US says giving S-300 systems to Syria threatens future US, Israeli strikes

US claims its spy agencies have identified Russian ships taking “weapons” to Syria, including the S-300 anti-air defense system, expressing fears the move would threaten “future air strikes” against the nation by US, Israeli and NATO aircraft.

Citing an unnamed Pentagon official, US-based CNN reported that the Russian warships tracked by American spy agencies “are believed” to be carrying weapons shipments “to resupply” the Syrian military. 

It then adds that “although it’s not confirmed” the ships are believed to carry “some components” of the S-300 defense system as well as “other weapons” for the Syrian government. 

The move comes despite intense US pressure on Moscow for the past weeks against the delivery of the powerful anti-air defense system due to “the threat it would pose by upgrading Syria’s already robust air defense system,” the report underlines. 

It further reiterates that Washington believes the S-300 system would provide Syria with “a much greater ability to target US, Israeli, NATO or other aircraft that may try to strike targets on the ground in the future.”

The report by the influential American media outlet clearly confirms earlier suggestions that US, NATO and the Israeli regime may all be contemplating massive military interventions against Syria, moves that many leaders and analysts in the region agree will seriously threaten regional and global security. 

Claiming that US satellites were able to see “some indications” of containers being loaded onto the Russian warships, the report notes that the US “has been tracking the ships since they left Russian ports.” 

The American criticism of arms shipment to the soverign Syrian government comes amid reports of Washington's persisting support for massive arms shipments by its regional allies to anti-Damascus and mostly al-Qaeda-linked insurgents in Syria and its repeated threats of direct military intrusion into the key Arab nation. 

The report also notes the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower as well as a Patriot missile battery and F-16 jetfighters will be deployed in the region within the next two weeks in order to take part in military drills with Jordanian troops. 

The Jordanians, meanwhile, have asked the US to keep the Patriot missile system in the country after their joint military maneuvers conclude at the end of the month. 

‘Western spies abducted Syria bishops’ (Musawer iqbal butt )

The former leader of Syria’s opposition National Coalition Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib says Western spies currently active inside Syria were behind the recent abduction of two archbishops in Aleppo.

According to Khatib, tens of Western spy agencies are currently active in Syria, reports show.

The reports also added that the former head of the opposition has claimed that it was also possible for a foreign intelligence agency to work in Syria to instigate more tension in the country.

He said that those responsible for the abduction of the archbishops are trying to add to the unrest in Syria.

Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo Yohanna Ibrahim and Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo Paul Yazigi were abducted as they were reportedly carrying out humanitarian work in a village in Aleppo governorate on Monday.

According to Aleppo residents, Ibrahim went to pick up Yazigi from the rebel-controlled Bab al-Hawa crossing with Turkey. Their car was intercepted on the way back by militants who kidnapped the archbishops and killed their driver. The two were later released on Tuesday.

Khatib submitted his resignation in March, in protest against the institutional limitations of the foreign-backed body.

On Monday, George Sabra was named the caretaker of Syria’s opposition National Coalition.

The Syria crisis began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.

Delhi police chief must resign, 1000s say (Musawer iqbal butt)

People have taken to streets of the Indian capital to demand resignation of the New Delhi police chief, following a recent rape case of a five year old girl.

Indians staged a demonstration in New Delhi asking Neeraj Kumar to step down as police escorted the second accused in a vehicle to the court on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

"”We are urging Neeraj Kumar to step down from his chair. We are asking him to step down if he is not able to do anything. We are seeing since November- December that this person is least concerned about the safety of women and he is sitting on the chair despite the string of incidents pertaining to the safety of women. We are telling him that we are ready to organize a religious ceremony for him, we are ready to pray in the temple, but we are requesting him for God's sake, please step down from your chair,” one of the protesters said."

Women and children could also be seen among the protesters.

On Monday, Kumar refused to resign and stated that his resignation would not help ensuring justice in the case.

The second suspect, Pradeep Kumar, 19, was arrested on Monday in the eastern state of Bihar, where the first suspect, Manoj Kumar, was apprehended early Saturday morning.

The two men have been arrested on suspicion that they abducted the 5-year-old girl on April 14 and taking her into Manoj Kumar’s apartment, where they raped her several times. The girl was found semiconscious in the apartment two days later.

