Monday, June 1, 2015
'Something Else Coming In September: UN Resolution Establishing Palestinian State?'
There has been a lot of talk about things that are going to happen in September, but something that has been almost totally overlooked is the fact that the UN Security Council is likely to be voting on a UN resolution which will establish a Palestinian state at that time. Right now, France is working on a proposed resolution which would give formal UN Security Council recognition to the Palestinians, would declare that a divided Jerusalem is the capital of both Israel and a Palestinian state, and would set the 1967 borders as the baseline for future negotiations which would establish the final borders between the two nations.
It is being reported that France will submit this resolution for a vote after the 70th session of the UN General Assembly begins on the 15th of September. At this moment, 136 nations have already recognized a Palestinian state, but the United States has always blocked recognition by the UN Security Council. This time may be different though, because there are quite a few indications that Barack Obama actually plans to back the French resolution in September. If that happens, and the UN Security Council approves this resolution, it is going to have enormous implications for all of us.
Not a lot of people understand that this is happening, so let’s take this step by step.
Back in March, the Wall Street Journal and other news sources reported that the French were working on a new Security Council resolution which will establish the parameters for a Palestinian state…
France will begin discussions in the coming weeks on a U.N. Security Council resolution that would set out the steps for a negotiated end of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and a solution to the nearly 70-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Friday.
According to the Times of Israel, this resolution will use the 1967 borders as the baseline for future border negotiations, and it sets Jerusalem as the capital city for both states…
France sees a window of opportunity after Israel’s elections to get the United States on board with a new push for Mideast peace, and is preparing a draft UN Security Council resolution in about 12 days, according to French diplomatic officials.
The draft would define the pre-1967 frontier as a reference point for border talks but allow room for exchanges of territory, designate Jerusalem as capital of both Israel and a Palestinian state and call for a fair solution for Palestinian refugees, one official told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
And according to WND, the proposed French resolution draws heavily from a UN resolution which established a partition plan for the land of Israel back in 1947…
The French draft is said to be based on U.N. Resolution 181, dating back to Nov. 29, 1947, which provided for the establishment of two separate states. Called the partition plan, Israel accepted the deal, but the Arab governments rejected it and went to war against Israel. It would have created an independent Palestinian state on 52 percent of historic Palestine.
The current proposal is said to call for an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, creating a Palestinian state on 22 percent of the area.
“We don’t and we won’t give up on this,” said Francois Delattre, French ambassador to the U.N.
So when will this new resolution be brought to a vote at the UN?
According to Haaretz, the French hope to submit their plan for a vote when the new General Assembly session begins in September…
The proposed French resolution will only be tabled after the June 30 deadline set for the nuclear negotiations with Iran. The intention is to bring it to a vote in the Security Council during the General Assembly session in New York in September.
If you understand what I am saying and you are able to put all of the pieces together, you probably just had a “whoa moment”. It would be hard to overstate just how important this is.
As I mentioned above, up until now the U.S. has always blocked any attempts to get the UN Security Council to recognize a Palestinian state.
But now that Barack Obama is completely and totally fed up with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that could be changing.
If the United States does not veto the French resolution later this year, it will almost certainly pass. So right now, the only thing standing in the way of a Palestinian state is Barack Obama. And considering the fact that he is probably the most anti-Israel president in our history, that is a very sobering thought.
Publicly, Obama is being very coy about what he plans to do. But privately, it appears that he has already made up his mind. In fact, Debka is reporting that Obama has given France a “green light” to move forward with this resolution…
Banking on Netanyahu’s assertion while campaigning for re-election that there would be no Palestinian state during his term in office, Obama is reported exclusively by our sources to have given the hitherto withheld green light to European governments to file a UN Security Council motion proclaiming an independent Palestinian state.
In addition, Debka is also reporting that officials from the Obama administration have actually traveled to France to help draft this new UN resolution…
To show the administration was in earnest, senior US officials sat down with their French counterparts in Paris last week to sketch out the general outline of this motion. According to our sources, they began addressing such questions as the area of the Palestinian state, its borders, security arrangements between Israel and the Palestinians and whether or not to set a hard-and-fast timeline for implementation, or phrase the resolution as a general declaration of intent.
Incorporating a target date in the language would expose Israel to Security Council sanctions for non-compliance.
And like I discussed earlier, we are not likely to see any action taken on this resolution until the new session of the UN General Assembly begins on September 15th.
