Weekly News Archive

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CHRISTIAN MEDIA
WORLDWATCH

MONDAY JANUARY 23, 2012

News Alert #1: The USS Abraham Lincoln transits Hormuz ... Scene set for U.S.-Iranian talks

Three weeks after Tehran threatened action against any US aircraft carrier entering the Strait of Hormuz, Washington made two moves: US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta disclosed Sunday, January 22, that the USS Enterprise Carrier Strike Group would steam through the strategic strait in March; a few hours later, the US Navy sent the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier through the strategic strait without incident, accompanied by British and French warships.
DEBKAfile: Defusing the Hormuz crisis set the scene for resumed nuclear negotiations leading up to which several messages were exchanged through back channels between the Obama administration and Tehran in recent weeks - amid Israeli preparations to strike Iran's nuclear facilities.
These developments deepened the breach between the US and Israel. Two days earlier, on Friday, January 20, General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint US Chiefs of Staff, visited Israel and with Israeli leaders emphasized the cooperation between Washington and Jerusalem on the Iranian threat. The Netanyahu government complained that action against Iran had been postponed for years on one pretext on another, and the same thing was happening to effective sanctions against Iran's oil exports and central bank. Israel was therefore compelled to exercise its military option against the mortal peril of a nuclear Iran, said the Israeli prime minister, before it was too late.
Then Sunday, January 22, Defense Secretary Panetta stood in a hangar of the Enterprise clad in the uniform of a ship's crewman and told an audience of 1,700 personnel that the carrier would be sent to Hormuz in March. His statement was a red herring. A few hours later, the Abraham Lincoln was already through.
But what he said on the Enterprise was this: "That's what this carrier is all about. That's the reason we maintain a presence in the Middle East … We want them to know that we are fully prepared to deal with any contingency and it's better for them to try to deal with us through diplomacy."
DEBKAfile's Washington sources note that Panetta was the first high-ranking administration official to give Tehran an ultimatum: Accept the American offer to negotiate terms for halting your nuclear weapon program, or face up to America's mighty fleet of American aircraft carriers. "Our view is that the carriers, because of their presence, because of the power they represent, are a very important part of our ability to maintain power projection both in the Pacific and in the Middle East," said the defense secretary . . . .
Also on Saturday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards stated it considered the likely return of US warships to the Gulf part of its routine activity. They were not climbing down from their original threat. The statement came only after Tehran saw the USS Stennis, the object of threat, exiting the Gulf Friday, January 20, and decided it was the Americans who had backed down.
Panetta's comments Sunday aimed at correcting that impression and making it very clear to Tehran that although the Stennis was gone, the Abraham Lincoln was there and the Enterprise was coming "fully prepared to deal with any contingency."

Source:     debka.com  MORE

Note: see these related stories:

US To Keep 11 Aircraft Carriers To Show Sea Power - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told sailors aboard the country's oldest aircraft carrier that the U.S. is committed to maintaining a fleet of 11 of the formidable warships despite budget pressures, in part to project sea power against Iran ... Panetta also told the crowd of 1,700 gathered in the hangar bay of the USS Enterprise that the ship is heading to the Persian Gulf region and will steam through the Strait of Hormuz in a direct message to Tehran  LINK

Iran Steps Back From Warning On U.S. Ships  LINK

News Alert #2: India to pay gold instead of dollars for Iranian oil ... Oil and gold markets stunned

India is the first buyer of Iranian oil to agree to pay for its purchases in gold instead of the US dollar, DEBKAfile's intelligence and Iranian sources report exclusively. Those sources expect China to follow suit. India and China take about one million barrels per day (bpd), or 40 percent of Iran's total exports of 2.5 million bpd. Both are superpowers in terms of gold assets.
By trading in gold, New Delhi and Beijing enable Tehran to bypass the upcoming freeze on its central bank's assets and the oil embargo which the European Union's foreign ministers agreed to impose Monday, January 23. The EU currently buys around 20 percent of Iran's oil exports.
The vast sums involved in these transactions are expected, furthermore, to boost the price of gold and depress the value of the dollar on world markets.
Iran's second largest customer after China, India purchases around $12 billion a year's worth of Iranian crude, or about 12 percent of its consumption. Delhi is to execute its transactions, according to our sources, through two state-owned banks . . . .
An Indian delegation visited Tehran last week to discuss payment options in view of the new sanctions. The two sides were reported to have agreed that payment for the oil purchased would be partly in yen and partly in rupees. The switch to gold was kept dark.
India thus joins China in opting out of the US-led European sanctions against Iran's international oil and financial business. Turkey announced publicly last week that it would not adhere to any sanctions against Iran's nuclear program unless they were imposed by the United Nations Security Council.
The EU decision of Monday banned the signing of new oil contracts with Iran at once, while phasing out existing transactions by July 1, 2012, when the European embargo, like the measure enforced by the United States, becomes total. The European foreign ministers also approved a freeze on the assets of the Central Bank of Iran which handles all the country's oil transactions.
However, the damage those sanctions cause the Iranian economy will be substantially cushioned by the oil deals to be channeled through Turkish and Indian state banks. China for its part has declared its opposition to sanctions against Iran.
DEBKAfile's intelligence sources disclose that Tehran has set up alternative financial mechanisms with China and Russia for getting paid for its oil in currencies other than US dollars. Both Beijing and Moscow are keeping the workings of those mechanisms top secret.

Source:     debka.com  MORE

Note: see also Commentary: Sheikhs Fall In Love With The Renminbi ... China Eyes Investment Opportunities In The 'Arabian Gulf'  LINK

Ron Paul Introduces Bill to Repeal NDAA's Indefinite Detention

Texas Congressman and GOP presidential contender Ron Paul is continuing his fight for liberty even as he is focused on his fight for the White House. This week, he introduced a piece of legislation that would overturn the dangerous provisions found within the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
This week, Rep. Paul spoke on the House floor, specifically against Section 1021 of the NDAA, which includes language that permits the government to detain anyone who “substantially supported al Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States.” Paul, like a number of other opponents to the law, fear that the language can be used against U.S. citizens as well . . . .
"The bill is an historic threat to American citizens and others because it expands and makes permanent the authority of the president to order the military to imprison without charge or trial American citizens," said ACLU senior legislative counsel Christopher Anders in a statement.
What is particularly frightening is that if citizenship of an individual does in fact prove to be a deterrent in the case of indefinite detention under the NDAA, Senator Joe Lieberman has already introduced legislation that will help the federal government circumvent that issue: the Enemy Expatriation Act, which seeks to remove U.S. citizenship from those who “support hostilities against the United States.”
In less than 100 words, the text of Paul’s legislation, HR 3785, would overturn section 1021 of the NDAA:
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of American in Congress assembled, Section 1. Repeal of Section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 212.
The bill was introduced on January 18 and has since been referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, in addition to the Committee on Armed Services.
During his speech on the House floor when Paul introduced his legislation, he said:
“Section 1021 essentially codifies into law the very dubious claim of presidential authority under 2001 authorization for the use of military force to indefinitely detain American citizens without access to legal representation or due process of law. Section 1021 provides for the possibility of the U.S. military acting as a kind of police force on U.S. soil apprehending terror suspects, including Americans, and whisking them off to an undisclosed location indefinitely, no right to attorney, no right to trial, no day in court. This is precisely the kind of egregious distortion of justice that Americans have always ridiculed in so many dictatorships overseas.”
Paul went on to compare the infringement upon American liberties found in the NDAA to the gulag system imposed by the Soviet Union . . . .
It should come as no surprise that Rep. Paul would be the one to introduce such legislation. Following the bill’s passage, he called it a “slip into tyranny,” one that will bring about “our descent into totalitarianism.” . . . .
Paul’s legislation is just one of many assaults against the unconstitutional new law. Last Friday, Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges sued the Obama administration over the act, warning that the provisions in the act will lead to the growth of fascism in the United States. He called it a “catastrophic blow to civil liberties.”
Likewise, the state of Montana has launched an effort to recall their state Senators who voted in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act.
The state of Rhode Island, as well as El Paso County in Colorado, have both drafted resolutions to nullify the NDAA, a step that other states are soon expected to follow as well. [emphasis added]

Source:     thenewamerican.com  MORE

Note: see also Commentary: Police State USA And The NDAA: Creating American Terrorists  LINK

Supreme Court: Warrants needed in GPS tracking

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that police must obtain a search warrant before using a GPS device to track criminal suspects. But the justices left for another day larger questions about how technology has altered a person’s expectation of privacy.
Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that the government needed a valid warrant before attaching a GPS device to the Jeep used by D.C. drug kingpin Antoine Jones, who was convicted in part because police tracked his movements on public roads for 28 days.
“We hold that the government’s installation of a GPS device on a target’s vehicle, and its use of that device to monitor the vehicle’s movements, constitutes a ‘search’ ” under the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, Scalia wrote.
All justices agreed with the outcome of the case, which affirmed a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that said evidence of Jones’ s frequent trips to a stash house where drugs and nearly $1 million in cash were found must be thrown out . . . .
Scalia’s majority opinion, joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor, said the electronic surveillance, if achieved without having to physically trespass on Jones’s property, would be “an unconstitutional invasion of privacy.”
But Roberts added: “The present case does not require us to answer that question.”
It was that question - society’s expectation of privacy in a modern world - that had animated the court’s consideration of the case. In an intense hour-long oral argument last November, the Big Brother of George Orwell’s novel “1984” was referenced six times.

Source:    washingtonpost.com  MORE

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NEWS BRIEFS
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EU agrees Iranian oil embargo

The long-running standoff between Iran and the west over Tehran's nuclear programme has shifted into a more unpredictable phase after Europe decided to impose an oil embargo on the Islamic republic. The decision by EU foreign ministers at a meeting in Brussels raised the stakes dramatically in the war of wits between Iran and the west. The EU decided no further oil contracts could be struck between the member states and Iran while existing oil delivery deals would be allowed to run until July.  MORE

Note: see also Iran 'Definitely' Closing Strait Of Hormuz Over EU Oil Embargo  LINK

New U.S. Commando Team Operating Near Iran

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are at a high point, as the Islamic Republic threatens to close off a vital waterway and two U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups sit in the seas off the Iranian coast. But across the Persian Gulf, the U.S. has a previously unacknowledged weapon in reserve: a new special operations team. Danger Room has confirmed with the U.S. Special Operations Command that a new elite commando team is operating in the region. The primary, day-to-day mission of the team, known as Joint Special Operations Task Force-Gulf Cooperation Council, is to mentor military units belonging to the U.S.’ oil-rich Arab allies, who collectively are known as the Gulf Cooperation Council. Those Arab states consider Iran to be their primary foreign threat. The task force provides “highly trained personnel that excel in uncertain environments,” Major Rob Bockholt, a spokesman for special-operations forces in the Mideast, tells Danger Room, and “seeks to confront irregular threats.” The U.S. military has not previously acknowledged the existence of the team, known as JSOTF-GCC for short.  MORE

Libyans storm transitional government headquarters

BENGHAZI, LIBYA (AP) -- Hundreds of angry Libyans on Saturday stormed the transitional government's headquarters in the eastern city of Benghazi, carting off computers, chairs, and desks while the country's interim leader was still holed up in the building. Libyans have grown increasingly frustrated with the pace and direction of reforms in the country more than three months after the end of the civil war that ousted longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Those concerns spurred residents in Benghazi, where the uprising against longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi broke out in February, to begin protests nearly two weeks ago to demand transparency and justice from the country's new leaders. The melee at the National Transitional Council's (NTC) headquarters began after protesters broke through the gates using hand grenades and streamed into the grounds of the headquarters. They banged on the building's doors and demanded officials meet with them. In a bid to calm tensions, NTC chief Mustafa Abdul-Jalil tried to address the crowd from a second-floor window, but protesters began throwing bottles at him. Protesters then torched Abdul-Jalil's armored Land Cruiser and broke into the headquarters itself, smashing windows to get inside and cart off furniture and electronics.  MORE

