s civil war.
#3 Assad is suggesting that the Israelis should give up their weapons of mass destruction.
That is extremely unlikely to happen.
#4 The Syrian “rebels” desperately want the US military to intervene in the war in Syria. In fact, that was the entire reason for the false flag chemical weapon attack in the first place.
The “top rebel commander” is now declaring that the Free Syrian Army “categorically rejects the Russian initiative”, and he is calling on the United States to strike the Assad regime immediately.
#5 Saudi Arabia desperately wants the US military to intervene in Syria. The Saudis have spent billions of dollars to support the rebels in Syria, and they have been lobbying very hard for an attack.
#6 Qatar desperately wants the US military to intervene in Syria. Qatar has also spent billions of dollars to support the rebels in Syria, and it has been reported that “Arab countries” have even offered to pay for all of the costs of a US military operation that would remove Assad.
#7 Turkey has wanted a war which would remove Assad for a very long time. And CNN is reporting that Turkey has moved troops to the border with Syria in anticipation of an upcoming attack.
#8 Many members of the US Congress want this war. Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham are virtually foaming at the mouth, and Robert Menendez, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that he “almost wanted to vomit” after reading Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plea for peace in the New York Times.
#9 Obama does not want to look weak, and he seems absolutely obsessed with starting a war with Syria. For the moment, he has been backed into a corner diplomatically by Russia, but the Obama administration is already laying the groundwork for making it look like “diplomacy has failed”. According to CNN, US Secretary of State John Kerry is already talking about the “consequences” that will happen when the Syria deal falls apart…
Any agreement reached must be “comprehensive,” “verifiable,” “credible” and “able to be implemented in a timely fashion,” Kerry said, adding that “there ought to be consequences if it doesn’t take place.”
#10 There have been reports that US soldiers are now receiving orders to deploy to Syria. For example, the following is from a recent article by Paul Joseph Watson…
For the moment, Obama and Kerry will dance around and make it look like they are considering peace. They will try to get Congress to authorize a strike “if diplomacy fails.”
But they already know that diplomacy is going to fail. Once they are ready, Obama will declare that the conditions for war set forth in the congressional authorization have been fulfilled and then he will start raining cruise missiles down on Syria.
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Syrian special forces ready to attack USA?

Posted: 14 Sep 2013 02:48 AM PDT

Military Review website posted information from an anonymous source stating that hundreds of Syrian army special forces soldiers are currently located on the territory of the United States, ready to conduct a series of sabotage operations in case of a military aggression against Syria. They may target the country’s infrastructure.
The publication lists potential targets that can be damaged, including railways, power stations, power plants, waterworks, oil and gas terminals, and military objects, mostly air and naval bases. An anonymous source said that the diversion could be implemented in the most densely populated areas and states in order to cause maximum damage to the U.S. economy and infrastructure, simultaneously causing panic among the population. Attacks against civilians are not planned, the anonymous source at the Ministry of Defense of Syria assured. All fighters grouped in units of three to seven people are employed by the Syrian special forces “al-Qassam” and undergone an extensive training. They are equipped to carry out sabotage operations in the United States.
The source said that the Syrian leadership has chosen this strategy based on the experience of the wars in Yugoslavia, Iraq, and Libya, where the aggression was reflected from a defensive position, which doomed these countries to failure.
The Syrian special forces have a very long history, and were created back in 1958. They were trained by Soviet instructors, and later Lebanon specialists of Hezbollah. The Syrian special forces have significant experience of conducting successful operations during the Arab-Israeli conflict.
It is easy to believe that practical implementation of such a plan is possible. All the more so that in the time of a war with the opposition fighters, including through guerrilla methods, the Syrian army has only enhanced and honed its expertise in this area. In addition, the United States is one of the most vulnerable countries to sabotage operations because of the numerous and diverse immigrants flocking to the United States from all over the world. It is not that difficult for a foreign saboteur to get lost and not be in the focus of attention of the U.S. intelligence. This fact is the Achilles heel of the United States.
As for the moral aspect, the United States at this moment in history took the side of the terrorist organization Al Qaeda, and it is not a propaganda fiction. The Syrian opposition that is one of the warring sides in the Syrian conflict is mainly composed of Al- Qaeda militants. Barack Obama intended to support it by a military strike against Bashar al-Assad that, unfortunately, is an indisputable fact. Therefore, in this light technological sabotage in the United States is not perceived by the anonymous source as something immoral.
Obviously, the authenticity of this information is difficult to prove since the source referenced by Military Review wished to remain anonymous. This information does not appear in any public statements by representatives of the government or the military leadership of the Syrian Arab Republic. On the surface it looks like an information attack to intimidate the enemy.
However, the emergence of such information from official sources could cause irreparable damage to the situation in Syria that has barely stabilized. A military strike was avoided only thanks to the efforts of Russian diplomacy.
Source