Global leaders probably hope that this plan will bring peace.
But it won’t. In fact, it will just greatly inflame tensions in the region.
In the end, I believe that this “peace plan” will only lead to more war.
The legal authority for U.S. spy agencies' collection of Americans' phone records and other data expired at midnight on Sunday after the Senate failed to pass legislation extending their powers.
After debate pitting Americans' distrust of intrusive government against fears of terrorist attacks, the Senate voted to advance reform legislation that would replace the bulk phone records program revealed two years ago by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
Although the Senate did not act in time to keep the program from expiring, the vote was at least a partial victory for Democratic President Barack Obama, who had pushed for the reform measure as a compromise addressing privacy concerns while preserving a tool to help protect the country from attack.
But final Senate passage was delayed until at least Tuesday by objections from Senator Rand Paul, a libertarian Republican presidential hopeful who has fulminated against the NSA program as illegal and unconstitutional.
As a result, the government's collection and search of phone records terminated at midnight when key provisions of a post-Sept. 11, 2001, law known as the USA Patriot Act expired.
In addition, U.S. law enforcement and security agencies will lose authority to conduct other programs.
Still, eventual resumption of the phone records program in another form, and the other government powers, appeared likely after the Senate voted 77-17 to take up the reform legislation, called the USA Freedom Act.
"This bill will ultimately pass," Paul acknowledged after the procedural vote.
The Senate abruptly reversed course during a rare Sunday session to let the bill go ahead, after Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reluctantly acknowledged that Paul had stymied his efforts to extend the Patriot Act provisions.
Intelligence experts say a lapse of only a few days would have little immediate effect. The government is allowed to continue collecting information related to any foreign intelligence investigation that began before the deadline.
Obama strongly backed the Freedom Act, as have most Democrats. It passed the House of Representatives on May 13 by 338-88.
After the Senate adjourned, the White House issued a statement calling on the Senate to "put aside partisan motivations and act swiftly."
The measure could face more debate in Congress. Republican Senator Richard Burr offered several amendments, including one to extend the existing program for 12 months to provide more time to adopt changes mandated by the Freedom Act.
That could be a problem for some House members, because it doubles the transition period in their version of the bill.
The Freedom Act would end spy agencies' bulk collection of domestic telephone "metadata" and replace it with a more targeted system.
The records would be held by telecommunications companies, not the government, and the NSA would have to get court approval to gain access to specific data. Neither the current nor proposed new system gives the government access to the content of phone conversations.
Many civil liberties groups feel the Freedom Act does not go far enough in protecting privacy.
"Congress should take advantage of this sunset to pass far reaching surveillance reform, instead of the weak bill currently under consideration," Michael Macleod-Ball, acting director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington Legislative Office, said in a statement.
A review panel Obama established in 2013 concluded that the metadata collection program had not been essential to preventing any terrorist attack. Security officials counter that it provides important data they can combine with other intelligence to help stop attacks.
The volume of rules, regulations, and laws is so vast now that you can hardly breathe without committing a crime.
And when they’re not busy confiscating private property through ‘civil asset forfeiture’ or shooting defenseless citizens, police now drive around shutting down children’s lemonade stands for failing to have the appropriate permit.
Just this morning the US government’s publication of all the new rules, laws, and regulations totaled 313 pages.
And that’s just for today. Tomorrow there will be more.
Some of the worst provisions from the USA PATRIOT Act are set to expire this weekend. But the Obama administration doesn’t want that. And they’ve channeled their inner-Cheney to roll out the same fear-mongering tactics that got this law passed 14 years ago.
Without sweeping powers to spy on Americans, the administration claims that the country would be left utterly defenseless against terrorists.
They have suggested that any dissent to the provisions is “playing national security Russian roulette”, and that the opposition will be blamed *when* there’s another terrorist attack in America.
What’s incredible is how many people believe them… how many people are so afraid of the boogeyman that they support extending the most destructive legislation of their time.
This was a huge litmus test for liberty in America. And I’m dismayed at how little people seem to care about privacy and freedom anymore.
It took 31 years, but it appears that the origins of 1984 are finally upon us. It’s happening all across the West at an alarming pace, and people are willing to allow it.
That’s the funny thing about freedom.
True freedom means that you are free to be an idiot. That people are free to make the greatest mistake of all and trade their liberty for security.