Note: see also Libya's NTC In Disarray As No. 2 Steps Down - NTC chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil, speaking in Benghazi Sunday, appealed to the protesters to be more patient ... “We are going through a political movement that can take the country to a bottomless pit,” he said. “There is something behind these protests that is not for the good of the country ... The people have not given the government enough time and the government does not have money ... Maybe there are delays, but the government has only been working for two months ... Give them a chance, at least two months”  LINK

Egypt's Islamists win 75 percent of parliament

CAIRO (AP) -- Final results on Saturday showed that Islamist parties won nearly three-quarters of the seats in parliament in Egypt's first elections since the ouster of authoritarian president Hosni Mubarak, according to election officials and political groups. The Islamist domination of Egypt's parliament has worried liberals and even some conservatives about the religious tone of the new legislature, which will be tasked with forming a committee to write a new constitution. It remains unclear whether the constitution will be written while the generals who took power after Mubarak's fall are still in charge, or rather after presidential elections this summer. In the vote for the lower house of parliament, a coalition led by the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood won 47 percent, or 235 seats in the 498-seat parliament. The ultraconservative Al-Nour Party was second with 25 percent, or 125 seats. The Salafi Al-Nour, which was initially the biggest surprise of the vote, wants to impose strict Islamic law in Egypt, while the more moderate Brotherhood, the country's best-known and organized party, has said publicly that it does not seek to force its views about an appropriate Islamic lifestyle on Egyptians.  MORE

Syria rejects new Arab League plan to end crisis

BEIRUT -- Syria on Monday rebuffed an Arab League call for President Bashar Assad step down in favor of a unity government as interference in its affairs, underlining its determination to defeat a 10-month-old uprising seeking Assad's overthrow. It was not immediately clear whether Syria would accept the League's decision to keep Arab observers in the country for another month despite their failure to stem bloodshed in which hundreds of people have died since they deployed on December 26. But any credibility the mission might retain was undermined when Saudi Arabia, a foe of Syria's closest ally Iran, announced it would withdraw its own monitors because of the Syrian authorities' failure to cooperate with its mandate. It was unclear if other Gulf states would follow suit. An official Syrian source quoted by the state news agency SANA said the new Arab League plan, which told Assad to hand power to a deputy pending democratic elections, reflected a "conspiracy against Syria". "Syria rejects the decisions of the Arab League ministerial council ... and considers them a violation of its national sovereignty and a flagrant interference in its internal affairs," the source said.  MORE

Note: see these related stories:

Syria Rejects Arab League Call For Power Change  LINK

Saudi To Pull Observers From Syria Mission  LINK

Report: Russia to Deliver Combat Jets to Syria

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia has signed a contract to sell combat jets to Syria, a newspaper reported Monday, in apparent support for President Bashar Assad and open defiance of international condemnation of his regime's bloody crackdown. The respected business daily Kommersant, citing an unidentified source close to Russia's Rosoboronexport state arms trader, said the $550-million deal envisions the delivery of 36 Yak-130 aircraft . . . The Yak-130 is a twin-engined combat trainer jet that can also be used to attack ground targets. The Russian air force has recently placed an order for 55 such jets.  MORE

Russia Refunds Iran over Canceled Missile Sale

Russia has refunded an advance payment made by Iran for the delivery of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems, which Moscow canceled under a U.N. resolution. Sergei Chemezov, head of the Russian Technologies State Corporation, announced the refund, adding, "No forfeit payments have been made." Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi said Thursday the issue ought to be left in the past and the two countries should focus on other aspects of their cooperation. He did not rule out Moscow and Teheran signing new contracts in the military sphere, including shipment of S-400 anti-missile systems. "If we receive such a proposal, we will study it thoroughly," Sajjadi told the reporters. In June 2010, the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution restricting supplies to Iran of conventional weapons, such as missile systems, tanks, combat helicopters, warplanes and warships. Russia recognized the restrictions applied to the S-300 contract, which Moscow signed with Iran in 2007. Moscow canceled the contract last October. It is not clear whether U.N. sanctions can be applied to the S-400 system. [no further content]  LINK

Human Rights Watch: Iraq falling back into 'authoritarianism'

BAGHDAD -- Iraq is falling back into authoritarianism and headed towards becoming a police state, despite US claims that it has helped establish democracy in the country, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Sunday. The criticism from the New York-based HRW comes less than a year after thousands of Iraqis took to the streets nationwide to criticise the government for poor services. "Iraq cracked down harshly during 2011 on freedom of expression and assembly by intimidating, beating and detaining activists, demonstrators and journalists," HRW said in a statement accompanying its annual report. HRW noted that Iraq remains one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists, that women's rights remain poor and civilians have paid a heavy toll in bomb attacks. The rights group pointed to the discovery of a secret prison last February run by forces controlled by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office, the same troops who ran Camp Honour, another facility where detainees were tortured. "Iraq is quickly slipping back into authoritarianism as its security forces abuse protesters, harass journalists and torture detainees," Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW's Middle East director, said in the statement. "Despite US government assurances that it helped create a stable democracy, the reality is that it left behind a budding police state."  MORE

Note: see also Iraq Tells Neighbours Not To Intervene - Iraq on Sunday criticised neighbouring Turkey, Iran and unnamed Arab countries for trying to "intervene" in Baghdad's month-long political crisis and not respecting its sovereignty ... The statement, posted on the foreign ministry's website, comes amid tensions between Baghdad and Ankara in particular over Iraq's claims that Turkey was interfering in internal Iraqi affairs  LINK

U.S. talks to Afghan insurgent group

ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Anxious to accelerate peace moves, top-level U.S. officials have held talks with a representative of an insurgent movement led by a former Afghan prime minister who has been branded a terrorist by Washington, a relative of the rebel leader says. Dr. Ghairat Baheer, a representative and son-in-law of longtime Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, told The Associated Press this week that he had met separately with David Petraeus, former commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan who is now CIA director, and had face-to-face discussions earlier this month with U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and U.S. Marine General John Allen, currently the top commander in the country . . . A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the high-level meetings, said Petraeus last met with Baheer in July 2011 when he was still commanding NATO forces in Afghanistan. Petraeus took over as CIA director in September. On Saturday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he also had met recently with Hizb-i-Islami representatives. Baheer said he attended those meetings but added that the party considers the Afghan government corrupt and lacking legitimacy.  MORE

Followup story
In Dramatic Move, Flu Researchers Announce Moratorium on Some H5N1 Flu Research ... Call for Global Summit

Stung by a growing global controversy over the potential dangers of experiments involving the H5N1 avian flu virus - and worried about heavy-handed government regulation - the world's leading H5N1 researchers have agreed to a 60-day moratorium on a controversial category of studies "to allow time for international discussion." "We recognize that we and the rest of the scientific community need to clearly explain the benefits of this important research and the measures taken to minimize its possible risks," a group of 39 researchers write in a statement published today by Science and Nature. "To provide time for these discussions, we have agreed on a voluntary pause of 60 days on any research involving highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 viruses leading to the generation of viruses that are more transmissible in mammals." "It's a pity that it has to come to this," says Ron Fouchier, of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, one of the scientists who took the initiative for the announcement. (Fouchier's H5N1 paper, under review by Science, was one of two that triggered the international debate.) "I would have preferred if this hadn't caused so much controversy, but it has happened and we can't change that. So I think it's the right step to make." The group calls for "an international forum in which the scientific community comes together to discuss and debate these issues. We realize organizations and governments around the world need time to find the best solutions for opportunities and challenges that stem from the work." That meeting will be hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva in late February, sources tell Science Insider.  MORE

Note: see these related items:

Scientists To Pause Research On Deadly Strain Of Bird Flu - Suspensions of biomedical research are almost unheard of; the only other one in the United States was a moratorium from 1974 to 1976 on some types of recombinant DNA research, because of safety concerns  LINK

Text Of Scientists' Letter  LINK [pdf format]

Geothermal test will pour water into volcano to make power

Geothermal energy developers plan to pump 24 million gallons of water into the side of a dormant volcano in central Oregon this summer to demonstrate technology they hope will give a boost to a green energy sector that has yet to live up to its promise. A test well is drilled for a geothermal project at Newberry volcano in 2010. They hope the water comes back to the surface fast enough and hot enough to create cheap, clean electricity that isn't dependent on sunny skies or stiff breezes - without shaking the earth and rattling the nerves of nearby residents. [emphasis added]  MORE

Obama Orders Catholics to Act Against Their Faith ... Bishops Call it 'Unconscionable'

(CNS News) -- The Obama administration on Friday finalized a regulation that orders all Americans - unless they work directly at a church--to purchase government-approved health insurance plans that cover sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives including those that cause abortions. The regulation further requires that health-insurance plans must provide sterilizations, contraceptives and abortifacients without any fees or co-pay. The regulation, issued as part of the initial implementation of Obamacare, requires Catholics to act against their faith--which teaches that sterilization, artificial contraception and abortion violate the natural law and that Catholics cannot be involved in them. In a statement, the nation's Roman Catholic bishops immediately condemned the administration's decision to move forward with the regulation as "literally unconscionable."  MORE

Followup story
Nigeria: Believers Gunned Down 'while their eyes were closed in prayer'
First-hand report of a native missionary ministry leader supported by Christian Aid

Thank God for His grace and mercy. Today, we buried Jacob Eloiyi, one of our ministry supporters who was killed by Islamic terrorists. The funeral was highly attended by believers, and we prayed for the peace of our city and Nigeria. Continue to pray with us as we trust the Lord that all will be well. It seems we are more peaceful for now even though three people were shot yesterday in a beer parlor." I received this message on 16 January from an indigenous missionary ministry leader supported by Christian Aid. He had called me late at night on 6 January to ask for prayer. He and his family were behind locked doors with others from the ministry, keeping vigil so they would not be slaughtered in their sleep. "We could never have imagined what would happen next when those two buses drove into town filled with Boko Haram Muslim fanatics. Authorities did nothing, and the next day, two of their young men on a motor cycle sped toward the Christ Apostolic church, raised their AK47's, and coldly and brazenly opened fire on believers gathered for prayer. Twelve people were killed, openly gunned down in daylight, while their eyes were closed in prayer. Twelve died, including three Christian brothers who support our missionary work. Anyone could be a target as it is now. We have no weapon but prayer, and we want you to join with us as the Lord and His kingdom are attacked." At funeral: Jacob's family kneels as native missionary ministry leader and attendees pray for them. Those murdered comprise only a small percentage of the total number that have been massacred in ruthless attacks by Boko Haram, an Islamic terrorist group intent on driving Nigeria's Christians from the nation's Muslim-dominated northern regions and imposing Shariah law throughout the nation. After the church attack, still thirsty for blood, the killers went to a beauty salon, opened fire, and murdered four more. When several dozen Christians gathered together to mourn the loss of fellow believers murdered the previous day, Boko Haram members surrounded the crowd and began shooting, killing more than 20 people and leaving others severely wounded. The attacks intensified throughout the Christmas season, leaving more than 50 people dead in a wave of bombings, mostly outside church buildings as services were ending.  MORE

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Note: Views expressed in the commentaries on this website are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of Christian Media Daily or our host - Christian Media Network. Quotes are obviously the opinion of the source. A quote is just a quote and these are offered without comment. Use of a news story or commentary is not an endorsement of the source website.

