War, War and More War

It's war as far as the eye can see. In North Korea -

Saber-rattling rose Monday to new levels on the Korean peninsula, as Pyongyang officials "scrapped" the armistice credited for nearly 60 years of uneasy peace and then failed to answer a hotline phone.

"The Korean Armistice Agreement is to be scrapped completely just from today," said a spokesman for the North Korean military -- the Korean People's Army Supreme Command -- according to Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party.

North Korea cited the U.N. Security Council's unanimous passage last Thursday of tougher sanctions against Pyongyang for carrying out missile and nuclear tests.

"The collective sanction is precisely a declaration of war and an act of war against the DPRK," said the newspaper, using the initials of North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Israel -

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a “very short period of time” to decide whether to strike Iran’s nuclear infrastructure before Tehran possesses nuclear weapons, warned former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton in a radio interview last night.

Afghanistan -

America's fraught ties with Afghanistan suffered a jarring blow Sunday, when Afghan President Hamid Karzai said during a visit by the new U.S. defense secretary that the Taliban were killing Afghan civilians "in service to America."

Sticking with the US training the terrorists theme, Syria -

Americans are training Syrian anti-government fighters in Jordan, the German weekly Der Spiegel said on Sunday, quoting what it said were participants and organizers.

Spiegel said it was not clear whether the Americans worked for private firms or were from the army but said some wore uniforms. The training focused on use of anti-tank weaponry.

Some 200 men have already received such training over the past three months and there are plans in the future to provide training for a total 1,200 members of the "Free Syrian Army" in two camps in the south and the east of the country.

Venezuela -

The Obama administration has moved to kick two Venezuelan diplomats out of the United States in response to Venezuela’s expulsion last week of two U.S. officials from the U.S. embassy in Caracas, The Washington Times has learned.

 ...and in the U.S. - 

It confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security has issued an open purchase order for 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition. As reported elsewhere, some of this purchase order is for hollow-point rounds, forbidden by international law for use in war, along with a frightening amount specialized for snipers. Also reported elsewhere, at the height of the Iraq War the Army was expending less than 6 million rounds a month. Therefore 1.6 billion rounds would be enough to sustain a hot war for 20+ years. In America.

There are several points that are very clear here:
1) The United States is actively involved in training terrorists because it serves our foreign policy interests.
2) War is coming and in some cases is already here due to the reasons stated six years ago -

I have said and will say again that this is escalation warfare designed to destroy the American will and ultimately the United States itself. With the logical progression being: Afghanistan -> Iraq -> Iran/Syria -> North Korea -> China/Russia(Japan?)

and

Like a bad divorce or a separating business, the business practices that were not only acceptable 10 years ago but commendable, become the 'I told you so' moments of the new age. People begin to turn on one another in droves as they need a raison d'etre for their pain, anguish and empty checkbooks. Surely they are not responsible in any way. It was THAT man, over there. He did this. He did this to us! And he must pay!

Let's see - Afghanistan and Iraq? Check. Syria? check. North Korea? Right on schedule. China/Russia with a hint of Japan. Check. American economic and societal meltdown? Check, check and mate.

Syrian False Flag With Chemical Weapons Unveiled By Hackers

Interesting times we live in to be sure -

The leaked emails, obtained by a hacker in Malaysia, feature an exchange (click here for screenshot) between Britam Defence’s Business Development Director David Goulding and the company’s founder Philip Doughty;

Phil

We’ve got a new offer. It’s about Syria again. Qataris propose an attractive deal and swear that the idea is approved by Washington.

We’ll have to deliver a CW to Homs, a Soviet origin g-shell from Libya similar to those that Assad should have. They want us to deploy our Ukrainian personnel that should speak Russian and make a video record.

Frankly, I don’t think it’s a good idea but the sums proposed are enormous. Your opinion?
Kind regards
David

The fact that the plan involves delivering a CW (chemical weapon) that is “similar to those Assad should have,” clearly suggests that the idea is to stage a false flag chemical weapons attack that could be blamed on Assad by Gulf states like Qatar and NATO powers.

The Syrian 'situation' hasn't been a very large topic over the last few months since Assad managed to repel many of the foreign invaders. Now that people are asking questions about these things, moral justification/cover must be provided to those who wish to overthrow the Assad government. Past memes are failing on site -

Rebels.

Massacre.
 
Regime.

These ideas had been previously floated but the positive feedback for invasion has been virtually non-existent, so the script needed to shift into something more...dramatic.

Chemical weapons.


Of course we've been here before, so this development is nothing new, rather a potential confirmation of the false flag paradigm that is being so readily bandied about lately.

The false flag concept seems largely played out especially due to the constant coverage that 'large events' are receiving as of late. It's difficult to say what will happen here. With the latest 'mass shootings' dominating the news coverage on average, I believe another war is next to impossible to sell to the American people. Look for the Israelis to take this angle and run with it, I would imagine through some Syrian 'leak' a terror sub-group is at least claimed to get its hands on some munitions which threaten the Israeli populace thereby creating a narrative to deploy at least a partial attack on Syria. As it has been for the last 7 years, this situation warrants monitoring.

Syrians Used as Political Pawns | Interview with Webster Tarpley

Turkey Forces Down Syrian Commercial Airliner

Hell bent is a great term for it -

Confirmation that Turkey is hell bent on provoking conflict with Syria that could easily escalate into a regional war arrived last night when the Turks intercepted a Syrian commercial airliner bound for Damascus, falsely claiming the plane was carrying military equipment.

Despite the fact that the Turks could have asked to inspect the plane’s cargo and had it land in Turkey by consent, they instead chose to unleash a show of force by having Turkish Air Force F-16 jets aggressively intercept the plane and force it to land in Ankara as soon as the airliner crossed into Turkish airspace.

The airliner was en-route from Moscow with 30 passengers, 17 of which were Russian. Russia reacted angrily to the incident, saying it was refused access to the citizens for 8 hours and that their lives were put in danger.

Turkey initially claimed it had intelligence suggesting weapons were on board the plane but later admitted that all it had seized was communications equipment. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu claimed the confiscated equipment was “illegal cargo,” a term that was later watered down to “objectionable” cargo.

According to passengers, masked men boarded the plane when it landed and proceeded to beat four people.

 This isn't just bad, this is horrific. Where to start?

Saying you 'have intelligence' on something is one of the oldest tricks in the book. When you get control of the other persons effects, you can then drum up some sort of claim of subversive activity and then by proxy gain control of the other party. This is part of why we have a 4th Amendment in this country to prohibit this sort of nonsense. The reason we can see that it's nonsense is that inflammatory words are used to describe the 'contraband' that was seized -

military equipment
“illegal cargo,”
“objectionable” cargo.