And that’s their choice. But they’re not free to trade mine.
What I do with my liberty is my choice. Not anyone else’s. And I have no desire to trade it away for excessive government power masquerading as fake security.
A staggering 42 million poultry have been destroyed in the worst outbreak of bird flu in America's history.
That is nearly three times larger than the last worst outbreak in 1983.
It is taking an emotional toll on farmers and staff and a team of forensics are conducting a CSI-style investigation on how it is continuing to spread unchecked.
Even farms with first class biosecurity still got hit, said David Inall, vice-president of the United Egg Producers.
"The poultry industry is now in unchartered waters, with the worst ever outbreak of bird flu, on 187 premises," Mr Inall said.
"There are 25 egg layer farms affected. Some of those farms are extremely large, with three to four million hens, with a total layer population of 35 million hens included in that number."
With 300 million layer hens in the United State, it represents 11.6 per cent of the egg laying population, which Mr Inall said would be hard to replace.
Hong Kong authorities quarantined 18 fellow passengers of a South Korean man who arrived in the city infected with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS.
The Chinese city's health authorities said Saturday the 18 are quarantined in the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village resort in a remote part of Hong Kong for two weeks. They were seated within two rows of the South Korean man, but have not showed any symptoms so far.
Another 17 people are under medical surveillance.
Authorities say the 44-year-old South Korean man flew from Seoul to Hong Kong on Tuesday and then traveled by bus to the Chinese mainland. He is China's first imported MERS case and is being held in isolation at a hospital in southern China.
The potentially fatal virus is similar to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, which broke out in China in 2002. Fifteen cases of MERS have been detected in South Korea.
Hong Kong authorities were asking other passengers of Asiana Airlines Flight 723 to contact them.
Finally, we are getting some much needed honesty with regard to the true nature of Jade Helm. The information is not overtly forthcoming, but in this clumsily made presentation to local Texas officials, one can pretty much ascertain the true nature of the drill, that is, if one can get around the obvious lies being told to the public by this Jade Helm official.
The Jade Helm official, Tom Meade, a Senior Non-commissioned officer from Army Special Forces (Retired) is now working as a private military contractor and he recently briefed local officials in Big Spring, Texas as to the purposes and the scope of the Jade Helm exercise.
Two of my military sources were agitated beyond words when they watched this briefing. To quote one of my sources, he stated “This goddamn retired Non-com knows more than the command officers running Jade Helm about what they are going to be doing. And now this SOB military contractor, who’d sell their own mother down the river, are running this operation instead of the General, Colonels and senior Non-Coms. Only in the Obama administration could this happen”.
Below is a transcript of key information revealed by private military contractor, Tom Meade. Please note that Meade repeatedly admits throughout the tape that Jade Helm is NOT training for Iraq and Afghanistan despite the repeated lies told by National Public Radio, KHOU TV in Houston, the Washington Post and Fox and Friends. The tape has been out for a few weeks, however, a word by word analysis has not been conducted.
1:30 We are asking Big Spring city council for a letter of invitation which would invite “forces” to train within your city limits in areas that have low population density.
Analysis: As the readers will soon see, this is about military personnel who are in hiding in rural areas and trying to live off of the land.
1:38 “We are not training for Afghanistan and Iraq…This is about unconventional warfare”.
Analysis: This clearly indicates that the anticipated conflict is likely to be Guerrilla warfare.
2:21 “We won’t come on someone’s property without a land-use agreement”.
Analysis: As the people in Pinon Canyon, Colorado if Ft. Carson asks if they can come on to your property and wreck your land. This is about training personnel that total warfare is about not worrying about private property rights. Private property owners in Texas better watch their properties.
2:50 “We do a full risk assessment and full medical plan (prior to coming on private property) and we have already linked into the hospital…we also have medical personnel that will be on site to assist if anything should happen.
Analysis: It is clear that in this drill, citizens are at risk for injury and death. What could the military be doing that is so dangerous, in a drill, that they need to have medical personnel on hand and on alert? If the people in Texas are not yet afraid of what is coming, they are either totally ignorant, or are abject fools.
3:01 “What is Jade Helm? Jade Helm is an 8 week exercise (LIE)… We also have our interagency partners participating such as the FBI, the DEA….”
