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ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17933 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
 Posted: 24-10-2012 00:29 Post subject: |
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Dublin Commemoration for Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm_yuXYcKXI
The Communist Party of the Irish Republic mentioned in the above vid has no connection with the Communist Party of Ireland. I reckon the CPIR is a 2 man group, the dog deffected. |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17933 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 05-11-2012 14:00 Post subject: |
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Now if only Syria had $10 Billion to spend on jets...
| Quote: | UK PM deals out diplomacy and fighter jets in the Gulf
http://rt.com/news/uk-deal-saudi-arabia-987/
Published: 05 November, 2012, 11:51
PM Cameron has begun a diplomatic tour to patch up relations with the Gulf with a billion-dollar arms deal on the cards. He has minimized press coverage of the trip amidst accusations Britain is arming countries with debatable human rights records.
During the tour Cameron will seek to revive relations with both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where the UK has significant business interests in the oil industry. In addition, Britain will also seek to peddle 100 Typhoon fighter jets to both nations in a deal worth a potential US$10 billion.
The UK PM faces stiff competition, with French President Francois Holland also in the region to sell defense equipment.
Despite the minimized press presence accompanying the PM, Downing Street has said they are in no way trying to hush up coverage.
"This is not a secretive trip in any shape or form. We have the media traveling on the plane with the prime minister – they will have access to the events he is doing in country,” said a Downing Street spokesperson.
The British government has stated that the motive behind the trip is “to work together with the Gulf countries towards a future that is rich in prosperity, strong in defense and open in its handling and pursuit of political and economic reform.”
However, in the wake of the Arab Spring, ties with Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been put under strain with both countries being targeted for their questionable human rights policies and authoritarian governments.
The UK’s significant financial dealings with the region, worth around $27 billion according to UK newspaper The Guardian, are also on the rocks. Saudi Arabia has warned that if the UK shows support for anti-regime groups pushing for government reform it will begin courting Asian markets with lucrative trade deals.
The UK government has come under increasing pressure from human rights groups to use its influence with UAE and Saudi Arabia to push for reform. Nevertheless, Britain has been reluctant to vocalize any criticism for fear of endangering economic ties with the Gulf nations. ... |
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| Analis Great Old One Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Total posts: 851 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 02-12-2012 12:55 Post subject: |
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http://rt.com/news/kuwait-parliamentary-election-protests-031/
| Quote: | Turnout key as Kuwait elects parliament amid massive protests
Published: 01 December, 2012, 13:31
Edited: 02 December, 2012, 02:32
Kuwaitis voted in a second parliamentary election in 10 months on Saturday. Voter turnout was the central concern, as the opposition boycotted the elections in a protest against an ‘authoritarian’ change to the electoral law.
The polls are currently closed, as Kuwaitis anxiously await the results.
Police watched as citizens cast their votes, RT's Lucy Kafanov reported from Kuwait. Army personnel and police officers were prevented from taking part in the election.
Opposition activists believe this election is an attempt to produce a more compliant parliament that will allow the government to pass laws without appropriate oversight from the legislatures.
The new amendment to the electoral law has reduced the number of candidates a voter is eligible to pick from the maximum of four to one. Each of Kuwait's five constituencies elects 10 lawmakers.
The opposition hoped that election boycott would result in a lower voter turnout, which in turn would undermine the actual outcome of the elections.
Official voter turnout results are not yet available, but some opposition groups predict turnout could be well below 50 per cent.
Walid Tabtabai of the Islamic opposition said more than 80 per cent of Kuwaitis were boycotting the election.
"We have passed by the polling stations and found them empty," he told AP.
Prominent opposition figure and former MP Faisal al-Muslim said on his Twitter account that turnout was around 17 per cent, three hours before the polls were due to close.
A number of opposition figures also said that some voters were given two ballot papers in a bid to create the appearance of a higher turnout, AFP reported.
The turnout percentage is key in determining whether the election is successful or not.
Opposition activists stationed their own observers at each of the polling stations in order to do an independent count of the voter turn-out in fear that the government could inflate the numbers, Kafanov said.
Interesting facts to note about the elections are that there were separate centers for men and women set up among the 100 polling stations in schools, where the voting took place.
Also, none of the opposition members were among the 306 people on the ballots.
On top of that, of the 3.8 million people living in Kuwait, only 422,000 people were eligible to vote in the election, since 2.7 million are foreigners and the others fall outside of the eligibility criteria.
The voting age in Kuwait is 21, and 54 per cent of the electorate is women.
Massive protests grip Kuwait
The election comes at a time of ongoing political unrest in the oil-rich Gulf state. On the eve of the election, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in largely peaceful protests in order to express their frustration towards the electoral law change that they see is corruption at the top, as well as the subversion of the rule of law.
In Kuwait City, demonstrators carried banners that read "absolute power corrupts" while chanting, "we are boycotting."
