Assange: USA Planning to Oust Syrian President Since At Least 2006

ꕤ Article SOURCE http://sputniknews.com/politics/20151221/1032069516/assange-us-oust-assad.html Sputnik Politics 07:15 21.12.2015(updated 07:33 21.12.2015) WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange reiterated that the United States had been planning to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad since at least 2006. MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to Assange, WikiLeaks had published information alleging that the United States was planning to oust Assad since 2006. This strategy was implemented partially by provoking the Assad government, the whistleblower said in a documentary that was broadcast Sunday, on Rossiya 1 television channel. Assange stated that Washington was trying to make the Syrian government paranoid and get it to "overreact," as well as to create tensions between Sunni and Shia Muslims. Assange stated that Washington was trying to make the Syrian government paranoid and get it to "overreact," as well as to create tensions between Sunni and Shia Muslims. Assange claimed that members of the US, UK and French air forces met with representatives of Stratfor, a global intelligence company, prior to December 2011. The officials said that there had already been special agents acting in Syria, but they needed more public outrage and bloodshed for a significant pretext to attack the country’s air defense systems. Syria has been in a civil war since 2011, with the government fighting multiple opposition factions and militant groups. The West and several Middle Eastern countries do not consider Assad to be the legitimate authority of Syria. In 2011, Washington imposed sanctions against him in the hope that he would step down. However, in the 2014 Syrian presidential election Bashar Assad won a landslide victory, receiving 88.7 percent of the votes. http://sputniknews.com/politics/20151221/1032069516/assange-us-oust-assad.html ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT Is it still a 'civil war' if you have American, Western, Israeli and Gulf Arabs trying to bring down a democratically elected government, by arming and backing terrorists (many of whom are multi-national Islamists from elsewhere)? US has a record of bringing down democratically elected governments and installing US-friendly dictator puppets, to further the interests of American oligarchs. Covert USA regime change list below, and an idea of just how extensive the American aggression record is: USA REGIME CHANGES Syria 1949 Iran 1953 Guatemala 1954 Indonesia 1958 Cuba 1959 Iraq 1960–63 Democratic Republic of the Congo 1960–65 Dominican Republic 1961 South Vietnam 1963 Brazil 1964 Chile 1970–73 Afghanistan 1979–89 Turkey 1980 Poland 1980–89 Nicaragua 1981–90 Destabilisation through CIA assets Arming the Contras Iraq 1992–96 Venezuela 2002 [Afghanistan] [Iraq 2003] [ Libya 2011 ] [ Ukraine 2014 ] [Syria - *current & ongoing] Source | Link I've added Libya 2011 and Ukraine 2014 to the list above (although they're not listed at the source), as both were definitely US regime changes.  Not sure how 'covert' Libya may be.  I've also listed Afghanistan and Iraq.  But, again, I'm not sure they would qualify as 'covert'.  Or do they?  I've not really focused on what's what in that sense.   Was going to do proper reference list, but I got side-tracked and didn't finish that ambitious project. USA frames regime change in terms of 'human rights' interventions these days. The Voice of Detroit independent newspaper article (2014) - link here -  looks an interesting article about the more recent US driven regime change in:  Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and CIA involvement etc.   I'm about to check that out more closely. Might also see if I can find the Assange TV documentary appearance mentioned. [Oops ... Think I went to the wrong channel:  got soft porn & gaming.] ꕤ

International Relations - Anglo-US Academia: Censorship, Intellectual Dishonesty & Bias