Analysis: Why the DEA? The DEA tracks the Mexican drug cartels. Judicial Watch has linked the drug cartels to ISIS in base camps just on the other side of the border. Please note that a few weeks ago, a Texas Ranger told me that the Walmarts were being converted into supply centers for the military. The military? “The military that we will use to fight against ISIS incursions into Texas”, he stated.
3:50 “The operation is going to be in 7 states (Lie). Texas is going to be the main bulk of the activity”.
Analysis: We have photographic, video and live eyewitness evidence that demonstrate that Jade Helm is in every state and is already underway.
4:44 “The Navy Seals will be conducting will be conducting operations over in Mississippi and Louisiana”… The Air Force Special Operations Command will be flying specialty aircraft for us, uh… for infiltration and resupply for the operators on the ground… The Marine Special Operators will be working down in the San Antonio area…The 82nd Airborne Division will jump into Camp Bullis and take down targets within the camp”.
Analysis: The Jade Helm lie that the drill is in only 7 states (i.e. Texas, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Colorado (formerly), California, and New Mexico is fully exposed here with the admission that the Navy Seals will be conducting operations within Mississippi and Louisiana. These two states are not on the Jade Helm list of seven.
The admission that Jade Helm will use the Air Force Special Operations to assist in “infiltration” is very telling. To Special Forces, infiltration is accomplished with the goal of (1) Destroying command and control as an action in anticipation of invasion; and, (2) Kidnapping and/or assassinating high value targets. This speaks to the political dissident extractions that I have been writing about. It also speaks to Red List executions by death squads who also use infiltration techniques.
The admission that Jade Helm will use the Air Force Special Operations to assist in “infiltration” is very telling. To Special Forces, infiltration is accomplished with the goal of (1) Destroying command and control as an action in anticipation of invasion; and, (2) Kidnapping and/or assassinating high value targets. This speaks to the political dissident extractions that I have been writing about. It also speaks to Red List executions by death squads who also use infiltration techniques.
The mention of Marines operating around San Antonio is very telling. We now are seeing a shift in operational mission status to include conventional military forces. This is very important because under several different Continuity of Government (COG) programs throughout the years, COG’s always speak about using conventional forces to isolate metropolitan areas deemed to be in rebellion. I cannot stress how unusual it is, and how unorthodox it is to use Special Forces and conventional military in the same drill. This action clearly speaks to a civil war scenario being practiced in the Jade Helm drill which will follow Red List extractions.
Also noteworthy is the revelation that the 82nd Airborne, a conventional force, is going to be parachuted into a simulated war zone at Camp Bullis and practice taking out selected targets. The clear implication here is that the 82nd is going to be taking out armed dissidents or rogue military units who would oppose a martial law takeover.
Analysis: My sources tell me that the mere severing of communications, through satellites, is enough to abort a Special Forces mission. ARSOF, or Green Berets, or Navy Seals do not need satellites to communicate. They have several alternative modes that can be used including the building of communications in an impromptu fashion. Therefore, the need to practice for Special Operations to be without communications speaks to a total “grid down” scenario. I have a hard time believing that localized EMP weapons would be used because of the catastrophic collateral damage done to the infrastructure. This is a surprising and shocking development, but my sources say the intent, in this instance is clear. An EMP will wipe out all communications.
Meade speaks to the need to solicit informants similar to what the Gestapo did in Germany. Clearly, the drill also calls for the commandeering of assets similar to what we see called for in Executive Order 13603.
12:25 A country commissioner asked Meade how the DEA and the FBI are a part of the drill. Meade stammered for several seconds but eventually responded that “in Arizona, they will actually do some questioning for us at one of the airports”.
Analysis: The consensus is that DEA and the FBI will assist in the apprehension of Red List fugitives at airports.
Clearly, and we have it from an original Jade Helm source, Jade Helm is not about training for combat operations in the Middle East as repeatedly claimed in the mainstream media.
The most striking aspect of this drill is the admission that Gestapo tactics will be utilized (e.g. recruiting informants, use of infiltration techniques, commandeering private vehicles, private residences and business for Jade Helm “activities”). In the face of this evidence, those that say that Jade Helm is not about martial law do not know what martial law is.
If you suddenly discovered that you were placed on the Red List, what would you do? Some people would head to the airport and try to immediately leave the country. This explains why the FBI and the DEA will be at an Arizona airport. They will be looking for Red List fugitives.
