The European Union Times - World News, Breaking News » Manipulation

Iran has uranium for 4 nukes, builds US-reach missiles – Israel

EU Times — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:13:13 +0000

An image grab taken from footage broadcast by Iran's state-run Arabic-language Al-Alam TV on August 20, 2010, shows an image from an undisclosed location of what Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi said was the test firing of the Iranian surface-to-surface missile Qiam, entirely designed and built domestically and powered by liquid fuel, a day before Iran was due to launch its Russian-built first nuclear power plant

Iranian scientists have already managed to enrich enough radioactive material to successfully produce not just one, but four nuclear bombs, Israel’s military intelligence chief has announced.

General Aviv Kochavi broke the news at a security conference on Thursday. The intelligence chief says he believes Iran would need a year from the word go to actually producing a crude device, and another year or two to manufacture a nuclear warhead that can be installed on a ballistic missile.

Kochavi also claimed that “Iran is very actively pursuing its efforts to develop its nuclear capacities, and we have evidence that they are seeking nuclear weapons. “However, no actual evidence was produced or even referred to at the conference.

The Israeli Deputy PM added fuel to the fire, claiming that Iran has also succeeded in building a long-range missile capable of putting the US within its reach. Moshe Ya’alon, who had just returned from Washington where he discussed the Iran situation with President Obama’s administration, chose to echo Kochavi’s words of warning, saying “The Israeli government will stop Iran one way or another.”

These latest statements are very much in line with the position of Israel and its allies who are accusing Iran of using its nuclear industry to mask plans to develop nuclear arms, a charge official Tehran has frequently and vehemently denied.

Israel, backed by its key ally the United States, has long pushed for tougher sanctions against Iran. Top level officials in both Tel Aviv and Washington DC have recently said they do not rule out a military attack against the Islamic Republic.

As sparks continue to fly around the powder keg of Iran’s supposed nuclear ambitions, the Middle Eastern state is not playing dead either. A defiant President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on Thursday that the country is planning to double its military spending over the next year; a sign that is being interpreted by many as “taking a stand” against pressure from the West.

The United States and their NATO allies are also flexing their muscles, with recent transfers of US fighter jets and other military planes to the region. Troops have also been reportedly arriving at various American military bases in the Persian Gulf, with another ten thousand soldiers recently transferred to Israel – allegedly to test the US anti-ballistic missile defense system.

On top of that, two US Navy aircraft carriers – the USS Abraham Lincoln and Carl Vinson – are on patrol in the Persian Gulf and are expected to be joined by the USS Enterprise in March. The USS Annapolis, a nuclear submarine, was earlier reported to have entered the Red Sea and is rumored to be heading towards the Gulf as well.

Together with the US military bases already established in the region – for example, the 5th Fleet, stationed in Bahrain – all of this is interpreted by many as nothing shy of intimidation, and some experts believe the US is trying to provoke Iran into making the first move.

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Merkel to sway China against Iran

EU Times — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:12:05 +0000

German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Despite Beijing’s outright refusal to join the EU and US-sponsored unilateral sanctions on Iran’s oil industry, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has arranged a visit to China to convince the country to reduce Iranian oil import.

A German government source told a news briefing on Tuesday that “It is in German interests that China does not raise its imports [from Iran]. It would be good if China would reduce its imports.”

According to the source, Merkel will begin her trip to China on Wednesday.

This comes while China has criticized the European Union’s new unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic, considering them as blind pressure and unconstructive.

“To blindly pressure and impose sanctions on Iran are not constructive approaches,” the Chinese foreign ministry said on January 26 in reaction to the measures adopted by the EU over Iran’s nuclear program.

US President Barack Obama signed into law new sanctions against Iran which seek to penalize other countries for importing Iran’s oil or doing transactions with the country’s central bank. The European Union also approved new sanctions against Iran’s oil and financial sectors on January 23, which will cut off crude oil imports from Iran on July 1.

The United States, Israel and their European allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program and have used this pretext to impose four rounds of international and a series of unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Iran has refuted the allegations, arguing that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Tehran is entitled to use nuclear technology for peaceful use.

