Iran announces war games plans

(Reuters) - TEHRAN - Iran's armed forces will begin three days of war games on Monday involving anti-aircraft defense systems, Iranian media said on Sunday.

The exercises will be held amid persistent speculation about a possible U.S. or Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, which the West and Israel say are part of a clandestine bid to build atomic bombs, despite Tehran's denials.

The ISNA news agency said both Iran's Revolutionary Guards and its regular army would take part in the drills.

"Maneuvers with the participation of anti-aircraft defense systems will be held for three days starting Monday," it said, without giving further details.

The English-language Iran Daily said the aim was to maintain and upgrade the combat readiness of relevant units as well as to "test new weapons and defense plans."

Speculation about a possible attack on Iran's nuclear facilities has risen since Israel staged an air force exercise in June which was reported to be a simulation of a strike against Iran. Iran says it would hit back if attacked.

An Iranian commander last week said the Iranian air force would hold exercises during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began in Iran on September 2, but it was not immediately clear whether he was referring to the same drills as the ISNA report.

Alongside the regular army, Iran has a Revolutionary Guards force viewed as guardians of the Islamic ruling system. The Guards have a separate command and their own air, sea and land units, but often work with the regular military.

Iran has dismissed reports of possible U.S. or Israeli plans to strike Iran, but says it would respond by attacking U.S. interests and Israel if any such assault was made.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman last week denied reports, based on comments from Israeli defense sources, that Iran had bought Russia's advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missile system and would get it this year.

There have been conflicting reports about whether Iran was buying the S-300 system. Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said last year Russia had agreed to deliver the missiles to Iran under a signed contract. Russia denied such plans.

Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer, says its nuclear program is aimed at making electricity, not bombs. The United States says it wants diplomacy to end the row but has not ruled out military action if that fails.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Reuters ]

(Reporting by Zahra Hosseinian and Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Charles Dick)

WAR: Georgia declares state of war with Russia

(CNN) - Georgia’s parliament approved a request by President Mikhail Saakashvili on Saturday to impose a “state of war,” as the conflict between Georgia and Russia escalated, Georgian officials said.

Saakashvili accused Russia of launching an unprovoked full-scale military attack against his country, including targeting civilian homes, while Russian officials insist that their troops were protecting people from Georgia’s attacks on South Ossetia, a breakaway Georgian region that borders Russia.

Russia’s Interfax news agency said the death toll was at least 2,000 in the capital of South Ossetia and claimed that the city has been destroyed.

Separatist-backed South Ossetian sources reported that about 1,600 people have died and 90 have been wounded in provincial capital Tskhinvali since Russian forces entered the territory Thursday.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: CNN, Associated Press, Elene Gotsadze, August 9, 2008 ]

RUSSIA & GEORGIA at WAR! Aug. 8, 2008. (part 2/9)

War between South Ossetia and Georgia - the Green Light

RUSSIA & GEORGIA at WAR! Aug. 8, 2008. (part 1/9)

WAR: War erupts in Georgia

(Economist.com) - GEORGIAN soldiers, tanks and fighter-planes struck Tskhinvali, the capital of the breakaway (Russian-backed) region of South Ossetia, on Friday August 8th. Parts of the city were reported to be burning as Georgia’s president, Mikheil Saakashvili, declared that his forces had “freed” much of the area from separatist control.

The immediate cause of the fighting is unclear as claim and counterclaim abound. But what is clear is that a conflict which has been simmering for years, has at last erupted. What happens next will depend almost entirely on Russia’s response: 150 Russian tanks were reported to be entering South Ossetia on Friday. Georgia’s government says that Russian planes have dropped bombs outside of South Ossetia including on the edge of Tblisi, the Georgian capital. Alexander Lomaia, the secretary of Georgia’s National Security Council, told The Economist on Friday that “this is an open military aggression and we are now at the state of undeclared war with Russia. What else could you call it?”. He also said that Georgia had announced a ceasefire in South Ossetia from 3pm on Friday.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Economist.com, August 8, 2008 ]

WAR: Georgia declares ’state of war’ over South Ossetia

(Guardian.CO.UK) - Georgia today declared itself at war as Russian planes bombed a Georgian city in an escalation of the conflict over South Ossetia. Moscow claims the fighting has killed more than 2,000 people.