Also on Monday, hundreds of people demonstrated in New Delhi for the fourth consecutive day in protest against the conduct of police dealing with the kidnapping and rape of the girl.

The five-year-old girl, whose name has not been revealed, has undergone surgery and was in stable condition on Monday.

The assault on the little girl has evoked memories of the horrific gang rape by six men of a 23-year-old medical student on a moving bus on December 16, 2012, in New Delhi. She succumbed to her injuries in a hospital in Singapore on December 29.

The horrific nature of the crime shocked Indians, who thronged the streets, demanding protection for women and capital punishment for rape, which currently carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

North korea declares state of war

SEOUL: North Korea on Saturday declared it was in a “state of war” with South Korea and warned Seoul and Washington that any provocation would swiftly escalate into an all-out nuclear conflict.

The United States said it took the announcement “seriously”, but noted it followed a familiar pattern, while South Korea largely dismissed it as an old threat dressed in new clothing.

It was the latest in a string of dire-sounding pronouncements from Pyongyang that have been matched by tough warnings from Seoul and Washington, fuelling international concern that the situation might spiral out of control.

“As of now, inter-Korea relations enter a state of war and all matters between the two Koreas will be handled according to wartime protocol,” the North said in a government statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.

“The long-standing situation of the Korean peninsula being neither at peace nor at war is finally over,” the statement said, adding that any US or South Korean provocation would trigger a “a nuclear war”.

The two Koreas have technically remained at war for the past six decades because the 1950-53 Korean War concluded with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

The North had announced earlier this month that it was ripping up the armistice and other bilateral peace pacts signed with Seoul in protest against South Korea-US joint military exercises.

The White House labelled the latest statement from Pyongyang as “unconstructive” and, while taking it “seriously”, sought to place the immediate threat level in context.

“North Korea has a long history of bellicose rhetoric and threats and today’s announcement follows that familiar pattern,” said National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden.

In Seoul, the Unification Ministry insisted the war threat was “not really new”. The Defence Ministry vowed to “retaliate thoroughly” to any provocation, but added that no notable troop movement had been observed along the border.

As with past crises, Pyongyang did not allow the tensions to impact the Kaesong industrial complex, a joint South-North venture that provides the regime with crucial hard currency.

“The border crossing to Kaesong is functioning normally,” said Unification Ministry spokeswoman Park Soo-Jin.

Most observers still believe this will remain a verbal rather than a physical battle.

“The North Koreans in recent weeks have turned rhetoric into performance art,” said Gordon Flake, a Korea specialist and executive director of the Mansfield Foundation in Washington.

“When they have already declared the armistice null and void, I do not think a declaration of war breaks new ground,” Flake said.

But he added that the situation had now become so volatile that any slight miscalculation carried the potential for rapid escalation.

“The danger is, when the North Koreans have threatened a nuclear attack on Washington, they may not know a limit on how much they can get away with,” said Flake.

Both China and Russia called for calm Friday, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov voicing particular concern.

“We can simply see the situation getting out of control, it would spiral down into a vicious circle,” Lavrov told reporters.

His warning came after North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un ordered missile units to prepare to strike US mainland and military bases, after US stealth bombers flew over South Korea.

The high-stakes standoff has its roots in North Korea’s successful long-range rocket launch in December and the third nuclear test it carried out in February.

Both events drew UN sanctions that incensed Pyongyang, which then switched the focus of its anger to the annual joint South Korea-US military drills.

As tensions escalated, Washington has maintained a notably assertive stance, publicising its use of nuclear-capable B-52s and B-2 stealth bombers in the war games.

The long-distance deployment of both sets of aircraft out of bases in Guam and the US mainland were intended as a clear signal of US commitment to defending South Korea against any act of aggression.

Musawer iqbal butt

Top 10 Companies Profiting From War

From 24/7 Wall St.: The business of war is profitable. In 2011, the 100 largest contractors sold $410 billion in arms and military services. Just 10 of those companies sold over $208 billion. Based on a list of the top 100 arms-producing and military services companies in 2011 compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 10 companies with the most military sales worldwide in 2011.