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Israel ‘master of puppets’ in US Iran onslaught

EU Times — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:45:43 +0000

Flag-draped family at a rally at the Capitol in Washington, May 22, 2011

America’s frenzy over “diabolic” Iran has its roots not on the Potomac riverside, but rather on the banks of Tel Aviv’s Yarkon River: appeasing the US Jewish community has become an inevitable idiosyncrasy of the US presidential campaign.

When America beats the drums of war over Iran, it may not always be driven by the Islamic state’s alleged nuclear intentions.

Would-be US presidential candidates aren’t shy when it comes to voicing their anti-Iran rhetoric in front of America’s influential Jewish community.

And America almost never misses an opportunity to praise its best ally.

“Our iron-clad commitment, and I mean iron-clad, to Israel’s security has meant the closest military cooperation between our two countries, in history,” announced US President Barack Obama from a rostrum in Washington.

And the American President did not forget to point a proverbial punch at Israel’s greatest adversary.

“Let there be no doubt: America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal,” Barack Obama insisted.

However, for many American Jews and Israeli supporters, Obama’s war of words against Tehran doesn’t go far enough.

The President of the Zionist Organization of America Morton A. Klein shared with RT that “It’s not enough to simply state you’re committed to Israel’s security. You have to promote policies that show that you’re serious about the security of Israel.”

“Israel, through his actions, feels that Obama is not committed to doing everything in his power to stop Iran from having nuclear weapons. Iran is an existential threat to Israel, and Obama should be saying so publicly, that he will support Israel in any military action necessary,” laid down Klein.

Klein says an unprecedented number of American Jews and Israelis share his animosity, a feeling arguably underscored by the Israeli government. According to published reports, Tel Aviv would only give Washington 12-hours’ notice if deciding to strike Iran.

“I believe his [Barack Obama’s] policies are among the most hostile Israel has ever experienced out of any [American] president in my lifetime,” Morton A. Klein confessed.

Recently, it was the life of President Obama itself being threatened in a column written by the owner of the Atlanta Jewish Times.

In an article titled ‘What would you do?’ the newspaper’s publisher Andrew Adler listed the assassination of President Obama as one way to ensure Israel’s security.

“Give the go-ahead for US-based Mossad agents to take out a president deemed unfriendly to Israel in order for the current vice president to take his place, and forcefully dictate that the United States’ policy includes helping the Jewish state obliterate its enemies,” he writes.

Mark Glenn, journalist of Theuglytruth.com shared with RT: “I think the threat made to Obama, either play along with us, or we are going to kill you politically or literally, I think that it is a serious threat we have to take seriously.”

“The American president depends on money in order to get re-elected along with all other members of Congress and AIPAC [The American Israel Public Affairs Committee] is the largest lobbying group in the United States. It is the king maker and the king breaker,” Glenn concludes.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee declined RT’s request for an interview. In the meantime, Obama finds himself facing another election and a slew of Republican opponents banging war drums against Iran – much louder than he does.

“With regards to Iran, which perhaps represents the greatest existential threat to Israel, we have to make it abundantly clear, it is unacceptable for Iran to become a nuclear nation,” proclaims Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

“If we re-elect Barack Obama, Iran will have a nuclear weapon,” declared Romney. “And if you elect Mitt Romney, Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.”

“When Rick Santorum is president, Iran will not get a nuclear weapon because the world as we know it will be no more,” promises another Republican candidate, Rick Santorum.

The third Republican presidential aspirant, Newt Gingrich, said to CNN “I am a clear ally of Israel. I am very close to [Israeli President Benjamin] Netanyahu. I’ve said publicly, I would rather plan a joint operation conventionally, than push the Israelis to a point where they go nuclear.”

At a time when the US bears the burden of a broken economy, growing social unrest and ongoing military conflicts, many experts insist starting a war with Iran would not be in America’s best interest. But in order to keep a best friend, many believe President Obama will be forced to put Israel’s national security first.

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Four Russian diplomats expelled from Canada

EU Times — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:57:34 +0000

After the arrest of the Canadian officer, who was suspected of espionage for Moscow, the Canadian authorities expelled four employees of the Russian Embassy in Ottawa.