As the neighbouring countries edged closer to a full-scale conflict over their conflicting claims and allegiances to the territory, Britain was among a number of countries tonight pressing for an immediate ceasefire in Georgia as part of a high-level international delegation attempting to quell escalating violence in the region.

The British foreign secretary, David Miliband, expressed fears that the conflict over South Ossetia was spreading to other parts of the region with the prospect of “large scale” civilian losses.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Guardian.co.uk, Peter Walker, August 9, 2008 ]

WAR: Russia launches air strikes in Georgia

(CBC.ca) - As fighting raged for a second day Saturday in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, Russian jets bombed the town of Gori, near the breakaway province of South Ossetia.

An apartment building and military base were among the targets hit in Russia’s attempt to force back Georgian troops seeking control over the separatist enclave on its southern border.

Freelance reporter Giorgi Lomsadze told CBC News that neighbours told him five people who were living in the building are killed.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: CBC.ca, August 9, 2008 ]

Russia in ‘Full Scale Invasion’ of Georgia

Are Contractors in War Zones Above the Law?

(AlterNet.org) - In January of 2008, Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, was electrocuted while showering in his Baghdad barracks. His death prompted last week’s congressional report concluding that defense contractor KBR, (until a year ago a subsidiary of the oil services giant Halliburton) was well aware that the electrical system in Maseth’s complex was faulty. An accident like this, the report found, was bound to happen. But this report also now raises a larger and thornier question about military defense contractors: can they be held legally liable for their actions — or inactions? Will anyone be held responsible for Maseth’s death?

This is an increasingly important question as the U.S. government hires ever more military contractors to do work that used to be done by U.S. soldiers. The war in Iraq has already involved more outsourcing of military functions than any previous war in American history. An estimated 180,000 civilian contractors now work in Iraq and Afghanistan to support the U.S. government there. They do everything from guard U.S. officials and dignitaries to truck fuel, food and other supplies to military bases — all jobs that used to be done by soldiers.

Private contractors operating in Iraq are not subject to U.S. military authority, or to U.S. or Iraqi law. Their employees are not subject to the rigors of Army basic training; and their superiors are not held to the strict rules and ethics that apply to the U.S. military.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: AlterNet.org, Daphne Eviatar, Washington Independent, August 7, 2008 ]

Did the U.S. Prep Georgia for War with Russia?

(Wired: Danger Room) - Georgia and Russia are careening towards war. And the U.S. isn't exactly a detached observer in the fight. The American military has been training and equipping Georgian troops for years.

The news thus far: Georgia, which has been locked in a drone war over the separatist enclave of Abkhazia, has launched an offensive to reclaim another breakaway territory, South Ossetia. Latest reports indicate that Georgian forces are laying siege to Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital. And Russia, which has backed the separatists, is sending in the tanks.

So why should we care? Oh, just the prospect of a larger regional war that could drag in Russia – and involve the United States as well. Since early 2002, the U.S. government has given a healthy amount of military aid to Georgia. When I last visited South Ossetia, Georgian troops manned a checkpoint outside Tskhinvali -- decked out in surplus U.S. Army uniforms and new body armor.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Wired: Danger Room, Nathan Hodge, August 8, 2008 ]

Strike On Iran Still Possible, U.S. Tells Israel

(BuzzFlash.net) - Bush administration officials reassured Israel’s defense minister this week that the United States has not abandoned all possibility of a military attack on Iran, despite widespread Israeli concern that Washington has begun softening its position toward Tehran. In meetings Monday and Tuesday, administration officials told Defense Minister Ehud Barak that the option of attacking Iran over its nuclear program remains on the table, though U.S. officials are primarily seeking a diplomatic solution. At the same time, U.S. officials acknowledged that there is a rare divergence in the U.S. and Israeli approaches, with Israelis emphasizing the possibility of a military response out of concern that Tehran may soon have the know-how for building a nuclear bomb. “Is there a difference of emphasis? It certainly looks as though there is,” said a senior American Defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity when discussing the sensitive talks. U.S. and Israeli officials believe Iran is enriching uranium with the aim of building nuclear weapons. Tehran says that it is engaged in a peaceful enrichment program for civilian energy purposes.