The country’s emir, a member of Al-Sabah family that has ruled Kuwait for 250 years, has scrapped the parliament four times since 2006.
Since late October, several mass protests have broken out in Kuwait. As the government pronounced these demonstrations illegal, they were cracked down on by police using stun grenades and teargas. More than 150 protesters and 24 police officers have been injured in violent clashes.
Kuwait is located at a strategic geopolitical location. It sits on 10 per cent of global crude reserves, pumping around 3.0 million barrels of oil a day, and is home to three US military bases.
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| Analis Great Old One Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Total posts: 851 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 04-12-2012 14:12 Post subject: |
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http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2012/12/20121237538800260.html
| Quote: | Kuwait in crisis
A political crisis brews after opposition groups promise to bring down controversial new parliament.
Inside Story Last Modified: 03 Dec 2012 09:46
Kuwait's political divisions look to be growing ever wider.
The oil-rich nation has been shaken by a series of political crises that have stalled development and investment. And the Gulf country's monarchy is facing unprecedented protests as voices on the street draw inspiration from the Arab Spring.
Kuwait held its second parliamentary election this year, but opposition groups say they will not stand by the outcome - putting them back on a collision course with the ruling family.
Members of Kuwait's opposition boycotted Saturday's poll. They are angry at a decree by the emir, which they say changed voting laws to favour pro-government candidates.
It means that they now have no representatives in the 50-seat parliament.
Walid Tabtabai, an opposition politician, said: "According to our information more than 80 per cent of the Kuwaiti people have boycotted these elections. We have passed by the polling stations and found them empty. Kuwaitis are refusing such an assembly and will start working from today to topple it and will not accept it either socially or politically."
Kuwait's emir, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, is the country's head of state and the head of the ruling Sabah family. He appoints the country's prime minister, which is currently Sheikh Jaber Al Mubarak Al Sabah, and the prime minister in turn appoints the 15 members of the cabinet.
Kuwait's parliament, the National Assembly, for which elections were held on Saturday, is comprised of 50 seats split equally between five districts.
Kuwait does not allow political parties, so people form loose alliances based on their politics, as well as religious and family ties.
So, can Kuwait resolve its political crisis?
"We carry a great respect for the opposition but I think they were hasty a little bit in making the decision of boycotting the election. They used their last option at the beginning; they lost some of their judgement in using this last option. Wisdom needs to be taken into consideration when it comes to elections and boycotting - especially boycotting."
- Fahad Shulemi, a security analyst
"We have a very severe crisis in terms of political representation. We have as a political movement presented our proposal with major political reforms is an elected government and party authorisation."
- Salem Al-Ghadouri, from the Civil Democratic Movement of Kuwait
KUWAIT'S POLITICAL TIMELINE:
The Arab Spring created new momentum and calls for greater political freedom.
The first street demonstrations demanding reforms in Kuwait took place in March 2011.
By November, the numbers had swelled to more than 50,000 - forcing the emir to act.
He replaced the prime minister - albeit with another member of the ruling family.
The government then resigned, and weeks later parliament was dissolved.
Parliamentary elections in February resulted in an opposition landslide.
By June the Constitutional Court declared those polls illegal.
The previous parliament, which had generally backed the ruling family, was reinstated.
In October, the emir dissolved this reinstated parliament - and then made a controversial change to the voting law.
Which brings us to Saturday's elections and the boycott over that amendment. |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17933 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 06-02-2013 15:07 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Teargas as thousands protest top opposition leader assassination in Tunisia (PHOTOS)
http://rt.com/news/protest-tunisia-assassination-opposition-556/
The body of Tunisian opposition leader Chokri Belaid is transported in an ambulance from from a clinic in Tunis to the public hospital for an autopsy on February 6, 2013. (AFP Photo / Fethi Belad; Youtube video courtesy of MegaBigpoopa, ToDayTunis, NouvellesTunisi)
(4.9Mb)embed video
Tunisian opposition leader Chokri Belaid has been shot dead outside his home, prompting thousands of Tunisians to protest in the capital and across the country, torching ruling party offices in several towns and chanting “the government should fall.”
(FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES)
Police fired teargas and warning shots at protesters near the Interior Ministry, reports Al Jazeera. The streets in front of the Interior Ministry are now packed, according to eyewitness accounts. Security forces cordoned off the area.
Rubber bullets and tear gas were also used to contain the crowds in Sidi Bouzid, central Tunisia, which gave birth to last year’s revolution.
A local man placed the number protesting at “more than 4,000” in Sidi Bouzid, according to Reuters.He said that many were “burning tires and throwing stones at the police.” Further protests have erupted in several towns.
The Islamist Ennahda party offices have been attacked and torched in several cities across the country.
Ennahda came to power following the 2011 revolution and has been accused of seeking to monopolize power.