According to CTV, Dmitry Fedorchatenko and Konstantin Kolpakov were sent back to Russia. The names of two other Russian citizens, who were involved in the story, have not been exposed. However, spokespeople for the Russian Embassy in Ottawa have not confirmed the information. They simply said that the diplomats returned to Russia because their missions expired.

It was reported this week that the Canadian authorities arrested naval officer Jeffrey Paul Delisle, whom the media nicknamed as the “Russian spy.” The charges against Delisle were filed within the scope of the law about the security of information, which was passed in Canada soon after the 9/11 attacks in the USA. The officer may spend a life in prison.

Prosecutors said that the officer had been delivering secret information to Moscow since July 2007. However, none of the suspicions against him have been officially confirmed yet.

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Iran-based TV channel Press TV Banned in the UK

EU Times — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:38:44 +0000

Britain has revoked the press license of Iran-based English language broadcaster Press TV, accusing it of violating press regulations. But some say the decision was really motivated by British geopolitical interests.

The Office of Communications (Ofcom), a government-approved watchdog overseeing broadcasting and telecommunications in the UK, says the channel does not control its content.

It also says the channel’s license should be held by its office in Tehran, not London, since its editorial control is clearly coming from the Iranian capital.

In addition, Press TV is accused of not paying a fine of £100,000 ($156,000) for airing an interview with an imprisoned journalist in 2009.

Press TV says it’s being silenced, calling the withdrawal of the license “a clear act of censorship.”

Phil Rees, a UK-based media analyst and author, thinks that although the regulation breaches did technically take place, the driving force behind the decision is geopolitics.

“If this had been separate from geopolitics, it would not have happened – and some other kind of sanction would have been made,” he explained.

“Press TV has been viewed through geopolitical terms – and there is a breakdown of relations between Britain and Iran,” he continues. “Press TV’s journalism is not viewed through journalism, but it is viewed in terms of British-Iranian relations.”

“Most of the criticisms of Press TV have been due to its coverage, because it sees the Middle East very differently than the mainstream media in Britain,” the journalist asserts.

Rees also says the withdrawal of Press TV’s license means a limitation of dialogue in the British media, a “tragedy” at the moment when British-Iranian relations are at their lowest point in a long time.

And journalist Yvonne Ridley told RT that this story is part of a bigger phenomenon in the US these days.
“Through Wikileaks we discovered that the American government was putting pressure on the British government to pull the plug on Press TV. They’ve obviously passed that pressure on to Ofcom, and today Press TV was pulled off the Sky satellite platform. But we need to put this in perspective – it would be like the BBC being pulled off broadcasting on the Isle of Man. Press TV has more than a dozen satellites around the world, so it will continue, and of course it’s streamed live on the Internet.”

Ridley also noted that the move shows how “the so-called ‘free democracies’ don’t like the truth, and they will go to extraordinary levels of censorship to stop what they see as criticism of the way that they run their governments.”

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Romney and Obama Share Same Bankster Campaign Contributors

EU Times — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:46:16 +0000

Like Obama, Mitt Romney is a wind-up doll for Wall Street and the bankers. There is virtually no difference between them despite all the fetid air from the GOP propaganda machine.

This is revealed by a quick look at Romney’s top contributors. An Open Secrets page on top Romney contributors reads like a Who’s Who of Wall Street and the financial cartel. The top contributor is Goldman Sachs, followed by Credit Suisse Group, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, UBS, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Barclays – major players in the Wall Street and City of London bankster constellation.

Bain Capital is also on the list. It is a “financial services” and investment firm co-founded by Romney. Bain owns the establishment media propaganda conglomerate Clear Channel, which explains why “conservative” talk show hosts like Limbaugh, Hannity and Levin are supporting Romney, especially with the strong showing of Ron Paul in the primaries. Both Savage (real name Weiner) and Levin have gone so far as to call Paul a threat to the country.

In December, Mitt refused to release the identity of his “bundlers,” or people who gather contributions from many individuals in an organization or community and give the cash to the campaign.