» original news

Obama Warns Dems: Israel May Strike Iran…

(BuzzFlash.net) - Obama told the caucus, according to an attendee, "Nobody said this to me directly but I get the feeling from my talks that if the sanctions don’t work Israel is going to strike Iran." » original news

CNN Interview With Ret. Col. Sam Gardiner Iran War Underway

No More ‘Collateral Damage’ in Afghan Attacks?

"In their deliberate targeting, the Air Force has all but eliminated civilian casualties in Afghanistan," Marc Garlasco, senior military analyst with Human Rights Watch, told The New York Times. "They have very effective collateral damage mitigation procedures."

He's referring to the increased use of aerial drones for verifying targets ... and the improving precision and decreasing size of U.S. missiles and bombs.

But when it comes to spur-of-the-moment air strikes the kind that are vital in combating elusive insurgent groups -- civilian and accidental deaths continue to mount. Just last week, nine Afghan police were killed in an errant U.S. air strike.

According to the United Nations, 698 civilians were killed in the first six months of this year, compared with 430 in the same period last year. The United Nations report said nearly two-thirds of the deaths this year resulted from actions by the Taliban and other insurgents. The remainder were attributed to actions by Afghan government, American or allied forces.

[ Photo: Daivd Axe ]

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Wired: Danger Room, David Axe, david_axe@hotmail.com ]

Iran to US, Israel - Sending our love with Missles

The love in the middle east has never been more - hot. And what better way to say I love you than with the gift of long range missles. Check out the latest news missle news flying out of Iran below.

TEHRAN, Iran (Associated Press) - Iran test-fired nine missiles Wednesday, including ones capable of hitting Israel, making a dramatic show of its readiness to strike back if the United States or Israel attacks it over its nuclear program.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Associated Press, ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer ]

Iraq and Oil: Will the Corporate Media Ever Make the Connection?

STP recommended reading! (Alternet.org) - Now that the New York Times has made the shocking discovery that the Iraq War may be related to oil, how will corporate media address the issue? READ MORE HERE [ Source: Alternet.org, Nick Turse, Tomdispatch.com ]

Iraq to US: No Deal Without a Timetable for Withdrawal

"We will not accept any memorandum of understanding if it does not give a specific date for a complete withdrawal of foreign troops."

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Alternet.org ]

Can Bush Attack Iran With Oil at $140 per Barrel?

(Alternet.org) - Forswearing military action against Tehran would ease the upwards pressure on world oil prices.

If U.S. President George W. Bush wants to boost Republican chances of holding on to the White House and keeping Democratic gains in Congress to a minimum in the November elections, he might consider taking an attack on Iran before the end of his administration "off the table."

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Alternet.org, Jim Lobe, IPS News  ]

A War on Iran Would Be Like Another War on Iraq

(Alternet.org) - With covert operations against Iran poised to be carried out from Iraqi territory, Iranian retaliation would target the already embattled country.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Alternet.org, Patrick Cockburn, Independent UK ]

Chad’s Courteous Phone Thieves

(Wired Magazine Blog) - If you've ever spent an entire day trying, and failing, to make one important phone call, as I just did here in sunny Chad, you might understand how tenuous communications are in a place like Central Africa.

So it's no wonder that Thuraya satellite phones are among the hottest items in the whole region ... and why these handy little phones are at the top of bandits' and rebels' wish lists.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Wired Magazine Blog, David Axe, david_axe@hotmail.com ]

(Photo: David Axe) You can find more Dave Axe articles at www.WarisBoring.com.

Bush says US to send more troops to Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (AP) — Grappling with a record death toll in an overshadowed war, President Bush promised Wednesday to send more U.S. troops into Afghanistan by year’s end. He conceded that June was a “tough month,” in fact, the deadliest for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the war began.

“One reason why there have been more deaths is because our troops are taking the fight to a tough enemy, an enemy who doesn’t like our presence there because they don’t like the idea of America denying safe haven (to terrorists),” Bush told reporters. “Of course there’s going to be resistance.”