This is not a descriptor of equipment that was found, it is a vapid declaration to enrage and galvanize the international community into supporting a Turkish and by association, NATO war.

For Turkey to use F-16 to force down a commercial jet is just a flat-out escalation.There is no danger here, no immediate repercussions outside of the norm. The fact that there were 17 Russians on the plane, which might have been beaten, is sure to enrage the bear even further. At this point, I believe Syria should avoid Turkish airspace if possible and if not, send military escorts to ensure their safety. If I were Russia, I'd be openly threatening Turkey at this point, something I'm certain Putin will do at least through back channels.

At this point, if Syria were to declare war on Turkey, I believe their actions would be justified.

US Troops In Lebanon, Possible Regional War Igniting

The US admits their presence in Jordan -

The United States military has secretly sent a task force of more than 150 planners and other specialists to Jordan to help the armed forces there handle a flood of Syrian refugees, prepare for the possibility that Syria will lose control of its chemical weapons and be positioned should the turmoil in Syria expand into a wider conflict.

The task force, which has been led by a senior American officer, is based at a Jordanian military training center built into an old rock quarry north of Amman. It is now largely focused on helping Jordanians handle the estimated 180,000 Syrian refugees who have crossed the border and are severely straining the country’s resources.

Yeah, refugee help. I'm sure. This ignores the fact that the troops have been there for close to a year -

Whistleblower activist Sibel Edmonds reported on Sunday that “foreign military groups, estimated at hundreds of individuals,” have taken up positions in the city of al-Mafraq in northern Jordan on the Syrian border.

An update on Edmonds’ blog, Boiling Frogs, states that a “journalist with a major mainstream media publication was told by his editors that there would be no coverage or follow up on these developments.”

The presence of foreign troops were also reported by a Jordanian military officer who asked to remain anonymous. He said hundreds of soldiers who speak languages ​other than Arabic were seen during the past two days (as of Sunday) moving back and forth in military vehicles between the King Hussein Air Base in al-Mafraq, ten kilometers from the Syrian border, and the vicinity of Jordanian villages near the Syrian border, including Albaej, the area around the dam of Sarhan, the villages of Zubaydiah and al-Nahdah adjacent to the Syrian border.

 Of course Mitt Romney weighs in on the Syria situation and promptly stick his head in his posterior -

Mitt Romney called Monday for a change of course in America's Middle East policy, accusing President Obama of sitting on the sidelines in the face of a "profound upheaval" across the region. The Republican nominee pledged that, if elected, he would prosecute a far more engaged foreign policy, including helping to arm the opposition in Syria's bloody civil war.

Oh, you mean this opposition Mitt?

In an interview with BBC News (watch video), Clinton states, “We have a very dangerous set of actors in the region, Al-Qaeda, Hamas, and those who are on our terrorist list, to be sure, supporting – claiming to support the opposition [in Syria].”

Clinton’s admission that Al-Qaeda is supporting the armed insurrection in Syria dovetails with reports that the same Al-Qaeda terrorists who helped overthrow Colonel Gaddafi in Libya were airlifted into Syria by NATO forces.

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri’s has also publicly expressed support for Syrian rebel forces.

Wait, I thought our proper Pavlovian response was Al-Quaeda bad? (Or is it?) Denninger gives the proper response to this sheer insanity -

Arm the Syrian rebels?  Does this guy bother paying attention to what the rebels are doing with the weapons they already have?  Some of them are being aimed across the border into Turkey.

What purpose does that have?  Well, inciting a war with Turkey works real well when you're trying to depose an existing regime.  But the first time one of those shells falls into Turkey and fails to explode, and the other side finds "Made in USA" on the side, we suddenly have a problem when we're openly arming the guys doing the shooting!

So to sum up our foreign policy should be that we should publicly arm the individuals that we have declared mortal enemies and spent trillions of GDP and the last decade exterminating? Yes, yes Republicans, you just keep on calling the "Paulbots" idiotic when it comes to foreign policy.

Just to rub it in a step further, lets review this gem from June 2011, before the Syrian situation even got going. (With verification added in red)

 'We might invade Syria and the local powers might try and stop us. So we have to deploy enough force to repel them.' How did we get to this point? Easy -

• A target is identified, in this case Syria. (The Arab Spring starts in earnest)
• The media runs cover for the political class covering the latest "injustices" occurring in someone else's country. (Forget the accuracy of such reports, we must do something.) (Poor candidates for the US Presidential election, 2 US credit downgrades..)
• This reporting founds the moral basis and justification for eventual intervention. (March 2012 - Kofi Annan peace plan for Syria )
• Money is funneled through foreign aid programs ostensibly designed to help the "poor". This money is generally confiscated by the "bad guys" via arms or fraud. (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey provide arms and logistical support to the rebels)
• This action provides further fuel for the media's reporting. (Feb 2012 -Arm the rebels! Apr 2012 - Refugees!)
• Private organizations and mercenaries are hired to cause problems in the target country. (Nov 2011 - Libyan Al-Quaeda flown in, Debka)
• The media portrays this as "freedom fighters" desperately trying to win their liberty. (Mar 2012 - Saudi Arabia claims the rebels have a 'right' to take up arms against the government)
• The target country tries to exert their laws via force to prevent the coup of their government. (Libya is a recent example) (April 2012 - Assad is escalating)
• Some "horrific" event takes place which justifies the rationale for a military invasion. This is generally staged or exaggerated. (Think incubator babies in Iraq.) (May 2012 - Houla 'massacre', Homs)
• Eventually the public somewhat rallies behind the idea of fixing the situation in the target country.
• As part of the final settlement with the rebels, a central bank is installed.(Future event - Note, not a national central bank, but an international one. Future groundwork is being set)

If you can grasp this, you can understand the bulk of events in human history as the same script is relentlessly recycled to justify yet another tyrannical move.

Update: As if Turkey wasn't enough, look at that, the rebels now want to attack Lebanon too. How convenient!

Leaders of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have announced that they captured 13 suspected members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia around the Syrian city of Homs, and threatened to launch full scale attacks against the Lebanese capital city of Beirut if Hezbollah doesn’t withdraw entirely from the region.

The FSA statement said that Hezbollah is “deeply involved” in the ongoing civil war, and suggested that it was up to the field commanders whether to keep the captives or just execute them.