Stunningly, we appear to be looking at a grid down scenario that is so complete that alternative military communications will not work. This is completely surprising because this is not something that I thought the bad guys would employ. An EMP attack upon America might be the final trump card that will be employed if other means to subjugate the country fail.
The use of conventional forces (i.e. 82nd Airborne and the Marines) speaks to the fact that medium and large cities must be subdued because several will be in rebellion. This clearly speaks to a civil war event.
Also see:
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Hamas Prepares For Next War, Syria On The Brink, Massive Dirty Bomb Exercise, U.S. Continues To Poke China, Russia
In recent days heavy construction equipment has been operating on the Palestinian side of the border, several hundred meters from the security fence. Construction work is taking place across from the Israeli community of Nahal Oz.
Former Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hammad said Saturday the road was intended “to create for ourselves convenient opportunities to attack the Zionist enemy.”
Israel security officials told the Ynet News website they were monitoring the road’s construction...Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Wednesday warned Hamas to rein in any attempts by Gaza terror groups to attack Israel, or “pay a heavy price,” after a rocket launched from Gaza hit near the town of Gan Yavne, outside Ashdod, causing neither casualties nor damage.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh dismissed the threat, asserting that an escalation of violence would ultimately hurt the Jewish state more than the residents of the Palestinian enclave.
Meanwhile, Hamas arrested three members of the Islamic Jihad suspected of involvement in the attack, according to the Haaretz daily.
“The enemy’s threats do not scare the Gaza Strip and do not scare the children of Gaza,” Haniyeh said, according to the Walla news site. “Gaza is able to build deterrence. A million people (across the border) panicked over one rocket. I believe they live under terror, rather than (the people of) Gaza.”
Israeli Air Force jets responded to Wednesday’s attack by bombing four terror targets in Gaza. The army said the rocket was fired by Islamic Jihad activists due to an internal dispute in the organization.
The projectile — a Grad missile — was located shortly after sirens sounded in the Lachish region and Ashdod.
Recently, calls for US ‘boots on the ground’ in Syria have gotten louder after ISIS captured a UNESCO World Heritage site in Syria, overran Ramadi in Iraq, and took credit for a suicide bombing in a Saudi mosque.
The US is now reportedly looking at its options including sending so-called “spotters” to Iraq who will help to make US airstrikes more effective and meanwhile, uber hawks like Senator John McCain (who has himself had a bit of trouble shaking rumors that he was once photographed with the same ISIS forces he now wants to annihilate) saying that as many as 10,000 US troops are necessary to turn the tide.
Indeed it appears as though President Bashar al-Assad is well on his way to losing control. We'll close with what we said last week:
As you can see, there are now plenty of excuses to put boots on the ground first in Iraq, and then in Syria. Put simply: if there was ever an opportune time to play the ISIS card on the way to ousting Assad and securing a route for Qatari natural gas to flow to Europe thus breaking Gazprom (and Putin’s) stranglehold, this is surely it.
A massive simulated dirty bomb attack exercise is set to take place at the end of June in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Operation Northern Exposure will include over 1,000 Michigan National Guard soldiers and will be the first time in history that local authorities have worked with the National Guard.
According to WoodTV.com, the drill will use a city landfill as the site for the simulated dirty bomb attack and a middle school for the “decontamination center.”
“The public may notice more military vehicles in the area, as well as helicopters bringing crews to and from the sites, but the general public won’t be impacted. Local officials said traffic in the area won’t be affected.”
Hoping to quell any public fears, Kent County Emergency Management Director Lieutenant Jack Stewart told WoodTV that, “It’s all off the beaten path. There are no public highways involved other than transportation to the site and away from the site.”
“They are even taking utility workers and getting them involved in what they are calling a dirty bomb scenario, or a nuclear radiation type of scenario,” reported Dahboo777 in a recent YouTube report on the training.
This massive dirty bomb exercise is yet another military/local law enforcement drill announced in the lead up to Jade Helm.
In the last two months we have seen literally over a dozen military drills either take place or be announced. This is happening at the same time as a huge amount of seemingly random (but possibly connected) military movements are being documented throughout the country.
A breakdown of reporting going back the last two months conclusively proves this.
On March 13th, Intellihub founder Shepard Ambellas detailed photos and documentation of nearly 40 U.S. Army soldiers, wielding training rifles and dressed in full combat gear, participating in an urban warfare style training drill just outside the Texarkana Regional Airport perimeter.
