Afghanistan....
http://rt.com/news/us-afghanistan-troop-immunity-123/
Lawrence Freeman, editor of Executive Intelligence Review, told RT that the US’s “conflicted policy” in Afghanistan was drawing out negotiations.
Iran will not agree to send its stockpile of enriched uranium abroad, one of its chief negotiators said ahead of talks with world powers over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
http://rt.com/news/us-afghanistan-troop-immunity-123/
Kerry fails to secure deal on US ‘troop immunity’ in Afghanistan
Talks between the US and Afghanistan to allow 10,000 American troops to remain in the country after NATO forces’ planned withdrawal in 2014 stalled Saturday on the issue of immunity for US personnel.
A long day of negotiations between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Afghan President Hamid Karzai yielded little result for the long-delayed Bilateral Security Agreement, which would allow between 5,000 and 10,000 US troops to stay behind, to continue training Afghan security forces and to fight Taliban insurgents.
It is beyond the scope of the Afghan president and his government to decide whether to grant US military personnel immunity, Karzai told Kerry, adding that this “issue of jurisdiction” would be referred to the country’s loya Jirga, an assembly of elders, leaders and other influential people.
"We need to say that if the issue of jurisdiction cannot be resolved, then unfortunately there cannot be a bilateral security agreement," Kerry told reporters at a Kabul news conference, stressing, however, that an agreement was otherwise essentially in place.
Kerry said only a partial deal was reached on just how many US troops will stay in the country after the NATO pull-out next year. Washington wants to take the lead in running counter-terrorism missions after 2014, as well as to keep leasing bases around the country.
But such unilateral actions as the capture in recent days of Taliban commander Latif Mehsud by US forces have angered Karzai.
"This is an issue that we have raised in earnest with the United States in the past few days, as we have all previous occasions of such arrests in which the Afghan laws were disregarded," Reuters reported Karzai as saying.
Karzai wants a guarantee that the US will protect Afghanistan from a potential Al-Qaeda invasion from neighboring Pakistan. He said that during the talks an agreement had been signed to ensure the welfare of the Afghan people.
“There will be no arbitrary actions and operations by the US, and a written document has been given to guarantee the protection of lives and properties of our people,” Karzai said.
‘Geopolitical games’
Lawrence Freeman, editor of Executive Intelligence Review, told RT that the US’s “conflicted policy” in Afghanistan was drawing out negotiations.
Referring to the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 as a “farce,” Freeman said that the US had no clear policy for the future of the region. He said that the US needed to introduce a serious development program rather than continuing with what he described as a policy governed by “geopolitical games.”
“There are some people who think we should have a military base in Afghanistan to have some kind of containment against Russian ambitions,” Freeman told RT, concluding that the West’s intervention as a whole was a “failure” when it comes to “forward-thinking, visionary policy.”
Iran.....
Handing over enriched uranium a ‘red line’ – Iranian deputy FM
Iran will not agree to send its stockpile of enriched uranium abroad, one of its chief negotiators said ahead of talks with world powers over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
But Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Iran would be more flexible on other aspects of the country’s uranium enrichment
Iran will not agree to send its stockpile of enriched uranium abroad, one of its chief negotiators said ahead of talks with world powers over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
se we will negotiate regarding the form, amount, and various levels of [uranium] enrichment, but the shipping of [enriched] materials out of the country is our red line," Araqchi was quoted as saying on Sunday by Iranian state television's website.
Talks on Iran’s nuclear program are set to resume in Geneva next week with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (Russia, the US, China, the UK and France) plus Germany, the so-called P5+1 group.
The October 15-16 talks will be the first round of negotiations since Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani took office in August, vowing to engage the world constructively and resolve the decade-long showdown over Tehran's nuclear program.
The October 15-16 talks will be the first round of negotiations since Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani took office in August, vowing to engage the world constructively and resolve the decade-long showdown over Tehran's nuclear program.
The previous high-level meeting between Iran and the P5+1 in the Kazakh city of Almaty ended with an impasse in April.
World powers proposed that Iran halt all 20 percent enrichment activities and transfer part of its stockpile of 20 percent-enriched uranium to a third country under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) supervision. The P5+1 also called on Tehran to suspend all operations at its Fordow facility near the city of Qom.
