Category Archives: International

International, Opinion, U.S.

Obama ready to change line up, the result will not change much

There are rumors that President Barack Obama is ready to change his military and national security staff.

Current Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants to leave.  He could be replaced by current CIA chief Leon Panetta.   The position of chief of the CIA could go to current Army General David Petraeus, who is about to finish his tour of duty in Afghanistan.  Petraeus’ old job, Commander of Coalition Forces in Afghanistan, could go to Marine Lieutenant General John R. Allen.

There seems to be a clear pattern of ladder climbing.  Obama is expected to name a new ambassador to Afghanistan, someone who is from the Bush Jr camp (as is Robert Gates); Ryan C. Crocker.

Crocker has lots of experience being an ambassador.  Obama even gave him the highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  Crocker is currently the dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service.  Guess who else was dean of that school?  Current Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

So even with all the staffing changes there might not be much change to U.S. foreign policy.

International, U.S.

Gates says still no plans regarding troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

At a press conference in United Kingdom, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates admitted there were no set plans for troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“I expect that (the recommendations) will be coming in the not-too-distant-future.”-Robert Gates

Gates said he was still waiting for recommendations from General David Petraeus.  President Obama had announced that troops would start coming home in July, 2011.  But in February, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made statements that the U.S. would be in Afghanistan “beyond 2014“.

International

Tensions heating up between Bahrain & Iran, proxy war between Iran & U.S.?

“Iran reserves the right to hit back.”-Ramin Mehmanparast, Iran’s Foreign Ministry

Bahrain has ordered the second secretary in the Iranian embassy, Hujatullah Rahmani, to leave within 72 hours.  They accuse him of being a spy for Kuwait.

Of course the accusation comes after Kuwait seemingly switched sides.  Originally Kuwait supported the Saudi Arabian led invasion of Bahrain, but has backed off, and even made statements, in conjunction with Iran, condemning Bahrain.

Ironically Kuwait has also made statements supporting the Bahraini government.  It seems Kuwait is trying to play on both sides of the fence.  Iran has expelled three Kuwaiti diplomats, and is threatening to expel Bahraini diplomats as well.

The United States accuses Iran of interfering with Syria, and Iran accuses the U.S. of interfering in Bahrain.

 

 

International

Quake activity jumped prior to March 11

The Japanese Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction, said seismic activities started to increase off eastern prefectures, from Miyagi to Ibaraki, three years before the massive 9.0 quake.

Professor Koshun Yamaoka added that research shows that the focus of small quakes two days before March 11, moved closer to what became the epicenter of the massive earthquake.

Japan’s Geospatial Information Authority of Japan says not only did coastal areas of Miyagi and Chiba prefectures sink during the quake, but some rose five to eight centimeters after the quake. This is a sign the tectonic plates are still shifting.

Officials at the meeting stated that while “big” earthquakes are always predicted for Japan, no one expected a 9.0 quake.

 

 

Business/Economics, International

Bolivia about to pass historic law, multi-national corporations won’t like it

The Law of Mother Earth.  If it passes, it will be historic.  Bolivia’s legislature is debating the new bill, which many believe will be passed.

The proposed law states: “Mother Earth is a living dynamic system made up of the undivided community of all living beings, who are all interconnected, interdependent and complementary, sharing a common destiny.”
It is based on Sumaj Kawsay, a native phrase for living in harmony.
Basically the law requires a transition from non-renewable to renewable energy; to  assess the ecological impact of all economic activity; ecological audits of all private and state companies;  reduce greenhouse gas emissions;  policies of food and renewable energy sovereignty; require all companies and individuals to be accountable for environmental contamination.
Of course there is opposition to the proposed law, mainly from large corporate mining and farming operations.  Corporate soy farmers say the law “will make the productive sector inviable.”
Even government agencies say the law would not be enforceable because it would be a logistical nightmare.
Supporters say something has to be done about the exploitation by multi-national corporations: “We need to pull together peoples, researchers, and communities to develop real concrete alternatives so that the dominant systems of exploitation don’t just continue by default. This is not an easy task, but I believe with international solidarity, we can and must succeed.”-Raul Prada, adviser to Pacto de Unidad

International, Opinion

Iranian Vice President shows ignorance of History

First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi has shown his ignorance of world history, in statements made regarding Japan.

Rahimi said Japan should not bow to imperialist countries.  Hello, Japan is an imperialist country, they have an Emperor!

Rahimi also said Japan “…should not pursue the wrong policies of the bullying governments because the same powers hindered the progress of the Japanese nation by conducting atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” Hello, it’s called the Second World War! Japan bombed Pearl Harbor first. By the way what Japan was doing in World War 2 was attempting to expand its Empire (reference above).   