Commentary: [CONFRONTATION BETWEEN MILITARY BLOCS: The Eurasian 'Triple Alliance'] (Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya)
The strategic importance of Iran for Russia and China ... Touch Iran in a war, you will hear from Russia and China

. . . . China, the Russian Federation and Iran are widely considered to be allies and partners. Together the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China, and the Islamic Republic of Iran form a strategic barrier directed against U.S. expansionism. The three countries form a "triple alliance," which constitutes the core of a Eurasian coalition directed against U.S. encroachment into Eurasia and its quest for global hegemony . . . .
Iran can be characterized as a geo-strategic pivot. The geo-political equation in Eurasia very much hinges on the structure of Iran's political alliances. Were Iran to become an ally of the United States, this would seriously hamper or even destabilize Russia and China . . . .
Moreover, were the structure of political alliances to shift in favor of the U.S., Iran could also become the greatest conduit for U.S. influence and expansion in the Caucasus and Central Asia. This has to do with the fact that Iran is the gateway to Russia's soft southern underbelly (or "Near Abroad") in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
In such a scenario, Russia as an energy corridor would be weakened as Washington would "unlock" Iran's potential as a primary energy corridor for the Caspian Sea Basin, implying de facto U.S. geopolitical control over Iranian pipeline routes. In this regard, part of Russia's success as an energy transit route has been due to U.S. efforts to weaken Iran by preventing energy from transiting through Iranian territory.
If Iran were to "change camps" and enter the U.S. sphere of influence, China's economy and national security would also be held hostage on two counts. Chinese energy security would be threatened directly because Iranian energy reserves would no longer be secure and would be subject to U.S. geo-political interests. Additionally, Central Asia could also re-orient its orbit should Washington open a direct and enforced conduit from the open seas via Iran.

Thus, both Russia and China want a strategic alliance with Iran as a means of screening them from the geo-political encroachment of the United States. “Fortress Eurasia” would be left exposed without Iran. This is why neither Russia nor China could ever accept a war against Iran. Should Washington transform Iran into a client then Russia and China would be under threat . . . .

On January 12, 2012, [the head of the National Security Council of the Russian Federation, Secretary Nikolai Patrushev] told Interfax he feared that a major war was imminent and that Tel Aviv was pushing the U.S. to attack Iran. He dismissed the claims that Iran was secretly manufacturing nuclear weapons and said that for years the world had continuously heard that Iran would have an atomic bomb by next week ad nauseum. His comments were followed by a dire warning from Dmitry Rogozin, [the Russian envoy to NATO].
On January 13, 2012, Rogozin, who had been appointed deputy prime minister, declared that any attempted military intervention against Iran would be a threat to Russia's national security. In other words, an attack on Tehran is an attack on Moscow. In 2007, Vladimir Putin essentially mentioned the same thing when he was in Tehran for a Caspian Sea summit, which resulted in George W. Bush warning that World War III could erupt over Iran. Rogozin's statement is merely a declaration of what has been the position of Russia all along: should Iran fall, Russia would be in danger.

Iran is a target of U.S. hostility not just for its vast energy reserves and natural resources, but because of major geo-strategic considerations that make it a strategic springboard against Russia and China. The roads to Moscow and Beijing also go through Tehran, just as the road to Tehran goes through Damascus, Baghdad, and Beirut. Nor does the U.S. want to merely control Iranian oil and natural gas for consumption or economic reasons. Washington wants to put a muzzle around China by controlling Chinese energy security and wants Iranian energy exports to be traded in U.S. dollars to insure the continued use of the U.S. dollar in international transactions . . . .

Russia and China with Iran are all staunchly supporting Syria. The diplomatic and economic siege against Syria is tied to the geo-political stakes to control Eurasia. The instability in Syria is tied to the objective of combating Iran and ultimately turning it into a U.S. partner against Russia and China . . . .
Aside from its naval ports in Syria, Russia does not want to see Syria used to re-route the energy corridors in the Caspian Basin and the Mediterranean Basin. If Syria were to fall, these routes would be re-synchronized to reflect a new geo-political reality. At the expense of Iran, energy from the Persian Gulf could also be re-routed to the Mediterranean through both Lebanon and Syria.

Source:     strategic-culture.org  MORE

Note: see these related items:

Commentary: Moscow: Hands Off Iran And Syria, China And BRIC Countries Behind Russian Initiative  LINK

Commentary: Obama's Secret Letter To Tehran: Is The War Against Iran On Hold? - "The road to Tehran goes through Damascus"  LINK

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ADDITIONAL NEWS & ANALYSIS
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Egypt's new parliament to hold first session  LINK

Libya leader says 'civil war' possible if NTC quits (Followup)  LINK
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[analysis]: Fukushima Cover Up Unravels  LINK
“The government can no longer pull the wool over the public’s eyes”
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Obama Team to Break Silence on al-Awlaki Killing  LINK
Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. is planning to make a major address on the administration’s national-security record ... Embedded in the speech will be a carefully worded but firm defense of its right to target U.S. citizens ... Holder’s remarks will draw heavily on a secret Justice Department legal opinion that provided the justification for the Awlaki killing
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Georgia judge orders Obama to appear in court for hearing on attempt to keep him off ballot  LINK
The hearing is set for Thursday before an administrative judge ... Deputy Chief Judge Michael Malihi on Friday denied a motion by the president’s lawyer to quash a subpoena that requires Obama to show up
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Report: Israel to give U.S. only 12-hour warning before attacking Iran because Netanyahu doesn't trust Obama  LINK

U.S. military chief holds talks in Israel on Iran (Followup)  LINK
The U.S. and Israel differ about what would be considered unacceptable Iranian behavior that would require a military strike, claimed recently retired military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin ... "While Israel defines the red line as Iran's ability and potential for a breakthrough, the Americans draw the red line a lot farther away," he said

U.S. back to two carriers near Iran  LINK
The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln arrived in the Arabian Sea on Thursday, joining the USS Carl Vinson, already in the region .. The carrier USS John Stennis left in the past few days and is now traveling back through the western Pacific

Ex-CIA chief: Bomb Iranian Revolutionary Guards  LINK
Says country's space program, training facilities all 'fair game'

Sarkozy warns of war and chaos if Israel attacks Iran  LINK

FEBRUARY 4: NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION ... STOP THE U.S. WAR AGAINST IRAN  LINK
NO WAR! ... NO SANCTIONS! ... NO INTERVENTION! ... NO ASSASSINATIONS!

Palestinians fire on West Bank patrol  LINK

Islamist insurgents kill over 178 in [Nigerian city]  LINK

Turkey warns of new measures against France  LINK
Turkey's foreign minister says his country will implement a new set of measures against France if its Senate passes a bill making it a crime to deny that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks was a genocide

Canada Shifts Troops, Armored Vehicles From Afghanistan To Arctic  LINK

DHS Pumping Money into Drones for Domestic Surveillance, Hunting Immigrants and Seizing Pot  LINK
DHS is building its drone fleet at a rapid pace despite its continuing inability to demonstrate their purported cost-effectiveness

[Senator Rand Paul] detained by TSA  LINK
Paul asked for another scan after setting the scanner off but refused a pat-down, after which he was “detained” at a small cubicle and missed his flight to Washington

Rand Paul's Pat-Down Standoff With TSA in Nashville Ends  LINK
The U.S. Constitution actually protects federal lawmakers from detention while they’re on the way to the capital ... Article I, Section 6 says: “The Senators and Representatives … shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same …”

White House sides with TSA in Rand Paul standoff  LINK

Human trafficking a growing crime in the U.S.  LINK
Of the 2,515 (known) cases under investigation in the U.S. in 2010, more than 1,000 involved children

[analysis]: Inventions Suppressed by the EPA  LINK
In its entire history, the EPA has not found one single innovation to be effective at increasing fuel efficiency ... After thousands (or tens of thousands) of inventions being tested by their protocols, not one has received their vote of approval

[analysis]: Ominous cyber-weapons on horizon  LINK
Stuxnet may be just first generation of developing attack system

Alaska Man Cited For Illegal Bartering: 'I Need Some Firewood and I’m Willing to Trade Some Moose Meat'  LINK

Costa Concordia: 'insulting' cruise offer to survivors  LINK
The owners of the Costa Concordia are offering survivors of the disaster a 30 per cent discount off future cruises [?!] as they battle to stave off law suits expected to cost hundreds of millions of pounds

State of Washington Seeks Labels for GMO Foods  LINK

Huge Solar Eruption Sparks Strongest Radiation Storm in 7 Years  LINK
A powerful solar eruption is expected to blast a stream of charged particles toward Earth on Tuesday January 24, as the strongest radiation storm since 2005 rages on the sun

Massive solar flare headed toward Earth ... may spark celestial light show (1-20-12)  LINK
A powerful flare erupted from the sun Thursday, January 19, unleashing a plasma wave that may supercharge the northern lights for skywatchers in high latitudes this weekend

Obama celebrates Roe, 54 million abortions  LINK

Obama Defends Roe v. Wade As Way for 'Our Daughters' to Have Same Chance As Sons to 'Fulfill Their Dreams' [?!]  LINK

1 in 5 Americans Had Mental Illness in 12-Month Period  LINK

HEALTH HIGHLIGHTS: Join the Sound Body Yahoo group (part of the Christian Media ministry) to receive regular health eblasts  LINK

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"The world has not witnessed such total failure of government since the final days of the Roman Empire."
Paul Craig Roberts, American economist and columnist
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CHRISTIAN MEDIA
WORLDWATCH

TUESDAY JANUARY 24, 2012
- no news edition -

CHRISTIAN MEDIA
WORLDWATCH

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 25, 2012

Barak slams EU oil embargo's delay to July ... Israel's hand ever near trigger

The new round of sanctions will not stop Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapon, said Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak in a radio interview Tuesday, January 24, stressing that Israel's hand was always near the trigger. His comments aimed at cooling the optimistic notes emanating from Washington, Europe and some Israeli circles Monday after the European Union foreign ministers approved an oil embargo against Iran from July 1 and froze its central bank's assets. The US then applied sanctions to Iran's third biggest bank, Bank Tejerat.
Barak said that because Iran had not stopped developing a nuclear weapon Israel had not removed any options from the table. We say this "very seriously," he stressed.
Monday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu greeted the European sanctions by saying that they were positive but would not stop or interrupt Iran's drive for a nuclear weapon.
The defense minister agreed that the Europeans had started out in the right direction. But he saw no reason to hold off until July before the oil embargo went into effect or to delay a boycott on transactions by Iran's central bank. Oil shortfalls can be made up within weeks, Barak pointed out - from Saudi Arabia's huge reserves; from the oil produced by Libya; and from expanded Iraqi production.
DEBKAfile's sources report that, seen from Israel, [the] Obama administration and the European Union are holding sanctions off until summer to give US, European and Iranian back-channel emissaries using Turkey's good offices enough space to get nuclear negotiations resumed.
Iran is being offered [a] chance to repeat the old tricks, say Israeli sources, after repeatedly and successfully pulling them off in the last seven years, of sitting the world powers down for talks while carrying on blithely with plans for the first Shiite Muslim nuke. The extra six months will be a useful grace time for Iran to secrete its nuclear facilities in fortified underground bunkers.
According to the same old scenario, when July comes around, the US and European powers will seek to postpone sanctions so as not to jeopardize the talks with Iran.
Barak's words about the sanctions not being tough enough and "too far off" reflected his government's belief that the oil embargo cannot gain enough momentum by July to seriously upset the Iranian economy; another six months would be needed, so taking the new sanctions drive up to early 2013.
The Netanyahu government was also disappointed by President Barack Obama imposing sanctions on Iran's third largest bank – not its central bank. This left Tehran with enough leeway to activate bilateral financial mechanisms for dodging the oil embargo and financial penalties in conjunction with the governments which have opted out of the US-EU sanctions and continue to trade with Iran.
Sunday, DEBKAfile reported exclusively that Tehran, New Delhi, Moscow, Beijing and Ankara were already transacting oil deals through those mechanisms.
In another part of his interview, the Israeli defense minister said Iran had climbed down over its first threat to shut the Strait of Hormuz to US aircraft carriers. Heeding the US pledge to use its might to guarantee free passage through the strait, Tehran let the USS Abraham Lincoln escorted by British and French warships pass through January 22 without incident.
Barak was convinced the Iranians would not make good on their current threat to close the strait if its oil transactions were embargoed. And if they tried, it would not be for long because American and European fleets would reopen Hormuz so that one-fifth of the oil shipped to world markets would leave for its destinations.
In the defense minister's view, therefore, Iran is in no position to hold the world's oil markets to ransom. [no further content]

Source:     debka.com  LINK

Note: see these related items:

Iran Says Sanctions To Fail ... Repeats Hormuz Threat  LINK

Commentary: Tehran Pushes To Ditch The U.S. Dollar - Report: India and Iran are hammering out a deal to trade oil for gold  LINK

Commentary: U.S.: Drowning In Hypocrisy  LINK

Iran to U.S.: Bring it on

WASHINGTON -- High-ranking Iranian military officials are rattling sabers again, this time by issuing a warning that Iranian submarines “can ambush and destroy enemy vessels especially U.S. aircraft carriers” should they return to the Persian Gulf – even as the first has returned, according to a report in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.
Rear Admiral Farhad Amiri, of the Iranian army’s self-sufficiency jihad, claimed that the United States is especially focused on Iran’s “astonishing subsurface capabilities.”
Iran is known to have a number of diesel-run submarines, some purchased from Russia years ago, but the nation also has developed an indigenous submarine production.
The submarines not only can fire missiles off of their decks when surfaced but they are assessed by various reliable sources to have the Russian export version of the Shkval, a high-speed super-cavitating rocket-propelled torpedo designed to be a rapid-reaction defense against other submarines and surface vessels.
It also can be used as a counter-measure to an incoming torpedo. Because the Shkval can travel at speeds of 250 miles per hour, the U.S. Navy has no known defense against it.
The Russians also have developed a “super” Shkval, which can be guided. It cannot be ruled out that the Russians may have provided the super Shkval to the Iranians.
Amiri not only pointed to the Iranian navy’s arms and equipment but also to “tactical issues,” apparently referring to the capability that the Iranian submarines can sit quietly on the Persian Gulf’s seafloor.
“It would be the worst threat to the enemy,” Amiri said. “That is one of the U.S. concerns since Iranian submarines are noiseless and can easily evade detection as they are equipped with the sonar-evading technology and can fire missiles and torpedoes simultaneously.
When the submarine sits on the seabed it can easily target and hit an aircraft carrier traversing in the nearby regions.” According to reliable sources, sonar on U.S. warships to detect the submarines may not pick up the Iranian submarines, especially the smaller submarines in Iran’s inventory, since U.S. equipment is so powerful and designed to work in deep waters. [no further content, emphasis added]

Source:    wnd.com  LINK

Iran preparing now for Armageddon
Select fighters being described as 'Soldiers of Imam Mahdi'

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has held several secret meetings with his economic and military advisers in recent days to prepare for the possibility of war with the United States.
Sources report the preparations are to include the execution of those Iranians who oppose the regime.
Khamenei has been heard to say that the coming of the last Islamic Messiah, the Shiites’ 12th Imam Mahdi, is near and that specific actions need to be taken to protect the Islamic regime for upcoming events.
Mahdi, according to Shiite belief, will reappear at the time of Armageddon.
Selected forces within the Revolutionary Guards and Basij reportedly have been trained under a task force called “Soldiers of Imam Mahdi” and they will bear the responsibility of security and protecting the regime against uprisings. Many in the Guards and Basij have been told that the 12th Imam is on earth, facilitated the victory of Hezbollah over Israel in the 2006 war and soon will announce publicly his presence after the needed environment is created.
According to Sepah Online, sources within the Vali’eh Amr, the revolutionary forces in charge of the supreme leader’s protection, report that Khamenei held several meetings in recent days at which the leader instructed his advisers to tighten the grip on anyone who opposes or might oppose the regime in case of war.
These actions include investigations of every person or group that was pro-regime but now hold opinions contrary to regime policies. Also being created is a list, to be presented to Khamenei, to decide the fate of any opponents. [Sounds like a parallel to Obama and the NDAA! - Ed.]
It also was decided that those political prisoners who will not repent will be executed, the sources said . . . .
Journalists, writers and publishers who are deemed to be against the regime would be arrested and punished. Even high religious authorities who do not fully support Khamenei will be put under surveillance and dealt with if they become outspoken about the direction of the country.
Several journalists already have been arrested in the past week. In a recent speech, Khamenei hinted [at] a warlike environment and warned those clerics who might doubt his direction of the country that their survival is tied to the survival of the Islamic regime. Many Iranians who resent the regime resent the religion it promotes, so even opposition clerics might not fare well should the regime fall.
The plan by the leader calls for total control of Tehran, the capital, where the presence of the Basij and Hezbollah militias would be quite visible so that no one would dare to challenge the regime.
This news comes in light of the formation of the “Removal Committee,” which secretly would eliminate all deemed as opponents, even within the military and the government.
Khamenei’s extraordinary measures are based either on an understanding that war could be imminent or that the regime has decided to announce it has nuclear capability and is getting ready for a possible reaction from Israel or America.
Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, an influential cleric and a radical “Twelver,” previously had stated that Khamenei ascends to the sky every year to take direction from Imam Mahdi, and sources close to the cleric have disclosed that Khamenei has been ordered by Imam Mahdi to continue with the nuclear program despite worldwide objection as it will facilitate his coming.
Last March, a Iranian secret documentary, “The Coming Is Upon Us,” was revealed to depict Khamenei as the mythical figure who creates the environment for the reappearance of Mahdi by leading Iran to destroy Israel. [emphasis added]

Source:     wnd.com  MORE

Lawmakers at March for Life Tell Obama Administration: 'Abortion Is Not an American Value'

(CNS News) -- Braving frigid temperatures and freezing rain, thousands of pro-life activists gathered at the National Mall on Monday to mark the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that legalized abortion nationwide and to hear members of Congress, who waited in line for their turn to criticize the Obama administration for its numerous anti-life policies.
The 39th annual March for Life ended at the steps of the Supreme Court where Roe v. Wade was decided on January 22, 1973 – a ruling that has resulted in more than 50 million American children being killed by abortion.
Rep. Chris Smith (R-New Jersey), chairman of the House pro-life caucus, said that President Barack Obama will talk about returning to American values during his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
“Mr. President, the violent destruction of children in the womb - killing babies - is not an American value,” Smith said.
Smith called the fight to end abortion on demand “the greatest human rights movement on earth” and said “abortion is not – and never will be – an American value.”
Rep. Daniel Lipinksi (D-Illinois) said it was time to “conquer the culture of death and spread the culture of life” in America.
Marchers carrying signs that featured photographs of tiny newborns under slogans like “Life Counts” and “Abortion Kills,” cheered members of Congress who spoke out against the Obama administration’s decision to finalize a rule in Obamacare that will force health professionals and individuals to . . . pay for health plans and services that violate their religious beliefs . . . .
“Mr. President, stop violating conscience rights,” Smith said. “Stop violating religious freedom. That is not an American value.”
Under the Bush administration, health professionals and institutions were protected under the Health and Human Services’ “conscience clause,” which protected them from promoting or providing services that they were morally opposed to, including abortion and prescription drugs that cause abortion.
“By removing the conscience clause, this administration is now forcing us to choose between our right to be the person we want to be,” Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) said at the event. “We will now have to choose between [our] core beliefs – our religious beliefs – and, in some cases, our job.”

Source:     cnsnews.com  MORE

Note: see also Rev. Luke Robinson: 'They Want Us To Be Silent' On Abortion 'Because The President Is A Black Man' - “The call has been made for us to keep silent, to be quiet on this issue of abortion,” said Rev. Robinson ... “How can we turn back when there are, when 60 percent of all African-American pregnancies in New York City ended in abortion? ... How can we be silent when 40 percent of the pregnancies in the Hispanic community in New York City was aborted?”  LINK

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NEWS BRIEFS
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Iranians Renew Threats to Close Key Oil Route After EU Embargo Decision

(CNS News) -- Just days after Iran appeared to be backing away from a warning that it would close a strategic Persian Gulf waterway, two senior Iranian lawmakers renewed the threat, following a European Union decision Monday to impose an oil embargo on the Islamic republic . . . Mohammad Kowsari, deputy chairman of the parliament’s security and foreign policy committee, said Iran would “definitely” close the Persian Gulf’s Strait of Hormuz should the sale of Iranian crude oil be disrupted. In the event of any resulting U.S. “military adventurism” in the strait, state-funded Press TV quoted him as warning, Iran would respond in a way that would make the entire world unsafe for Americans. Another senior lawmaker, Heshmatollah Falahapisheh, was quoted by the Mehr news agency as saying closure of Hormuz was an Iranian right in the case of threat, and was looking increasingly possible.  MORE

Note: see also Iran Embargo May Speed Refinery Closures - “Asian countries not applying the embargo could buy the Iranian oil at a discount and sell cheap refined products back to us ... Italy already risks the closure of five refineries and at a European level we’re talking about 70 possible shut downs”  LINK

UK ready to send more warships into Gulf in 'clear signal' to Tehran

Britain could send military reinforcements to the Gulf in the escalating confrontation with Iran, the Defence Secretary said yesterday as the Tehran regime declared it would "defend the nation" against the threat posed by an EU oil embargo. Philip Hammond said contingency plans were in place to send extra warships, aircraft and troops to the region if it became necessary. He said the decision to send a flotilla led by the American aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln through the Strait of Hormuz – which Iran had threatened to block – sent "a clear signal about the resolve of the international community to defend the right of free passage through international waters." A British frigate, HMS Argyll, and a French warship were part of the convoy, which sailed within a few miles of the Iranian coast. The UK has about 1,500 naval personnel in the Indian Ocean serving on four minesweepers, two frigates, three support ships, a survey vessel and a hunter-killer submarine. A Response Force Task Group of Royal Marines, helicopters and naval vessels set up last year could also be deployed at short notice.  MORE

Netanyahu: World must stop Iran from conducting second holocaust

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the international community Tuesday to take steps against Iran's nuclear program and "not sit idly by" during any attempt to carry out another Holocaust. "This is a day when the world needs to commit not to allow another genocide and to act so that weapons of mass destruction don't reach the hands of Iran's ayatollahs. Only a combination of crippling sanctions and putting all the options on the table can make Iran stop," Netanyahu told the Knesset, which was marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day. "We can't stick our heads in the sand. The Iranian regime's emissaries, Hamas and Hezbollah, have already fired thousands of missiles at us, but when there are those who try to belittle or deny those who are warning of the danger, they apparently haven't learned their lesson. The lesson is that the countries of the world must be roused to act against the threat while there is still time."  MORE

Arab efforts to stem Syrian bloodshed in turmoil

BEIRUT -- With Arab pressure mounting to end 10 months of bloodshed, the Syrian regime has vowed to solve its own problems even if "half the universe" is conspiring against it. The Tuesday remarks signaled that Arab League efforts to stem the violence are collapsing - something that could pave the way for the U.N. Security Council to step in, even though Russia is firmly opposed to punitive measures against its longtime ally. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem brushed off the threat of referring the issue to the Security Council - a move that could lead to tougher sanctions - rather than trying to resolve it regionally. The prospect of U.N. involvement has raised fears in Syria that an international intervention could be next. "If they go to (U.N. headquarters in) New York or the moon, as long as we don't pay their tickets, this is their business," al-Moallem said at a news conference in Damascus. He was reacting to an appeal by the Gulf Cooperation Council for the U.N. Security Council to take all "necessary measures" to force Syria to implement an Arab League's ambitious peace plan announced Sunday to create a national unity government in two months. Damascus has rejected the plan as a violation of national sovereignty.  MORE

Note: see these related stories:

Gulf States Pull Observers Out Of Syria  LINK

News Update: Syria Agrees To Extend Arab Observer Mission  LINK

Europeans and Arabs seek U.N. vote on Syria next week

UNITED NATIONS -- European and Arab nations want a UN Security Council vote next week on a resolution condemning Syria's crackdown on protests and hinting at sanctions, diplomats said Tuesday. Britain, France, Germany and Arab nations are working on the resolution which could face Russian opposition because of a call on all states to follow Arab League sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad. Russia and China vetoed a previous European attempt in October to get a resolution passed condemning Assad for the violence in which the UN says more than 5,400 people have been killed. The western allies hope to build on growing Arab League demands for UN action on the Syria crisis, however. The United Nations has received a letter from Arab League secretary general Nabil al-Arabi seeking a meeting with UN leader Ban Ki-moon, a UN spokesman said.  MORE