Syria - CIA Arming Terrorists to Stage Yet Another Coup

• Rebels are slaughtering civilians
• Houla massacre
• West providing training and arms to the Free Syrian Army and Muslim Brotherhood
• Libya staging grounds
• Terrorists emanating out of Libya’s eastern Cyrenaica region – most notably Benghazi
• “Libyan Islamic Fighting Group” (LIFG) officially merged with Al Qaeda in 2007, its commanders including Abdul Hakim Belhaj and Mahdi al-Harati 
•  British Special Forces are training Syrian rebels
• British MI6 operatives and UKSF (SAS/SBS) personnel have reportedly been training the rebels in urban warfare as well as supplying them with arms and equipment.
• US CIA operatives and special forces are believed to be providing communications assistance to the rebels.
• Arms provided by proxy states Qatar and Saudi Arabia to Turkey into Syria
• 'Saudi weapons' seen at Syria rebel base in an Aleppo mosque
• Multiple shipments include Kalashnikov assault rifles, BKC machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank weaponry

Note: This is a resource and will be updated as needed.

Syria 'Bombs' Turkish Village, Turkey Declares 'Almost War'

In response to a 'Syrian' shelling of Turkey, Syria is the sole rational voice thus far -

 Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said that relevant authorities in Syria are investigating the source of the Wednesday mortar fire on a border town in Turkey.

Zoubi offered his sincerest condolences on behalf of the Syrian government to the family of those killed in the incident and the Turkish people.

"In case of border incidents that occur between any two neighboring countries, countries and governments must act wisely, rationally and responsibly, particularly since there's a special condition on the Syrian-Turkish borders in terms of the presence of undisciplined terrorist groups spread across the borders who have varying agendas and identities," the Minister told the Syrian TV, affirming that these groups constitute a threat to Syria's security and regional security.

The minister stressed that the Syrian-Turkish borders are long and are being used to smuggle weapons, equipment and terrorists into Syria where they committed massacres, the latest such massacre being the one committed by Al Qaeda in Aleppo.

A reasonable person at this point would be howling at the Turks right now 'What do you expect? You let these terrorists cross into our country through your borders! Of course they're bombing people. They're ter-or-ists!'

Of course Turkey wastes little time in declaring war not war on Syria -

The Turkish parliament on Thursday approved a government proposal to use military force against Syria “when necessary” in response to Wednesday’s cross-border bombardment that killed five civilians.

In an emergency meeting of parliament convened on Thursday morning, the Grand National Assembly voted 320-129 in favor of a bill calling for “a one-year-long permission to make the necessary arrangements for sending the Turkish Armed Forces” into Syria in light of the “negative impact of the ongoing crisis in Syria on our national security, as well as on regional stability and security.”

Of course long-time readers know that this is what NATO has wanted all along.

Iran - Current Military Actions

The Christian Science Monitor was kind enough to put together a list of all of the Imminent Iran Threat statements since 1979.

Here is a brief and expanding history of the recent U.S./Iranian conflict.