Despite the deadlock, Rouhani said in an interview with the Washington Post last month that reaching a nuclear deal with the P5+1 group should be a matter of “months, not years.”
Meanwhile, on Saturday senior Iranian lawmaker Mohammad-Hassan Asafari said Western governments should start lifting sanctions in the run up to the talks as a show of good faith with Tehran.
"To be fruitful, the negotiations need some positive steps taken by both sides," FARS News Agency cites Asafari as saying.
"For instance, the Westerners can make some (positive) decisions (to remove the ban) on the insurance of Iranian oil tankers or revise their decisions with regard to the ban on the purchase of Iranian crude by China, India and Japan before the start of the [Geneva] talks in a bid to show their good will," he said.
Asafari, who is a member of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission's Presiding Board, added that Tehran is ready to show “more transparency” regarding its uranium enrichment with the P5+1.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, reached out to European powers over the weekend in an effort to keep the pressure on Iran.
Speaking with French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron, Netanyahu said sanctions imposed on Iran are close to “reaching their objectives” and should be increased, an Israeli government official told AP on condition of anonymity.
Netanyahu has dismissed Rouhani’s softer approach towards the West as a trick aimed at loosening the tight sanctions regime targeting the Islamic Republic.
Israel views a nuclear-armed Iran as an existential threat, while Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.
"To be fruitful, the negotiations need some positive steps taken by both sides," FARS News Agency cites Asafari as saying.
"For instance, the Westerners can make some (positive) decisions (to remove the ban) on the insurance of Iranian oil tankers or revise their decisions with regard to the ban on the purchase of Iranian crude by China, India and Japan before the start of the [Geneva] talks in a bid to show their good will," he said.
Asafari, who is a member of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission's Presiding Board, added that Tehran is ready to show “more transparency” regarding its uranium enrichment with the P5+1.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, reached out to European powers over the weekend in an effort to keep the pressure on Iran.
Speaking with French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron, Netanyahu said sanctions imposed on Iran are close to “reaching their objectives” and should be increased, an Israeli government official told AP on condition of anonymity.
Netanyahu has dismissed Rouhani’s softer approach towards the West as a trick aimed at loosening the tight sanctions regime targeting the Islamic Republic.
Israel views a nuclear-armed Iran as an existential threat, while Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.
| |
BEIRUT — The moderate rebel command at the center of U.S. policy in Syria is becoming increasingly marginalized as dozens of militias peel away to form rival, Islamist alliances in a move that could leave the Obama administration with no battlefield partner in the fight to topple President Bashar Assad.
The Supreme Military Command and its forces, known collectively as the Free Syrian Army, are reeling as 40 or more affiliates this month have signed onto two new umbrella groups, both with agendas that are at odds with the U.S.-backed opposition’s long-stated vision of a democratic, pluralistic Syria.
If the project to build rival Islamist commands succeeds, opposition activists and Middle East analysts warn, the Supreme Military Command is likely to fizzle quickly, essentially ending talk of a “moderate” rebel force to counter the influence of Islamist insurgents, including at least two factions aligned with al Qaida.
“Because we’re short on ammunition, short on supplies, some of our groups are going to them. The Islamists have their own supplies,” said Louay Meqdad, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army. “We’re asking the international community: Please don’t leave our people to choose between joining the extremists and surrendering to Bashar Assad.”
The two emerging Islamist umbrella groups are known as the Azzaz Declaration Signatories in the north and, in the capital, Damascus, as the Army of Islam. Though both groups are nascent, their arrival hardens the conflict’s turn from an anti-authoritarian rebellion to a Sunni Muslim campaign to overthrow a regime led by the minority Alawite sect and replace it with a government “consistent with the principles of Islamic law.”
The two emerging Islamist umbrella groups are known as the Azzaz Declaration Signatories in the north and, in the capital, Damascus, as the Army of Islam. Though both groups are nascent, their arrival hardens the conflict’s turn from an anti-authoritarian rebellion to a Sunni Muslim campaign to overthrow a regime led by the minority Alawite sect and replace it with a government “consistent with the principles of Islamic law.”