Note: see also Russia Against Sanctions, Open To Dialogue On Syria  LINK

Syria seethes as Arabs urge Assad to quit

BEIRUT -- Syria rebuffed as a “conspiracy” Monday an Arab League call for President Bashar Assad to step down in favor of a unity government to calm a 10-month-old revolt in which thousands of Syrians have been killed. But a day after Arab ministers urged Assad to step aside, a senior Russian lawmaker said that Moscow could do little more to support the 46-year-old leader, opening the door to a policy shift by one of Syria’s few remaining powerful allies. Mikhail Margelov said Russia’s veto last year, alongside China’s, of a Western-drafted U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Assad’s crackdown on months of protests was the “last instrument” Russia could use to support Assad. “This veto has exhausted our arsenal of such resources,” Margelov was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass news agency.  MORE

PLO to Pursue U.N. Recognition ... But U.S. Says 'No Shortcut' to Statehood

(CNS News) -- Undeterred by last year’s failure, Palestinian leaders plan to push ahead with their bid for U.N. recognition in 2012, but the U.S. government believes that its chances are, if anything, reduced by the new makeup of the U.N. Security Council . . . Five of the Security Council’s 10 non-permanent members leave each year. On January 1, newcomers Pakistan, Morocco, Togo, Guatemala, and Azerbaijan replaced Lebanon, Nigeria, Gabon, Brazil and Bosnia.  MORE

Israel jails Palestinian parliament speaker without trial
Aziz Dweik's six-month imprisonment is an attempt by Israel to thwart reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, says his office

An Israeli military court has ordered the speaker of the Palestinian legislative body to be jailed for six months without trial after he was arrested at a checkpoint last week. Aziz Dweik, a member of Hamas and a senior elected politician, was imprisoned "without charge or legal justification", a statement from his office said. It claimed Israel was attempting to thwart moves towards reconciliation between the rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas. Dweik was arrested at a checkpoint near Ramallah last Thursday. According to reports, he was handcuffed and blindfolded by Israeli soldiers, who said he was being detained for "involvement in terrorist activities". Dweik has been the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) since elections six years ago. However the PLC has not sat since the summer of 2007, when Hamas – which had won elections the previous year – took control of Gaza in a bloody battle with Fatah. The order to imprison Dweik was made the day after two Hamas politicians were arrested by Israeli police inside the east Jerusalem compound of the Red Cross, where they had sought refuge 18 months ago after being threatened with expulsion from the city. Police said they arrested Mohammed Totah, a member of the PLC, and Khaled Abu Arafeh, a former Palestinian minister for Jerusalem affairs, on Monday for "Hamas activity in Jerusalem". Hamas is banned by Israel in the city . . . Hanan Ashrawi, a veteran Palestinian politician, said Israel was "flagrantly violating international conventions and practices" with regard to the immunity of elected officials, and was using "calculated means of coercion and power politics to interfere in Palestinian domestic affairs and to undermine democratic institutions in Palestine".  MORE

Note: see also 'Israel Has Declared War On Hamas In West Bank' - Palestinians say arrest of 5 Hamas legislators a ploy to sabotage Palestinian reconciliation, hurt Hamas in elections  LINK

witnesses: Qaeda gunmen pull out of Yemen town

ADEN -- Al-Qaeda gunmen have withdrawn completely from the central Yemen town of Rada, which they overran nine days ago, tribal sources and witnesses said on Wednesday. "They have left the town," located 130 kilometres (85 miles) southeast of Sanaa, one tribal source said hours after a senior military official said there had been mediation to convince them to withdraw. "Tribal mediation carried out by Sheikh Hashed Fadhl al-Qawsi succeeded, after three days of talks, to convince the armed al-Qaeda men to leave Rada," a senior official had told AFP late on Tuesday. As news of the extremists' withdrawal spread, Rada residents took to the streets in celebration, firing gunshots in the air. "Our town is celebrating this event as war and chaos have been avoided," said one resident, Faisal al-Riashi, reached by telephone. The military official had said that al-Qaeda members began evacuating public buildings they had occupied after taking the town on January 16. "They are leaving the location without resistance," he added.  MORE

Judge orders woman to give up password to hard drive

In the future, your hard drive may not be your hard drive: A federal judge has ruled that a Colorado woman, charged in a mortgage scam case, must turn over the password needed to decrypt her hard drive so that police can view the files on it. Ramona Fricosu was given until February 21 to comply with the order by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Blackburn. The judge said Fricosu's defense - the Fifth Amendment's right against self-incrimination - did not apply in the case, in which she is charged with bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering . . . [The] U.S. Attorney's Office said in court documents that if Fricosu wasn't ordered to unlock her computer, it would result in a "concession to her and potential criminals (be it in child exploitation, national security, terrorism, financial crimes or drug trafficking cases) that encrypting all inculpatory digital evidence will serve to defeat the efforts of law enforcement officers to obtain such evidence through judicially authorized search warrants, and thus make their prosecution impossible.” As CNET's Declan McCullagh wrote, "The question of whether a criminal defendant can be legally compelled to cough up his encryption pass-phrase remains an unsettled one, with law review articles for at least the last 15 years arguing the merits of either approach."  MORE

Flights rerouted as massive solar storm slams Earth

WASHINGTON -- Solar radiation from a massive sun storm - the largest in nearly a decade - collided with the Earth's atmosphere on Tuesday, prompting an airline to reroute flights and skywatchers to seek out spectacular light displays. US carrier Delta Air Lines said it had adjusted flight routes for transpolar journeys between Asia and the United States to avoid problems caused by the radiation storm, a spokesman said. NASA confirmed the coronal mass ejection (CME) began colliding with Earth's magnetic field around 10:00 AM (1500 GMT) Tuesday, adding that the storm was now being considered the largest since October 2003. Radiation storms are not harmful to humans, on Earth at least, according to the US space agency. They can, however, affect satellite operations and short wave radio. The storm's radiation, likely to continue bombarding Earth's atmosphere through Wednesday, and its possible disruption to satellite communications in the polar regions prompted the flight rerouting, airline officials said.  MORE

Nigeria neglecting persecuted Christians

A Christian leader in Nigeria believes the murder of more than 80 Christians is just the beginning of a campaign of religious cleansing in the North. Boko Haram, a jihadist terrorist organization, is taking credit for killing the Christians and for murdering moderate Muslims. Jonathan Racho of International Christian Concern (ICC) tells One News Now Pastor Ayo, who serves as president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, is calling on the government to take strong measures to protect Christians in the predominantly Muslim North. "The church leader also pointed out that there are people within the Nigerian government, the Nigerian security, who have collaborated with Boko Haram, and that makes it very hard for the government to protect its own population," Racho laments. Though the Nigerian government has promised Christians they will be protected, the ICC spokesman says those promises have proved empty in the past. "That has created a situation where Christians don't trust the government anymore for their protection and their property, and the church. So the church leader actually in Nigeria called upon Christians to defend themselves from the ongoing pogrom," he explains. In fact, there are now incidents in the predominantly Christian South, in which Christians have attacked mosques and Muslims. [no further content]  LINK

Prayer needed as pastor awaits delayed verdict (Iran)

An Iranian pastor under a possible death penalty remains jailed while he awaits word on a verdict that was supposed to be delivered in mid-December. The decision has been tossed around in the courts, and the case was handed to a top religious official for review. But the sentence has not been formally delivered to the pastor. Jason DeMars of Present Truth Ministries tells One News Now Youcef Nadarkhani, who has been tortured, is waiting patiently. "He's currently doing well," DeMars accounts. "He's strong in spirit, strong in mind, and strong in faith, and I truly believe that's been the prayers of Christians all around the world holding him up and the Holy Spirit working through that." But the Present Truth Ministries spokesman reports that Nadarkhani is still being pressured to convert to the Muslim faith. "They certainly are continuing their efforts to get him to acknowledge the superiority of Islam and to come back to Islam," he says. "I believe that is their ultimate goal, and that's what they have stated." DeMars also tells One News Now the pastor has not had a Bible in the two years and three months he has been in prison, and he has no access to a computer or the outside world, other than meeting with his wife and family. So the ministry spokesman is encouraging believers to continue praying, as that may be the only thing that saves him. [no further content]  LINK

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Commentary: Sanctions Against Iran Grow Tighter ... but What's the Next Step? (Helene Cooper)

Excerpt:
. . . . In debates at the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon, administration officials say they have gamed out several possibilities, including an alarming one: that tougher sanctions and increased global isolation might compel Iran to decide that the only way to get the West off its back is to speed up its program and become a nuclear power. That could leave the West with no choice but to back off, lest it provoke a nuclear confrontation.

Source:     nytimes.com  MORE

Commentary: WARVANGELICALS (Coach Dave Daubenmire)

. . . . Somewhere along the line somebody figured out that there were a lot of dollars to be made in war. Bullets and bombs were needed for war and a sinister group of warmongers figured out a way to make millions by performing their “civic duty” by supplying the ammo ... often to both sides.
Christian/conservative Republicans are the greatest promoters of this perpetual-state-of-war. They serve the Prince of Peace by cheering, and voting, for war.
Someone coined the term "Warvangelicals." They are determined to evangelize the world through the barrel of a rifle. Jesus warned us to be careful … those who live by the sword shall die by the sword . . . .

How did war become a Christian/Conservative value?
Christians are soooo confused. Willfully ignorant might be a more appropriate description. Flag-waving Christians are the most ardent supporters of military intervention. Sadly, they know nothing of the theory of just war. [see source website for 6 principles of Just War]
. . . America has not fought a “just war” since WWII . . . .

Much of the reason we are such interventionalists in the Middle East is the position held by most Evangelicals that we have a religious obligation to defend Israel. To say otherwise is to be called “anti-Semitic,” “anti-Israel,” or “un-Biblical.” Listen to how often the Republican candidates mention the word “Israel.” This a Pavlovian trick that makes Evangelicals mouth’s water.
I am not anti-Israel nor anti-Semitic. I am pro-America. If we don’t return to an America-first policy we won’t be able to defend ourselves, let alone our friends in the Middle East.
America has spent a generation arming Israel. Estimates are that Israel is currently in possession of as many as 400 nuclear warheads. American foreign aid to Israel paid for most of their weaponry. They are far and away the most powerful, well armed military in the Middle East.
I understand that God has an “everlasting covenant” with Israel. I understand that those who “bless Israel” will be blessed. I understand that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. But I can not find one Biblical admonition to "protect" Israel. I do find the Lord asking us to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem." Do we “bless Israel” by sending foreign aid to her enemies?
Is it the obligation of the US Government to defend the nation of Israel? The Covenant was a Covenant between God and Israel. God will keep His promise. Why do Christians see it as our obligation to do for Israel what God has promised He will do? A broken, financially bankrupt America cannot protect Israel. Only God can do that . . . .

It is not popular to say it in Evangelical circles, but Christians should not rejoice in the killing of innocent Muslim women and children. Each one is a potential child of the Living God and Christians should be more interested in flooding the Middle East with Bibles rather than bombs . . . Currently, they are more interested in “spreading democracy” than they are in spreading the Gospel.

God is judging America, not because we are turning our backs on Israel, but because we are a decadent, insolent, greedy, blood-thirsty nation that winks at the shedding of innocent blood in the womb, while we “high-five” the killing of innocent children in other parts of the world. We have rejected God. Our works are "continuously evil in His sight" and our hands are stained with innocent blood.

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. [Deuteronomy 30:19]
America is dying because we have chosen death and Warvangelicals are the varsity cheerleaders of the War Party.