NSA spy center in Vienna snooping on citizens

Posted: 14 Sep 2013 02:32 AM PDT

Concerns are growing in Austria that the US National Security Agency has established a listening post in the capital Vienna to spy on people.
Austrian opposition parties say a stately villa in a posh district of Vienna serves as a sophisticated US intelligence center, but the US Embassy in the capital claims the building is an “Open Source Center” evaluating information, The Associated Press reported on Friday.
“Whatever it is, it’s confirmation of intelligence agency activity in Vienna,” political activist Rudolf Fussi said.
Fussi stated that the Austrian government has been cooperating with a foreign intelligence service, which is a crime punishable by a prison term.
Austrian opposition parties have demanded a meeting of the National Security Council to discuss the NSA’s alleged use of the heavily guarded villa in Vienna to spy on citizens.
The building is “clearly a US intelligence center and according to our information [belongs to] the NSA,” Green party member Peter Pilz said, citing unnamed Austrian government officials.
Reports say the listening post is able to tap up to 70 percent of telecommunications in the Austrian capital.
However, the governments of the US and Austria have denied the reports.
Austrian media outlets are reporting that the US now plans to wrap up operations at the villa within a year or two because its cover has been blown.
Commenting on the development, Iranian political analyst Hamid Golpira said that probably one of the main goals of the NSA spying is to gather metadata.
“There is something else going on that everyone is not talking about so much… the concept of metadata. Perhaps, one of the main goals of this is to gather what they call big data or metadata… to analyze what they call meta-trends or major trends in society, and some of that can be used to try to figure out what people are thinking and also to figure out how to influence people’s thinking,” Golpira said.
“And also to analyze if their previous efforts to influence people’s way of thinking have been successful. That’s how some of this metadata analysis works,” he added.
“Unless there are some restraints put on this whole thing, we are heading toward a kind of total surveillance Orwellian world, as Orwell described in his book 1984, if it is not already more or less there, which is not a good thing for privacy, and it is not a good thing for a lot of issues. And it is not a good thing for people who are working for social justice if some of this surveillance is meant to undermine that,” Golpira stated.
In June, Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee, leaked two top secret US government spying programs under which the NSA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are eavesdropping on millions of American and European phone records and the Internet data from major Internet companies such as Facebook, Yahoo, Google, Apple, and Microsoft.
Snowden also revealed information about NSA espionage activities targeting friendly countries across the world.
The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, admitted in July that Snowden’s exposés have seriously damaged US ties with other countries. “There has been damage. I don’t think we actually have been able to determine the depth of that damage.”
Source