•  Oct 4, 2012 - “Turkey’s Parliament approved a motion Thursday that authorizes further military action against Syria,” the New York Times reports. The attack and Turkey’s response will be used by the United States and NATO to impose a no-fly zone over Syria similar to the one established in Libya. Mainstream media reports riot in the streets of Iran because of a crumbling economy. Hundreds of police disbursed groups that formed, firing tear gas into the crowds.
• Oct 2012 - The Rial, Iran's currency, crashes massively due to economic sanctions imposed by the West.
• Sep 22, 2012 - Iran accused Germany's Siemens of implanting tiny explosives inside equipment the Islamic Republic purchased for its disputed nuclear program.
• Sept 2012 - Turkey begins efforts to support the FSA and allow it to conduct military operations from its territory.
• Aug 17, 2012 - Fordo underground enrichment facility power lines were blown up through sabotage.
• June 19, 2012 - The Flame virus is reported to be a precursor to the Stuxnet virus and created by the US/Israel to use against Iranian cyber security.
• May 2012 - A massacre in Houla, Syria,  was the work of the FSA, according to eye witnesses.
• Feb 23, 2012 -16 US intelligence agencies, indicates that Iran is conducting research that could eventually enable it to develop a nuclear weapon, but that it has not sought to do so.
• Feb 21, 2012 - Iran’s Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base started the four-day exercises codenamed Tharallah on Monday within an area of 190,000 square kilometers in southern Iran, with the key objective of boosting the country’s air defense near the Persian Gulf and the nation’s Bushehr nuclear power plant.
• Feb 21, 2012 - The IAEA declared its latest inspection visit to Iran a failure, with the regime blocking access to a key site suspected of hosting covert nuclear weapon research.
• Feb 20, 2012 - Iran stopped selling crude to British and French companies.
• Feb 19, 2012 - US military officials confirmed Saturday that US drones are flying over Syria.
• Feb 19, 2012 - Syrian forces captured 40 Turkish intelligence operatives working with the “opposition” inside Syria who confessed to working with the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad to train the US-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA)
• Feb 19, 2012 - An Iranian destroyer and an escorting supply ship docked at the Syrian port of Tartus.
• Feb 19, 2012 - Two Republican US Senators, John McCain and Lindsey Graham, called for arming Syrian “rebels”.
• Feb 19, 2012 - The Egyptian government withdrew its ambassador to Syria.
• Feb 14, 2012 - The US aircraft carrier, USS Lincoln, transitions out of the Persian Gulf while being shadowed by Iranian ships as well as an Iranian drone and surveillance helicopter.
• Feb 13, 2012 - Twin attempts to bomb people affiliated with the Israeli embassies in New Delhi and Tbilisi, Georgia. Israeli blames Iran and cites no evidence.
• Feb 11, 2012 - Brigadier General Issa al-Khouli is assassinated in Syria.
• Feb 9, 2012 - Tanks are sighted in Homs, Syria.
• Feb 9, 2012 - The Independent newspaper based in London, cited “evidence” claiming that Syrian President Assad’s security forces have indiscriminately killed scores of newborn babies in Homs this week.
• Feb 9, 2012 - Attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists are being carried out by MEK, MKO and PMI, Iranian dissident groups that are financed, trained and armed by Israel’s secret service reports US officials.MEK claims it has killed 40,000 Iranians who support the government. The CIA has trained the group at a little-known base in Nevada.
• Feb 9, 2012 - Rebel forces report the Syrian army had transferred a significant quantity of grenades and mortars containing chemical agents to a school building in Homs.
• Feb 8, 2012 - Iran is preparing to dispatch 15,000 troops to assist the Syrians.
• Feb 8, 2012 - British and Qatari special operations units are operating with rebel forces under cover in the Syrian city of Homs just 162 kilometers from Damascus
• Feb 7, 2012 - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would visit Damascus with Russian Foreign Intelligence Service chief Mikhail Fradkov.
• Feb 6, 2012 - An Arab League report points the blame on the Feb 3rd Syrian 'massacre' to armed gangs in Syria.
• Feb, 2012 - Mossad chief Tamir Pardo made a secret visit to officials in the United States.
• Feb 6, 2012 -The US withdraws its Syrian ambassador and shutters its embassy.
• Feb 6, 2012 -US funded Tunisian president prepares to withdraw support of Syrian government
• Feb 5, 2012 - Obama invokes the NDAA, thereby unilaterally declaring war on Iran.
• Feb 5, 2012 -A diplomat based in Islamabad said on Sunday that an Israeli attack on Iran would force Pakistan to support a Iranian response, according to the Israeli website Ynetnews.com
• Feb 4, 2012 - Russians put Rapid Reaction Force (aka Spetsnaz) units in Black Sea bases on the ready to set out for Syria and defend Damascus.
• Feb 4, 2012 - Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council move against Syria
• Feb 3, 2012 - Reports emerge that Syrian troops had shelled  the Homs district of Khaldiyeh, killing an estimated 350 people there and injuring some 1,500.
• Feb 3, 2012 - Israeli facilities in North America -- and around the world -- are on high alert, according to an internal security document obtained by ABC News that predicted the threat from Iran against Jewish targets will increase. 
• Feb 3, 2012 - Khamenei..promised that human history is on the verge of a great event and that soon the world will realize the power of Allah.
• Jan 27, 2012 - Iran to pass law halting sales of oil to Europe.
• Jan 24, 2012 - India is the first buyer of Iranian oil to agree to pay for its purchases in gold instead of the US dollar. China is expected to follow suit.
• Jan 23, 2012 - The USS Enterprise is heading to the Persian Gulf region in a direct message to Tehran.
• Jan 23, 2012 - A 43-year-old Iranian military officer, Raze Ali Fimani, was killed when motorcyclists reportedly fired shots at a group of soldiers who were headed to an air force base.
• Jan 23, 2012 - A senior Iranian official said Iran would “definitely” close the Strait of Hormuz if an EU oil embargo disrupted the export of crude oil. (Notice the "if" part of the statement. Iran is basically saying 'Attack us financially and we will respond militarily')
• Jan 23, 2012 - The EU has agreed to freeze the assets of the Iranian central bank and ban all trade in gold and other precious metals with the Iranian Central Bank and other public bodies in Iran.
• Jan 22, 2012 - The USS Abraham Lincoln passed through the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Gulf without incident. In addition, the HMS Argyll, a Type 23 frigate from the Royal Navy, a guided missile cruiser and two destroyers from the US Navy completed the flotilla, along with one warship from the French navy.
• Jan 20, 2012 - The Pentagon admits that a new US commando team is operating near Iran.
• Jan 20, 2012 - The Obama administration is considering closing the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, Syria.
• Jan 19, 2012 -Large armor movements are witnessed in Santa Cruz.
• Jan 18, 2012 - The US aircraft carrier, USS Lincoln, arrives in the Gulf, bringing the total to 3.
• Jan 16, 2012 - Gen. Barry McCaffrey presented a seminar to roughly 20 NBC executives and producers — including NBC News President Steve Capus — entitled “Iran, Nukes & Oil: The Gulf Confrontation.”
• Jan 13, 2012 - Russia has claimed that NATO is preparing to impose a no-fly zone in Syria to protect rebel fighters.
• Jan 12, 2012 - A senior U.S. official said that the latest round of American sanctions are aimed at shutting down Iran’s central bank.
• Jan 12, 2012 - IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz testified in closed session to the Israeli Knesset’s foreign affairs and defense committee that Israel was engaged in sabotaging Iran’s nuclear program through a series of “unnatural” acts
• Jan 12, 2012 - A massive buildup of forces in the area.
• The aircraft carriers USS Abraham Lincoln and CVN 70 Carl Vinson which has arrived by way of Hong Kong are joining the area.
• 9,000 US troops including airmen, missile interceptor teams, marines, technicians and intelligence officers are scheduled to land in Israel in the coming weeks.
• Jan 11, 2012 - Iranian nuclear scientist Prof. Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, deputy director of the first uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, was killed after a magnetic bomb was attached to the side of his car by two men on a motorcycle. (Israeli sources close to Jewish writer Richard Silverstein point to Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK) and the Mossad.)
• Jan 10, 2012 - The IAEA- Iranian officials earlier said the Fordo plant, deep inside the mountains near the central Iranian city of Qom, was built to produce 20-percent uranium needed for a research reactor in Tehran, which produces medical isotopes to treat cancer patients. 
• Jan 9, 2012 -  Iran says it will no longer accept the U.S. dollar as payment for its oil shipments to India, Japan and China.
• Jan 9, 2012 - Iran has begun 20% uranium enrichment at a new underground site built to withstand possible airstrikes
• Jan 9, 2012 - Iran has sentenced alleged CIA spy, 28 year old Amir Hekmati, to death. 
• Jan 9, 2012 - The Russian carrier Admiral Kuznetsov anchored at Syria’s Tartus port along with the destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and frigate Yaroslav Mudry.
• Dawoud Rajha was received on the deck by a guard of honor of marines under a flyover of Russian Su-33 and Su-25 fighter-bombers
• Jan 9, 2012 - France consigned an air defense destroyer Forbin to the waters off Tartus”
• Jan 8, 2012 - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says is not yet building a bomb and called for continued diplomatic and economic pressure to persuade Tehran not to take that step.
• Jan 8, 2012 - RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV, took off from the USS Stennis aircraft carrier for for a Broad Aerial Maritime Surveillance Mission (BAMS) over the coasts of Iran.
• Jan 8, 2012 - Ali Ashraf Nouri, a senior commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, told Khorasan daily on Sunday that the Iranian government has decided to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf if the country’s oil exports are blocked.
• Jan 8, 2012 - Philip Hammond, the UK's Defence Secretary, warned the regime in Tehran that Britain will not tolerate the ‘very significant consequences’ if it fulfils a threat to block the Strait of Hormuz.
• The HMS Daring is a Type 45 destroyer that has the world’s most sophisticated naval radar is sent to the Gulf.
• French Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier is dispatched to the area as well.
• Jan 7, 2012 - Iran launches security exercises on Afghanistan border. Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Revolutionary Guards' ground forces, said the "Martyrs of Unity" exercises near Khvat, 60 km (40 miles) from Afghanistan, were "aimed at boosting security along the Iranian borders," Fars reported.
• Jan 6, 2012 - Forces with the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier strike group, the target of Tehran's threat, rescued 13 Iranian fishermen from Somali pirates days after passing through the Strait.
• Jan 6, 2012 - Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, naval commander for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps announces wargames, The Great Prophet, to coincide with the joint US/Israeli Austere Challenge 12 in February.
• Jan 5, 2012 - Iran via Turkey, announces its willingness to negotiate with the U.S.
• Jan 3, 2012 - Iran threatened to take action if the US aircraft carrier USS Stennis which "moved to the Sea of Oman because of our drill returns to the Persian Gulf." Army chief Lt. Gen. Ataolla Salehi said:" Iran will not repeat this warning."
• The USS Bataan and USS Makin Island are also in the Sea of Oman
• Jan 2, 2012 - The Rial was widely reported to be trading down 12% in the black market from Saturday's rate, and Mehr news service reported that housing prices had tumbled 20% during the last few weeks. 
• Jan 2, 2012 - Last days of the 10 day Iranian drills.
• Iran tested its Qader missile, a long-range sea-to-shore missile, and the surface-to-surface Nour missile.  
• Dec 31, 2011 - Obama signs the NDAA into law. It contains sanctions against Iran's oil sales by companies that trade in Iran. (An act of economic and therefore actual war)
• Dec 28, 2011 - The USS Stennis transited the Strait of Hormus and entered the Sea of Oman where Iran was staging a naval drill.
• Dec 24, 2011 - Iran launches 10 day military drills.
• Dec 22, 2011 - Iran announces military drills to be held in the Persian Gulf.
• Dec 21, 2011 - A U.S. missile hit an oil depot in the southwest village of Abadan.
• Two rockets reportedly hit the village of Manyuhi near the border of Iraq’s al-Faw Peninsula near the Persian Gulf and the Iraqi city of Basra.
• “In the border city of Arvand-Kenar, the invading American and British airplanes violated the airspace of the Islamic Republic of Iran three times,” a commander told the Islamic Republic News Agency.
• Dec 19, 2011 - Former CIA and current DOD  head Leon Panetta announces that Iran will have a nuclear weapon within a year and the U.S. will not rule out a military attack.
• Dec 13, 2011 - Iran is reported to have closed the Gulf, oil spikes and the report is soon retracted.
• Dec 12, 2011- Iran unveils footage of the captured US drone. Barrack Obama demands the drone's return, Iran subsequently declares the drone Iran's property.
• Iran said its new Abadan refinery will raise its daily output of high-octane gasoline by almost 12,600 barrels by January 20, 2012.  (The same location is hit by a missile 9 days later)
• Dec 11, 2011 - Blast hits Iranian steel plant in Yazd, killing 7 wounding 12
• Dec 5, 2011 - Iran moves to a war footing.
• Dec 4, 2011 - Failed US UAV drone (RQ-170 Sentinel) overflight, which which is shot down over 140 miles into Iranian territory.  (Of course the US denies it, they deny that they had advanced warning of the bombings on Pearl Harbor until historical truth bites them in the rear end. Also of particular note is the US attacks on Pakistan troops just a few days earlier.) 
• NATO command in Afghanistan released a terse statement Sunday: "The UAV to which the Iranians are referring may be a US unarmed reconnaissance aircraft that had been flying a mission over western Afghanistan late last week. The operators of the UAV lost control of the aircraft and had been working to determine its status."
• Dec 2, 2011 - Europe prepares oil import embargoes against Iran. 
• Dec 1, 2011 - The US Senate unanimously passes sanctions against Iran.
• Nov 30, 2011 - UK, Germany, Italy and France all recall their ambassadors from Iran.
• Nov 29, 2011 - Protesters attack the UK embassy in Tehran, Eight UK embassy staff taken hostage.
• Nov 28, 2011 - Explosion in an Iranian nuclear facility in Isfahan.
• Multiple eyewitness accounts of the Israeli military moving large missiles into position outside of Jerusalem and in the West Bank
• Nov 28, 2011 - Libya’s transitional ruling authority has agreed to send weapons and fighters over to Syria to help the Free Syrian Army fight government forces. Many of these were the same al-Quaeda fighters from Libya.
• Late Nov - British Special forces have met up with members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), the armed wing of the Syrian National Council. The apparent goal of this initial contact was to establish the rebel forces' strength and to pave the way for any future training operations.
• Nov 24, 2011- Iran's intelligence ministry had arrested 12 CIA "spies." The alleged spies were trying to cripple Iran in the nuclear, military and security areas.
• Nov 21, 2011- US names Iran as an area of "primary money laundering concern", a step designed to dissuade non-U.S. banks from dealing with it 
• Nov 12, 2011 - Explosion at an Malard Iranian military base outside Tehran that killed about 30 members of the Revolutionary Guard, including General Hassan Moghaddam, the head of the Iranian missile defense program. (Note - Missile defense, not offense.) It is believed that Israeli Intelligence is responsible. L.A. Times adds the U.S. as the culprit. 
• Nov 8, 2011- IAEA report - Based on documents found on a laptop by MEK and Israel in 2004. The documents stop in 2003.