Chokri Belaid had recently formed a coalition in opposition against the Islamist-led government, leading Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali to condemn the suspected politically-motivated assassination. Jebali labeled his death “the assassination of the Tunisian revolution,” adding that, “by killing him they wanted to silence his voice.”
Tunisia’s President Moncef Marzouki canceled a foreign visit following the news to return home. He denounced the “the odious assassination of a political leader who I knew well and who was my friend” at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
Asma Belaid, Chokri’s wife, told reporters his death is a catastrophe for Tunisia and their family.
Belaid, who was leader of Tunisia’s Democratic Patriotic Party, was killed as he was leaving his house in Tunis, the country’s capital. He took four bullets to his head and chest. Belaid had reportedly received recent death threats, according to the Paris-based France 24 TV channel. “Three m
en in a black vehicle” had been present at the scene, said France 24TV.
French President Francois Hollande has expressed great concern over the escalating political violence in France’s ex-colony.
“This murder deprives Tunisia of one of its most courageous and free voices,” Hollande's office said in a statement.
Belaid has recently been speaking out against alleged attacks by the Islamists against the party’s members, later stating that, "a group of Ennahda mercenaries and Salafists attacked our activists.” The attacks occurred as a party meeting drew to a close last Saturday.
Ennahda came to power following the 2011 revolution and has been accused of seeking to monopolize power. “Ennahda bargains and claims to want to expand the coalition, but refuses to cede any of the key ministerial portfolios sought by opposition,” an anonymous Western diplomat told AFP.
The country has been waiting on a ‘long overdue’ cabinet reshuffle.
Two years ago Tunisia was the first country to overthrow its leader, following uprisings throughout the country, in what came to be known as the Arab Spring. The country has faced some social and religious uncertainty following the introduction of subsequent free elections, yet has managed a smooth transition to democracy up until this point. |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17933 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 10-04-2013 14:07 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Iraq’s Al-Qaeda confirms ties with Syrian rebel Nusra Front – reports
http://rt.com/news/nusra-front-qaeda-branch-558/
SITE quotes leader of the Islamic State in Iraq, Abu Bakr Baghdadi, as saying that his Islamist group and Syria’s Nusra Front will now operate jointly under the name of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. The authenticity of the statement could not be immediately verified.
The confirmation comes days after Al-Qaeda's leader Ayman Zawahiri urged supporters to go to Syria and establish an Islamist state there.
Experts have long warned that Nusra Front, which was blacklisted by the US as a terrorist organization, has strong links with Al-Qaeda in Iraq, and probably predominantly consists of Al-Qaeda fighters, who moved into Syria to capitalize on the turmoil in the country.
The group has gained much power in Syria through engaging in combat directly against government troops and local militias allied with it. It claimed responsibility for a number of deadly suicide bombings in the country, which claimed hundreds of civilian lives.
The organization is estimated to have 5,000 troops in its ranks.
The influence of Nusra Front was named by the US as a key reason why it does not supply arms to the Free Syrian Army, the relatively moderate and secular anti-government armed group in Syria. Washington was concerned the shipments would end up in the hands of the terrorists and used against Americans and their allies. |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17933 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 05-05-2013 14:15 Post subject: |
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Full text at link
| Quote: | "During the attack, one Israeli jet was reportedly shot down by Syria's Air Force, according to Hezbollah's Manar TV channel, citing security sources in Damascus. Two Israeli pilots of the downed IDF jet have been taken to a military area in Damascus under Assad’s control, according to reports in Lebanese and Syrian media."
"While no official casualty number has been made public, rumors on Syrian social media say that at least 300 soldiers stationed at Mount Qasioun have been killed and hundreds of others injured, Mawazini said. Many Syrians are calling for retaliation as the possibility of a full-scale war with Israel is speculated upon."
"There are reports of gunfire shots heard in outskirts of Damascus, apparently indicating that some rebel groups tried to seize the opportunity and went into offensive amid the commotion caused by the airstrikes. However, no major breakthroughs on their part were reported.
The rebel offensive however may give the Syrian government grounds to further accuse Israel of supporting the Syrian armed opposition by saying they had foreknowledge of the Israeli airstrikes and were prepared to move out."
http://rt.com/news/damascus-syria-explosions-sunday-831/ |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17933 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 06-05-2013 13:35 Post subject: |
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Will the UN/NATO now attack the rebels?
| Quote: | Syria crisis: UN's del Ponte says evidence rebels 'used sarin'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22424188
Carla del Ponte: "I was a little bit stupefied by the first indication of the use of nerve gas by the opposition"
Testimony from victims of the Syrian conflict suggests rebels have used the nerve agent sarin, according to a leading United Nations investigator.
Carla del Ponte told Swiss TV there were "strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof".
However, she said her panel had not yet seen evidence of government forces using chemical weapons.
Syria has recently come under growing Western pressure over the alleged use of such weapons.