ꕤ Article SOURCE http://www.crikey.com.au/2015/12/18/are-us-academics-who-cite-wikileaks-blackballed/ http://www.crikey.com.au/2015/12/18/are-us-academics-who-cite-wikileaks-blackballed/ Are US academics who cite WikiLeaks blackballed? Chris Spannos | Dec 18, 2015 12:46PM While WikiLeaks continues to make strong interventions into the global news cycle, important debates have been simmering between editor Julian Assange and international relations scholars about whether or not the more than 2 million US diplomatic cables and State Department records WikiLeaks began publishing in 2010 (2,325,961 to be exact) are relevant to understanding how the world’s super-power operates and if Anglo-American academic institutions in the international relations discipline are biased toward the interests of US empire. The debate raises difficult questions. Do the cables provide insight into full-spectrum diplomacy, foreign relations, and concepts of sovereignty? If so, how can the indifference of certain prestigious associations and journals in the international relations discipline to WikiLeaks’ material be explained? Do these powerful institutions prefer to turn a blind eye to evidence that shows their theories wanting? Do they operate to provide a distorted view of the world and help prepare international studies graduates for jobs serving questionable US government interests? Speaking to Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine in July 2015, Assange suggested that institutions within the international relations discipline have failed to understand the intersection between current geopolitical and technological developments. Specifically, Assange charged that the US journal International Studies Quarterly (ISQ), published by the prestigious International Studies Association (ISA), would not accept manuscripts based on WikiLeaks’ material. Professor of international politics Daniel W. Drezner hit back on July 30 in The Washington Post, arguing that there were other explanations for why the journal was not publishing WikiLeaks’ material. However, he did concede that it is possible that the “structural forces” opposing WikiLeaks were so powerful that a scholar would eschew WikiLeaks’ publications for “fear of being blackballed”. For the thousands of undergraduate to PhD students, fellows and academic researchers facing a precarious employment market, self-censorship for fear of freezing one’s career is not unlikely. One publicised incident from November 2010 concerning the office of career services at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), which according to The New York Times “grooms future diplomats”, provides the perfect illustration. That year the office sent an email to students warning them against commenting on or posting WikiLeaks’ documents on social media because “engaging in these activities would call into question your ability to deal with confidential information, which is part of most positions with the federal government”. The warning came to the office through a SIPA alumnus working at the State Department. Years later, the tone of the warning continued to reverberate through the halls of one of the most reputable universities in the world. In documenting human rights abuses in June 2013 a Columbia University graduate class produced the anonymous academic paper “WikiLeaks and Iraq Body Count: the sum of parts may not add up to the whole — a comparison of two tallies of Iraqi civilian deaths”. The acknowledgements section of their report refers to the 2010 warning email and states that in light of that email it would be “unwise and perhaps unethical to acknowledge all the participating students by name”. Others participating in a peer-review process have cited additional factors curtailing their use of comprehensive and illuminating WikiLeaks publications. Former US presidential candidate for the Green Party Cynthia McKinney, for example, says that she was forced to scrub her PhD dissertation from any reference of WikiLeaks material. However Drezner, who is an ISA member and on the ISQ’s web advisory board, claims that WikiLeaks’ published diplomatic cables “are not nearly as significant as Assange believes” and that the “academic universe is indifferent to WikiLeaks”. A surprising claim, given that international human rights courts have not been indifferent to evidence derived from WikiLeaks’ published cables, including cables that show the insidious ways in which European officials attempt to conceal CIA torture in secret prisons. To help address the gap in scholarly analysis of the more than 2 million US diplomatic cables and State Department records published by WikiLeaks since 2010, WikiLeaks has produced a new book, The WikiLeaks Files: The World According to US Empire, published September 7, 2015. The book brings together journalists, researchers and experts on international law and foreign policy to examine the current cables and records. The documents are extensive. They expose US efforts —  across Bush and Obama administrations — to use bribes and threats to keep the US protected from facing war crimes allegations, conveying the fading effervescence of concepts such as “international justice” or “rule of law” in the face of a superpower that clearly believes that “might makes right”. Analysts review the efforts US diplomats take to maintain ties with dictators. They examine the meaning of human rights in the context of a global “War on Terror”. Like the cables they seek to illuminate, the 18 chapters of the book touch upon most major regions of the world. Experts on US foreign policy such as Robert Naiman, Stephen Zunes and Gareth Porter examine cables that reveal US meddling in Syria, US acceptance of Israeli violations of international law, and how the US dealt with the International Atomic Energy Agency in relation to Iranian nuclear development. The book offers a user guide written by WikiLeaks’ investigations editor Sarah Harrison on how to research WikiLeaks’ cables including meta data and content. Writing in the book’s introduction, Assange proposes that the diplomatic cables provide “the vivisection of a living empire, showing what substance flowed from which state organ and when”. Assange notes in his introduction that academic disciplines outside international relations, and where career aspirations do not go hand in hand with patronage by government institutions, have voluminous coverage of the cables. But the ISA does not accept submissions citing WikiLeaks’ material. Although ISA executive director Mark Boyer denies that the association has a formal policy against publishing WikiLeaks’ material, he says that journal editors have discussed the implications of publishing material that is legally prohibited by the US government. According to Gabriel J. Michael, author of the Yale Law School paper Who’s Afraid of WikiLeaks? Missed Opportunities in Political Science Research, the ISQ has adopted a “provisional policy” against handling manuscripts that make use of leaked documents if such use could be interpreted as mishandling “classified” material. According to an ISQ editor quoted in Michael’s paper, this policy prohibits direct quotations as well as data mining, and was developed in consultation with legal counsel. Stating that editors are currently “in an untenable position”. According to the editor, ISQ’s policy will remain in place pending broader action from the ISA, which publishes several other disciplinary journals. The ISA and ISQ concerns about handling material that the US government forbids —  which include WikiLeaks’ cables —  amount to throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The cables go into the heart of an empire, and reflect on matters that affect everyone. Without WikiLeaks, the public would still be in the dark about the Trans-Pacific Partnership “agreement” currently being negotiated. The treaty aims to rewrite the global rules on intellectual property rights and would create spheres of trade which would be protected from judicial oversight. Such agreements have the potential to change the fabric of how states operate, and the leaked cables shed light on how states negotiate significant treaties, aiming to keep citizenship participation in politics out. Where academia bans the use of important leaked documents the public loses out. SOURCE http://www.crikey.com.au/2015/12/18/are-us-academics-who-cite-wikileaks-blackballed/ Article by: Chris Spannos media activist Digital Editor @newint. Formerly at teleSUR, ZNet, NYT eXaminer, Imaginary Lines. Oxford, England @cspannos Julian Assange Editor, WikiLeaks Justice4Assange WikiLeaks Site WikiLeaks Twitter BOOK:  The WikiLeaks Files (2015) Link | here ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT That was a good article.  Did a summary, which I'll post and link to, once I edit. I'm sure everyone out there can read for themselves ... but it's my way of trying to remember. Don't know how much of this I'll remember.  It all makes sense now, but my retention isn't all that great. I've read an article recently on this topic, but I forgot all about it.  In a weird way, I even forget how serious the US are about targeting WikiLeaks.  I knew about an 'investigation' but documents released under US freedom of information provisions refer to FBI and Dept. of Justice 'proceedings', which would mean US law enforcement is (and has been) officially mounting a case. In turn, this means that Ecuador's decision to grant political asylum is vindicated. And shows how the British have done away with justice and democracy, to politically persecute Australian journalist, Julian Assange, who has: been detained for 5 years by the British, without charge; and has been subjected to a 3-year Ecuador embassy siege, at over $19-million (American dollars); in an effort to block his rightfully granted political asylum. In the article, this was a huge stand-out for me:  paraphrasing American efforts (bribes & threats) to dodge being held to account for war crimes. Resorting to bribes and threats means there's not one, but two, wrongs committed. WikiLeaks, having exposed the American war crimes, has also exposed US efforts to escape accountability for war crimes. That puts the American efforts to prosecute WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange (and WikiLeaks personnel/associates) into perspective:  and it's not a pretty one. Below is confirmation in US court documents that the FBI and US Department of Justice are officially conducting a 'proceeding' against WikiLeaks. Article Summary Anglo-US Academia, Associations & Journals (International Relations Discipline) Abetting Illegitimate Use of State Power Link | Post ꕤ