READ MORE HERE [ Source: The Associated Press ]

ABC News: Pentagon Warns of Israeli Attack on Iran

The official identified two "red lines" that could trigger an Israeli offensive. The first is tied to when Iran's Natanz nuclear facility produces enough highly enriched uranium to make a nuclear weapon. -- "The red line is not when they get to that point, but before they get to that point," the official said. "We are in the window of vulnerability." -- The second red line is connected to when Iran acquires the SA-20 air defense system it is buying from Russia. The Israelis may want to strike before that system -- which would make an attack much more difficult -- is put in place.

READ MORE HERE

Bob Herbert - ‘Oh Happy Day’: The Oil Giants Move Into Iraq

"It’s getting harder and harder to remain deluded. With each day comes new facts to drag our heads out of the sand. Two weeks ago, The Times reported that four Western oil giants were on the verge of signing no-bid contracts that would return them to Iraq, the third-most bountiful petroleum playground on the planet. The deals, expected to be finalized in the next 30 days, were the kind of news that big oil lives for. Giddy executives singing “Oh Happy Day” could be heard in the corporate offices of Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP, which had been shut out of Iraq for three and a half decades."

READ MORE HERE

Chad’s Deadly Cocktail: Oil, Water, and Blood

Oil, water and blood. In Central Africa the three mix into one volatile cocktail. I came to Chad two weeks ago to understand how a rapidly expanding civil conflict, pitting tribal rebels versus repressive regimes in three countries -- Chad, Sudan and the Central African Republic -- is exacerbated by Central Africa's growing oil reserves and dwindling supplies of natural resources, especially water and wood.

I'm not the only one who's interested in Chad. The U.S. government and private American citizens are the biggest donors to Chad's enormous refugee society -- half a million displaced people plus thousands of aid workers spending hundreds of millions of donated dollars per year. And the European Union has picked Chad to test out its growing military might. 4,000 peacekeepers are deploying to protect refugees and aid workers.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Wired Magazine Blog, David Axe, david_axe@hotmail.com ]

You can find more Dave Axe articles at www.WarisBoring.com.

Iran in the Crosshairs

Now the same people that gave us Iraq, and remain just about the only supporters of their own failed policy there, are signaling that it is necessary to destroy the Iranian nuclear threat. And again, one problem is that this threat may not exist. READ MORE HERE

Pentagon Official Warns Of Israeli Attack On Iran

Senior Pentagon officials are concerned that Israel could carry out an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities before the end of the year, an action that would have enormous security and economic repercussions for the United States and the rest of the world. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/US/story?id=5281043&page=1 READ MORE HERE

Welcome Home, Soldier: Now Shut Up

Massey has just participated in a checkpoint massacre of civilians. His sense of decency, his sanity, is still in tact. Like any normal human being, he is distraught. The carnage of the war, the imbalance of power between the biggest war machine in history and a suffering people devoid of tanks and air power — the sheer injustice of it all — begins to take its toll on Massey’s conscience. In the wake of the horrific events of the day, his captain is cool. He walks up to Massey and asks; “Are you doing all right, Staff Sergeant?” Massey responds: “No, sir. I am not doing O.K. Today was a bad day. We killed a lot of innocent civilians.” Fully of aware of the civilian carnage, his captain asserts: “No, today was a good day.” Relatives wailing, cars destroyed, blood all over the ground, Marines celebrating, civilians dead, and “it was good day”! The Massey incident goes beyond the mendacity of military life. It concerns the control, the dehumanization of the psyches of our troops. As one Vietnam veteran put it years ago: “They kept fucking with my mind.”

READ MORE HERE

Japan: Guilty of doing good

"Here in Tokyo, Japan, 3 peace activists, Toshiyuki Obora, Nobuhiro Onishi and Sachimi Takada were found guilty on April 11, 2008 by the Supreme Court for putting anti-war fliers into the mail boxes of the families of the Japanese soldiers who were dispatched to Iraq on the orders of Uncle Sam to assist the shameful U.S.-led coalition in its illegal invasion and occupation of Irak to free it of its oil."

READ MORE HERE

Russia’s foreign minister strongly warns against use of force on Iran

By Vladimir Isachenkov
ASSOCIATED PRESS
5:23 a.m. June 20, 2008

MOSCOW – Russia’s foreign minister on Friday warned against the use of force on Iran, saying there is no proof it is trying to build nuclear weapons.