That’s a far cry from the U.S.-backed opposition’s vision of a secular democracy with protection of minority rights.
Meqdad said the force behind the formation of the Army of Islam, Zahran Alloush, a founder of the Liwa al Islam militia who’d been part of the Supreme Military Command, personally assured him that this was just a “gathering” of groups under an Islamist banner. Alloush’s father reportedly is a Salafist cleric in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the family is said to have Saudi backing, fueling rumors that the new project is Saudi Arabia lashing out at U.S. policy by creating a parallel command to mount a more serious fight against Assad.
Meqdad rejected the idea that Persian Gulf powers were behind the alliance but stressed that Alloush owed his rebel comrades an explanation.
“For sure, we are not happy about anyone starting his own army,” Meqdad said. “This is not the time for this. We can’t divide the cake before we even get it.”
Meqdad said internal talks are to be held within days to figure out exactly which brigades are leaving the Free Syrian Army and whether to expect the new Islamist groupings to cooperate in battle or whether the goal is really to sideline the Supreme Military Command and its leader, Gen. Salim Idriss.
Officials said Idriss heard reassurances over the weekend from Ambassador Robert Ford, the State Department’s envoy to the Syrian opposition, that the Obama administration would keep supporting and delivering aid to the command. The two met in Istanbul, the Turkish city that’s a hub for opposition organizing.
But how Ford’s pledge could be fulfilled is unclear, with growing difficulties in getting equipment to the moderates now that al Qaida-aligned groups control key border crossings and with increasing number of rebel units publicly disavowing any connection to the Supreme Military Command.
Fighters and observers of the conflict say the chief motivations for the shift away from the Supreme Military Command are frustration with the U.S. government’s slow delivery of promised combat equipment and President Barack Obama’s decision not to launch missile strikes against the Assad regime in retaliation for a deadly chemical weapons attack.
Another main issue was the attempted takeover of the rebel movement by al Qaida’s Syria branch, the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham, better known by the acronym ISIS. Most of the rebel groups, even fellow Islamists, decry that group’s extremist ideology and merciless dealings with local communities.
ISIS has been engaged in fierce gunfights with more moderate rebels, who out of concern that the Supreme Military Command isn’t up to the fight are turning to the other al Qaida affiliate in the Syrian conflict, Jabhat al Nusra, also known as the Nusra Front. Despite its U.S. designation as a terrorist organization, many now consider Nusra closer to the mainstream because of its own rivalries with ISIS.
“In comparison to ISIS – the Syria Iraq al Qaida group – al Nusra, well, they look moderate,” Kristalina Georgieva, the European Union’s commissioner for international coordination, humanitarian aid and crisis response, said Friday at a Syria talk at the New America Foundation in Washington.
In addition, there was festering disdain for the Syrian Opposition Council, the political opposition that, ostensibly at least, oversees the Supreme Military Command. The political opposition members are derided as exiles and “hotel revolutionaries,” though until now there had been higher regard for Idriss and his men because of their service in combat.
But now, the Supreme Military Command, too, is fast becoming irrelevant, along with its dream of a moderate, professional force that abides by international norms on human rights and rules of war.
“Now, more than ever, the United States can get behind the SMC to prevent this from taking hold,” Dan Layman, spokesman for the Washington-based Syrian Support Group, a pro-rebel fundraising group, said of the new Islamist alliances. “At the end of the day it’s going to be about supplies: Who can support the fighters?”
Aymenn al Tamimi, a fellow with the Middle East Forum, a conservative research center in Philadelphia, and a monitor of jihadist activity in Syria and Iraq, said that Idriss and his command were good at making pledges but couldn’t back up their words because of a lack of resources.
“I think Idriss had some sway over certain rebel groups in the Damascus area and points south, but a lot of his gestures of being in touch with forces on the ground were only superficially impressive,” Tamimi said.
For example, Tamimi said, Idriss paid a visit to the coastal area of Latakia in a time of fighting, prompting some rebels to rejoice in what they perceived as the Free Syrian Army’s advance.