‘Monsanto Protection Act’ quietly extended by Congress

Posted: 14 Sep 2013 01:53 AM PDT

A budget provision protecting genetically-modified seeds from litigation in the face of health risks was extended for three months in an approved US House of Representatives’ spending bill on Tuesday evening.
Called “The Monsanto Protection Act” by opponents, the budget rider shields biotech behemoths like Monsanto, Cargill and others from the threat of lawsuits and bars federal courts from intervening to force an end to the sale of a GMO (genetically-modified organism) even if the genetically-engineered product causes damaging health effects.
The biotech rider first made news in March when it was a last-minute addition to the successfully-passed House Agriculture Appropriations Bill for 2013, a short-term funding bill that was approved to avoid a federal government shutdown.
The current three-month extension is part of the short-term FY14 Continuing Resolution spending bill.
The Center for Food Safety, a vocal opponent of the rider, released a statement expressing dismay that the measure once again avoided proper legislative process while usurping the power to challenge GMO products in court.
“The rider represents an unprecedented attack on US judicial review, which is an essential element of US law and provides a critical check on government decisions that may negatively impact human health, the environment or livelihoods,” they wrote. “This also raises potential jurisdictional concerns with the Senate Agriculture and Judiciary Committees that merited hearings by the Committees before its consideration.”
Following the original vote in March, President Barack Obama signed the provision into law as part of larger legislation to avoid a government shutdown. Rallies took place worldwide in May protesting the clandestine effort to protect the powerful companies from judicial scrutiny.
“It is extremely disappointing to see the damaging ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ policy rider extended in the House spending bill,” said Colin O’Neil, director of government affairs for Center for Food Safety. “Hundreds of thousands of Americans called their elected officials to voice their frustration and disappointment over the inclusion of ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ this past spring. Its inclusion is a slap in the face to the American public and our justice system.”
Largely as a result of prior lawsuits, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is required to complete environmental impact statements (EIS) to assess risk prior to both the planting and sale of GMO crops. The extent and effectiveness to which the USDA exercises this rule is in itself a source of serious dispute.
The reviews have been the focus of heated debate between food safety advocacy groups and the biotech industry in the past. In December of 2009, for example, Food Democracy Now collected signatures during the EIS commenting period in a bid to prevent the approval of Monsanto’s GMO alfalfa, which many feared would contaminate organic feed used by dairy farmers; it was approved regardless.
The biotech rider “could override any court-mandated caution and could instead allow continued planting. Further, it forces USDA to approve permits for such continued planting immediately, putting industry completely in charge by allowing for a ‘back door approval’ mechanism,” the Center for Food Safety said.
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Russia to expand Mediterranean fleet to 10 warship

Posted: 13 Sep 2013 08:03 AM PDT

Guided missile destroyer ‘Smetlivy’ leaving Sevastopol harbour.

The Russian Navy intends to build its presence in the Mediterranean Sea – particularly in the area close to Syrian shores – to up to 10 battleships, announced Admiral of the Fleet Viktor Chirkov.
“The task is crystal clear: to avoid a slightest threat to the security of the state. This is a general practice of all fleets around the world, to be there when a tension level increases. They are all going to act on operational command plan of the offshore maritime zone,” Chirkov told journalists on Friday. “Russia will be building up its Mediterranean fleet until it is deemed sufficient to perform the task set.”
Russia began military build-up in the Mediterranean in 2012, and starting from December last year the Navy established a constant presence in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea.
On May 1, 2013 all Russian battleships operating in the area were assigned to a single task force under special offshore maritime zone operation command.
Currently there are seven warships deployed in the area: landing craft carriers ‘Aleksandr Shabalin’, ‘Admiral Nevelskoy’, ‘Peresvet’, ‘Novocherkassk’ and ‘Minsk’ from Russia’s Black and Baltic Sea Fleets, as well as the escort vessel ‘Neustrashimy’, and large anti-submarine ship ‘Admiral Panteleyev’.

The Moskva missile cruiser

According to previous reports, the missile-carrying cruiser ‘Moskva’ passed the Straits of Gibraltar on September 10 and is expected to arrive at its final destination in eastern Mediterranean on September 15 or 16.
Two battleships of the Russia’s Black Fleet, guided missile destroyer ‘Smetlivy’ and landing craft carrier ‘Nikolay Filchenkov’ left their bases in Sevastopol and Novorossiysk respectively and early on Friday morning have passed the Bosphorus Strait, heading to the eastern Mediterranean.
The SSV-201 reconnaissance ship ‘Priazovye’ also reportedly joined the group in the Eastern Mediterranean in early September.
Upon the arrival of the ‘Moskva’, its commander, Sergey Tronev, will assume operative command of the task force.
Commander Admiral Viktor Chirkov also informed that more than 80 Russian battleships and support vessels are currently offshore in various parts of the global ocean.