Transport Infrastructure Trivia - USA & France

ꕤ Trivia SOURCE http://www.worldhighways.com/sections/contraflow-interview/contraflow/us-highway-bill-finally-receives-approval-by-government/ 2012 Transport Infrastructure Trivia Developed nations No new funds available for road investment. Shortfall enduring, due to ongoing financial problems. 2012 FRANCE €28 billion Needed for Roads FRANCE -- extensive networks tolled roads -- massive shortfall re trunk & urban roads -- 12,000km state-owned national roads -- require €6 billion just for maintenance -- plus further €22 billion for necessary expansion Andre Broto VP Cofiroute French highway firm “The problem is how to find €28 billion for national roads.” “Our main transportation systems: airports, rail, motorways, are nothing without ordinary roads and we need to find some way of investing in them.” USA - Highway Reauthorisation Bill - as at 2012 -- political stalemates -- prior short-term extensions not sufficient to allow private investment -- stunted construction -- now contractors can expect USG transport spending -- spending likely to replace old construction equipment -- job creation expected -- transport system improvement important to economy -- as at 2012, funding by Highway Trust Fund + user-tax revenues -- but widening gap between federal spending & user tax-revenues -- (that fund the Highway Trust Fund) -- as at 2011 -  28 states invested less in highway & bridge projects 2015 ** Obama's about to sign off on Highway bill authorising $305 BILLION FUNDING ** PLUS renewal of EXPORT-IMPORT BANK http://www.worldhighways.com/sections/contraflow-interview/contraflow/us-highway-bill-finally-receives-approval-by-government/ ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT Thought this was cool information. How much France needs to get its roads infrastructure up to scratch is probably debatable, but (as at 2012) it still sounds like there is massive need for maintenance and expansion. Maybe if France spent less on bombing Africa it could spend more on roads. ꕤ