“On the contrary, as my own research on both sides shows, the Latakia offensive was primarily led by battalions of foreign fighters, and the sole purpose of it was to score a symbolic victory through ethnic cleansing of Alawites,” Tamimi said.
That offensive was the subject of a scathing Human Rights Watch report on Friday that accused the rebels, led by ISIS, Nusra and three other groups, of killing scores of civilians and kidnapping at least 200 more who are still being held hostage.
The report said it had no evidence that troops reporting to Idriss had had a direct hand in the atrocities. But it said Idriss’ assertion that Supreme Military Command-allied units had taken part in the offensive should be examined, and it urged the Supreme Military Command to cease any cooperation with the Islamist groups.
False Flag watch ......
http://rt.com/usa/dry-run-terrorism-planes-memo-090/
Internal pilot-union memo claims terrorism ‘dry-runs’ happening on US flights
An internal memo from the union that represents pilots for US Airways claims there have been “several cases recently” throughout the airline industry of what the union believes are “dry-runs” for potential attacks with or on an aircraft.
The memo - released sometime just before September 11, 2013 - from the US Airline Pilots Association states "there have been several cases recently throughout the (airline) industry of what appear to be probes, or dry-runs, to test our procedures and reaction to an in-flight threat."
The union memo, titled “9/11 Security Update,” went on to detail one “typical example” that happened on a US Airways flight to Orlando International Airport (MCO) originating at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in Washington, DC. (All italics and capitalization reflect the original memo.)
“A group of Middle-Eastern males boarded in DCA. Shortly after takeoff, one got up and ran from his seat in coach towards the flight deck door. He made a hard left and entered the forward lav, where he stayed for a considerable length of time! While he was in there, the others got up and proceeded to move about the cabin, changing seats, opening overhead bins, and generally making a scene. They appeared to be trying to occupy and distract the flight attendants.
“Coincidence?”
Both US Airways and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) verified the incident.
The TSA responded to the original story with a statement, saying it "takes all reports of suspicious activity on board aircraft seriously,” and that "the matter required no further investigation at this time."
One skeptical US House member, however, called for further review of the event.
“Any suspicious reported incident of this nature should be properly investigated,” said Congressman John Mica (R), who represents area north of Orlando. “It is government’s obligation and responsibility to remain vigilant. While the specifics of the US Air incident are not public, federal authorities must review the matter.”
The union memo was obtained and reported by WTSP in Tampa Bay.
At least one unnamed Federal Air Marshal was interviewed for the original WTSP story and a follow-up published Friday morning.
The source said the TSA’s motivations should be received with suspicion.
"They're liars. They're flat out liars."
According to WTSP, the Air Marshal and other airline employees said several flights they have worked on have been the target of “dry-runs,” no matter what the TSA reports.
The security update memo followed the first DCA-to-MCO example with “another interesting twist to this case,” according to its authors.
“It just so happens that on the return flight from MCO - DCA, with the same flight number, a group of 8 Middle Eastern females -- concealed in full burkas -- were in the boarding area for the flight to DCA. This flight did not have a (Federal Air Marshal) team, even though it was supposed to have a significant VIP aboard. (He was rebooked when all these details were made known to his security detail.)
“Coincidence?”
A pilot for Delta Airlines who is also chairman of the Aviation Security Committee for the Air Line Pilots Association, International - a pilots union for many North American airlines, not including US Airways - told WTSP any belief that another major attack on or with an aircraft will not happen again “is very foolish.”
The events of 9/11 were "an incredible attack on us. It was very well orchestrated and they're going to try it again... 100 percent, no question in my mind. They're going to try it again,” said Wolf Koch.
The union memo urges aircraft crews to be aware of safety protocols.
“ALWAYS, ALWAYS use the cart as a barrier when the flight deck door is opened in flight because, ladies and gentlemen, if a bad guy gets into the cockpit (it only takes 2 seconds!) and another 9/11 happens -- its GAME, SET and MATCH in favor of the bad guys!”
One airline ground crew member told WTSP ground crews are not screened and could plant bombs or weapons in a lavatory, for example.
"We could just carry our backpacks right through the turn style (sic) gate and could have anything we wanted to put on that plane."