• Oct 18, 2011 -  UK's decision to freeze $1.6bn of Iranian assets 
• Oct 11, 2011- Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington. (A used-car salesman attempted to recruit a Mexican drug cartel to carry out the hit. The man representing himself as a cartel operative turned out to be a paid informant of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).)
• Aug 10, 2011- US attempts to blame Iran for 2 downed Navy Seal helicopters. (No evidence)
• July 2010 - It is believed that the M Star Japanese oil tanker carrying oil from Saudi Arabia was damaged by Revolutionary Guards speedboat from the island of Abu Musa by firing a single missile in the northern outlet of Hormuz.
• June 2011 - The former speaker of the US House of Representatives Newt Gingrich said that the US should "sabotage" Iran's oil and gas infrastructure as part of its efforts to bring down the government.
• Summer, 2010 - Stuxnet virus deployed to attack the Iranian Natanz facility.
• January 2010 - Assassination of Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, killed by a bomb outside his Tehran home.
• June 13, 2009 - Green revolution begins with seeming support of  Mir-Hossein Mousavi #iranelection hastag was suddenly trending on twitter
• 2009 - The CIA dispatched a stealth surveillance drone into the skies over Iran. The RQ-170 Sentinel penetrated more than 600 miles inside the country, captured images of Iran’s secret nuclear facility at Qom and then flew home.
• July 7, 2008 - A story by journalist Seymour Hersh appearing in the July 7, 2008 issue of The New Yorker reported U.S. covert action plans against Iran involved extensive activity by the CIA, DIA and Special Forces.
• 2008 - Congress funds destabilization efforts against Iran. "a CIA plan that reportedly included a coordinated campaign of propaganda, disinformation and manipulation of Iran’s currency and international financial transactions, according to ABC News."
• Feb 12, 2008 - Hezbollah mastermind Imad Moughniyeh was killed in Damascus when a bomb planted in the headrest of his car was detonated.
• Early 2008 - Bush administration officials held a meeting recently in the Vice President’s office to discuss ways to provoke a war with Iran. The “meeting took place in the Vice-President’s office. ‘The subject was how to create a casus belli between Tehran and Washington,’”
• Jan 6, 2008 - Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats harassed and provoked three U.S. Navy ships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz,” Pentagon officials said. According to one official, “Five small [Iranian] boats were acting in a very aggressive way… and causing our ships to take evasive maneuvers.”
• Dec 3, 2007 - The 2007 National Intelligence Estimate that concluded with “high confidence” that the Islamic republic halted an effort to develop nuclear weapons in the fall of 2003.
• March, 2007 - America is secretly funding terrorist groups in Iran in an attempt to pile pressure on the Islamic regime to give up its nuclear program.
• March 23, 2007 - Iranian naval forces captured 15 British Royal Navy personnel for trespassing into the Iranian territorial waters off Iran-Iraq border coast. (The sailors were released April 4th on compassionate grounds after Iran broadcast their apology for trespassing Iranian territorial waters.)
• July 31, 2006 - Christian Zionists lobby for attacks against Iran.
• June 15, 2006 - Iran and Syria sign a mutual defense pact.
• Wargame rehearsals by the United States and Israel against Iran for at least the last 4 years (2011, 2010, 2009, 2008)