Christmas 2015 - GIF

ꕤ POLITICAL PERSECUTION 6th Christmas DETENTION WITHOUT CHARGE ASSANGE https://justice4assange.com/ ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- Edelweiss ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- ꕤ

Aggressive NATO Expansion - Risking Nuking Europe

ꕤ Article SOURCE http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/12/11/441314/US-Russia-nuclear-deployment-Europe-NATO Russia says US deployed 200 nuclear bombs in Europe Fri Dec 11, 2015 7:20PM The United States has deployed around 200 nuclear bombs across Europe, Russia says, warning that the increased military operations of NATO, led by the US, is deteriorating the military-political situation in the world.         “About 200 US nuclear bombs are currently deployed in Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Turkey. This nuclear ordnance is also subject to a renewal program,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday, Sputnik news agency reported. The Russian minister further blasted the US and NATO for their gradual expansion of military activity, saying the approach is mainly to blame for the deteriorating military-political situation in the world. “We also observe the gradual expansion of the NATO bloc,” he said, adding that during a relatively short time NATO has increased by twofold its members. Shoigu said that Russia has also greatly improved the capabilities of its strategic nuclear forces in a countermeasure to US and NATO’s rising nuclear deployment, adding that the Russian nuclear triad is now outfitted with 55 percent of modern hardware.  Russia does not look favorably upon the deployment of nuclear weapons in NATO states near its borders. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in June that if NATO threatens Russia, Moscow will respond to the threat accordingly. “If someone threatens our territories, it means that we will have to aim our armed forces accordingly at the territories from where the threat is coming. How else could it be? It is NATO that approaching our borders, it’s not like we are moving anywhere,” he said. http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/12/11/441314/US-Russia-nuclear-deployment-Europe-NATO Nuclear triad nuclear weapons delivery of strategic nuclear arsenal consisting of 3 components 1/ strategic bombers 2/ intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) 3/ submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) insurance against destruction of all national nukes in a first-strike attack ensuring a credible threat of second-strike (ie nation's nuclear deterrence) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_triad   ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT Europe is going to be destroyed by nukes because of the US. It might not happen any time soon, but it will happen. Why would European natives expect Americans, who are over the other side of the Atlantic: (a) well away from the potential nuclear blast; and (b) with no vestige of tribal or emotional links to Europe; to defend core European interests?  Unfortunately, the same can be said of European politicians who show no regard whatsoever for the history and heritage of their own people. ꕤ