Fast forwarding into the middle of April, a report out of Big Springs, Texas revealed that a train full of military equipment and over a dozen helicopters had arrived in the town ahead of Jade Helm 2015.
Photographs taken in Corona, California a few days later added to the Jade Helm speculation after they showed a MRAP full of what looked to be U.S. Marines driving down the 1-15 freeway. “In broad daylight with not a care in the world”
On April 24th a shocking report on Intellihub News detailed armed troops seen confronting angry protesters in a “professional news package”of riot control training released by the military
“A massive buildup, a lot of movement and its undeniable at this point,” read the headline on April 25th after a convoy was seen in Oroville, California that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Moving into May, photographs taken in Indiana showed a massive military convoy heading down the freeway. The photos, taken by a concerned citizen, show the convoy heading west on I-70 for reasons unknown.
Two days later, video footage, this time out of Texarkana, Arkansas, highlighted a convoy of Humvees driving down the highway as well as a trainload of military vehicles that was seen shortly after.
In mid May, Intellihub reporter Alex Thomas published a detailed report that confirmed that the military was indeed training to take on the American people, this time in the form of domestic house to house raids
Literally the next day a new report, also by Alex Thomas, proved that Marines were actually practicing for the internment of American citizens.
On May 18th, a train full of hundreds of military Humvees was spotted, further revealing the increased military buildup across the country leading into Jade Helm 2015. The train was heading towards Cleveland for unknown reasons although a possible connection to planned upcoming protests had been mentioned.
This past week a massive military war game simulation called Raider Focus was announced. The war game will include the largest military convoy seen on the roads of Colorado since World War II.
On may 23th, Intellihub News reported on pictures sent to ANP that show a 1/4 mile long military train convoy near the Colorado Wyoming border.
Finally, a report published this week detailed a stunning propaganda move by the military involving a New Jersey school and the worship of the military on the streets of America. “As parents, teachers, and students looked on with joy, Marines from the Special-Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force landed helicopters on the baseball diamond of a New Jersey school.”
We are clearly seeing an undeniable buildup to a so far unknown event.
Many believe it may be to initiate martial law this summer but most likely the training and military movements are ramping up across the country because the powers that be know a collapse is imminent and are rushing to be ready to control the population when it finally happens.
While we are used to hearing of the 100s of "close encounters" between NATO and Russian planes,but, as reported by state news agency RIA - citing an anonymous source in Russia's armed forces, Russian military aircraft were scrambled to head off a U.S. warship that was acting "aggressively" in the Black Sea.
The source was quoted as saying that the U.S. destroyer Ross was moving along the edge of Russia's territorial waters and heading in their direction.
The crew of the ship acted provocatively and aggressively, which concerned the operators of monitoring stations and ships of the Black Sea Fleet," RIA quoted the source as saying.
“Su-24 attack aircraft demonstrated to the American crew readiness to harshly prevent a violation of the frontier and to defend the interests of the country."
"Apparently, the Americans have not forgotten the April 2014 incident when one Su-24 practically 'blacked out' all of the electronics on board the newest American destroyer Donald Cook," the source said.
Russia's Defence Ministry was not immediately available to comment on the report.
Saturday's incident is the latest in a series of border surveillance confrontations between Russia and the West. Europeans, especially the Baltic states, have repeatedly sounded the alarm over Russian jets coming close to their borders.
The US is rotating several warships in and out of the Black Sea, where Russia's naval bases are located. The USS Vella Gulf, USS Ross, USS Truxton, and the USS Taylor – as well as warships from other NATO member states – were spotted in the a
This appears to be the first reported ship-to-plane 'encounter' and,
just as US and China tensions are escalating in the South China Sea, it
appears US and Russian military 'discussions' are shifting from words
and proxy-fighting.
just as US and China tensions are escalating in the South China Sea, it
appears US and Russian military 'discussions' are shifting from words
and proxy-fighting.
Pivot Insanity: Why is Obama Goading China? | Global Research - Centre for Research on Globalization
US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter is willing to risk a war with China in order to defend “freedom of navigation” in the South China Sea. Speaking in Honolulu, Hawaii on Wednesday, Carter issued his “most forceful” warning yet, demanding “an immediate and lasting halt to land reclamation” by China in the disputed Spratly Islands.
Carter said: “There should be no mistake: The United States will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows, as we do all around the world.” He also added that the United States intended to remain “the principal security power in the Asia-Pacific for decades to come.”