In other words, the above list is only the tip of the iceberg. Romney’s lack of transparency about his bundlers indicates he is getting money from sources that want their identity concealed.

In November, it was reported that Jimmy Lee, a veteran Wall Street investment banker, and three other top executives at JPMorgan Chase & Co hosted a $2,500-per-person reception for Romney.

“I am committed to doing all that I can to help his campaign because I also believe he is the strongest challenger to President Obama,” Lee told Reuters. Lee said he has known Romney for almost all of his Wall Street career and that he made one of the first loans to Romney at Bain Capital.

It is not clear why Mr. Lee opposes Obama – his campaign contributors are almost a carbon copy of Mitt’s. Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan (where Lee worked), Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, USB and many of the same players donated heavily to Obama’s campaign in 2008.

It should be obvious by now that the dog and pony show known as the “election cycle” in the United States is a musical chairs affair with the same gaggle of bankers and transnational corporations calling the shots.

Next time you hear Michael Savage, Mark Levin or some other bankster media whore rant and rave about the “communist” Obama and then declare their support for the “capitalist” Romney, you should realize they are selling the same poison designed to kill our republic.

There is virtually no difference between any of the establishment candidates – they are all onboard with the globalist agenda for war and the economic destruction of America as their masters and puppeteers move to consolidate their stranglehold over humanity and impose a dystopian one-world government and a high-tech control grid over the entire world.

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Israeli agents posed as CIA to recruit terrorists

EU Times — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:09:00 +0000

The buddy-buddy relationship between American and Israel could falter as it is revealed that Mossad intelligence officers posed as CIA agents in order to recruit and train Iranian terrorists, all unbeknown to US authorities.

American intelligence officials have come clean with details surrounding Israel’s attempt to infiltrate the network of the Iranian terrorist group Jundallah. According to internal memos just released, Washington was initially unaware that agents working for Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, were recruiting Iranian terrorists under the guise that they would be hired and trained by the CIA.

The memos that reveal the CIA’s then discovery of the program come from the last year of the George W Bush administration, and it is unsure if such campaigns still exist overseas today. What is known, however, is that Mossad — who is largely funded by the CIA and typically works hand-in-hand with their American counterpart — did not approach American officials for authorization in fronting as US agents in their attempt to infiltrate Jundallah.

“It’s amazing what the Israelis thought they could get away with,” an intelligence officer speaking on condition of anonymity tells Foreign Policy’s Mark Perry. “Their recruitment activities were nearly in the open. They apparently didn’t give a damn what we thought.”

The account has been confirmed to Foreign Policy by four retired intelligence officers who have either worked with the CIA or in conjunction with Mossad.

The attempt to enter the ranks of Jundallah is arguably warranted for the Israelis, but doing so by training terrorists under the supposed name of America — and then sending them off to kill in the name of America — could largely worsen what relationship, if any, exists between Tehran and Washington. Since its inception in 2003, the Jundallah army has been linked to the massacre of at least 150 Iranians and injuring many more. While American officials have distanced themselves to a degree from hostilities in Iran, specifically shrugging off any allegations that the US has ties to the recent assassination of an Iranian scientist, the reality of this discovery is that Mossad might very well be training Iranian terrorists and then sending them back out into the world with the impression that they are new CIA recruits. If captured during a botched intelligence mission for Mossad, those phony CIA agents could be forced into revealing their “true” identity — with only Israel really aware of the operation.

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta denied claims that America was linked to the execution of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, the 32-year-old nuclear scientist, saying, “We have some ideas as to who might be involved…. but I can tell you one thing: The United States was not involved in that kind of effort. That’s not what the United States does.” Speaking for the Israeli Army, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai wrote on Facebook, “I have no idea who targeted the Iranian scientist but I certainly don’t shed a tear.”

Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has pinned the blame on both Israel and America, however, and told the state’s IRNA news agency, “We will continue our path with strong will … and certainly we will not neglect punishing those responsible for this act.”

