http://news.antiwar.com/2012/10/14/western-backed-rebels-move-against-syrias-christian-minority/
Syria is the site of one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, a 2,0000-year-old tradition followed by an estimated 10 percent of the nation’s population. Increasingly under attack by jihadist-minded rebel factions, they may soon go the way of Iraqi Christians, who during the US occupation were chased out of the nation en masse.
That’s the news from a number of Western officials, who say that the vast majority of the weapons being shipped into the country are going to “exactly the ones we don’t want to have” them, the jihadist factions.
Previously, the sanctions had only targeted certain types of transactions with Iran, but the new rules, if approved, would ban essentially all transactions. Only transactions that are specifically approved ahead of time would be allowed.
The first is really just an extension of the existing nuclear hysteria; the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack. Popular in cold war fiction, the EMP rests on the idea of not attacking a city with a nuclear weapon, but instead detonating it in the air so that the resulting electromagnetic field disrupts electrical systems, potentially knocking out electricity in the effected area. Such an attack rests on the idea of Iran getting a nuclear weapon first, however, and therefore is no more likely to happen than all of the other nuclear-based hysteria.
Western-Backed Rebels Move Against Syria’s Christian Minority
Churches in Homs Under Constant Attack
by Jason Ditz, October 14, 2012
Lost in the focus on the larger battle for Syria the nation-state is the fate of Syria as an historical site of religious pluralism, as the Sunni majority rebels turn not only on the Alawite dominated government, but in growing instances on all religious minorities,including Syria’s ancient Christian community.
Syria is the site of one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, a 2,0000-year-old tradition followed by an estimated 10 percent of the nation’s population. Increasingly under attack by jihadist-minded rebel factions, they may soon go the way of Iraqi Christians, who during the US occupation were chased out of the nation en masse.
Militant factions in rebel-held cities like Homs see Christian communities as easy targets for extortion, and the more Islamist blocs regularly target their churches, damaging many and destroying others.
Christians and other minorities have tried to form militias to protect their neighborhoods, but with the rebels awash in Western money and arms, they are simply out-manned and outgunned. As the fight continues to escalate, the groups are facing a tougher and tougher choice about whether to try to stay or to flee abroad.
and.....
http://news.antiwar.com/2012/10/14/arms-shipments-to-syria-aid-jihadists-officials-admit/
Arms Shipments to Syria Aid Jihadists, Officials Admit
Is Foreign Aid Turning Syria's Rebellion Into Terrorists?
by Jason Ditz, October 14, 2012
Syria’s rebellion has long been split across a very visible line between secular military defectors and Sunni Islamists hoping to oust the current regime and turn the nation into a theocracy. And while Western statements tend to emphasize the former, it is the latter that is getting most of the weaponry.
That’s the news from a number of Western officials, who say that the vast majority of the weapons being shipped into the country are going to “exactly the ones we don’t want to have” them, the jihadist factions.
Having long dismissed the Syrian government’s claims that the rebels are “terrorists” as propaganda, the foreign aid seems to be making the claims true, propping up what were once relatively small terror-minded factions and sidelining the secular defectors.
US officials insist that they aren’t actually sending the weapons, and are claiming this proves the need for more “direct” involvement. Yet several past reports suggest that the US has been key in “facilitating” those weapons across the border from Turkey into Syria, and there is no reason to believe they will be any more efficient at smuggling US arms than Qatari arms into Syria.
and items on Iran.....
http://news.antiwar.com/2012/10/14/eu-plans-new-sanctions-on-irans-banking-shipping-sectors/
EU Plans New Sanctions on Iran’s Banking, Shipping Sectors
Israeli FM: Not Imposing Sanctions Like Appeasing Hitler
by Jason Ditz, October 14, 2012
EU officials are meeting in Luxembourg on Monday to discuss the possibility of imposing a massive new round of sanctions against Iran, this time targeting the Iranian banking and shipping sectors.
Previously, the sanctions had only targeted certain types of transactions with Iran, but the new rules, if approved, would ban essentially all transactions. Only transactions that are specifically approved ahead of time would be allowed.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is loudly advocating the new sanctions, and is demanding that the EU immediately pass them, claiming that not doing so is the same thing as going back in time to support Hitler in the 1930′s.
Sanctions against Iran have done massive damage to the nation’s private economy, while many of the government industries that were supposed to be targeted have been less effected, as they are able to find ways to circumvent the rules.
and.....
http://news.antiwar.com/2012/10/14/emps-and-oil-spills-experts-cook-up-new-iran-hypothetical-to-fear/
EMPs and Oil Spills: ‘Experts’ Cook Up New Iran Hypotheticals to Fear
Iran Might Just Dump a Bunch of Oil in the Gulf, Officials Reckon
by Jason Ditz, October 14, 2012
After a solid 30 years of fearmongering centered around Iran’s civilian nuclear program, and the nuclear weapon that is always just “months” away but never seems to actually get made, “experts” are being quoted in the media with a bunch of new scenarios for things Iran might conceivably do.
The first is really just an extension of the existing nuclear hysteria; the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack. Popular in cold war fiction, the EMP rests on the idea of not attacking a city with a nuclear weapon, but instead detonating it in the air so that the resulting electromagnetic field disrupts electrical systems, potentially knocking out electricity in the effected area. Such an attack rests on the idea of Iran getting a nuclear weapon first, however, and therefore is no more likely to happen than all of the other nuclear-based hysteria.
The second plan, which officials claim they have evidence is being considered, is called “Dirty Water.” It is precisely that, the idea that Iran might up and spill a bunch of oilinto a Straits of Hormuz, causing an environmental disaster on their own shores to force a massive international cleanup, which would require Iranian help and therefore force the UN to “relax” sanctions to allow such a cleanup. Though Iran could theoretically do this since it has a bunch of oil already sitting on ships, it isn’t clear why it would be considered, as it solves none of the ongoing tensions in the region, and seems more the sort of thing a James Bond supervillain or Lex Luthor would do than a country under sanctions.
Finally, and perhaps most plausibly, we have “cyberattack.” Politicians like to say cyberattack on TV because it makes them sound techno-savvy, and adding “cyber” to the beginning of words or phrases is always a good bet, with US politicians ever on the lookout for “cyber 9/11.”
The Pentagon is also pretty sure Iran is to blame for cyberattacks that have already happened. Not that they have any proof, but it makes sense in their own worldview of the Internet as a “battlefield of the 21st century,” and doubly so since the US has been openly launching cyberattacks against Iran for years. It would make sense that they might retaliate, but so far Iran is denying this, and there is no evidence to the contrary.
The biggest argument against Iran being responsible is that many of the sites have been incredibly small and irrelevant, and it isn’t clear why Iran would bother to make Bank of America’s website a bit slow for a few hours. It certainly isn’t anywhere near the scale of US and Israeli cyberattacks on Iran, in which virii not only damaged a number of Iranian centrifuges, but escaped the country and did billions of dollars in economic damage worldwide as well.
,
No comments:
Post a Comment