Source:     newswithviews.com  MORE

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ADDITIONAL NEWS & ANALYSIS
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Syrian troops shell central city  LINK

Gaddafi supporters seize control of Libyan town  LINK
Accounts from the town of Bani Walid, about 200 km (120 miles) from Tripoli, described armed Gaddafi supporters attacking the barracks of the pro-government militia in the town and then forcing them to fall back

Libya says will strike back if Kadhafi men behind unrest  LINK
Confusion ruled Tuesday as to who was behind the unrest
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Azerbaijan foils Iranian-Hizballah terror strike against Israel targets and Habad  LINK
This was the first joint Iranian-Hizballah terrorist attack ever discovered

U.S. military raid in Somalia frees American, Dane  LINK

U.N.: Aircraft bomb South Sudan refugee camp  LINK

Fresh attack on police in troubled Nigeria's Kano city  LINK

Interview with Senator Rand Paul  LINK
"Two separate people told me that there are random bells and whistles going off in the screening process that the local screeners are not aware of, but are part of random pat-downs"

Ron Paul Campaign Statement Concerning TSA Abuses  LINK
The TSA “gropes and grabs our children, our seniors, and our loved ones and neighbors with disabilities … while doing nothing to keep us safe”

Ed Meese: House Should Pass Resolution Condemning Obama for Unconstitutional Act  LINK

Google announces privacy changes across products ... users can't opt out  LINK

[analysis]: U.S. steps outside the law as the war on terror drones on  LINK

Is The NYPD Experimenting With Drones Over The City? ... Evidence Points To Yes  LINK
Miami, cities in Texas also said to be trying this new way to be eye in the sky

[analysis]: America Has Become the World's Arms Dealer ... But at What Cost to Ourselves and the World?  LINK
Last year saw the U.S. on pace to deliver more than $46 billion in foreign arms sales ... Who says America isn’t number one anymore?

Under Obama, Price of Gas Has Jumped 83 Percent, Ground Beef 24 Percent, Bacon 22 Percent  LINK

IMF Slashes Its Global Economic Growth Forecast  LINK

[analysis]: My fight against the 'smart meter' (8-15-11)  LINK
"Reports from those who have had meters installed include heart palpitations, dizziness, inability to fall asleep, memory problems and cognitive disturbances, flu-like symptoms, worsening of existing health problems, abrupt depression, agitation, headaches, hearing problems"

 Note: see also Update: My Fight Against The 'Smart' Meter - All this 'dirty energy' is killing us and that's not hyperbole  LINK

Chile struck by 6.2-magnitude earthquake  LINK

Jailed creationist [Kent Hovind] appeals after 5 years  LINK

[Washington] state set to back gay marriage  LINK

HEALTH HIGHLIGHTS: Join the Sound Body Yahoo group (part of the Christian Media ministry) to receive regular health eblasts  LINK

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And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear. Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give Me more than twelve legions of angels?
Matthew 26:51-53 KJV
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CHRISTIAN MEDIA
WORLDWATCH

THURSDAY JANUARY 26, 2012
- no news edition -

CHRISTIAN MEDIA
WORLDWATCH

FRIDAY JANUARY 27, 2012

War of attrition brewing with Iran over Gulf oil routes

Military tensions in the Persian Gulf shot up again Thursday, January 26, after Dubai police commander General Dhahi Khalfan said on al Arabiya television that an imminent Gulf war cannot be ruled out and first signs are already apparent. "The world will not let Iran block Hormuz, but Tehran can narrow the strait to the maximum," he said.
He echoed DEBKAfile's predictions that Iran will not shut down the Strait of Hormuz completely, but gradually cut down tanker traffic which carries 17 million barrels, or one-fifth of the world's daily consumption, through the waterway. Our Iranian sources report that the rule of thumb Tehran has devised for [confronting] sanctions is to respond to the tightening of an oil embargo by having the Revolutionary Guards gradually narrow the tankers' shipping lanes through the strategic strait. This will progressively cut down the amount of oil reaching the markets.
Tehran will [not] go all the way and shut the channel down completely for fear of provoking a military showdown with the United States. But each time Washington manages to stop Iran supplying a given country, the IRGC will shut down another section of the strait.
General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff admitted on January 8 that Iran has the capacity to block the Strait of Hormuz temporarily but the US would get it reopened within a short time.
Saudi Arabia and Dubai are skeptical about the ability of the American navy and Gulf forces to keep the Strait of Hormuz open at all times in the face of continuous Iranian attacks.
The prevailing view in Gulf capitals is that for the six months from February through July 1, when the European embargo on Iranian oil and the Iranian national bank freeze kick in, a war of attrition will unfold as Iran carries out sporadic strait closures, either by mining the waterway or firing missiles at tankers from unmarked speedboats.
These operations will push up the price of oil and so drum home to oil-dependent Asian and European governments the high cost to them of the alternate opening and closing of the Strait of Hormuz.
A Saudi official said Wednesday that Tehran's threats to punish Riyadh for offering to make up the shortfall incurred from the oil embargo against Iran "could be seen by Saudi Arabia as an act of war."
The Iranian threats followed the pledge made this week by Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi to raise daily production by up to 2.7 million barrels per day to supply the countries caught short of supplies from Iran.
However, the Saudi minister could not say how the oil would make its way out of the Persian Gulf to [its] destination if the Strait of Hormuz were to be shuttered partially or fully.
DEBKAfile's military and Gulf sources report that Persian Gulf capitals are talking less these days about an outbreak of armed hostilities over Iran's nuclear program and more about the coming war over the oil shipping routes out to market.
The Dubai general's remarks Thursday about an imminent conflict referred not only to the flow of American reinforcements to the Gulf region but also to the new deployments of the armies of Gulf Cooperation Council states. They are moving into position in expectation of a military confrontation with Iran. [no further content, emphasis added]

Source:     debka.com  LINK

Note: see these related items:

USS Enterprise False Flag! (Video)  LINK

Commentary: How Iran Could Beat Up On America's Superior Military - America's defense budget is roughly 90 times bigger than Iran's ... But Iran has a well-honed strategy of asymmetric warfare  LINK

Commentary: Will Israel Attack Iran?  LINK

Commentary: Will Israel Attack Iran This Year?  LINK

Commentary: 'Israel Will Indeed Strike Iran In 2012'  LINK

[Note: Also see Iran Threatens To Act First On EU Embargo in today's News Briefs section, and the commentary piece The Iranian Oil Embargo Blowback  in today's More News section.]

Israel Senses Bluffing in Iran's Threats of Retaliation

JERUSALEM -- Israeli intelligence estimates, backed by academic studies, have cast doubt on the widespread assumption that a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities would set off a catastrophic set of events like a regional conflagration, widespread acts of terrorism and sky-high oil prices.
The estimates, which have been largely adopted by the country’s most senior officials, conclude that the threat of Iranian retaliation is partly bluff. They are playing an important role in Israel’s calculation of whether ultimately to strike Iran, or to try to persuade the United States to do so, even as Tehran faces tough new economic sanctions from the West.
“A war is no picnic,” Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Israel Radio in November. But if Israel feels itself forced into action, the retaliation would be bearable, he said. “There will not be 100,000 dead or 10,000 dead or 1,000 dead. The state of Israel will not be destroyed.” . . . .
No issue in Israel is more fraught than the debate over the wisdom and feasibility of a strike on Iran. Some argue that even a successful military strike would do no more than delay any Iranian nuclear weapons program, and perhaps increase Iran’s determination to acquire the capability. Security officials are increasingly kept from journalists or barred from discussing Iran. Much of the public talk is as much message delivery as actual policy.
With the region in turmoil and the Europeans having agreed to harsh sanctions against Iran, strategic assessments can quickly lose their currency. “They’re like cartons of milk - check the sell-by date,” one senior official said.
But conversations with eight current and recent top Israeli security officials suggested several things: since Israel has been demanding the new sanctions, including an oil embargo and seizure of Iran’s Central Bank assets, it will give the sanctions some months to work; the sanctions are viewed here as probably insufficient; a military attack remains a very real option; and post-attack situations are considered less perilous than one in which Iran has nuclear weapons.
“Take every scenario of confrontation and attack by Iran and its proxies and then ask yourself, ‘How would it look if they had a nuclear weapon?’ ” a senior official said. “In nearly every scenario, the situation looks worse.” . . . .
A paper soon to be published by the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, written by Amos Yadlin, former chief of military intelligence, and Yoel Guzansky, who headed the Iran desk at Israel’s National Security Council until 2009, argues that the Iranian threat to close the Strait of Hormuz is largely a bluff.
The paper contends that, despite the risks of Iranian provocation, Iran would not be able to close the waterway for any length of time and that it would not be in Iran’s own interest to do so.
“If others are closing the taps on you, why close your own?” Mr. Guzansky said. Sealing the strait could also lead to all-out confrontation with the United States, something the authors say they believe Iran wants to avoid.

Source:     nytimes.com  MORE

Jerusalem concerned: Saudi Air Force to outnumber Israel's advanced U.S. jet fleet

With its latest acquisitions from Washington and Europe, the Saudi Air Force will have more fighter-bombers of more advanced models that the Israeli Air Force. Deep concern over this was recently relayed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.
DEBKAfile's Washington and military sources [note] that Israel made its concern known with the utmost discretion so as not to be seen as hampering the expansion of the Saudi Royal Air Force as Riyadh gets set to tackle Tehran should Saudi oil exports be sabotaged by Iranian attacks on its oil production or the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, its primary export outlet.
Last month, the US agreed to sell Saudi Arabia 84 advanced F-15SA fighter-bombers worth $29.4 billion. First deliveries are due in 2015. The package included the upgrading of 70 F-15 planes of the Saudi air fleet. Riyadhis also buying 72 advanced Eurofighter Typhoon fighter bombers. All in all, the oil kingdom will have the largest and most sophisticated fighter-bomber fleet in the Middle East.
[Israel’s] leaders reminded the Obama administration of its standing pledge to maintain Israel's qualitative military edge in the region. The aircraft supplied to the Saudis will place that edge in doubt.
They voiced two additional causes for concern:
(1) One fine day, Saudi Arabia, which has never agreed to peace relations with Israel, may be moved to attack the Jewish state from an air base very close to Israel's shores. That proximity and the size and quality of its air force will allow dozens of warplanes to penetrate Israel's air defenses and drop bombs on southern and central Israel.
(2) Israel also fears that four or five Saudi pilots or hired Islamist fliers may one day form an al Qaeda cell inside the Saudi Air Force and conspire to carry out a suicide attack on Israeli cities on the model of al Qaeda's 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, most of whose participants were Saudis.
Israeli intelligence officials in close touch with American counterparts asked them if Washington had asked for Saudi assurances about the reliability of the air crews who will man the new F-15SA planes. They were told that no such guarantees had been requested.
For now, Israel has brought its concerns to the notice of the Obama administration without making specific requests to hold up delivery. Israel is conscious that the Gulf region is on tenterhooks over its security and the Saudis are deep in military preparations to beat back potentially aggressive Iranian moves in the wake of the oil embargo approved by the US and the European Union against Tehran's nuclear program.
Jerusalem also takes into consideration the importance to the flagging American economy of the huge warplane transaction with the Saudis which will support 50,000 jobs in the US air industry and 600 American contractors of aircraft parts.
Obama will certainly not be approachable on this issue while running for re-election.
But none of these considerations allays the deep anxiety prevailing in the top echelons of Israel's high military and air command over the radical upgrade awarded Saudi air power providing it with the capacity to outclass and outgun Israel. [no further content]

Source:     debka.com  LINK

Eligibility Alert: Obama accused of disrespecting court, state, Americans
'My belief is if Supreme Court held he was ineligible, he might simply ignore the ruling'

One of the attorneys who fought a court case over Barack Obama’s eligibility to be president all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court says he fears that even if the U.S. Supreme Court declared Obama unqualified, he’d simply ignore the ruling and continue issuing orders.
But those who observed a court hearing today [Thursday] in Atlanta say it could be the beginning of the end for the Obama campaign, because of the doubt that could surge like a tidal wave across the nation.
The comments came today from Leo Donofrio, who led the pack in filing lawsuits over Obama’s 2008 election and his subsequent occupancy of the White House.
He was commenting on today’s hearing before a Georgia administrative law judge on complaints raised by several state residents that Obama is not eligible to run for the office in 2012. That hearing went on after Obama and his lawyer decided to snub the court system and refuse to participate.
Discover what the Constitution’s reference to “natural born citizen” means and whether Barack Obama qualifies, in the ebook version of “Where’s the real Birth Certificate?”
A decision from the judge, Michael Malihi, is expected soon . . . .
“That President Obama’s attorneys didn’t show respect for the court, the citizens, the secretary of state, and the statutes of Georgia reveals the true character of the administration as being completely and utterly against state’s rights,” Donofrio said. “The federal government is growing out of control with every administration and this action today is a loud announcement that this administration is going to do what it likes, and you can imagine that their response to this judiciary would be exactly the same if this had been the U.S. Supreme Court.”
He said if Georgia does decide to keep Obama off its state election ballots, he won’t appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, “because if he were to lose there, his entire administration would be void, including his appointments to the Supreme Court.”
“If Obama were to appeal in Georgia, only this election is in play, and only as to Georgia’s ballots, but if he loses in Georgia, appealing to the [U.S. Supreme Court] brings in his entire eligibility, and the legitimacy of his current administration,” Donofrio warned.
“My personal belief is that if the U.S. Supreme Court held that he was ineligible, he might simply ignore the ruling, and test the will of the nation, just as he is testing the will of the state of Georgia,” he said.
The White House today was absolutely silent about the issue. The Georgia case is far different from the lawsuits over the 2008 election, in which judges virtually unanimously ruled that they could not make a decision that would remove a sitting president, no matter the circumstances.
This hearing was about concerns being raised, as allowed by Georgia state law, that Obama is not eligible for the office of president and therefore should not be allowed on the 2012 election ballot.
“If the judge’s recommendation – and I’ve been told that it’s going to be to disqualify Mr. Obama as a candidate – is followed by the secretary of state, Mr. Obama has got a real problem,” said Gary Kreep, of the United States Justice Foundation.