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Government could strip citizenship from Americans under Enemy Expatriation Act

EU Times — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:36:34 +0000

When Barack Obama inked the National Defense Authorization Act on New Year’s Eve, the president insisted that he wouldn’t use the terrifying legislation against American citizens. Another new law, however, could easily change all of that.

If the Enemy Expatriation Act passes in its current form, the legislation will let the government strike away citizenship for anyone engaged in hostilities, or supporting hostilities, against the United States. The law itself is rather brief, but in just a few words it warrants the US government to strip nationality status from anyone they identify as a threat.

What’s more, the government can decide to do so without bringing the suspected troublemaker before a court of law.

Under the legislation, “hostilities” are defined as “any conflict subject to the laws of war” and does not explicitly state that charges against suspects go to court.

When Obama signed NDAA on December 31, the president said that his administration “will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens.” Added the president, “Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a Nation.” But by breaking off ties between citizens — American-born or otherwise — the harsh realities of NDAA can be forced on anyone in the US if Washington decides that it is in the country’s best interest.

The National Defense Authorization Act drew widespread opposition despite a lack of media cover due to the capabilities in bestows in the administration. Under NDAA, the government can indefinitely imprison anyone deemed dangerous by Washington and hold them without trial. After criticism led to massive online campaigns and protests, President Obama addressed the issue and said specifically that his administration would not understand the law as such. Instead, said Obama, “My administration will interpret section 1021 in a manner that ensures that any detention it authorizes complies with the Constitution, the laws of war, and all other applicable law.”

Some are now saying that Obama’s attempt at discrediting the NDAA by insisting that he would not use it against American citizens came only as a precursor to the latest Act. By adding his signing statement to the NDAA, the president insured that legislation such as the Enemy Expatriation Act would surface to strike any limitations that would have kept Americans free from military detainment. “I hope I’m wrong, but it sounds to me like this is a loophole for indefinitely detaining Americans,” Stephen . Foster, Jr. writes on the AddictionInfo.org website. “Once again, you just have to be accused of supporting hostilities which could be defined any way the government sees fit. Then the government can strip your citizenship and apply the indefinite detention section of the NDAA without the benefit of a trial.”

The bill, currently being passed through Congress, is sponsored by Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Charles Dent (R-PA).

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IAEA Leaked Secret Info About Iran

EU Times — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:19:59 +0000

Lawmaker Kazem Jalali

A senior lawmaker says assassination of Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan proves that the confidential information provided to international bodies by Iran has been leaked to the country’s enemies.

“The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) must be trusted by nations because nations and governments give their documents to the agency,” said speaker of the Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Kazem Jalali on Wednesday.

“How the enemies of [the Islamic] establishment have obtained the names and information of our country’s elite is a question we would like to know the answer to,” he added.

Jalali stressed that the IAEA, international community and the UN nuclear agency’s member states using their membership against the Islamic Republic must be held accountable for their actions.

The lawmaker said the resemblance of the Wednesday assassination and other Zionist-American killings indicate that the “principle of assassination has been institutionalized in the American system and Zionist regime.”

“Assassinations like what happened in Tehran this morning lack operational value as such assassinations are called blind [acts of terror] which prove the maximum frustration of the enemies because they have not been able to weaken the [Iranian] nation’s resolve and therefore resort to any shameful measure,” Jalali said.

Ahmadi Roshan was a Sharif University of Technology chemical engineering graduate and served as the deputy director of marketing at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility.

On Wednesday morning, an unknown motorcyclist attached a sticky bomb to Ahmadi Roshan’s car near Allameh Tabatabaei University in Tehran.

Ahmadi Roshan was immediately killed as the result of explosion, and his driver, who had sustained injures, passed away a few hours later in hospital.

The latest terrorist attack comes as Iran has reached an agreement with the P5+1 — Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany – to hold negotiations in Turkey.

The US, Israel and their allies accuse Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program and have used this allegation as a pretext to sway the UNSC to impose four rounds of sanctions on Iran.

Based on these accusations, they have also repeatedly threatened Tehran with the “option” of a military strike.

This is while in November 2011, some of the US presidential hopefuls called for conducting covert operations ranging from assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists to launching a military strike on Iran as well as sabotaging Tehran’s nuclear program.