MEMRI (A less then reliable non-profit, possibly Israeli intelligence) disseminates a translation of a speech by Ahmadinejad in which the leader threatened to "wipe Israel off of the map?",. When properly translated, the statement was  'Israel would, because of its own faults, vanish from the pages of history'.

Some lovely pictures of Iran.

The "suitcase nuke" theory put to rest.

Note: This is a resource and will be updated as needed.

Syrian - Hezbollah Bombings and Coincidences - Snd Only

War With Syria Reaches a Fever Pitch

Syria, War on! -

 French, British and Turkish military sources have suggested that elite British soldiers have entered Northern Syria and are operating ten kilometers inside the country in what is thought to be the first offensive western intervention against the Assad regime.

“Our military sources estimate that the British military drive into Syria, if confirmed, is designed to establish the first safe zone along the Syrian-Turkish border, to be followed by more Western military incursions to establish additional zones of safe asylum in other parts of Syria.” reports the Israeli intelligence website Debkafile.

Of course it's war on, the Syrians had the absolute audacity to shoot down a war plane operating in their airspace. Of all the nerve...Some democracies are just more valid than others I guess.

Russia Responds In Syria

Who wants a real war?

The Obama administration says Russia is sending attack helicopters to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime and is warning about a dramatic escalation in the Arab country's 15-month conflict.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the delivery represents the "latest information." She says the U.S. is concerned as the helicopters "will escalate the conflict quite dramatically."

I love how Assad has a regime. It's not his government, it's an e-vil nasty thing specifically because we, the all-powerful United States, disagree with it. Of course, the rebels aren't anyone bad, like say Al-Quaeda. and there aren't any false reports, like baby slaughter going on... but you, my longstanding readers know better. Let us jump to the begining of 2011 -

Look for continued unrest with some governments getting overthrown. But as I indicated earlier, the globalists are literally banking on this to occur. We are still not there yet though. More riots need to take place, some shots, some new faces and then, we go to war.

and from this year's predictions -

• Syria  - It appears that the road to Iran lies through Syria. The US will try to draw in Hezbollah through "regime change". (Q1)
• Iran - Time will tell on this one. Iran is a tough nut to crack as opinion is running contrary to Western interests here. IF the US gets Syria, Iran is next. There has been a lot of posturing in 2011, but no one has been able to capitalize. Look for the moral justification route being presented via Iranian "guerrilla forces" "destabilizing Syria and attacking US or NATO "peacekeepers".

Russia getting involved is utterly predictable.(2006) We have been stomping around their territory (Georgia) for quite some time and they are not going to wait until we show up in Moscow to start doing something about it.

Personally, I feel this sort of escalation is good provided both parties restrain themselves. Imagine for a moment that you had a neighbor that liked to jump over your fence and violate your territory. So you install security cameras and an automated turret system. Yes, the situation has gotten ostensibly more hostile, but this is good because either the neighbor is going to cease and desist or is going to get his rear end handed to him. Either way, the conflict ends.

How does that saying go? Good fences make good neighbors...

Rand Paul Stands Up to the Warmongers

Finally, someone is intervening here -

Rand Paul has effectively single handedly blocked a bi-partisan bill to place yet more crippling economic sanctions on Iran, by demanding an amendment to prevent the White House using the legislation as an authorization to attack the country.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) wanted to immediately pass the sanctions bill by unanimous consent Tuesday. However, Paul intervened and blocked it, in order to ensure that unauthorized use of military force against Iran does not transpire. Paul’s one sentence amendment reads: “To clarify that nothing in the Act shall be construed as a declaration of war or an authorization of the use of force against Iran or Syria.

The Real Effect
People, you can get all wigged out abut Iran, Syria, rights violations, nuclear weapons, despots and everything that is evil under the sun. You can scream, cry and obfuscate the facts but in the end there is a supreme law of the land call the Constitution. In this document, there is a process by which we wage war in this country, which coincidentally hasn't been followed in generations. 

This process is the only legal process by which we can wage war on another country and it ensures that the People have a voice at the table via their Representatives. ANY individual who feels we should do an end run around this is advocating treason at the highest level and should be punished accordingly if found guilty by a jury of their peers. ANY politician advocating such a position should be removed from office immediately as they have demonstrated that they have zero desires to live within the lawful constrains of the office that they took an oath to uphold. (Conservatives, I'm looking squarely at you.)

Only after such a process has taken place and we have voted via our representatives, would we as a country go to war. Ask yourself, why would someone oppose this?

The answer is simple: Because they have no respect for the rule of law.