Ms del Ponte, who serves on the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said in an interview with Swiss-Italian TV: "Our investigators have been in neighbouring countries interviewing victims, doctors and field hospitals.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
Bridget Kendall
Diplomatic correspondent, BBC News
This is not the first time rebel forces in Syria have come under suspicion for using chemical weapons.
The Syrian government has accused them, and some independent commentators have speculated some groups could conceivably have got hold of stocks when storming government facilities.
But allegations about sarin gas use, possibly by Syrian rebels, coming from a senior UN official is a different matter. Carla del Ponte is a former war crimes prosecutor and serves on a UN commission looking into human rights abuses in Syria. So any comments from her carry weight.
However, this is hardly a formal UN position. She was speaking informally in TV and radio interviews, and freely admits that looking at the use of chemical weapons in Syria is not part of her remit.
All her team did was collect testimony, which they will now, no doubt, pass on to the separate UN team of weapons inspectors waiting in Cyprus for permission to enter Syria to make a full investigation.
In the meantime her comments are likely to make Western governments even more cautious in their preliminary assessments.
"According to their report of last week, which I have seen, there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated."
Ms del Ponte, a former Swiss attorney-general and prosecutor with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, did not rule out the possibility that government troops might also have used chemical weapons, but said further investigation was needed.
"I was a little bit stupefied by the first indications we got... they were about the use of nerve gas by the opposition," she said.
Ms del Ponte gave no details of when or where sarin may have been used.
Her commission was established in August 2011 to examine alleged violations of human rights in the Syrian conflict since March 2011.
It is due to issue its latest report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in June.
Her comments might also complicate matters for the US Secretary of State John Kerry ahead of his visit to Moscow this week, says the BBC Diplomatic correspondent, Bridget Kendall.
If he was hoping to cite fears that the Assad regime was now using chemical warfare as a reason why the Russians should shift their position, that argument will not be so easy to make, our correspondent says.
Mutual accusations
A separate United Nations team was established to look specifically into the issue of chemical weapons.
It is ready to go to Syria but wants unconditional access with the right to inquire into all credible allegations.
Continue reading the main story
What is Sarin?
One of a group of nerve gas agents invented by German scientists as part of Hitler's preparations for World War II
Huge secret stockpiles built up by superpowers during Cold War
20 times more deadly than cyanide: A drop the size of a pin-head can kill a person
Called "the poor man's atomic bomb" due to large number of people that can be killed by a small amount
Kills by crippling the nervous system through blocking the action of an enzyme
Can only be manufactured in a laboratory
Very dangerous to manufacture
Syria's chemical weapons stockpile
Both the Syrian government and the rebels have in the past accused each other using chemical weapons.
The United States and the UK have said there is emerging evidence of Syrian government forces having used sarin, with the US saying it had "varying degrees of confidence" that chemical weapons had been deployed.
US President Barack Obama called in April for a "vigorous investigation", saying the use of such weapons would be a "game changer" if verified.
President Bashar al-Assad's government says the claims do not have any credibility, denouncing them as "lies".
Sarin, a colourless, odourless gas which can cause respiratory arrest and death, is classed as a weapon of mass destruction and is banned under international law.
Israeli raids
Ms del Ponte's allegations concerning the use of sarin by rebels came after Israel carried out a series of air attacks on Syrian military targets early on Sunday.
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
Israel, whether intentionally or not, has made itself a perceived ally of the Syrian rebels”
Haaretz newspaper, Israel
Regional press worry at Israeli strikes
Israeli officials said its military struck consignments of advanced Iranian missiles for delivery to the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon.
Hours later, the Syrian government said the Jamraya research centre north-west of Damascus was hit.
A more recent official statement has given more details, saying military positions in the Jamraya area were struck along with other facilities at Maysaloun near the Lebanese border and a military airport at Dimass.
The statement said there was massive damage at those locations and nearby civilian areas with many people killed or injured. It also denied that the targets included missiles on their way to Hezbollah.
The New York Times quotes an unnamed senior Syrian official as saying dozens of elite troops stationed near the presidential palace were killed, while AFP news agency quoted the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as saying 15 soldiers died.
Images on state TV showed large areas of rubble with many buildings destroyed or badly damaged.
Syria said the latest Israeli air strikes hit three locations
The Arab League has condemned the raids and the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, has expressed concern.