Pacific Fleet’s large anti-submarine ship “Admiral Panteleyev”

“In time of peace Navy’s duty and main application is military service, constant naval presence in the zones of military-political tension where interests of the Russian Federation are concentrated,” Chirkov said.
Admiral Chirkov recalled that a group of ships headed by the ‘Moskva’ missile cruiser recently called into ports of Cuba and Venezuela and for the first time ever passed into the Pacific Ocean via the Panama Canal, calling into ports in Nicaragua and Panama.
Chirkov also informed that a group of 10 warships and support vessels accompanied by four nuclear icebreakers right now are training on the Northern Sea Route. This task group is headed by Russia’s most powerful battleship and the flagship of the Northern Fleet, cruiser ‘Pyotr Veliky’ (Peter the Great).

Pyotr Veliky heavy nuclear-powered cruiser standing on roadstead.

“For the first time ever all Russia’s nuclear surface ships – heavy nuclear missile cruiser ‘Pyotr Veliky’ and nuclear icebreakers ‘Yamal’, ‘Vaigach’, ‘Taimyr’ and ‘50 Let Pobedy’, were combined in to perform a joined task,” Chirkov said, adding that the icebreakers assisted the taskforce to pass the strait between the Taimyr Peninsula and the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago, and now the group is continuing to move forward to the east, crossing the Laptev Sea.
Chirkov also mentioned that a group of battleships of the Pacific Fleet headed by the missile cruiser ‘Varyag’ is currently deployed in the southern-western Pacific performing an operational readiness exercise.
“This group will take part in international exercises of the naval forces of the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and later will take part in the centenary celebration of the [Royal] Australian Navy,” said Chirkov.

Guided missile cruiser Varyag

The Russian Navy also continues to battle maritime piracy, deploying task force groups off the coasts of Somalia. In 2013 two naval task groups, one from the Northern Fleet and another from the Pacific Fleet, have been protecting sea routes near the Horn of Africa.
Russian warships accompanied 19 convoys through the dangerous waters, maintaining security of 105 vessels from 27 countries and once preventing capture of a merchant vessel.
Source

Spain’s public debt climbs to record 92.2% of GDP

Posted: 13 Sep 2013 07:49 AM PDT

Spain public debt has climbed to record 92.2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter of this year amid deteriorating financial woes.
The Bank of Spain announced on Friday that the Spanish debt for the period between April and June surpassed the government’s year-end target of 91.4 percent of GDP, reaching the unprecedented 92.2-percent level.
This is while Spain’s debt is predicted to further rise for at least three more years, with the possibility that it may even top 100 percent of its GDP, the highest level in over a century.
The development comes as the European Union country struggles to decrease one of the highest budget gaps in the eruozone and revive its failing economy.
According to the Bank of Spain, meanwhile, the public debt in the EU’s fourth largest economy surged by around 15 percent, compared to the same period last year.
The deep recession also drove the country’s unemployment rate to a record high of 27 percent in May. Official figures show that the total number of unemployed people has passed the five million mark.
Among those aged 16 to 24, the jobless rate stands at a staggering 55 percent, which has led many jobless youths to move to other countries in search of work.
Furthermore, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recently said the high unemployment rate and economic slump have caused an increase in the number of children living below poverty line in Spain.
Battered by the global financial downturn, the Spanish economy collapsed into recession in the second half of 2008.
The Spanish government has also been sharply criticized over its austerity measures which have hit the middle and working classes the hardest.
Source