Libya - Benghazi Assault & Murder & Mumbi Attack

ꕤ Article SOURCE as marked Article Title:  "Ambassador Stevens Was Raped Before His Murder, Reports Claim" Author:  Wolff Bachner re:  Ambassador to Libya -- J. Christopher Stevens Other: EXTRACT - Mumbai Attack "Pakistani Muslim terrorists attacked the Chabad Jewish center during the devastating terror attacks in Mumbai, India, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, were both tortured and raped, and their bodies were desecrated.  According to the Mumbai Police, the Rabbi was castrated while still alive. “Even the Rabbi and his wife at Nariman House were sexually assaulted and their genitalia mutilated,” said a senior officer of the investigating team." http://www.inquisitr.com/330504/ambassador-stevens-was-raped-before-his-murder-reports-claim/ Note:  the woman victim was 6 months pregnant [source:  DailyMail - here] Article Benghazi: Obama's Actions Amount To A Shameful Dereliction Of Duty Peter Ferrara Oct 25, 2012 @ 09:19 AM "...  Benghazi murders of Libyan Ambassador Chris Stevens and 3 others, including two Marines ..." "The Obama Administration received requests for additional security from the Embassy and the Ambassador himself as early as February.  An embassy cable on June 25 expressed fear of rising Islamic extremism in eastern Libya around Benghazi, and noted that the black flag of Al-Qaeda “has been spotted several times flying over government buildings and training facilities.” "On August 2, Ambassador Stevens sent a cable requesting 11 additional body guards, noting “Host nation security support is lacking and cannot be depended on to provide a safe and secure environment for the diplomatic mission of outreach.” "But these requests for additional security were repeatedly denied ..." "Obama and his allies did not want a show of American force in the country that would offend Muslim sensibilities.  They wanted to rely instead on the host country’s security that the embassy was telling them was inadequate and could not be depended upon." "... the day of the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, September 11, the White House situation room starts receiving emails at about 1 pm that the mission is under hostile surveillance.  The only response was that the Pentagon sends a drone armed with a video camera so that everyone in Washington can see what transpires in real time, as it happens, at the White House, at the State Department, at the Pentagon, at the CIA." "The drone documents no crowds protesting any video.  But at 4 pm Washington receives an email from the Benghazi mission that it is under military style attack." "The attack was then fed to all of them, the White House, the Pentagon, the State Dept., the CIA, through live video feed.  A later email that day reported, “Ansar al-Sharia Claims Responsibility for Benghazi Attack.”  The feed showed no protest of any supposedly offensive You Tube video." "Just one hour flight time away were U.S. Air Force bases that could have been rousted in minutes to send fighter planes and attack helicopters that could have routed the attackers in minutes of fighting." Obama & Hillary Clinton: "...  likely knew [correction: they surely knew] the attack on our Benghazi consulate the day before was organized by terrorists.  They knew because they were privy to a flurry of emails among administration officials discussing the attack in real time.  Yet they said nothing about what they knew and, worse, had done nothing to mount a rescue despite American forces being less than an hour away during the seven hour blitz." " The United States Ambassador to Libya, the personal representative of President Barack Obama, had been tortured, sodomized, dragged bloody through the streets of Benghazi, and murdered.  Chris Stevens, along with the two Marines and another who were murdered along with him, had volunteered to serve his country.  But under the leadership of Barack Obama, that is how his service ended." "The Truth-Challenged President But the saga did not end there for the American people.  The rest of us had to endure the President, Secretary of State Clinton, and UN Ambassador “explaining” to us that what really happened was that those irascible Muslims were all incited out of their minds by a previously unseen, unheard of You Tube video trailer by an unknown American immigrant, a movie that was never made outside the trailer advertising it, in Fool on the Hill style.  Their protest had just got out of hand, you see. Except they all knew when they were saying these very words that they were untrue.  They were precisely calculated to deceive and to mislead.  Yet there was our President Obama telling this mendacious fairy tale to the entire world at the U.N.  And there was U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice telling the American people the same concocted fairy tale.  Typical Progressives, they were so certain that they could easily buffalo a majority of their countrymen, no smarter than the representative Homer Simpson." http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterferrara/2012/10/25/benghazi-obamas-actions-amount-to-a-shameful-dereliction-of-duty/ ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT A photo of a guy I suspected had been tortured was going around, but I wasn't sure that's what I was looking at, and I didn't know who it was. It was only after the photo was passed around with a message that it was the US Ambassador being tortured, that it did really look like it was a torture victim.  It also looked like someone may have been holding a cattle prod or something like that (which I didn't spot on initial viewing, when I wasn't entirely sure what I was looking at). Once I had an idea of who it might be, I Googled for information. Some site on the internet denies it was him, but when I keyed in about torture the Forbes article and others came up. I wasn't aware that the people in the Mumbai attacks were sexually assaulted and tortured (that's come just by chance within one of the Benghazi articles). I also wasn't aware that the US Ambassador was sexually assaulted and tortured, and  I think I'd remember having seen something about this in the (admittedly few) Benghazi articles I may have looked at.  I'm shocked and sort of freaked out by that.  It's very disturbing.   Probably moreso because I'd spent some of today looking at Islamic history and getting into listening to associated music. Islamic history isn't as appealing after reading these couple of articles.  I still feel sick.  It's a numb and sick feeling, but I'm not sure why I find it as disturbing as I do.  I think it might be the sexual assault savagery combined with torture savagery and helplessness of the victims that does my head in.  It's both disgusting and incomprehensibly cruel. It's unbelievable that they denied the embassy additional security, when more security was sought.  And it's beyond comprehension that they watched this man get tortured and dragged around Benghazi without doing anything to help. This was in 2012, so they'd already taken down Gaddafi in 2011 and Libya was presumably in a state of civil war. Why would you even have an embassy in the country under those circumstances? Regarding both stories, Daily Mail has left out the gruesome parts, although I think the public ought to know exactly what's happened.   I know I'd rather know, even if it is horrible and disturbing. ꕤ