He said all sides should "exercise maximum calm and restraint" and "act with a sense of responsibility to prevent an escalation of what is already a devastating and highly dangerous conflict". |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17933 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 09-05-2013 13:20 Post subject: |
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Full text at link.
| Quote: | Syrian bombing: Netanyahu attempts to provoke new confrontation
Over the weekend of May 4-5 Israel launched air raids against targets in Syria. Yassamine Mather and Moshé Machover, two members of the Hands Off the People of Iran steering committee, discuss the issues raised by this latest development
YM: The two Israeli air raids into Syrian territory have to be looked at in the context of the current Syrian civil war and realignment of regional powers. However, there is an Iranian dimension to all this. According to some Iranian military strategists, “Syria is the 35th province [of Iran] and a strategic province for us. If the enemy attacks us and wants to appropriate either Syria or Khuzestan [in southern Iran], the priority is that we keep Syria.”1
According to ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s most senior foreign policy adviser, Ali Akbar Velayati, “Syria has a very basic and key role in the region of promoting firm policies of resistance … for this reason an attack on Syria would be considered an attack on Iran and Iran’s allies.”2
Until May 4-5, there could have been no doubt that, in the event of a military attack by US or Israeli forces, Iran’s first line of defence would be a retaliation against Israel using Hezbollah, who in turn would rely on Syrian military support. The Israeli bombings have clearly changed the situation and weakened Iran’s position considerably. What do you think? Am I right or is this a very Iran-centric analysis?
MM: You can regard these air raids as a narrow intervention in the Syria civil war, but this is not the way to understand their wider significance. If you look at it only in this way, it appears very paradoxical. If it was aimed at helping the forces opposed to president Bashar al-Assad, there was no logic to it.
First of all, it compromises the Syrian opposition, which is very heterogeneous. Some elements are genuine popular forces, others are supported from the outside by Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and indirectly by the US. Those sponsors don’t mind collaborating with Israel, but the forces on the ground, even the forces supported by Qatar, the Islamists, are not happy being in a common front with Israel. In this respect, it gives Assad a means to denigrate the opposition and he has taken it. So this is not the context in which to understand the logic of these attacks.
I think that context is a wider regional one. Israel is doing everything it possibly can to widen the confrontation and there are several reasons for this. A couple of weeks ago there was a hoo-ha about weapons of mass destruction, specifically poison gas. The Israeli intelligence agency alleged that poison gas had been used, knowing that president Barack Obama had said this was a “red line” for intervention. Clearly the intention was to draw Obama into a more direct intervention in Syria: in other words, to widen the confrontation. ...
http://www.hopi-ireland.org/c/syrian-bombing-netanyahu-attempts-provoke-new-confrontation |
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| Analis Great Old One Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Total posts: 851 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 11-05-2013 10:33 Post subject: |
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| ramonmercado wrote: | | Will the UN/NATO now attack the rebels? |
The tales of chemical weapons use were an attempt at mediatic distraction, as what is important is not how victims in the Syrian conflict are killed, but that they are killed. But no, the NATO will not attack the rebels, as they would have to attack themselves. How did the rebels learn how to make and handle sarin ? This is not the same as handling a packet of insecticide bought at tha local supermarket. The likely answer : they learned from their sponsors, the same western and arab governments and intelligence agencies involved since the crisis began two years ago. These people should all be jailed, not because they helped the Syrian terrorists to acquire chemical weapons, but because they helped criminal gangs who kill civilians and soldiers. In Syria, and also in Lebanon and Iraq.
Coming back to the present chemical weapons situation, there had been many warnings against a false-flag attack involving chemical weapon, to be blamed on Syrians, since the beginning of then year. Carla Del Ponte's words appear as a confirmation of these accusations. And guess where the leads lead ?
http://orientalreview.org/2013/01/31/britamgate-staging-false-flag-attacks-in-syria/
| Quote: | Britamgate: Staging False Flag Attacks in Syria
Thu, Jan 31, 2013
By Andrey FOMIN (Russia)
On January 22 a telling leak cropped up in the Internet. British defense contractor’s BRITAM server was hacked and megabytes of classified internal files of the firm were released to the public. Now the case is acquiring a Britamgate scale due to the publication on Prison Planet. What is the story behind the leakage? Why this scandal is likely to turn around the situation in Syria?
Let’s brief the files. The key finding is a mail dated December 24, 2012 sent by Britam Defence’s Business Development Director David Goulding to Dynamic Director of the firm Phillip Doughty, who is a former SAS officer:
Phil
We’ve got a new offer. It’s about Syria again. Qataris propose an attractive deal and swear that the idea is approved by Washington.
We’ll have to deliver a CW to Homs, a Soviet origin g-shell from Libya similar to those that Assad should have. mail britamThey want us to deploy our Ukrainian personnel that should speak Russian and make a video record.
Frankly, I don’t think it’s a good idea but the sums proposed are enormous. Your opinion?
Kind regards
David
To clarify the things, CW is a standard abbreviation for Chemical Weapons; ‘g-shell’ is a bomb consisting of an explosive projectile filled with toxic gas.
Taking into account the memorable Barack Obama’s warning that the ‘use or even transportation of chemical weapons by the Assad regime would represent a “red line” that would precipitate military intervention’, a message he reiterated last month after the election to the second term, the plotted operation, if carried out, would provide an ideal pretext for the foreign intervention into Syria. Israel has voiced the same warnings last week.