Source:     wnd.com  MORE

Note: see these related stories:

Obama Boycotting [Thursday's] Georgia Eligibility Hearing - Lawyer urges secretary of state to cancel inquiry  LINK

Obama Eligibility Hearing ... Broadcast Live - 'Complicit media ignoring all calls for honest reporting on the issue'  LINK
[Check LINK later for archived video]

What Happened At Obama-No-Show Trial - Sworn testimony reveals fake Social Security number, other gaps  LINK

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NEWS BRIEFS
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Iran threatens to act first on EU embargo

Iran has threatened to pre-empt a European embargo on its oil by halting its exports to the region immediately, a move that could hit economically weak southern European countries. The European Union this week approved a ban on crude oil imports from Iran from July 1, a five-month delay designed to give Greece, Spain and Italy time to find alternative supplies. Athens buys about a third of all its oil supplies from Iran. Officials in Madrid, Athens and Rome have said they would use the delay to ask other oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iraq, for additional supplies. Emad Hosseini, spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s energy committee, said lawmakers in Tehran were finalising a draft bill to stop all oil trade with Europe. “If the plan is approved, the government will be obliged to stop its oil sales to Europe before the EU begins its oil embargo against Iran,” Mr Hosseini told the semi-official Mehr news agency. He said the bill could come before parliament on Sunday. Several other prominent Iranian lawmakers have made similar proposals and the Kayhan newspaper – whose editor is appointed by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – published an editorial on Wednesday urging parliament to pre-empt the embargo. “Why should we not stop oil exports to European states immediately and replace them with other numerous customers who are ready to buy [Iran’s oil],” the editorial read.  MORE

Ahmadinejad says Iran ready for nuclear talks ... blasts sanctions

TEHRAN -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that Tehran is ready to sit down with world powers for talks on its nuclear drive as he downplayed the harmful effects of newly imposed sanctions. "They have this excuse that Iran is dodging negotiations while it is not the case," the Iranian leader was quoted as saying by state media. "A person who has logic and has right on his side, why should (he) refrain from negotiations?" Ahamdinejad asked rhetorically. He was implicitly responding to comments made by Western officials urging the Islamic republic to return to negotiations over its contested nuclear programme. "The European Union stands together in sending that clear message to the government of Iran: that we wish to go back to negotiations, to invite them to pick up the issues which were left on the table in Istanbul a year ago," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Tuesday. The last round of talks between Iran and the major powers consisting of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States was held in Turkey in January 2011, but the negotiations collapsed. The six powers are still waiting for Iran's reply to a letter Ashton sent in October, stressing that negotiations should focus on the "key question" of the Iranian nuclear issue, in order to remove doubts. In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland highlighted on Thursday that the letter "very specifically offers talks if Iran is ready to be serious about coming clean with regard to its nuclear programme." "So just saying you're open for talks doesn't meet the criteria that we have set, which is to be ready for talks and ready to be serious about letting the world know all of the details of your nuclear programme and proving your claims that it's for peaceful purposes."  MORE

Saudi warns of Mid East nuclear race

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND (AP) -- An influential member of the Saudi royal family warned Wednesday that unless the Middle East becomes a nuclear weapon-free zone, a nuclear arms race is inevitable and could include his own country, Iraq, Egypt and even Turkey. Prince Turki Al Faisal said the five permanent U.N. Security Council members should guarantee a nuclear security umbrella for Mideast countries that join a nuclear-free zone - and impose "military sanctions" against countries seen to be developing nuclear weapons. "I think that's a better way of going at this issue of nuclear enrichment of uranium, or preventing Iran from acquiring weapons of mass destruction," the former Saudi intelligence chief and ambassador to the U.S. and Britain said in an interview with The Associated Press. "If it goes that route, I think it's a much more equitable procedure than what has been happening in the last 10 years or so." . . . An Arab proposal for a weapons of mass destruction-free zone was initially endorsed by the 1995 conference reviewing the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), but never acted on. In May 2010, the 189 member nations that are party to the NPT called for convening a conference in 2012. Last October, the U.N., U.S., Russia and Britain announced that Finland will host the conference this year. Israel is not a party to the NPT and has long said a full Arab-Israeli peace must precede such weapons bans. But at the 2010 NPT review conference, the United States, Israel's most important ally, said it welcomed "practical measures" leading toward the goal of a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East.  MORE

U.N. Council to discuss Syria Friday

UNITED NATIONS -- The UN Security Council will discuss the Syria crisis Friday, and western and Arab nations could make public their draft resolution condemning the government's deadly crackdown, diplomats said. The unexpected meeting was announced by France's UN mission on its Twitter account after representatives of the council's five permanent members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - held talks Thursday on the new resolution. "A draft resolution could be sent to all members of the council tomorrow," one western diplomat said. A new resolution giving strong backing to the Arab League's initiative to end the Syria crisis has been drawn up by Britain, France, Germany and a number of Arab nations. The European and Arab countries hope for a vote next week. Arab League secretary general Nabil al-Arabi and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani are to brief the council on Syria on Monday or Tuesday. The Arab League has called on President Bashar al-Assad to hand over powers to a deputy so that elections can be held in Syria where the UN says more than 5,400 people have died since protests started in March last year. Russia and China used their veto powers as permanent members of the 15-nation council to block one European resolution in October. Russia has since proposed its own resolution but there have hardly been any negotiations on the bid which Western countries have called unbalanced. "This would be the response of a number of countries to the Russian resolution and the veto in October," added the western diplomat, referring to Friday's meeting and the new draft. [no further content]  LINK

Arab League team to head to U.N. over Syria Saturday

CAIRO -- Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani are to head to New York on Saturday to seek support for an Arab plan on Syria, Arabi said. The two will "hold a meeting with the UN Security Council on Monday to seek ratification of the Arab League decision on Syria," for President Bashar al-Assad to hand power to his deputy, Arabi said. Arab League ministers meeting in Cairo last week had asked for UN support in their efforts to resolve the crisis in Syria, where a crackdown on protests has left more than 5,400 people dead since March. The League called on Assad to delegate powers to his vice president and clear the way for a national unity government to be formed within two months. [no further content]  LINK

Note: see also Arab League Team To Take Syria To UN  LINK

Syria turning blind eye to jihadists targeting Iraq
Assad's reopening of borders to insurgents seen as move to pressure U.S.

JERUSALEM -- To pressure the U.S., Syrian President Bashar Assad has reopened his country’s borders with Iraq, allowing more jihadists to get into and out of Iraq, according to informed Egyptian security officials. The security officials said the move already has produced an increase in violence in Iraq at the hands of jihadists who transit through the country via Syria. Previously, Assad acceded to U.S. requests to work harder to close his country’s porous borders with Iraq. The U.S. has long accused Assad of turning a blind eye to Iraqi insurgents using Syria as a refuge.  MORE

Watchdogs: Libya militias, army torturing detainees

Libya's regular army and array of militias have been torturing loyalists of slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi, several of whom have been killed in custody, human rights groups charged on Thursday. Amnesty International said that despite promises, Libya's new rulers have made "no progress to stop the use of torture", as Doctors Without Borders suspended its work in the third-largest city Misrata over similar claims. Their accusations come after a top UN official raised concerns that militias composed of former rebels who helped topple Kadhafi were posing an increasing security risk as they repeatedly clashed with each other. "Several detainees have died after being subjected to torture in Libya in recent weeks and months amid widespread torture and ill-treatment of suspected pro-Kadhafi fighters and loyalists," London-based Amnesty said in a statement. It said its delegates met detainees held in Tripoli, in Misrata and in smaller towns such as Ghariyan who showed visible signs of torture inflicted in recent days and weeks. "The torture is being carried out by officially recognised military and security entities, as well by a multitude of armed militias operating outside any legal framework," it said.  MORE

Islamists, liberals square off in Egypt's Tahrir

CAIRO (AP) -- Hundreds of thousands thronged major squares across Egypt on Wednesday, marking the first anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak with rallies that laid bare the divisions that have replaced the unity of last year's revolt. Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the 18 days of protests against Mubarak, was transformed into the focal point of the rivalry between revolutionary activists intent on showing they can still mobilize the street, and the Muslim Brotherhood, who emerged as Egypt's dominant political force after a landslide victory in parliamentary elections. The secular activists want continued protests to force the immediate ouster of the generals who took power after Mubarak's fall, saying they are just as dictatorial as the former president. The activists touted their powerful turnout as a sign they can pressure the Brotherhood, who they fear will accommodate the military in order to ensure their own political dominance . . . Together the two sides packed Tahrir in one of the biggest gatherings since the height of the protests against Mubarak and the frenzied celebrations on the night he fell on February 11. There were no army troops or police present, a sign the military was looking to avoid an eruption of new clashes after deadly violence in October, November and December. The competition for influence between the secular forces and the Brotherhood centers on the ruling military, led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak's defense minister for 20 years. The revolutionaries say the generals must surrender power to civilians immediately, accusing them of perpetuating their former mentor's authoritarian system, bungling the transition and committing large-scale human rights violations. The Brotherhood are willing to accept the generals' promise to step down by the end of June.  MORE

Palestinians unmoved as Israel presents border ideas

RAMALLAH -- Israel has presented Palestinians with its ideas for the borders and security arrangements of a future Palestinian state, in a bid to keep exploratory talks alive, Palestinian and Israeli sources said on Friday. However, Palestinian officials said the verbal presentation by Israeli negotiator Yitzhak Molcho at a meeting on Wednesday was a non-starter, envisaging a fenced-off territory of cantons that would preserve most Jewish settlements. "He killed the two-state solution, set aside previous agreements and international law," said a Palestinian Liberation Organization source. "Basically, the Israeli idea of a Palestinian state is made up of a wall and settlements." It was the first time Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's administration has broached the issue of borders with Palestinians. An Israeli official said the presentation was in line with a framework for talks set by the Quartet - the United States, European union, Russia and the United Nations. Its aim is to ensure that the core issues of borders and security were clearly set out by January 26, with the goal of relaunching negotiations stalled since November 2010, to reach a framework peace accord by the end of this year. After five rounds of talks in Jordan, including Wednesday's session, the Palestinian source said there are no more meetings scheduled. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he wants to consult Arab League states on the next move. According to the Palestinian source, Molcho's team suggested that any solution creating a Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel needs to "preserve the social and economic fabric of all communities, Jewish or Palestinian". The idea presented by Molcho "does not include Jerusalem and the Jordan valley, and includes almost all (Jewish) settlements", the Palestinian official said . . . An Israeli official said Molcho presented guiding principles that determine Israel's positions on the territorial issue. Israel's approach to territorial compromise in the occupied West Bank includes the principal that "most Israelis will be under Israeli sovereignty and obviously most Palestinians will be under Palestinian sovereignty", the official said. He noted that Netanyahu had acknowledged, in a speech to the United States Congress, that not all Jewish settlements "will be on our side of the border" of a future Palestinian state.  MORE