Australian Journalist Julian Assange - 7 Dec. 2010 to 7 Dec. 2015 - 5 Years State Political Persecution

ꕤ

Syria - British Airstrkes & Dodgy Dave's Lies

ꕤ Article SOURCE as marked SYRIA SUMMARY UK MoD report disputed David Cameron lies re 70,000 'moderate rebels' -->  “misleading” MoD OVERRULED @ meeting -->  Joint Intelligence C'ttee incl. heads: MI6, MI5 & GCHQ + senior military & Foreign Office staff Dodgy Dave's lies:  like Tony Blair’s “dodgy dossier” on #Iraq WMD Cameron / British claim to: Target Islamic State Oil Assets in #Syria --> over 380 UK targets, in over 1yr   [Comment: bet they're Bullsh*t claims.  Must have been targeting Assad for over a year, because ISIS went on selling oil to Turkey & whoever else is in on the finance-the-terrorists scheme to take down Syria] http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-k-joins-airstrikes-in-syria-against-isis-1449131829 NOTE this is 2013 Article WikiLeaks cables have since revealed 2006 Israel-US plan to take down Syria Note also:  oil reserves Golan Heights SOURCE http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2013/aug/30/syria-chemical-attack-war-intervention-oil-gas-energy-pipelines SUMMARY Scumbag Hollande - 2013 welcomed the UK air force strikes in #Syria --> Syria intervention plan fuelled by oil interests Backers of attack on Syria: US, UK, Israel + France -  cooperation w/ Saudi Arabia --> 2007 CIA anti-Syria ops {Seymour Hersh} deploy:  al-Qaeda w/ US approval Saudi Arabia bankroll + give logistical aid to Sunni radicals hostile to US & al-Qaeda linked to attack #Syria #Syria Covert US political + financial support -- via Saudi Arabia -- given to:  exiled Syrian Muslim Brotherhood former French foreign minister Roland Dumas: -->  Britain planned covert action in Syria as early as 2009 Former French foreign minister Roland Dumas stated on TV that:   Britain was preparing gunmen to invade Syria --> in 2009 Syria 2011 uprisings -- domestic energy shortages + climate-induced droughts -->  massive food price hikes --> EXPLOITED WikiLeaks Stratfor e-mails --> CONFIRM US-UK training of Syria 'opposition' since 2011 to collapse ASSAD govt from within. US General Wesley Clark (Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO from 1997 to 2000) --> confirms serial conquest =  strategy for control of region's vast oil & gas resources. 2008 US Army-funded RAND report: --> industrialized states to continue to rely heavily on oil --> oil production:  Middle East #Syria proven oil reserves Persian Gulf coincide w/ power base of Salafi-jihadist network oil supplies / linked w. 'long war' Regional policy trajectories: 1. divide & rule (salafists-jihadists) 2. exploit sustained Shia-Sunni Conflict West policy (1) divide & rule (salafists-jihadists) turn groups against each other / covert action, info ops  divide & rule (salafists-jihadists) discredit transnational jihadist in local eyes divide & rule (salafists-jihadists) support indigenous security forces / local allies West policy (2) exploit sustained Shia-Sunni conflict --> side with:  conservative Sunni regimes against Shiite empowerment -> USA to shore up Sunni regimes in Saudi Arabia #Egypt & #Pakistan -> to containing #Iran power in ME & Gulf USA aware backing Sunni regimes --> result:  empowering al-Qaeda jihadists BUT this to advantage of West. Support Sunni & exploit: bogging down jihadi activity w. internal sectarian rivalry {rather than targeting US} American Saudi Arabia allies Salafi-jihadist --> afraid of upsurge in Shia identity --> to want to target #IRAN vs #USA Following vulnerable to internal destabilisation: 1) Saudi Arabia 2) Gulf States 3) Egypt 4) Syria 5) Iran Internal destabilisation factors - multiple, converging: a) rapid population growth b) 'youth bulge' c) internal economic inequalities d) political frustrations e) sectarian tensions f) water shortages - environment Syria = pipeline geopolitics / Assad refused to sign Qatar pipeline deal 2009 re supply Europe via Syria ie.  bypassing Russia Note that British plan for invasion Syria 2009 coincides w/ Assad refusal of Qatar pipeline deal to supply gas to Europe Nabucco pipeline backed by USA & European Union          parties:             Austria-UAE             Hungarian             Romania             Bulgaria             Turkey             Germany*         --------------------    ie                 OMV - Austria-UAE                       {Romania Turkey Hungary interests}                 MOL - Hungarian                 Transgaz - Romania                 Bulgargaz - Bulgaria                 BOTAS - Turkey                 RWE - Germany, big / largest investor Egypt                 -- 2015 sale oil & gas unit to:         Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman                 RWE operates:  Europe, Middle