The calls for assassinations are not idle threats as a number of Iranian scientists have been assassinated over the past few years. Professor Majid Shahriari and Professor Masoud Ali-Mohammadi are among the victims of these acts of terror.

On November 29, 2010, Shahriari and Fereydoun Abbasi were targeted by terrorist attacks; Shahriari was killed immediately and Dr. Abbasi, the current director of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, only sustained injuries.

Iran says as the UN Resolution 1747, adopted against Tehran in March 2007, cited Abbasi’s name as a “nuclear scientist,” the perpetrators were in a position to trace their victim.

According to reports, Ahmadi Roshan had recently met International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, a fact which indicates that the IAEA has leaked information about Iran’s nuclear facilities and scientists.

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Obama just didn’t follow with the right thing

EU Times — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 11:20:51 +0000

One of the first promises made by President Obama when he first came to power back in 2008 was to close the controversial Guantanamo Bay detention centre. Four years later it is still operational.

The former chief prosecutor of the Gitmo military commissions, Colonel Morris Davis, who was thrilled when Obama took office, told RT of his huge disappointment in the US president.

“Candidate Obama said all the right things about justice and American values and closing Guantanamo and doing away with military commissions and applauding the rule of law,” he told RT’s Gayane Chichakyan. ”And then once he gets in office…. If he did just embrace the Bush’s policies, he kissed him on the lips and ran with them. And he advanced them further than President Bush ever did.”

“Like killing an American with a drone strike in Yemen. Which is just astounding that an American president can make the unilateral decision that the surveillance agency, the CIA, would go to another country and launch an offensive military operation, fire missile and killing an American and bystanders .I am not aware of any legal justification for that, I think it is called murder to kill another human being deliberately without legal justification,” he stated.

Commenting to RT on Guantanamo, which is still open despite US president’s pledge to shut it, Colonel Davis said Obama might have learnt the things he did not know before or he faced a bigger obstacle than he anticipated.

“The slogan “Close Guantanamo” sounds fairly simple. Actually following through and doing it is a much more difficult process,” he said. “Guantanamo is still open, the military commissions have resumed and in my view the president just didn’t have the balls to follow through with doing the right thing.”

Davis also gave his views on a drone weapon system which is currently in operation at the US military.

While saying he sees nothing wrong with the drones themselves, there is much more what concerns him.

“Drones are being used to avoid compliance with the law and giving people due process and their day in court and that’s a sad chapter in America’s history if that is what we are doing,” he said. “Our strength for 200 years was the law we are now turning out back at. There is a choice between kill and capture and the administration is choosing kill because it’s the easy rout. And it’s a sad commentary on America in 2011″.

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Syria: invasion of terrorist elements sponsored by the west

EU Times — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:31:10 +0000

Huge pro-government rallies remain unreported

Official U.S. intelligence is the true leader of the “Syrian Free Army”

The Muslim Brotherhood party, is calling for military intervention…Turkey against Syria, has a militia trained by the U.S.

The Egyptian newspaper al-Arabi said on Friday that a colonel in the U.S. with the last name Cleveland is overseeing the operations of training and weaponry, and is the real leader of the “Syrian Free Army.” The publication says that Cleveland is moving between the fields of training his organization.

The colonel in charge of creating an army consisting of armed men opposed to the Syrian government, called “Syrian Free Army,” said the U.S. had created training bases in Turkey to the north, in eastern Lebanon, and Arbil in Iraq.

The Muslim Brotherhood party, which is demanding Turkey’s military intervention against Syria, has a militia trained by the U.S. and their intelligence services. They are providing data and technical equipment to them.

The newspaper added that the intelligence services that are funding and arming mercenaries to fight the army of Syria require that all armed groups call themselves “free army.”

Members of the Muslim Brotherhood admitted to being behind the protests in the province of Daraa in the south and Jisr al-Shughour in the north, and that they intend to form buffer zones as a prologue to military intervention. The article states that the page “Syrian revolution” on Facebook is managed by an intelligence network from Brussels, which had formed even before the events in Syria.