Sergey Lavrov said Iran should be engaged in dialogue and encouraged to cooperate with the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency.

Lavrov made the statement when asked to comment on an Israeli Cabinet member’s statement earlier this month that Israel could attack Iran if it does not halt its nuclear program.

READ MORE HERE

Russia prepares for future combat in the Arctic

24/06/2008 16:38 MOSCOW, June 24 (RIA Novosti) - Russia must be ready to fight wars in the Arctic to protect its national interests in a region that contains large and untapped deposits of natural resources, a high-ranking military official said in an interview published Tuesday.

“After several countries contested Russia’s rights for the resource-rich continental shelf in the Arctic, we have immediately started the revision of our combat training programs for military units that may be deployed in the Arctic in case of a potential conflict,” Lt. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov, who heads the Defense Ministry’s combat training directorate, told the Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star) newspaper.

Under the Law of the Sea, coastal states can declare an Exclusive Economic Zone stretching 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the shore, but this area can be extended if it is a part of the country’s continental shelf or shallower waters. Some Arctic shelves extend for hundreds of miles, creating the possibility of overlapping territorial claims.

READ MORE HERE

State-Sponsored Terror: British and American Black Ops in Iraq

Shining Light on the “Black World”

In January of 2002, the Washington Post ran a story detailing a CIA plan put forward to President Bush shortly after 9/11 by CIA Director George Tenet titled, “Worldwide Attack Matrix,” which was “outlining a clandestine anti-terror campaign in 80 countries around the world. What he was ready to propose represented a striking and risky departure for U.S. policy and would give the CIA the broadest and most lethal authority in its history.” The plan entailed CIA and Special Forces “covert operations across the globe,” and at “the heart of the proposal was a recommendation that the president give the CIA what Tenet labeled “exceptional authorities” to attack and destroy al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the rest of the world.” Tenet cited the need for such authority “to allow the agency to operate without restraint — and he wanted encouragement from the president to take risks.” Among the many authorities recommended was the use of “deadly force.”

Further, “Another proposal was that the CIA increase liaison work with key foreign intelligence services,” as “Using such intelligence services as surrogates could triple or quadruple the CIA’s effectiveness.” The Worldwide Attack Matrix “described covert operations in 80 countries that were either underway or that he was now recommending. The actions ranged from routine propaganda to lethal covert action in preparation for military attacks,” as well as “In some countries, CIA teams would break into facilities to obtain information.”[1]

READ MORE HERE [ Source: GlobalResearch.ca ]

The Coming Catastrophe?

We are fast approaching the final six months of the Bush administration. The quagmire in Iraq is in its sixth painful year with no real end in sight and the forgotten war in Afghanistan is well into its seventh year. The “dead enders” and other armed factions are still alive and well in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan again controls most of that country. Gas prices have now reached an average of $4.00 a gallon nationally and several analysts predict the price will rise to $5.00-$6.00 dollars per gallon at the pump by Labor Day. This, despite assurances by some major supporters of the decision to invade Iraq that the Iraq war “will pay for itself” (Paul Wolfowitz) or that we will see “$20.00 per barrel” oil prices if we invade Iraq (Rupert Murdoch).

One thing the Pentagon routinely does (and does very well) is conduct war games. Top brass there are constantly developing strategies for conducting any number of theoretical missions based on real or perceived threats to our national security or vital interests. This was also done prior to the invasion of Iraq, but the Bush administration chose not to listen to the dire warnings about that mission given to him by Pentagon leaders, or for that matter, by his own senior intelligence officials. Nevertheless, war gaming is in full swing again right now with the bullseye just to the right of our current mess -Iran.

It’s no secret that the U.S. is currently putting the finishing touches on several contingency plans for attacking Iranian nuclear and military facilities. With our ground forces stretched to the breaking point in Iraq and Afghanistan, none of the most likely scenarios involve a ground invasion. Not that this administration wouldn’t prefer to march into the seat of Shiite Islam behind a solid, moving line of M1 Abrams tanks and proclaim the country for democracy. The fact is that even the President knows we can’t pull that off any more so he and the neo-cons will have to settle for Shock and Awe Lite.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: GlobalResearch.ca ]

Historic vote in Parliament for war resisters

Canadian MPs ? the majority opposition representing the majority of Canadians ? stood in support of Iraq war resisters when they voted to pass an asylum motion yesterday in Parliament.