These companies have benefited tremendously from the growth in military spending in the U.S., which by far has the largest military budget in the world. In 2000, the U.S. defense budget was approximately $312 billion. By 2011, that figure had grown to $712 billion. Arm sales grew alongside general defense spending growth. SIPRI noted that between 2002 and 2011, arms sales among the top 100 companies grew by 51%.

However, the trend has reversed recently. In 2011, the top 100 arms dealers sold 5% less compared to 2010. Susan Jackson, a defense expert at SIPRI, said in an email to24/7 Wall St. that austerity measures in Western Europe and the U.S. have delayed or slowed down the procurement of different weapons systems. Austerity concerns have exacerbated matters since 2011. The U.S. federal government budget cuts that took effect beginning this month — commonly known as sequestration — mean that military spending could contract by more than $500 billion over the coming decade unless some of the cuts are reversed.

In addition, the U.S.’s involvement in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have wound down significantly. The last American convoy in Iraq left the country in December of 2011. Troop withdrawals from Afghanistan also began in 2011. Finally, SIPRI pointed out that sanctions on arms transfers to Libya also played a role in declining arms sales.

Many of these companies are looking overseas to try to make up for slowing sales in the U.S. and Europe. Arms producers are especially keen on areas in Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Asia, Jackson said. For instance, BAE is in the process of securing contracting agreements with Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the chief financial officer of Northrop Grumman has recently indicated his company may sell its Global Hawk airplane to South Korea or Japan.

Based on the report, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 10 companies with the most arms sales in 2011. Arms were defined as sales to military customers, either for procurement or for export, but do not include sales of general purpose items such as oil or computer equipment to military customers. We also looked at arms sales from 2010, as well as the company’s total sales in 2010. Furthermore, we considered the company’s 2011 total sales, profits and the total number of employees at the company, all provided by SIPRI.

10. United Technologies

Arm sales 2011: $11.6 billion
Total sales 2011: $58.2 billion
Total profit: $5.3 billion
Total employment: 199,900
Sector: Aircraft, electronics, engines United Technologies makes a wide range of arms — notably military helicopters, including the Black Hawk helicopter for the U.S. Army and Seahawk helicopter for the U.S. Navy. The company was the most profitable of all companies on this list, making more than $5.3 billion in 2011. It was also the largest company on this list by headcount, employing nearly 200,000 people worldwide as of 2011. Arms comprised just 20% of the company’s $58.2 billion in sales in 2011. Other products made by United Technologies include elevators, escalators, air-conditioners and refrigerators. International sales comprised 60% of the company’s total revenue in 2012.

9. L-3 Communications

Arm sales 2011: $12.5 billion
Total sales 2011: $15.2 billion
Total profit: $956 million
Total employment: 61,000
Sector: ElectronicsSome 83% of L-3 Communications sales in 2011 came from arms sales, totaling just over $12.5 billion. This was down, however, from about $13.1 billion in arms sales in 2010. The company has four different business segments: electronic systems; aircraft modernization and maintenance; national security solutions; and command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Among many products manufactured, the company has become a major provider of unmanned aircraft systems. In 2011, the company turned a profit of $956 million and employed approximately 61,000 people.

8. Finmeccanica

Arm sales 2011: $14.6 billion
Total sales 2011: $24.1 billion
Total profit: $-3.2 billion
Total employment: 70,470
Sector: Aircraft, artillery, engines, electronics, military vehicles, missiles, small arms/ammunitionItalian company Finmeccanica makes a wide range of arms, including helicopters and security electronics. Of the company’s nearly $24.1 billion in sales in 2011, 60% were in arms. Finmeccanica lost $3.2 billion in 2011. The Italian company is currently fending off allegation that it paid bribes to win an approximately $750 million contract to provide 12 military helicopters to the Indian government back in 2010. The then-head of the company, Giuseppe Orsi, was arrested in February but has denied wrongdoing. Other executives, including the head of the company’s helicopter unit, have been replaced, and the company has delayed the release of recent financial results until the situation is resolved.