East & Africa                 RWE partnership w/ British & Netherlands                 re Urenco Group uranium enrichment plants:                  in Germany, Netherlands,USA & UK                 -- supplies nuclear power stations in 15 countries                 -- sale of depleted uranium tails                 -- Russia owns radioactive waste                 -- waste transported to Seversk             [wikipedia] Middle East interests in the Nabucco Qatar LNG pipeline     proposed route:     -Qatar     -Saudi Arabia     -Kuwait     -Iraq     -Turkey     -Jordan http://www.thenational.ae/business/energy/qatar-seeks-gas-pipeline-to-turkey#full  [link as above]   Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan -->  attempt to bribe Russia to dump Syria w/ Saudi 'block of gas' to Europe assurances Russia wasn't buying what assurances of the Saudi / stuck w. #Syria Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline plan = slap in face of #Qatar Putin refusal to take bait & sell out #Syria Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan vowed military action. Saudi Arabia Intelligence Agency Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan director general:  Saudi Intelligence Agency 2012 to 2014 --> supporters: Chechen terrorists Bandar bin Sultan confrontational re USA --> Replaced by:  Prince Muhammad bin Nayef head Saudi intel Muhammad bin Nayef Head of Saudi Arabia Intelligence --> escaped x4 assassination attempts --> incl. rectum bomb  { ... lol, always get a laugh out of that detail } ALSO pulling strings in Middle East oil-focused US policy in Syria: Qatar +  Saudi Arabia aim: pliable Syria opposition Writer concludes Assad is 'war criminal' [comment:  --> but  USA a pre-eminent war criminal & Ghouta was a false flag by USA-Gulf proxies.] SOURCE http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2013/aug/30/syria-chemical-attack-war-intervention-oil-gas-energy-pipelines SUMMARY British Airstrikes on Syria UK Tornado attack planes deployed to:  Akrotiri, Cyprus - first raid 3 Dec. support:  Voyager tanker + Reaper drone variable payload The Brimstone automated anti-armour missile for use re fast-moving platforms first fielded #Afghanistan 2008 The Brimstone light warhead - 9 kg /  a range of 7.5 miles -->  can be used on fast jets, helicopters & UAVs The Brimstone laser-guided missiles UK  RAF weapons of choice since #Libya in 2011 UK RAF Tornados - transit from Cyprus to #Iraq: --> via Israel --> via Jordan --> Voyager tanker accompanies British airstrikes covering #Iraq + #Syria --> 10 Tornados -->   9 Eurofighter Typhoon reinforcement. The Brimstone automated anti-armour missile for use re fast-moving platforms first fielded #Afghanistan 2008 The Brimstone light warhead - 9 kg /  a range of 7.5 miles -->  can be used on fast jets, helicopters & UAVs The Brimstone laser-guided missiles UK  RAF weapons of choice since #Libya in 2011 #Syria UK RAF Tornados - transit from Cyprus to #Iraq: --> via Israel --> via Jordan --> Voyager tanker accompanies British airstrikes covering #Iraq + #Syria --> 10 Tornados -->   9 Eurofighter Typhoon reinforcement. http://theaviationist.com/2015/12/04/raf-tornados-first-air-strike-in-syria/ AUDIO Syria / Libya / Refugee Crisis / Turkey Scott Bennett former US Army officer counter-terrorism analyst 'Impeach Obama' / 'Arrest Carter' https://soundcloud.com/radiosputnik/goes-against-no-boots-on-the-ground-scott-bennett ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT Some of what I've enjoyed looking at today. The stakeholders in the Nabucco pipeline gets complicated, once you start looking at the companies.  eg.  Austrian stakeholder itself has a United Arab Emirates stakeholder.  So working out who's really who would take more time, patience and focus than I have.  Above is just a rough, surface sketch re the companies. The US military guy's audio was kind of cool.  He's anticipating a Turkey military coup against Erdogan.  I don't know if he might be a bit melodramatic there or not, as I'm not that knowledgeable or experienced.  At this stage, it sounds good but far-fetched to me. Key info re Syria (now superseded by further info indicating 2006 planned attack):     Former French foreign minister Roland Dumas     Britain planning covert invasion / attack on Assad     as early as 2009     WikiLeaks Stratfor e-mails     confirm US-UK training Syria 'opposition' since 2011     to collapse Assad from within     British attack     coincides w. Assad rejection of     Qatar pipeline deal 2009     in favour of Russian interests     NB   Qatar pipeline deal 2009     benefits USA & European Union US 4-Star General, General Wesley Clark (Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO from 1997 to 2000) confirms a serial conquest strategy for region (7 