New map for what to plant reflects global warming

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Global warming is hitting not just home, but garden. The color-coded map of planting zones often seen on the back of seed packets is being updated by the government, illustrating a hotter 21st century. It's the first time since 1990 that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has revised the official guide for the nation's 80 million gardeners, and much has changed. Nearly entire states, such as Ohio, Nebraska and Texas, are in warmer zones.  MORE

Study: Fried food heart risk 'a myth'
It is a "myth" that regularly eating fried foods causes heart attacks, researchers have found, as long as you use olive oil or sunflower oil

They say there is mounting research that it is the type of oil used, and whether or not it has been used before, that really matters. The latest study, published in the British Medical Journal, found no association between the frequency of fried food consumption in Spain - where olive and sunflower oils are mostly used - and the incidence of serious heart disease. However, the British Heart Foundation warned Britons not to "reach for the frying pan" yet, pointing out that the Mediterranean diet as a whole was healthier than ours.  MORE

School to teacher: 'God's not allowed' (California)
Supremes asked to affirm Constitution's 1st Amendment

For 25 years, math teacher Bradley Johnson at Poway High School near San Diego took advantage of a 30-year school policy and hung patriotic posters with sayings such as “God bless America” in his classroom. But then school officials ordered Johnson to take down the banners, even though other teachers were allowed to keep anti-religious slogans such as John Lennon’s “Imagine,” Buddhist prayer flags and images of Black Muslim leader Malcolm X. So he went to court, and now the case is on its way to the highest court in the land. The legal ordeal started in 2007 when school officials are alleged to have suddenly reversed the policy that allowed teachers to display banners, posters and signs that reflected their personal beliefs. Poway officials told Johnson that his banners violated the establishment clause of the Constitution because they advocated a “Judeo-Christian worldview.” Johnson pointed to what other teachers displayed, but the district dismissed his concerns. Thomas More Law Center represented Johnson, and he won the first round in California federal district court, where Judge Robert Benitez said the teacher was within his First Amendment rights. Benitez extolled the virtues of education while concluding Johnson doesn’t lose his liberties after walking through the school house doors. “May a school district censor a high school teacher’s expression because it refers to Judeo-Christian views while allowing other teachers to express views on a number of controversial subjects, including religion and anti-religion? On undisputed evidence, this Court holds that it may not,” Benitez wrote. Benitez also says that the federal courts should use restraint in dealing with local schools. “Courts should not quickly intervene in the daily operation of schools and school systems, for that task is committed primarily to local school boards,” Benitez wrote. But he said when a constitutional question is at the heart of the dispute, the courts have a valid role to play in the matter.  MORE

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Life And Death Alert: New study reignites debate over GMO safety

Chinese researchers at Nanjing University have found small segments of rice ribonucleic acid (called microRNA or miRNA for its tiny size) in the blood and organs of people who eat conventional rice. The study does not address how the assimilation of plant RNA into human bodies could affect the debate over the next generation of genetically modified food crops, but the revelation that miRNA can likely survive digestion and take up residence in human cells certainly will provide ammunition for the anti-GMO camp, the most liberal of whom have been calling for toxicological and safety testing of patented plants since the inception of the biotech industry over a decade ago.
In the Chinese study, rice genetic material influenced the uptake of cholesterol from the blood by binding itself to receptor cells in the human liver. If confirmed, this would be the first time scientists have witnessed ingested plant miRNA that actually alters human physiology by regulating cell functions in this way, says AlterNet contributer Ari LeVaux in a recent piece. What’s more, it calls into question the doctrine of “substantial equivalence” – a dogma the biotech industry has clung to since 1991.
Under substantial equivalence, companies such as Monsanto Co. have built a body of case law that shields GMOs from the same rigorous safety testing that patented drugs must undergo. The reason: GMOs are assumed to be essentially the same as their whole-food counterparts. This reasoning works well enough where products such as Bt-corn are concerned. This is because GM corn and alfalfa are spliced with specific herbicide resistant genes from bacteria that are themselves assumed to be safe and natural in their isolated form.
“There is no need for, or value in testing the safety of GM foods in humans,” declares Monsanto’s website. “DNA (and resulting RNA) is present in almost all foods. DNA is non-toxic and the presence of DNA, in and of itself, presents no hazard.” Interestingly, this reasoning seems to undermine the legitimacy of plant patenting if nothing “novel” is being created, but that’s a whole other can of worms.
However, substantial equivalence might not sit so well with consumers faced with a new generation of GMOs that use miRNA sequences to shut down or turn down a targeted gene in an insect predator. The difference now, and this miRNA study supplies the evidence, is that our genetically-altered food could very well be genetically altering us.
The argument for the safety testing of GMOs can now go something like this: because humans and insects share some very similar proteins that process miRNAs (source), the small RNAs from GMO plants could adversely regulate genes in humans.
Proponents of little to no regulation of biotechnology agree that safety testing would only encumber the shared utopian dream of producing as much food as cheaply as possible for a booming world population. If that’s the case, anti-GMOers are going about this “crusade” all wrong. Maybe a more effective tactic would be to scrutinize more closely the real world performance of GM crops.
Monsanto is now the largest seed company in the world. Pointing out that their business model is antithetical to time-tested agricultural practices developed over thousands of years of human history, namely the ability of farmers to save seeds and breed new heirloom varieties to keep genetic diversity at optimal levels, might also bolster the naturalist case. Indeed, there is research to suggest that a path to bounty for the food-insecure populations of the world won’t come through new agricultural products or methods, but a revival of pre-industrial farming practices. [emphasis added]

Source:     ivn.us  MORE

Note: see also Commentary: How Genetically Modified Foods Could Affect Our Health In Unexpected Ways - Yet another reason to test GMOs for safety  LINK

Commentary: The Iranian oil embargo blowback (Pepe Escobar)

If the sorry parade of European poodles . . . had any understanding of Persian culture, they would have known that blowback for their declaration of economic war in the form of an Iranian oil embargo would be nothing short of heavy metal.
Better yet; death metal. The Majlis (Iranian parliament) will discuss this Sunday, in an open section - whether to cancel right away all oil exports to any European country that approved the embargo - according to Emad Hosseini, the rapporteur of the Majlis Energy Committee. And that comes with the requisite apocalyptic warning, relayed via the Fars news agency, courtesy of member of Parliament Nasser Soudani: "Europe will burn in the fire of Iran's oil wells."
Soudani expresses the views of the whole Tehran establishment when he says that "the structure of [Europe's] refineries is compatible with Iran's oil", and so Europeans have no alternative as replacement; the embargo "will cause an increase in oil prices, and the Europeans will be compelled to buy oil at higher prices"; that is, Europe "will be compelled to buy Iran's oil indirectly and through intermediaries".

According to the EU sanctions package, all existing contracts will be respected only until July 1 - and no new contracts are allowed. Now imagine if this pre-emptive Iranian legislation is voted within the next few days. Crisis-hit Club Med countries such as Spain and especially Italy and Greece will be dealt a deathblow, having no time to find a possible alternative to Iran's light, high-quality crude.
Saudi Arabia - whatever the oily spin in Western corporate media - does not have the spare capacity; and on top of it, the absolute priority for the House of Saud is high oil prices, so it can bribe . . . its own population into forgetting about noxious Arab Spring ideas.
So yes, already broken European economies would be forced to keep buying Iranian oil, but now from the winners of choice - middlemen vultures.
Not surprisingly, the losers lost in these Cold War tactics anachronistically applied to a global open market are the Europeans themselves. Greece - already facing the abyss - has been buying heavily discounted oil from Iran. The strong possibility remains of the oil embargo precipitating a Greek government bond default - and even a catastrophic cascade effect in the eurozone (Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Spain - and beyond) . . . .

Now compare it with the action all across Eurasia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, "Unilateral sanctions don't help matters". The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, exercising immense tact, nevertheless was unmistakable; "To blindly pressure and impose sanctions on Iran are not constructive approaches."
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, "We have very good relations with Iran, and we are putting much effort into renewing Iran's talks with the P5+1 [the United Nations Security Council permanent members plus Germany] mediators' group. Turkey will continue looking for a peaceful solution to the issue.”

BRICS member India - alongside Russia and China - also dismissed sanctions. India will keep buying Iranian oil and paying in rupees or gold. South Korea and Japan will inevitably extract exemptions from the Barack Obama administration.
All across Eurasia trade is fast moving away from the US dollar. The Asian Dollar Exclusion Zone, crucially, also means that Asia is slowly disengaging itself from Western banks.
The movement may be led by China - but it's irreversibly transnational. Once again, follow the money. BRICS members China and Brazil started bypassing the US dollar on trade in 2007. BRICS members Russia and China did the same in 2010. Japan and China - the top two Asian giants - did the same only last month.
Only last week, Saudi Arabia and China rolled out a project for a giant oil refinery in the Red Sea. And India more or less secretly is deciding to pay for Iranian oil in gold - even bypassing the current middleman, a Turkish bank.
Asia wants a new international system - and it's working for it. Inevitable long-term consequences; the US dollar - and, crucially, the petrodollar - slowly drifting into irrelevance. "Too Big to Fail" may turn out to be not a categorical imperative, but an epitaph. [emphasis added]

Source:     atimes.com  MORE

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ADDITIONAL NEWS & ANALYSIS
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[analysis]: Libya teeters on edge of civil war  LINK
"There has been no revolution in Libya ... The western media have made it all up ... From the very outset, it was clear that whoever would come to power after Gaddafi would be unable to rule the country or maintain its territorial integrity ... Many Arabic scholars foresaw a split and it came sooner than expected ... The reality is that Libya has entered a civil war"

Gulf states withdrawing monitors from Syria and urge U.N. action (Followup)  LINK

Report: Saudi to recognize Syrian National Council  LINK
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U.S. commandos free aid workers held in Somalia (Followup)  LINK

U.N. seeks international conference on divided Cyprus  LINK

Report: U.S. seeks greater military presence in Philippines  LINK

Nigeria arrests 200 after attacks  LINK

Twitter announces it will censor some tweets ... activists worried  LINK
Policy would allow same message to be seen in some countries but not others

Google says privacy change won't affect government users  LINK

[analysis]: War for Total Control: Planning the Ultimate 'Big Brother' Surveillance Society  LINK

Fed Signals That a Full Recovery Is Years Away  LINK
The Fed said that it now planned to keep short-term interest rates near zero until late 2014

Report: Iran-China trade soars to top $45 billion  LINK
China is Iran's top trade partner, with economic ties expanding in recent years partly thanks to the withdrawal of Western companies in line with sanctions

[analysis]: India-Iran Oil Deal Sets Stage For $12 Billion Move To Gold  LINK

[analysis]: Gold for Oil: India and Iran Ditch Dollar  LINK

India Unexpectedly Cut Reserve Ratio as BRIC Nations Act to Protect Growth  LINK

More Americans 'Want a Personal Relationship With Their Food,' USDA Official Says  LINK
As part of the Obama administration's "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food" initiative, USDA says it has developed a "dedicated Farm-to-School Team" and increased the number of farmers markets that accept federal assistance programs, such as food stamps ... It also supports retailers featuring local foods as well as new farmers entering the local food system [As the saying goes: "Government should just get out of the way. - Ed.]

HEALTH HIGHLIGHTS: Join the Sound Body Yahoo group (part of the Christian Media ministry) to receive regular health eblasts  LINK

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"Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured ... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen."
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