A screenshot of the hacked table containing the list of Ukrainian and Georgian citizens working for Britam Defence Ltd. in Iraq.
Who would perpetrate the video-recorded delivery of CWs to Homs? The text of mail clearly indicates that they would use Britam’s Ukrainian personnel for forging videos. Scrolling down one of the hacked files, we found out the private data of 58 Ukrainian citizens working for Britam Defence Ltd in Iraq. Several employees might not be enlisted as the folder /Iraq/People/ contained the photocopies of passports of several other Ukrainians. There are also some Serbs/Croatians and Georgians in the list who also might be filmed as ‘Russians’.
Since the end of December 2012 Western, Israeli and Gulf sources have been playing up ‘rumors’ about ‘Russian troops fighting for Assad’ and ‘Russian forces taking Syrian C&B weapons under control’. The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah has recently published a couple of ‘Western intelligence reports’ stating that ‘Assad had already transferred chemical weapons to the terrorists’. On January 15 the US Foreign Policy journal made public a ‘secret State Department cable’ concluding that ‘the Syrian military likely used chemical weapons against its own people in a deadly attack last month’.
Most likely the public opinion is being prepared for the ‘breathtaking videos’ depicting Russian-uniformed or Russian-speaking ‘soldiers’ allegedly committing atrocities against civilians in the Syrian cities or applying toxic gases there.
In this context we should not forget the reports circulating since last year that the rebel fighters in Syria had been given gas masks and were willing to stage a chemical weapons attack which would then be blamed on the Assad regime to grease the skids for NATO military intervention.
The information about Western and Middle East special services recruiting militants with Slavic features to play a role of Russian ‘mercenaries’ allegedly captured by Syrian opposition fighters was released by the Russian media in the middle of January. They quoted a well-informed source as saying that ‘actors’ are being selected in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. They all must handle guns and able to operate anti-aircraft systems. According to the script, they should recognize in front of the cameras that they were recruited by the Russian special services with the aim of supporting the army of Bashar Assad. Also, they ought to say that they have allegedly been delivered to Syria by Russian warships.
According to the source, all this will be filmed in Turkey or Jordan, where fake demolished Syrian towns have already been built in the form of large-scale theatrical scenery. The same-type sceneries in Qatar were reportedly used during the information warfare against Libya in 2011.
Summing up these facts we can conclude that a provocation in Syria is the only option left for the war-mongers. Having exhaustive information on the real situation in Syria and being aware of inability of the corrupted rebel group to make any significant change in Damascus, they have nothing to do but hire a second-rate British PSC for another round of dirty job. We have no doubt that numerous tragic ‘revelations’ of atrocities committed by ‘pro-Assad army’ that were repeatedly hitting YouTube for the last two years, were also ‘ordered’ for enormous fee to the former British ‘berets’. The latest leakage deserves thorough investigation and consideration on the top international political level. It is high time for a BRITAMGATE to be boxed.
Source: Strategic Culture Foundation |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17933 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 11-05-2013 13:45 Post subject: |
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Where are the UN/EU Sanctions? Where are the calls for intervention? Oh! I forgot, its home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet and there was intervention: in 2011 Saudi Arabia intervened to crush the protesters
| Quote: | ‘Capital of torture’: Bahraini Shiite majority demands democratic rule
http://rt.com/news/thousands-march-torture-bahrain-129/
Thousands of anti-government activists flocked to the streets of the Shiite village of Daih in Bahrain to protest against the torture of victims arrested by the minority Sunni-ruled monarchy.
The frustrated mob held up signs that read: “Manama, capital of torture,” and waved the national flag.
“Torture is a practice rooted in the security agencies,” in Bahrain, the main Shiite opposition bloc Al-Wefaq said in a statement. It added that these practice were “embedded in the security doctrine - corrupt and hostile to the citizens.”
The organization also highlighted the rift between Sunni-ruled monarchy and Shiites saying “a political majority demanding a democratic transition and a hard core dictatorship that refuses any change and respond to the popular will.”
The demonstration comes just days after the start of the international campaign under the title “Bahrain capital of torture.”
On Wednesday, Bahrain Forum for Human Rights in Beirut announced the details of the international campaign against torture in prisons on the island.
It also accused the authorities of arresting 120 people during the period between 16 - April 22.
Human rights delegates condemned the use of force on citizens and the media blackout on the repression.
Also on Wednesday, the parliament in Bahrain was presented with a bill that would impose further restrictions on demonstrations. The new law would require organizers to submit a warranty check of more than $50,000 before holding a rally. It would also allow any resident to block a petition.
Bahraini women hold up placards and wave the national flag during an anti-government protests in the village of Jidhafs, west of Manama, on May 10, 2013 (AFP Photo / Mohammed Al-Shaikh)
In late April, Bahrain has unilaterally cancelled a United Nations mission to Manama to assess the country's progress in eliminating torture.