Business/Economics, International

Venezuela quits Andean Community, wants to join MERCOSUR

Venezuela has officially quite the economic union “Andean Community”.  It’s made up of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Venezuela said it quite the trade group because of free-trade agreements signed with the United States and Andean pact members Peru and Colombia.

Venezuela now hopes to join MERCOSUR, a trade group made up of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

International, U.S.

Iraqi PM wavers on claims that Iraq no loger needs U.S. forces

Iraqi Prime minster Nuri al-Maliki, made several statements in the recent past, saying Iraq does not need U.S. troops.  Now it seems Maliki is caving into demands from the Obama administration.

His latest statements are that Iraq does not need U.S. help for “internal” security, but help is still needed for training, weapons and financing.  “If we talk about the internal need, our security forces are capable now to maintain the situation. But regarding the external challenge, yes, the Iraqi military still needs weapons to defend its sovereignty, especially for the air force.”-Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki

Maliki also added that the Iraqi government must be unified in wanting the U.S. to stay: “No deal will happen unless there is a national unified stand. Otherwise everything will remain as it is and this pact will be terminated by the end of this year. A deal of any military cooperation with the United States, Britain, France or any other country will not happen unless everyone agrees.”

International, Opinion

Want to know what’s really going on in Mexico’s Drug War, another front in the Control through Chaos war

Notice how little coverage of the Drug War in Mexico gets in the main stream media?  After all, more people have been killed in Mexico, in the last three years, than in Afghanistan or Iraq.  Mexico is just “south of the border” from the U.S.

If you don’t mind the Spanish language, or gory pictures and video, then go to Narco Blog.

This “war” in Mexico is not about drugs, but about controlling the people of Mexico through chaos.

One of the interesting things I’ve noticed is that most of the victims of mass killings are poor migrant workers, many not even from Mexico.  I often wondered at the logistics of some of the mass killings, because it would take a lot of personnel, and organization to pull it off, you know like a military or police force.

One mass killing involved hitting the people in the head with a sledge hammer!  How do you get 20-30 people to stand still while you hit them with a sledge hammer?  For one thing you’d need a lot of people of your own, with weapons, to intimidate the victims.  On top of that investigators say heavy equipment was used to bury many of the mass killing victims.  Sounds like an organized operation involving a lot of logistical planning. Well, several weeks ago a Police chief and at least 25 police officers were arrested in connection with one mass killing.  Mmmm

The “drug gangs” are blamed for the mass killings, but what about the continuing arrests of police and military personnel for their connection to many killings?  This could indicate that the “drug gangs” are so powerful that they’ve taken over government agencies.  Or it could be that this really isn’t about “drugs”.

Several survivors of kidnappings say they were being used as ransom to raise money for the gangs, or being forced to join them.  This goes against the idea that the drug gangs are making money from drug trafficking.  If they’re making billions every year from trafficking drugs into the United States, why do they need to hold poor people hostage for money?   One farmer could only pay half a ransom, so the gangs returned to him only half of his son.

Logic will tell you the main reason why people get involved in drug trafficking is to get lots of money.  It doesn’t make sense to waste that money going around killing a lot of poor people, and it makes even less sense to kidnap poor people for money they don’t have!

The other concern is why would gangs want to impress poor people into their ranks?  The more personnel you have in your illegal drug trafficking operation, the more you have to divide any profit from your sales.

This thing in Mexico is starting to look and sound like whats going on in parts of the Middle East and North Africa, only on a bigger scale.  In the predominantly Muslim world, so called al-Qaeda is kidnapping for ransom, forcing people to join them, and committing seemingly random and illogical attacks and bombings.  And by the way, notice that most of the “religious radical” attacks are against the very people of the region (mainly poor people), not the foreign occupiers?

Is the Mexican “Drug War” just another front in the sinister global “Control through Chaos” operation being run by the Elites?   If you’re a Christian you should remember the story of the statue with the feet of clay.  The leader of Babylon was concerned with taking on a certain enemy.  He had a dream about a statue.  The head was gold, and symbolized the elite.  The statue’s make up changed as you moved towards the feet.  The feet are made of clay, they represent the poor people of any society. Nebuchadnezzar was told in the dream that if he wanted to bring down his enemy, he had to attack the poor people of his enemy’s territory.

Notice that the majority of people being targeted, around the world in the “War on Terror” and in “Drug Wars”, by both the government forces and the terrorists/drug gangs, are poor people.