7. EADS

Arm sales 2011: $16.4 billion
Total sales 2011: $68.3 billion
Total profit: $1.4 billion
Total employment: 133,120
Sector: Aircraft, electronics, missiles, spaceThe European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), based in the Netherlands, had $16.4 billion worth of arms sales in 2011, roughly in line with 2010. Arms sales, however, comprised just 24% of the company’ entire sales, which totaled about $68.3 billion in 2011. EADS andBAE Systems attempted to merge for $45 billion in 2012, which would have created the world’s largest aerospace company. However, the deal collapsed in October after German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed concern that the new company would marginalize the influence of the German government and would focus decision making in France and the U.K.

6. Northrop Grumman

Arm sales 2011: $21.4 billion
Total sales 2011: $26.4 billion
Total profit: $2.1 billion
Total employment: 72,500
Sector: Aircraft, electronics, missiles, ships, space


Like many of the companies on this list, Northrop Grumman makes a wide range of arms, including unmanned systems; air and missile defense radars; and critical incident response systems. In 2011, Northrop Grumman reported about $21.4 billion in arms sales, comprising 81% of the company’s $26.4 billion in total sales. But arms sales in 2011 declined from $28.2 billion in arms sales in 2010, after growing by $3.5 billion between 2007 and 2010. The company attributed the decline to reduced government spending on defense projects. Nevertheless, the company reported a profit of more than $2.1 billion in fiscal 2011, slightly better than the company’s earnings the previous year.

5. Raytheon

Arm sales 2011: $22.5 billion
Total sales 2011: $24.9 billion
Total profit: $1.9 billion
Total employment: 71,000
Sector: Electronics, missilesRaytheon, based in Waltham, Mass., is one of the largest defense contractors in the U.S. The company makes a wide range of defense products, including missiles such as the Tomahawk Cruise Missile. Arms sales totaled about $22.5 billion in 2011, comprising about 90% of the company’s total sales that year. However, these sales were down slightly from the $23 billion in arms sales in 2010.The slide hasn’t let up. Total sales in 2012 fell 1.5%, and Raytheon is expecting sales to fall 3% in 2013, a projection which doesn’t take into account the effects of sequestration on the company. Fortunately, the company can rely on overseas customers to somewhat offset weak sales at home. As of January, approximately 40% of the company’s backlog was booked overseas. The company expects approximately a 5% increase in international sales in 2013.

4. General Dynamics

Arm sales 2011: $23.8 billion
Total sales 2011: $32.7 billion
Total profit: $2.5 billion
Total employment: 95,100
Sector: Artillery, electronics, military vehicles, small arms/ammunition, shipsWith 18,000 transactions worth $19.5 billion in 2011, General Dynamics was the third-largest contractor to the U.S. government. Of those contracts, approximately $12.9 billion worth went to the Navy, while an additional $4.6 billion went to the Army. The company reported just under $23.8 billion in arms sales in 2011, comprising 73% of the company’s total sales. Arms sales in 2011 were slightly below 2010 levels. The company employs approximately 95,000 workers worldwide and makes a host of products, including electric boats, tracked and wheeled military vehicles, and battle tanks. The company has expressed concern about the potential effects on U.S. military budgets due to sequestration, issuing layoff notices this week.

3. BAE Systems

Arm sales 2011: $29.2 billion
Total sales 2011: $30.7 billion
Total profit: $2.3 billion
Total employment: 93,500
Sector: Aircraft, artillery, electronics, military vehicles, missiles, small arms/ammunition, shipsBAE Systems was the largest non-U.S. company based on arms sales, bringing in $29.2 billion worth in 2011. This represented 95% of the company’s total sales that year. Yet 2011’s arms sales were lower than 2010′s, when the company sold $32.9 billion worth of arms. The products that BAE sells include the L-ROD Bar Armor System that shields defense vehicles, and the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer that provides sophisticated simulation training for military pilots. In 2013, the company said its growth would likely come from outside the United States and Great Britain — its home market. BAE noted that its outlook for those two countries was “constrained,” likely due to the diminished presence in international conflicts and government budget cuts.