In order to show Chinese leaders “who’s the boss”, Carter has threatened to deploy US warships and surveillance aircraft to within twelve miles of the islands that China claims are within their territorial waters. Not surprisingly, the US is challenging China under the provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, a document the US has stubbornly refused to ratify. But that’s neither here nor there for the bellicose Carter whose insatiable appetite for confrontation makes him the most reckless Sec-Def since Donald Rumsfeld.
So what’s this really all about? Why does Washington care so much about a couple hundred yards of sand piled up on reefs reefs in the South China Sea? What danger does that pose to US national security? And, haven’t Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines all engaged in similar “land reclamation” activities without raising hackles in DC?
Of course, they have. The whole thing is a joke. Just like Carter’s claim that he’s defending the lofty principal of “freedom of navigation” is a joke. China has never blocked shipping lanes or seized boats sailing in international waters. Never. The same cannot be said of the United States that just recently blocked an Iranian ship loaded with humanitarian relief–food, water and critical medical supplies–headed to starving refugees in Yemen. Of course, when the US does it, it’s okay.
The point is, Washington doesn’t give a hoot about the Spratly Islands; it’s just a pretext to slap China around and show them who’s running the show in their own backyard. Carter even admits as much in his statement above when he says that the US plans to be “the principal security power in the Asia-Pacific for decades to come.” China knows what that means. It means “This is our planet, so you’d better shape up or you’re going to find yourself in a world of hurt.” That’s exactly what it means.
So let’s cut to the chase and try to explain what’s really going on, because pretty soon no one is going to be talking about Ukraine, Syria or Yemen because all eyes are going to be focused on China where our madhatter Secretary of Defense is trying to start a third world war.
Here’s the scoop: Washington has abandoned its China policy of “containment” and moved on to Plan B: Isolation, intimidation and confrontation. In my opinion, this is why the powerbrokers behind Obama dumped Hagel. Hagel just wasn’t hawkish enough for the job. They wanted a died-in-the-wool, warmongering neocon, like Carter, who is, quite likely, the most dangerous man in the world.
The so called pivot is Washington’s “top priority”, which means that China’s unprecedented ascendency must be slowed and its regional influence curtailed. Thus, the dust up over the Spratly Islands will be used in the same way the US has used other incidents, that is, by demonizing China’s leaders in the media, by assembling a coalition that will publicly oppose China’s activities, by implementing harsh economic sanctions, by launching asymmetrical attacks on China’s currency and financial markets, by excluding China from critical trade agreements, and by inciting social unrest (color-coded revolution) through the support of dissidents living in China. These are the all-too-familiar signs of US meddling directed at “emerging rivals” who threaten US global hegemony. China now finds itself at the top of the list.
US powerbrokers know that bullying China involves significant risks for themselves and the world. Even so, they have decided to pursue this new policy and force a confrontation. Why? Why would they embark on a strategy so fraught with danger?
The answer is: They don’t see any way around it. They’ve tried containment and it hasn’t worked. China’s growing like crazy and its regional influence threatens to leave the US on the outside looking in. Carter even admitted as much in a recent speech he gave at the McCain Institute at Arizona State University. He said: “We already see countries in the region trying to carve up these markets…forging many separate trade agreements in recent years, some based on pressure and special arrangements…. Agreements that…..leave us on the sidelines. That risks America’s access to these growing markets. We must all decide if we are going to let that happen. If we’re going to help boost our exports and our economy…and cement our influence and leadership in the fastest-growing region in the world; or if, instead, we’re going to take ourselves out of the game.”
See? It’s all about markets. It’s all about money. Here’s more from Carter’s speech: (The) ” Asia-Pacific…is the defining region for our nation’s future”… “Half of humanity will live there by 2050″ and that “more than half of the global middle class and its accompanying consumption will come from that region.”….”There are already more than 525 million middle class consumers in Asia, and we expect there to be 3.2 billion in the region by 2030…President Obama and I want to ensure that… businesses can successfully compete for all these potential customers. ….Over the next century, no region will matter more… for American prosperity.”
This is why the Obama administration is making a general nuisance of itself in the South China Sea. It’s so the big US mega-corporations will have new customers for their IPADs and toaster ovens.
For that, they are willing to risk a nuclear war.