Celente: Hawks circling over Iran as only ally Syria on ropes

Sec. Clinton Confirms Syrian Rebels are Al-Quaeda

Remember this from December?

Now what would US force possibly be doing in Jordan? Could they be thinking of invading Syria to provoke Iran? Naaaaah...

As if there is any other conclusion to assume? Of course we're attacking Syria to get to Iran and Mrs. Clinton just confirmed it -

In an interview with BBC News (watch video), Clinton states, “We have a very dangerous set of actors in the region, Al-Qaeda, Hamas, and those who are on our terrorist list, to be sure, supporting – claiming to support the opposition [in Syria].”

Clinton’s admission that Al-Qaeda is supporting the armed insurrection in Syria dovetails with reports that the same Al-Qaeda terrorists who helped overthrow Colonel Gaddafi in Libya were airlifted into Syria by NATO forces.

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri’s has also publicly expressed support for Syrian rebel forces.

The Real Effect
This playbook is soooo old and worn out, a 5 year old could predict this stuff. However, we can assure you that The Real Effect is composed of super 5 year olds to bring you even better news.
Dec 2011-

Troops are appearing near Syria -

Nov 2011 -
The terrorists are now our allies as we start going after Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya,  Syria. (And by proxy Russia, Iran and China) Of course, we've got that covered too.

June 2011(This one is especially good) -

 'We might invade Syria and the local powers might try and stop us. So we have to deploy enough force to repel them.' How did we get to this point? Easy -

• A target is identified, in this case Syria.
• The media runs cover for the political class covering the latest "injustices" occurring in someone else's country. (Forget the accuracy of such reports, we must do something.)
• This reporting founds the moral basis and justification for eventual intervention.
• Money is funneled through foreign aid programs ostensibly designed to help the "poor". This money is generally confiscated by the "bad guys" via arms or fraud.
• This action provides further fuel for the media's reporting.
• Private organizations and mercenaries are hired to cause problems in the target country.
• The media portrays this as "freedom fighters" desperately trying to win their liberty.
• The target country tries to exert their laws via force to prevent the coup of their government. (Libya is a recent example)
• Some "horrific" event takes place which justifies the rationale for a military invasion. This is generally staged or exaggerated. (Think incubator babies in Iraq.)
• Eventually the public somewhat rallies behind the idea of fixing the situation in the target country.
• As part of the final settlement with the rebels, a central bank is installed.

If you can grasp this, you can understand the bulk of events in human history as the same script is relentlessly recycled to justify yet another tyrannical move.

Jan 2011 (Deals with the IMF riots) -

The Muslims are sure getting whipped into a frenzy. Gee, I wonder who's doing the driving? I expect that it will emerge that the U.S. is behind this via some alphabet soup agency. It appears that side 2 and 3 are getting goaded, one of the questions becomes when is side 1 (The Christians) going to receive the same treatment?

I believe that is being positioned for possibly late 2011, probably mid-to late 2012. (As stated in 2011 predictions)

August 2010, July 2010, and so on... If you wish to read all the reports, click on the "Syria" label.

Syrian Baby Slaughter - Where Have We Heard That One Before?

History doesn't so much repeat itself as rhyme -

This morning, reporter Alastair Beach of The Independent newspaper based in London, cited “evidence” in his article entitled “Assad’s slaughter of the innocents“, claiming that Syrian President Assad’s security forces have indiscriminately killed scores of newborn babies in Homs this week, as his article claims:

“Bashar al-Assad’s bloody siege of Homs intensified yesterday as clear evidence emerged that his indiscriminate shelling of the restive town had started claiming innocent victims, including at least 18 premature babies and three entire families. The evidence came as civilians in the besieged city endured a fifth day of incessant shellfire – the worst yet, according to eyewitnesses – with dozens of other people being killed as the brutal assault continued.”

The Real Effect

It's as if the terrorists like to immediately do the one thing that will create the sort of moral outrage that will get them invaded every time. My goodness, they never learn do they?

But now that I think about it, I believe I remember this incident... (Scooby-Doo flashback lines)

URGENT
Syria | The electricity was cut today from the city of Hama, and the outage included the hospitals. Following this, the Shabiha [state militia] deliberately destroyed the electricity generators in the hospitals which led to the deaths of all the premature babies (more than 40 in a single hospital).

Oh wait, that was in 2011 and was a hoax? Oh, now I remember back in Iraq...(More Scooby-Doo flashback lines)...Wait. That one was fake too...

But this time it's DIFFERENT!!! Certainly there must be a good source?

Surprisingly, the Independent’s chief source for the alleged horrors in question is a nearly invisible organization known as the ”Syrian Observatory for Human Rights”(SOHR) (and to make matters worse, there are two competing SOHR orgs in London- with the same name although the Independent does not provide a link to either org), who claim to have an office based in London, but apparently have no address or contact phone number listed - only and email address. Even murkier however, is that fact that there are no names associated with the SOHR on their website, and many of its articles have been written under the fictitious pen name known as “Rami Abdul Rahman“.

P-R-O-P-A-G-A-N-D-A

When one lies during war to get what one wants it's called, now come on, say it with me.... propaganda. Just like the miraculous resurrected terrorists that die repeatedly, the Pat Tillman story, Bin Laden, Nick Berg, Jessica Lynch, Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, 9/11, most politicians' campaign promises (cough Romney, Gingrich, Bush, Obama)...would you like me to keep going?


You...are...being...lied...to.............A LOT.

Civil war looms as mass media caught in Syria crossfire

Egypt Cracks Down On US "Democracy"

Egypt makes a move -

Six Americans working for publicly funded U.S. organizations promoting democracy in Egypt have been barred from leaving the country, provoking angry demands in Washington that Cairo's new military rulers stop "endangering American lives".

 Do you think it has something to do with this?

A month after police raided the Cairo offices of the IRI, NDI and eight other non-governmental organizations, it raises the stakes for Washington, which had already indicated it may review the $1.3 billion it gives the Egyptian military each year if the probe into alleged breaches of local regulations went on.

'You're going to investigate us? Then we'll just stop sending the checks.'

And whose hands are all over this?

John McCain, the leading Republican senator who chairs the IRI...

Of course, he's outraged at such things -

...voiced "alarm and outrage" at a "new and disturbing turn" which included a travel ban on Sam LaHood, the group's Egypt director and son of President Barack Obama's transport chief.

The Real Effect
"(O)rganizations promoting democracy" indeed. This makes one wonder if the Egyptian government is disposing of US (CIA?) assets that helped the revolution start in the first place? Goodness know that George Soros is up to his eyeballs in the stuff. We've covered that in the past-

The American Embassy in Cairo helped a young dissident attend a US-sponsored summit for activists in New York, while working to keep his identity secret from Egyptian state police.