In 2011, a government-commissioned report found evidence of torture and human rights violations committed by the government forces committed during an uprising that year.
Bahrain – home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet – is ruled by a Sunni monarchy, while over 75 percent of the population is Shia. In February 2011, thousands of protesters swarmed the streets of Bahrain's capital Manama, demanding democratic reforms and the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa. The island’s monarchy asked for Saudi Arabian troops to contain the violence, which acco |
rding human rights groups’ estimates has resulted in at least 80 deaths. |
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| Quake42 Warrior Princess
Great Old One Joined: 25 Feb 2004 Total posts: 5310 Location: Over Silbury Hill, through the Solar field Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 14-05-2013 13:36 Post subject: |
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More heroics from the freedom-loving Syrian rebels here:
| Quote: | Outrage at Syrian rebel shown 'eating soldier's heart' Comments (61) The BBC's Jim Muir: "It's one of the worst things I've seen"
Continue reading the main story
Syria conflictNo easy answers
Israel's 'red line'
Obama's options
Guide to opposition
A video which appears to show a Syrian rebel taking a bite from the heart of a dead soldier has been widely condemned.
US-based Human Rights Watch identified the rebel as Abu Sakkar, a well-known insurgent from the city of Homs, and said his actions were a war crime.
The main Syrian opposition coalition said he would be put on trial.
The video, which cannot be independently authenticated, seems to show him cutting out the heart.
"I swear to God we will eat your hearts and your livers, you soldiers of Bashar the dog," the man says referring to President Bashar al-Assad as he stands over the soldier's corpse.
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The full sickening story here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22519770
Will someone please explain to me what on earth the West is doing supporting this bunch of murderous fundamentalists? Assad is a dictator but at least he is a secular one... |
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| Cavynaut Skoumed!
Usually tired. Joined: 10 Apr 2003 Total posts: 1976 Location: Crouch Wailing. UK. Age: 56 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 14-05-2013 22:02 Post subject: |
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| Quake42 wrote: |
Will someone please explain to me what on earth the West is doing supporting this bunch of murderous fundamentalists? Assad is a dictator but at least he is a secular one... |
Iran. |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17933 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 31-05-2013 12:23 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Turkey finds sarin gas in homes of suspected Syrian Islamists – reports
http://rt.com/news/sarin-gas-turkey-al-nusra-021/
Turkish security forces found a 2kg cylinder with sarin gas after searching the homes of Syrian militants from the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Nusra Front who were previously detained, Turkish media reports. The gas was reportedly going to be used in a bomb.
The sarin gas was found in the homes of suspected Syrian Islamists detained in the southern provinces of Adana and Mersia following a search by Turkish police on Wednesday, reports say. The gas was allegedly going to be used to carry out an attack in the southern Turkish city of Adana.
On Monday, Turkish special anti-terror forces arrested 12 suspected members of the Al-Nusra Front, the Al-Qaeda affiliated group which has been dubbed "the most aggressive and successful arm” of the Syrian rebels. The group was designated a terrorist organization by the United States in December.
Police also reportedly found a cache of weapons, documents and digital data which will be reviewed by police.
Following the searches, five of those detained were released following medical examinations at the Forensic Medicine Institution Adana. Seven suspects remain in custody. Turkish authorities are yet to comment on the arrests.
Russia reacted strongly to the incident, calling for a thorough investigation into the detention of Syrian militants
in possession of sarin gas.
"We are extremely concerned with media reports. Russia believes that the use of any chemical weapons is absolutely
inadmissible,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Thursday.
In a separate incident in Adana, police reportedly received intelligence that an explosive-laden vehicle had entered the town of Adana on Thursday, the Taraf daily reports.
Ankara has attempted to bolster the Syrian opposition without becoming embroiled in the Syrian civil war, a policy which Damascus claims lead to the deadliest act of terrorism on Turkish soil.
On May 11, 51 people were killed and 140 injured after two car bombs exploded in the Turkish town of Reyhanl?, located near the country’s border with Syria.A dozen Turkish nationals have been charged in the twin bombings, and Ankara has accused Damascus of helping the suspects carry out the attack.
"This incident was carried out by an organization which is in close contact to pro-regime groups in Syria and I say this very clearly, with the Syrian Mukhabarat [intelligence agency]," Interior Minister Muammer Guler said.
Syria’s Information Minister Omran Zoubi denied any link the attack, saying his country "did not commit and would never commit such an act because our values would not allow that".Zoubi further charged the Turkish government had facilitated the flow of arms, explosives, funds and fighters across the country’s border into Syria, claiming that that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party bear direct responsibility [for the attack]."
Reports of chemical weapons use by both Damascus and the Syrian opposition have surrounded the conflict in Syria for months.