Fewer Americans than ever trust govt. to handle problems: Gallup

Posted: 13 Sep 2013 07:19 AM PDT

The trust and confidence of the American public in their federal government’s ability to deal with international and domestic problems has hit a record low, a new poll reflects.
Gallup’s annual Governance survey shows that just 49 percent of Americans say they have confidence in the federal government’s ability to handle international problems, an all-time low.
The previous record low figure stood at 51 percent in 2007 during the tenure of former US president George W. Bush.
Americans in the same survey also expressed historically low levels of confidence in the federal government’s ability to handle domestic problems.
Only 42 percent of people in the survey reported such confidence, one point below the previous low of 43% in 2011.
Americans’ confidence in the federal government on domestic and international issues has trended downward throughout the 2000s and has sunk to several new lows since 2010.
According to a Pew Research poll released earlier this year, nearly three-quarters of Americans said they only sometimes or never trust the federal government to do the right thing.
Polls indicate that Americans also remain highly critical of the job Congress is doing.
Congress’ approval rating is currently at 19 percent, well below the historical average of 33% since Gallup began asking the question in 1974.
Source

North Korea launches plutonium reactor again, US says

Posted: 13 Sep 2013 06:52 AM PDT

U.S. experts say that North Korea, despite all bans, has launched the plutonium reactor again. According to the US-Korean Institute, recently taken satellite pictures show the white steam rising from the building with turbines and generators at Yongbyon.
Pyongyang previously announced its intention to renew the program for the production of weapons-grade plutonium, which was suspended in accordance with the agreement signed with the United States in 2007.
Presumably, in one year, the reactor can produce enough plutonium for a nuclear bomb. According to former U.S. State Department spokesman Joel Wit, a restart of the reactor indicates that Pyongyang continues to develop clandestine nuclear-tipped missiles.
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CIA starts arming Syrian rebels overtly

Posted: 13 Sep 2013 04:24 AM PDT

In the past two weeks the US has reportedly begun delivering arms to militants fighting the Syrian government. Washington expects the CIA to monitor the delivery so that the aid does not end up in the hands of Al-Qaeda associates.
According to the Washington Post report, after months of promises to provide aid to Syrian rebels in an ‘official’ manner, Washington has finally sanctioned open delivery of arms and munitions to anti-Assad forces – despite fears that some of the weapons could end up in the hands of Islamic fundamentalists.
Already back in April the US Secretary of State John Kerry promised that official ‘nonlethal’ aid would start flowing “in a matter of weeks.”
In May the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations had passed a bill that would allow, if signed, the Obama administration to supply arms to Syrian opposition. However, in reality it took months before the Obama administration made up its mind.
The biggest hindrance for Washington to aid Syrian rebels has always been the ever growing presence of Al-Qaeda jihadists among rebel ranks.
In the end the decision was made at a time when President Barack Obama was considering missile strikes on sovereign Syrian state pursuing the aim of ousting President Bashar Assad.
So far there has been no official comment from the CIA.
The lethal aid is primarily being channeled to fighters subordinate to General Salim Idriss, the commander of the Supreme Military Council of the rebel forces who defected from the Syrian Army last year. This faction of dissociated armed opposition groups is considered to be smaller evil if compared to other jihadist militant units with proven links to internationally recognized terrorist organizations, such as Al-Nusra Front, which is associated with the Iraqi branch of Al-Qaeda.
The CIA controls and tracks the delivery of reportedly light weapons and other munitions via countries bordering Syria, such as Turkey and Jordan. The US State Department has its own separate program of delivering vehicles and other non-lethal gear, such as communication equipment, advanced combat medical kits and high-calorie food packets to the Syrian opposition forces using the same supply channels.
“The Supreme Military Council is receiving so little support that any support we receive is a relief,” Khaled Saleh, a spokesman for the Syrian Opposition Coalition, is reported as saying.
Two-and-a-half years of ongoing bloodshed in Syria has not given a decisive advantage to either side of the conflict. In this situation American aid could give the Syrian armed rebel forces an upper hand over the government troops on the battlefield. Also, the US officials admit, the weapons supply should cheer up the rebel troops that have been suffering massive losses lately.
“They see their leadership is having some impact,” told the Washington Post the State Department’s senior adviser on assistance to Syria Mark S. Ward, responsible for coordination of nonlethal aid delivery to the Syrian rebels from Turkey.
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