Liberal, NDP and Bloc MPs (137 in total) stood in favour – literally stood up to vote as procedure dictates, though for a second the line of MPs could be confused for a makeshift honour guard of sorts – of the "war resister" motion. From the ranks of the Conservative Party, 110 MPs stood against. They did not look happy. Perhaps because they knew Bush would not be happy (first it was former White House press secretary Scott McClellan's wicked Iraq criticisms and now this northern dissent. Someone is going to bed angry!)

The motion, first presented to Parliament on May 29 by NDP MP Olivia Chow, was based on an earlier Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration motion (Standing Order 108(2)) in December 2007.

It called for the creation of a special government program to "allow conscientious objectors and their families ... who have refused or left military service related to a war not sanctioned by the United Nations … to apply for permanent resident status."

The motion also called for the government to immediately "cease any removal or deportation actions that may have already commenced against such individuals."

READ MORE HERE

Iran ready for all military possibilities, says speaker

Tehran - Iran would be ready for all military possibilities including an Israeli attack on the country’s nuclear facilities, IRNA news agency quoted parliament speaker Ali Larijani as saying Sunday. “We are ready for all possibilities but if they (Israel) really planned to take such an unwise action, then they would face much more damage than us,” Larijani told IRNA.

The New York Times reported Friday that Israel had conducted a major air force exercise earlier this month that United States officials say appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

READ MORE HERE

Going Out of Business: How Much Longer Will Iraq Be for Sale?

Proponents of the Congressional legislation to ban contractors are correct in pointing out that this war and the interrogation of Iraqi prisoners ought to be the responsibility of highly-trained military personnel, not poorly-prepared contractors whose only goal is to make profits.

READ MORE HERE

Congressional Approval Before Attacking Iran Is No Longer Required: Ron Paul Claims Pelosi Spiked Iran Bill

Representative Ron Paul says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi removed a section from a bill passed by Congress which would have barred the U.S. from going to war with Iran without a congressional vote, claiming she did so at the behest of the leadership of Israel and AIPAC. Paul, a former Republican presidential contender who formally removed himself from the party’s nomination race last week, makes the allegation on C-SPAN during a recently held foreign policy conference in Virginia. Paul says Pelosi’s first act as House Speaker in 2006 was to “deliberately” remove a portion of a legislative spending bill which said the United States “can't go to war with Iran without getting approval from Congress.”

READ MORE HERE

Democrats Give White House Another Blank-Check For Iraq

A Democratic engineered emergency supplemental bill to continue funding the occupation of Iraq and the war in Afghanistan to the tune of $162 billion is expected to win bipartisan support, aides to leaders in the House said late Wednesday.

The bill, as currently drafted, does not contain any conditions for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq nor does it restrict how President Bush can conduct military operations. The legislation ensures both wars are funded well into 2009 and comes nearly two years after Democrats won majorities in Congress and the Senate largely on promises to resist handing the Bush administration “blank-checks” for Iraq and a pledge to immediately bring U.S. troops home.

READ MORE HERE

Oil: The Weapon of the New World Order

For China, the biggest prize in the Middle East is Saudi Arabia, home of a quarter of the world’s reserves. Since September 11, tension in U.S.-Saudi relations has provided the Chinese with an opportunity to win the heart of the House of Saud. To Washington’s dismay China has also set its sights on Iran, announcing that it will not support sanctions against Iran in the UN Security Council. No doubt that as China’s oil demand grows, so will its involvement in Middle East politics. China is likely to provide the region’s energy exporters not only with diplomatic support but also with weapons, including assistance in the development of WMD. NOTE: Aside from some "propagandistic" language, this article does a good job of explaining the whole oil picture.