In this image made available by the Syrian News Agency (SANA) on March 19, 2013, a man is brought to a hospital in the Khan al-Assal region in the northern Aleppo province, as Syria's government accused rebel forces of using chemical weapons for the first time (AFP Photo)
In March, the Syrian government invited the United Nations to investigate possible chemical weapons use in the Khan al-Assal area of rural Aleppo. Military experts and officials said a chemical agent, most likely sarin, was used in the attack which killed 26 people, including government forces.
Damascus claimed Al-Qaeda linked fighters were behind the attack, further alleging Turkey had a hand in the incident.
“The rocket came from a placed controlled by the terrorist and which is located close to the Turkish territory. One can assume that the weapon came from Turkey,” Zoabi said in an interview with Interfax news agency.
US President Barack Obama has warned any confirmed use of chemical weapons by Damascus would cross a "red line" which would prompt further action. Both Washington and London claimed there was growing evidence that such chemical agents had been used.
Less clear perhaps is whether a similar red line would apply to Syrian opposition groups such as Al-Nusra by the US and NATO allies. Author and historian Gerald Horne, for one, told RT that there are greater political dynamics at work.
“Well, one would think so, but of course we know that the United States along with its NATO partners Britain and France are quite close to the main backers of the rebels -- I’m speaking of Saudi Arabia and Qatar. We know, for example, according to the Financial Times that Mr Sarkozy, the former president of France, is in very close financial relationship with the Qataris,” says Horne.
That would be under the existing paragraph in the story: US President Barack Obama has warned any confirmed use of chemical weapons by Damascus would cross a "red line" which would prompt further action. Both Washington and London claimed there was growing evidence that such chemical agents had been used.
This case being similar to an earlier one, with the findings of UN chemical weapons expert Carla Del Ponte - who had found evidence of their use by the rebels – some think the fallout will be what it was then as well.
Journalist and RT contributor, Afshin Rattansi believes that the same fate will befall this story, as far as media coverage goes. All possible doubts will either be hushed or directed elsewhere, as they were toward Del Ponte’s findings.
“Carla Del Ponte – one of the greatest experts on this from the United Nations – did do an in-depth investigation only a few weeks ago, and of course, the mainstream media tried their best to ignore it and to character-assassinate Del Ponte… she did masses of work on this, and [found] It was the rebels and not the government.”
Rattansi goes on to say that “the news management of the Syria story has been incredibly sophisticated, and I don’t think it will be on the front pages of any newspapers in Britain or the United States – it will quietly disappear like Del Ponte’s case. The big story, of course, will be Russia and the delivery of the S-300.”
A day before the Reyhanl? bombing, Erdogan released a statement claiming he had evidence the Syrian government had had used chemical weapons, crossing the red line set by President Obama.The accusation contradicted a statement made at the time by a leading UN investigator.Carla Del Ponte, who heads
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said there were “concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas” in Syria.
"This was use on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities," Del Ponte continued.
Exposure to large quantities of sarin gas, whose production and stockpiling was outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993, causes convulsions, paralysis, loss of respiratory functions and potentially death. |
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| Analis Great Old One Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Total posts: 851 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 01-06-2013 12:16 Post subject: |
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The latest news evidence that enemies of Bashar Al-Assad hadn't renounce to play the chemical weapon card. Le monde has recently run a new series of articles blaming the Syrian government for the use of nerve gas, supposedly witnessed by their own reporters (newspaper articles and video published on 27 May). Their reportings seem afflicted with a lack of credibility, like the previous ones : rebels who complain that nobody helps them, despite that they have clean new weapons, their clothes and linen are clean and ironed, the shooting scenes look made up... It seems they believe they coul pull the wool over people's eye... Moreover, the symptoms seem relatively benign and do not tally with nerve gas.
What is remarkable with this new development is that the Turkish government's stance seems to be shifting. Until now, they had widely and actively supported the terrorists. They had tried to use the Reynhali explosions on 11 May to reignite their anti-Syrian propaganda. They were still blaming the Syrian government for the use of nerve gas, without any kind of serious evidence.
This investigation, led directly by the state police, and the emphasis put on its findings, look like the signs of a complete change of heart. What are its reasons ? First, the campaign to blame the Reynhali bombings on Bashar Al-Assad failed and backfired. It was not completely unexpected : popular anger relating to Erdogan's policy of support to the Syrian terrorists has always been strong and has been increasing recently ; the bombings were the final straw. The widespread opinion is that they could be a provocation from the rebels, the Turkish government or one of its allies (the Turkish press hints at Israel). In any case, the Reynhali explosions are the direct result of Erdogan's policy, and increased general resentment against him. Combined with the fact that the insurgents are losing the battle, and that Obama seems to be retreating after months of hesitation, it may explain why he is 'realigning' his discourse.
Last edited by Analis on 06-06-2013 10:37; edited 1 time in total |
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