The Republican Senator and 2016 presidential candidate Rand Paul has announced a crusade against the Patriot Act, promising he will delay Sunday’s debate and force the expiration of controversial provisions that allow bulk spying on US citizens.
“I will force the expiration of the NSA illegal spy program,” the Senator from Kentucky wrote in a statement on his presidential campaign website. “I am ready and willing to start the debate on how we fight terrorism without giving up our liberty.”
Earlier this month, the House passed the bipartisan USA Freedom Act which would provide new limits on the NSA data collection. It would do away with Patriot Act’s controversial Section 215, but give phone companies the responsibility of maintaining phone records that the government could search.
“Last week, seeing proponents of this illegal spying rushing toward a deadline to wholesale renew this unconstitutional power, I filibustered the bill. I spoke for over 10 hours to call attention to the vast expansion of the spy state and the corresponding erosion of our liberties,”Paul said in a statement on Sunday.
The Senate is being called back on Sunday just hours before the midnight deadline.
“Tomorrow, I will force the expiration of the NSA illegal spy program,” Paul vowed.
Paul who is looking to run for the presidency, also issued a series of short statements on his Twitter page and website.
"There has to be another way. We will find it together,'' Paul tweeted. "I do not do this to obstruct. I do it to build something better, more effective, more lasting and more cognizant of who we are."
And on his website, Paul said that he has objected to "the illegal spying of the NSA on ordinary Americans'' for several years.
"The callous use of general warrants and the disregard for the Bill of Rights must end,'' he said in his statement. "Forcing us to choose between our rights and our safety is a false choice and we are better than that as a nation and as a people.''
The “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism” (USA PATRIOT) Act was adopted in October 2001, six weeks after the 9/11 terror attacks. Its most recent extension was in 2011.
Several provisions of the Patriot Act are expiring – “sunsetting,” in government parlance – on May 31. Among them is the notorious Section 215, authorizing bulk collection of Americans’ data, which a federal court ruled illegal earlier this month. According to government officials, it has been used almost 200 times per year.
Other provisions set to expire June 1 enable the government to conduct “roving wiretaps” of suspects who switch phones, or spy on “lone wolf” individuals who are not affiliated with an international terrorism organization. FBI director James Comey has called those tools “essential,” while Attorney General Loretta Lynch argued they were “vital and uncontroversial” tools used to “combat terrorism and crime.”
Critics blasted the Freedom Act as an inadequate check on government’s mass collection of Americans’ data. Representative Justin Amash (R-Mich.) described it as a “step in the wrong direction by specifically authorizing such collection in violation of the Fourth Amendment.”
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), an outspoken opponent of NSA’s bulk spying programs, said that President Obama could end the illegal surveillance with an executive order, if he wanted.
“Why doesn’t he stop it? What’s he waiting for? He started it on his own, he should stop it…I’ve asked the president repeatedly to stop the program,” Paul told CBS’ This Morning. As for the data collected by the NSA under Section 215, “I think the information was collected illegally and should be purged,” Paul told Fox & Friends.
In a 10-hour filibuster on May 20, Paul effectively ensured the House would go into recess before the Senate could debate USA Freedom Act. The Senate subsequently rejected both the Freedom Act and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s attempt to pass a two-month extension of the Patriot Act.
By Friday, however, the New York Times was backing the expiration of Section 215 and other Patriot Act provisions. The editorial board even praised – after a fashion – Edward Snowden, calling him a “whistleblower” and saying his revelations “prompted the Obama administration to start a review of intelligence gathering techniques and vow to reform the program. They also led lawmakers, for the first time, to have a meaningful exchange of views about domestic surveillance.”
“There is no question that the federal government should have broad authority to investigate terrorism threats and suspected spies operating in the United States,” the NY Times editors wrote, “but not at the expense of meaningful judicial review.”
According to a senior official who spoke with reporters at the White House, the NSA has a team on “hot standby”, preparing to begin shutting down its spy servers at 4 PM on Sunday. “Rebooting would take about a day, the official said, and would entail going back to the telecommunications providers and obtaining a court order,” reported the New York Times.
About that time, the Senate will be holding an extraordinary session called by Majority Leader McConnell. Roll call votes may start by 6 PM. In case the Senate passes the USA Freedom Act, or even McConnell’s proposed outright extension of the existing Patriot Act, the NSA could “resume operations without disruption,” according to The Hill.
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