READ MORE HERE

Bomb Iran? What’s to Stop Us? by Ray McGovern

IMPEACH - IMPEACH - IMPEACH - IMPEACH - IMPEACH! - - - It’s crazy, but it’s coming soon — from the same folks who brought us Iraq. Unlike the attack on Iraq five years ago, to deal with Iran there need be no massing of troops. And, with the propaganda buildup already well under way, there need be little, if any, forewarning before shock and awe and pox — in the form of air and missile attacks — begin. This time it will be largely the Air Force’s show, punctuated by missile and air strikes by the Navy. Israeli-American agreement has now been reached at the highest level; the armed forces planners, plotters and pilots are working out the details. Emerging from a 90-minute White House meeting with President George W. Bush on June 4, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the two leaders were of one mind: “We reached agreement on the need to take care of the Iranian threat. I left with a lot less question marks [than] I had entered with regarding the means, the timetable restrictions, and American resoluteness to deal with the problem. George Bush understands the severity of the Iranian threat and the need to vanquish it, and intends to act on that matter before the end of his term in the White House.” Does that sound like a man concerned that Bush is just bluff and bluster?

READ MORE HERE

Bomb Iran? What’s to Stop Bush?

It's crazy, but it's coming soon. The armed forces are working out details. Impeachment may be the only way to stop it.

Unlike the attack on Iraq five years ago, to deal with Iran there need be no massing of troops. And, with the propaganda buildup already well under way, there need be little, if any, forewarning before shock and awe and pox -- in the form of air and missile attacks -- begin.

This time it will be largely the Air Force's show, punctuated by missile and air strikes by the Navy. Israeli-American agreement has now been reached at the highest level; the armed forces planners, plotters and pilots are working out the details.

READ MORE HERE

Iran Attack ‘Rehearsal’ in Israeli War Game

More than 100 fighter jets. A fleet of rescue copters. Refueling tankers flying more than 900 miles, the distance from  Israel to Iran’s atomic plant at Natanz. 

"Israel carried out a major military exercise earlier this month that American officials say appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran's nuclear facilities," the New York Times is reporting. And the giant spectacle was designed to send a message: "that Israel was prepared to act militarily if diplomatic efforts to stop Iran from producing bomb-grade uranium continued to falter."

READ MORE HERE

Where do calls to intervene in Somalia come from?

There have been new calls for United Nations intervention in the East African country of Somalia. In a statement issued on behalf of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional organization, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki said, “The prevailing security situation in Somalia is worrying and greatly threatens regional peace and stability.”

U.S. troops on ’search and seizure’ mission in downtown Mogadishu, 1993. IGAD wants the United Nations to take complete control of the 2,600-member African Union peacekeeping force already operating in Somalia. This call for U.N. intervention was made at an IGAD summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on June 15.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: GlobalResearch.ca ]

Arrests for War Resistance Increase Again

We can never forget that everything that Hitler did in Germany was ‘legal,’ and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did was ‘illegal.’ It was ‘illegal’ to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler’s Germany, but I am sure that if I lived in Germany during that time I would have comforted my Jewish brothers even though it was illegal… we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

There have been over 15,000 arrests for resistance to war since 2002. There were large numbers right after the run up to and invasion of Iraq. Recently, arrests have begun climbing again. Though arrests are a small part of anti-war organizing, their rise is an indicator of increasing resistance. The information comes from the Nuclear Resister, a newsletter that has been reporting detailed arrest information on peace activists and other social justice campaigns since 1980. Felice and Jack Cohen-Joppa, publishers of the Nuclear Resister, document arrests by name and date based on information collected from newspapers across the country and from defense lawyers and peace activists. Since 2002, the Nuclear Resister has documented anti-war arrests for protestors each year: 2002 – 1800 arrests 2003 – 6072 arrests 2004 – 2440 arrests 2005 – 975 arrests 2006 – 950 arrests 2007 – 2272 arrests 2008 – 810 as of May 1 READ MORE HERE

Is the Antiwar Movement Scaring People Away?

If you’ve been involved in building the antiwar movement during the last couple years, chances are that you’ve asked yourself what it will take to involve more people in organizing to bring the troops home from Iraq. It’s been 18 months since the antiwar movement last held a high-profile national demonstration–on January 27, 2007, in Washington, D.C.–and across the country, local activists and coalitions report a lower level of activity as compared to late 2005 and 2006. READ MORE HERE

Jeremy Scahill: Blackwater is Still in Charge, Deadly, Above the Law and Out of Control