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Siberia to separate from Russia to become a part of USA

EU Times — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:23:52 +0000

The idea to separate Siberia and annex the territory to the United States of America has been engrossing the minds of Siberian separatists for a long time already. Surprisingly, or maybe not, they find the support from across the ocean.

Many, if not all Siberians, may think at times that the Siberian regions with their natural riches live poorly just because they have to give away a big part of their incomes to other territories of the Russian Federation. It is not a very popular idea in Siberia, of course, but it may visit people’s minds time and again. Some people even tried to put that idea into action: they decided to establish a political movement. The vain attempts did not lead to anything, but quantity may easily evolve into quality, especially if they find powerful forces of support.

A whole movement emerged during the recent population census in the Russian Federation. The movement promotes the idea to identify the nationality of those living in Siberia as the Siberians. A special group appeared on Facebook in the summer of the outgoing year. The members of the group believe that Siberia should become a part of the United States of America. The initiator of the strange movement, Vladimir Kiselyov, a 37-year-old resident of the city of Mezhdurechensk, believes that Siberia must get rid of the Moscow yoke. According to him, Siberia will not be able to become an independent state. The only way for the territory to prosper in the future is to become a part of the US.

“The referendum will be held with the help of the US administration. The US has successful experience in obtaining independence. After the referendum, Siberia will become a part of the territory of the United States, just like California and Alaska are, even though they were Russian colonies in the 19th century,” Kiselyov said.

You may laugh at it, but the idea finds its followers in the US. US politician Zbigniew Brzezhinski, a well-known politician, put forward an idea during his speech at the Political Forum in Yaroslavl to create a new commonwealth from Vancouver to Vladivostok. The politician did not specify, from which end the movement was supposed to start, but judging upon Brzezhinski’s views, one shall assume that he was interested in the shortest way possible. It appears that America approaches the goal responsibly and begins to train managers to administer the new territories.

The Irkutsk State University has recently held a seminar with the participation of fifth-year students of the US-Siberian Department for Management and “Regionalistic Alternative to Siberia” Public Movement. The future graduates of the US-Siberian Department of the University analyzed the pluses and minuses of the future of the Siberian state, as well as the risks for its creation and existence. First priority was paid to the economic grounds of the state of Siberia,” the final report at the seminar said.

This is not a joke already. It goes about Russian specialists, the future elite of the Russian society, although this society is not actually Russian. It is also very alarming that such seminars are held at a higher educational institution, whose administration does not seem to care much about the propaganda of separatist ideas among its students.

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NORAD keeps Santa under surveillance

EU Times — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 10:42:08 +0000

As Santa is once again moving along his annual route around the globe, the penetrating eye of NORAD is tracking his every move. And with Big Brother watching, Old Saint Nick cannot afford to let things slide and leave some good kid without a present.

During the holidays, the North American Aerospace Defense Command’s mission is to make sure Christmas comes with all the trimmings. The operation began on 2am EST on December 24, and the tracking crew will stay on high alert until 3am Mountain Time on December 25.

The official NORAD Santa site offers a world map where you can find all the the old man’s stops so far, his current location, and the coordinates of his next waypoint. All Santa’s movements are captured on photo and video, and clicking at a camera icon will bring up a video blog post about the place he visited.

Santa can also be tracked through any mobile device packed with Google maps. Just type “Santa” in and you’ll get his location. This year, developers have even come out with Santa-tracking applications for Android an iOS devices.

The custom of following Santa as he does his work is not new, having appeared more than 50 years ago.

As legend has it, the tradition was born in 1955 after a little boy called the wrong number and reached NORAD’s commander-in-chief. The boy, thinking he had reached a Talk-to-Santa hotline, asked to speak to Santa. Colonel Harry Shoup decided not to disillusion the kid and ordered his team to check their radar for signs of Santa’s sleigh.

Today’s Santa-tracking team is a serious branch of NORAD that uses some 120 phone lines and 23 laptops to answers phone calls, emails and messages in social media during the holidays. Live updates from the team can be found on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

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Drones: invisible to radar but vulnerable to primitive viruses?