2. Boeing

Arm sales 2011: $31.8 billion
Total sales 2011: $68.7 billion
Total profit: $4.0 billion
Total employment: 171,700
Sector: Aircraft, electronics, missiles, spaceBoeing was the second-largest U.S. government contractor in 2011, with about $21.5 billion worth of goods contracted that year. The Chicago-based company makes a wide range of arms, including strategic missile systems, laser and electro-optical systems and global positioning systems. Despite all these technologies, just 46% of the company’s total sales of $68.7 billion in 2011 came from arms. Boeing is the largest commercial airplane manufacturer in the world, making planes such as the 747, 757 and recently, the 787 Dreamliner. The company is also known for its space technology — Boeing had $1 billion worth of contracts with NASA in 2011.

1. Lockheed Martin

Arm sales 2011: $36.3 billion
Total sales 2011: $46.5 billion
Total profit: $2.7 billion
Total employment: 123,000
Sector: Aircraft, electronics, missiles, spaceLockheed Martin notched $36.3 billion in sales in 2011, slightly higher than the $35.7 billion the company sold in 2010. The 2011 arms sales comprised 78% of the company’s total 2011 sales of $46.5 billion. As of 2011, the company employed 123,000 people worldwide. In the company’s aerospace and defense unit, Lockheed makes a wide range of products, including aircrafts, missiles, unmanned systems and radar systems. The company and its employees have been concerned about the effects of both the fiscal cliff and sequestration, the latter of which includes significant cuts to the U.S. Department of Defense. In the fall of 2012, the company planned on issuing layoff notices to all employees before backing down at the request of the White House.

Newly-Released Memo by Donald Rumsfeld Proves Iraq War Started On False Pretenses

Everyone Knew Iraq Had No WMDS … and Was Not Behind Anthrax Attacks or 9/11

Everyone knew that Iraq didn’t have weapons of mass destruction.

Indeed, Secretary of State Colin Powell’s chief of staff – Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson – just said that Powell knew that there were no WMDs:

I wonder what will happen when we put 500,000 troops into Iraq and comb the country from one end to the other and find nothing

 

It has been extensively documented that the White House decided to invade Iraq before 9/11:

• Former CIA director George Tenet said that the White House wanted to invade Iraq long before 9/11, and inserted “crap” in its justifications for invading Iraq. Former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill – who sat on the National Security Council – also says that Bush planned the Iraq war before 9/11. Top British officialssay that the U.S. discussed Iraq regime change even before Bush took office. And in 2000, Cheney said aBush administration might “have to take military action to forcibly remove Saddam from power.” And see this.

• Cheney made Iraqi’s oil fields a national security priority before 9/11. And the Sunday Herald reported: “Five months before September 11, the US advocated using force against Iraq … to secure control of its oil.” (remember that Alan Greenspan, John McCain, George W. Bush, Sarah Palin, a high-level National Security Council officer and others all say that the Iraq war was really about oil.)

Indeed, neoconservatives planned regime change in Iraq – and throughout the Middle East and North Africa – 20 years ago.

George W. Bush, John McCain, Sarah Palin, a high-level National Security Council officer, Alan Greenspanand others all say that the Iraq war was really about oil.

But war is sold just like soda or toothpaste … and so a false justification needs to be concocted.

The government tried to falsely blame the anthrax attacks on Iraq as a justification for war:

When Congress was originally asked to pass the Patriot Act in late 2001, the anthrax attacks which occurred only weeks earlier were falsely blamed on spooky Arabs as a way to scare Congress members into approving the bill. Specifically:

• The FBI was actually told to blame Anthrax scare on Al Qaeda by White House officials

• High-level government insiders pointed towards Iraq as the source of the anthrax, even though there was absolutely no reason to think that the anthrax had come from Iraq

And:

George Bush throughout 2002 routinely featured “anthrax” as one of Saddam’s scary weapons.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, President Bush and VP Cheney all falsely linked Iraq with 9/11 … and the entire torture program was aimed at establishing such a false linkage.

A new book by NBC News and Newsweek investigative reporter Michael Isikoff adds details, including amemo written by Rumsfeld in November 2001 – a year and a quarter before the start of the Iraq war – asking how to start a war against Iraq, and suggesting as one potential “justification” for war:

• How start?

***

US discovers Saddam connection to Sept. 11 attack or to anthrax?

The Bush administration launched the Iraq war under false pretenses … unfortunately, Obama is no better.