countries). NOTE ALSO: Julian Assange: US & Israel Planned To Overthrow Assad In 2006 Cables reveal that before the beginning of the Syrian revolt and civil war, the United States hoped to overthrow Assad and create strife between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. By Kit O'Connell @KitOConnell | September 14, 2015 LONDON — Speaking from Ecuador’s embassy in London, Julian Assange revealed that the United States planned to overthrow the Syrian government as far back as 2006, several years before the start of the current crisis. ... The ongoing threat to his freedom hasn’t kept Assange from continuing his work revealing the dirty secrets of world governments. His latest revelations come in a Wednesday interview with RT in support of his new book, “The WikiLeaks Files,” published late last month. The United States and its allies in the Middle East, including Turkey and Israel, have been frequently accused of contributing to the ongoing destabilization of Syria in the wake of the uprising and subsequent civil war which began in 2011. But according to cables from the WikiLeaks archive, discussed in the Syria chapter of Assange’s book, plans to deliberately destabilize the region go back at least five years further. “In that chapter is a cable from US Ambassador William Roebuck, who was stationed in Damascus, which apparently discusses a plan for the overthrow of the Assad government in Syria,” RT reported. [ ... ] The cable also details plans to foster sectarian strife in the region and make Iran appear like a larger threat to Assad than it really was, Assange continued: “In particular, to take rumors that are known to be false … or exaggerations and promote them – that Iran is trying to convert poor Sunnis, and to work with Saudi and Egypt to foster that perception in order to make it harder for Iran to have influence, and also harder for the government to have influence in the population.” WikiLeaks cables reveal that these plans came from the Israeli government, and show that the U.S. government intended to work with Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and Egypt to encourage the breakdown of the Assad regime as a way of also weakening Iran and Hezbollah. “[I]f Syria sufficiently destabilized, it might be in a position where it can keep the Golan Heights forever, or even advance that territory,” Assange said. According to Assange, the cable illuminates how the current Syrian crisis reflects U.S. influence on the Middle East, particularly the ways it has used its allies to put pressure on the country. “Part of the problem in Syria is that you have a number of US allies surrounding it, principally Saudi and Qatar, that are funneling in weapons,” Assange noted, adding that it shows how the U.S. uses its over 100 army bases and network of embassies to further its imperialist interests. CONTINUES http://www.mintpressnews.com/julian-assange-us-israel-planned-to-overthrow-assad-in-2006/209493/ As the article re the WikiLeaks cable indicates, the plan to take down Syria began even earlier than indicated by the former French Foreign Minister:  it was outlined in 2006 US cables. Israel could be a driving force in for US foreign policy in the Middle Eastern region.  As in, the article states: "WikiLeaks cables reveal that these plans came from the Israeli government." Maybe this has something to do with it: Huge oil discovery in Golan Heights - Israeli media https://www.rt.com/business/317906-oil-golan-heights-israel/ ---------------------- ꕤ --------------------- PS ... Think I might simplify things too much.  There's a combination of things going on.  It's not just a single driving factor. I'll probably never understand what's going on. Just read some Forbes article on Russian billionaires having been bought out of Russia's Rosneft (state oil company), and it's a struggle to understand how anyone can have so much money and how the entire thing works, so what hope is there of understanding politics without understanding of the money men?  lol I'm really disheartened  ... and I can't comprehend why anyone would spend $14 million on a frigging mammoth.  Apparently, it's a gilded skeleton.  Intended as a good deed for an AIDS charity.  Just looked up the artist: won the Turner Prize. New York public health officials banned Two Fucking and Two Watching featuring a rotting cow and bull, because of fears of "vomiting among the visitors" [here] Well, now I'm sure I'll never understand anything on this planet.  Who the f*ck considers a rotting cow art?  This hilarious.  The fellow behind this is the "richest living artist to date."  Guess the 'Virgin Mother' would have taken some effort and talent to produce.  That anyone actually bought the finished product is mind-boggling.  I'd definitely go the mammoth.  ;) ꕤ