EU Times — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 22:17:42 +0000

The billion-dollar defense complex that keeps America safe and sound is yet again under attack, with an antiquated computer virus now apparently attacking the Pentagon’s drone aircraft fleet.

Sykipot, a malicious piece of malware that has been around since at least 2006, was recently waged at the computer systems of US governmental department and defense contractors. Although Symantec, a world-wide leader in anti-virus protection calls the Trojan neither “sophisticated” nor “well-coded,” new reports confirm that the malware was emailed to DoD-affiliated authorities in an attempt to do even more damage to the top-secret drone program.

Drones, unmanned robotic aircraft used by the Pentagon and CIA in surveillance and missile-firing missions, are controlled from remote bases across the world. Despite the advanced technology of the impressive crafts, however, the US recently lost two planes in just as many weeks. First came the interception of a Sentinel RQ-170 craft in Iran on December 4, with a similar craft succumbing to a fiery crash in the Indian Ocean days later.

In the wake of the downing of the Sentinel, Iran engineers made claims that they hacked into the GPS network used by the drone commanders by way of a loophole they say the US government well aware of. In the days since, other reports have suggested the CIA headquarters have also been infiltrated by anti-American forces, with military officials telling Israel-based news outlet Debka that the downing of the drone over Iran could only have been conducted with a high-tech attack on the command center itself.

Now the website Information Week has tried making light of the latest virus, Sykipot, and in identifying it has realized that it has been waged against the Pentagon in hopes of damaging more drones.

According to Information Week’s Mathew J Schwartz, Sykipot was sent in the form of an email attachment to DoD contractors. Often the email will include a malicious Adobe Acrobat .PDF file or a hyperlink that will trigger the virus.

“In targeted attacks,” writes Schwartz, “attackers often include information–in the form of attachments–that they think recipients will find interesting. Conversely, this highlights the type of information that attackers are seeking.” In the case of a slew of emails sent to Pentagon pals, the messages related to drone crafts, specifically the Boeing joint unmanned combat air system X-45 and the Boeing X-37 orbital vehicle.

The Alien Labs Vault blog dives deeper into explaining Sykipot, noting that the Trojan infects Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Outlook programs, as well as Mozilla’s Firefox browser. From there, the virus connects into internal servers and retrieves encrypted configuration files which can then be executed externally, the results of which are then relayed to a server where the maker of the malware can investigate the results.

The site also notes that most of the servers that manipulate the malicious program are running off a particular webserver named Netbox, which while used across the world, is almost exclusively operated from China.

Symantec adds on their website, “Given the long list of command and control servers being used for controlling the botnet, the attackers are unlikely to be a single person, but rather a group of people. Thus, the Sykipot attackers are likely to be an organized and skilled group of individuals. Given their persistence and their long-running campaigns, the attackers are likely to have consistent funding for their efforts.”

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Qatar to overthrow Saudi monarchy

EU Times — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 17:16:20 +0000

Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani

The Saudi Arabian monarchy will be overthrown by Qatar very soon, a leaked confidential conversation by Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani has revealed.

According to an audio file which has gone viral on the Internet, the premier said Qatari troops would occupy Qatif in Eastern Province and the Al Saud regime will disintegrate.

“The regime of King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud is exhausted and powerless to control the country and the army cannot confront the future changes,” he asserted.

The remarks were made as people in Qatif have been staging protest rallies to demand freedom and equality over the past months.

The Qatari premier also revealed that the United States and Britain wanted him to report back to them on the situation in Saudi Arabia.

“They want to get rid of the Saudi regime while they are afraid of any new Islamic regime in the region,” Sheikh Hamad said.

“Therefore, Qatar has taken advantage to transfer US military bases to its country,” he added.

Sheikh Hamad said Qatar also has been able to gradually reduce the dominance of Saudi Arabia in the region and impose itself on Arab countries.

Qatari state-run news channel Aljazeera has refused to comment on the audio clip.

Qatari officials did not confirm the report when Press TV contacted the Qatari Embassy in Tehran.

This is while several Arabic-language new agencies have covered the story.

Press TV cannot independently verify the authenticity of this report.

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