On his return to Cairo in December 2008, the activist told US diplomats that an alliance of opposition groups had drawn up a plan to overthrow President Hosni Mubarak and install a democratic government in 2011.

Almost one year ago, we posted the following in response to a bloody uprising (The start of the "Arab Spring") -

History indeed. It is very telling that there is a revolt in Egypt of all places. With the Coptic Christian murders on the 1st (New Year) precluding this seeming evolution of this country, one doesn't have to think very hard to see some parallels to some sort of magical thinking here.

...with dead Christians in the wings, the Egyptian army firing on its people and the Pharaoh seemingly stepping down, people need to take notice because this could get ugly fast.

And boy did it get ugly fast.  There were more insurrections, overthrows and wars then a person could shake a stick at. The Ivory Coast, Bahrain, Syria just to name a few. Of course the magical implications of the Libyan operation took the cake -

Of course the timing of this has nothing to do with the so called Supermoon that was present that day. Nor does the fact that it's called Operation Odyssey Dawn mean a whole lot to the astronomically inclined among us. (Nor the new "suns" created in the Fukushima incident.)Think of this a sort of magical invocation, conjuring the spirits of war and death.

Naturally anyone who had read the Religious Wars Series would have realized that this was coming. Look up and down the coast of where these events are happening and you quickly get an idea of why things are going the way they are. With Libya more-or-less conquered and Egypt somewhat in line, the only country left to beat on the way to the Iranian prize is Syria.

US troops surrounding the Syrian border?

We're Not In Iran, We're Not In...Ok, We're In Iran

As if this shouldn't be completely obvious even to a casual observer by now -

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, in an exclusive interview with Fox News, said that the stealth drone campaign along the Iran-Afghanistan border will "absolutely" continue despite the loss of a valuable and sophisticated drone to Iran.

The mysterious loss of the RQ-170 Sentinel drone has revealed not only that the U.S. was spying on Iran, but also that the program was being run from Shindad Air Base in western Afghanistan.

Panetta would not comment directly on what that drone was doing over Iran, but he said the U.S. military has no plans to halt the drone operation out of western Afghanistan.

I'm not a betting man, but if pushed, I'm guessing the drones have something to do with this -

As the US completes its final withdrawal from Iraq, American special forces troops have been diverted to positions in Jordan opposite a Syrian tank concentration building up across the kingdom's northern border, debkafile's military and intelligence sources report.

As of last Thursday, military convoys, air transports and helicopters have been lifting US troops across the border from Iraq. They have been deployed in position to ward off a possible Syrian invasion in the light of President Bashar Assad's warning that he would set the entire Middle East on fire if the pressure on his regime to step down persisted.

The Real Effect

Now what would US force possibly be doing in Jordan? Could they be thinking of invading Syria to provoke Iran? Naaaaah...

It looks like this is going to turn into one of those "Who shot first?" incidents.

Update: Does Israel know something?

“Basically, it’s inevitable,” Barak said in a telephone interview before flying Wednesday to Washington for meetings with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other administration officials. “The Assad family, through their own behavior, have lost their last drop of legitimacy and put themselves beyond the point of no return with their brutal slaughter of their own people. He has ceased to be something relevant.”

“It might take many weeks,” Barak added, “but it’s not a matter of months or years.”

In a separate interview, Moshe Ya’alon, the minister of Strategic Affairs, said: “It’s a matter of time and bloodshed before we will witness Assad’s departure. That is our assessment.”

Mideast Notes - Things are Heating Up, Again

Troops are appearing near Syria -

Whistleblower activist Sibel Edmonds reported on Sunday that “foreign military groups, estimated at hundreds of individuals,” have taken up positions in the city of al-Mafraq in northern Jordan on the Syrian border.

An update on Edmonds’ blog, Boiling Frogs, states that a “journalist with a major mainstream media publication was told by his editors that there would be no coverage or follow up on these developments.”

The presence of foreign troops were also reported by a Jordanian military officer who asked to remain anonymous. He said hundreds of soldiers who speak languages ​other than Arabic were seen during the past two days (as of Sunday) moving back and forth in military vehicles between the King Hussein Air Base in al-Mafraq, ten kilometers from the Syrian border, and the vicinity of Jordanian villages near the Syrian border, including Albaej, the area around the dam of Sarhan, the villages of Zubaydiah and al-Nahdah adjacent to the Syrian border.

 Of course Iran won't take that without its own display of force -

A member of the Iranian parliament's National Security Committee said on Monday that the military was set to practise its ability to close the Gulf to shipping at the narrow Strait of Hormuz, the most important oil transit channel in the world, but there was no official confirmation.

The legislator, Parviz Sarvari, told the student news agency ISNA: "Soon we will hold a military manoeuvre on how to close the Strait of Hormuz. If the world wants to make the region insecure, we will make the world insecure."

 The Real Effect
This morning on political talk radio, I heard a staunch neocon correctly list the virtues of arming individuals with guns and how this act of arming would add to societal stability by deterring aggressive criminals. This same laughable neocon line of thought, would see the world disarmed in an attempt to promote "world peace". Please don't ask me when these individuals traded in their brains for a bag of hammers, but it certainly wasn't yesterday.

If one examines the situation in the gulf, you come to a few, supportable positions:

• Iran is the aggressor and the U.S. is the victim.
• The U.S. is the aggressor and Iran is the victim.
• Neither holds true.

If the first is true, please explain how Iran has transgressed the U.S. If the latter two are true, which I believe can be thoroughly demonstrated, note how Iran, by threatening to close the gulf, has kept the occupiers at bay? Further, does not the cold war teach us that MAD will actually promote real peace? If so, shouldn't these individuals be giving Iran nukes like they did to China?

Update: It appears that others get this concept as well.

The idea that America should cross the globe solving every nation's problems is a progressive one. And it makes sense when you think about it. The left generally accepts that the government ought to have a very active role in society, alleviating poverty, ensuring a level playing field or the little guy, and so on. So why wouldn't the same be true of foreign policy as well?

This isn't just a matter of consistency in an abstract sense. The contradiction here has serious practical implications. Every Republican contender has preached about the need to cut the size of government, yet only Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) has discussed the need to cut back our military spending, which consumes one-fifth of the federal budget. The right-to-life argument comes into play here as well. The candidates all take a hard line stance against abortion, but the casualties of war, unfortunate as they war, are one of the necessary evils of achieving our international goals.