The memo includes inflammatory and political commentary that appear to be meant to motivate union members to stay vigilant.
“Islamic terrorists have a thing about significant dates, and it just so happens that the 12th anniversary of 9/11 is in a few days. Do you remember that day? You can bet The Enemy does. Remember Benghazi? That’s when the US was attacked again on the 11th anniversary of 9/11. (And no, it was not about an anti-Muslim video.)
“Right now the Middle East is burning as the ‘Arab Spring’ turns into the Arab Winter and the conflagration is consuming an entire region of the world. Tensions are high -- and that is when bad things happen. Whatever the US does in the Middle East will be used as an excuse to kill Americans. As always, but especially now, keep the safety of your passengers and crew a top priority. Don’t cut corners.”
The union memo, titled “9/11 Security Update,” went on to detail one “typical example” that happened on a US Airways flight to Orlando International Airport (MCO) originating at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in Washington, DC. (All italics and capitalization reflect the original memo.)
“A group of Middle-Eastern males boarded in DCA. Shortly after takeoff, one got up and ran from his seat in coach towards the flight deck door. He made a hard left and entered the forward lav, where he stayed for a considerable length of time! While he was in there, the others got up and proceeded to move about the cabin, changing seats, opening overhead bins, and generally making a scene. They appeared to be trying to occupy and distract the flight attendants.
“Coincidence?”
Both US Airways and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) verified the incident.
The TSA responded to the original story with a statement, saying it "takes all reports of suspicious activity on board aircraft seriously,” and that "the matter required no further investigation at this time."
One skeptical US House member, however, called for further review of the event.
“Any suspicious reported incident of this nature should be properly investigated,” said Congressman John Mica (R), who represents area north of Orlando. “It is government’s obligation and responsibility to remain vigilant. While the specifics of the US Air incident are not public, federal authorities must review the matter.”
The union memo was obtained and reported by WTSP in Tampa Bay.
At least one unnamed Federal Air Marshal was interviewed for the original WTSP story and a follow-up published Friday morning.
The source said the TSA’s motivations should be received with suspicion.
"They're liars. They're flat out liars."
According to WTSP, the Air Marshal and other airline employees said several flights they have worked on have been the target of “dry-runs,” no matter what the TSA reports.
The security update memo followed the first DCA-to-MCO example with “another interesting twist to this case,” according to its authors.
“It just so happens that on the return flight from MCO - DCA, with the same flight number, a group of 8 Middle Eastern females -- concealed in full burkas -- were in the boarding area for the flight to DCA. This flight did not have a (Federal Air Marshal) team, even though it was supposed to have a significant VIP aboard. (He was rebooked when all these details were made known to his security detail.)
“Coincidence?”
A pilot for Delta Airlines who is also chairman of the Aviation Security Committee for the Air Line Pilots Association, International - a pilots union for many North American airlines, not including US Airways - told WTSP any belief that another major attack on or with an aircraft will not happen again “is very foolish.”
The events of 9/11 were "an incredible attack on us. It was very well orchestrated and they're going to try it again... 100 percent, no question in my mind. They're going to try it again,” said Wolf Koch.
The union memo urges aircraft crews to be aware of safety protocols.
“ALWAYS, ALWAYS use the cart as a barrier when the flight deck door is opened in flight because, ladies and gentlemen, if a bad guy gets into the cockpit (it only takes 2 seconds!) and another 9/11 happens -- its GAME, SET and MATCH in favor of the bad guys!”
One airline ground crew member told WTSP ground crews are not screened and could plant bombs or weapons in a lavatory, for example.
"We could just carry our backpacks right through the turn style (sic) gate and could have anything we wanted to put on that plane."
The memo includes inflammatory and political commentary that appear to be meant to motivate union members to stay vigilant.
“Islamic terrorists have a thing about significant dates, and it just so happens that the 12th anniversary of 9/11 is in a few days. Do you remember that day? You can bet The Enemy does. Remember Benghazi? That’s when the US was attacked again on the 11th anniversary of 9/11. (And no, it was not about an anti-Muslim video.)
“Right now the Middle East is burning as the ‘Arab Spring’ turns into the Arab Winter and the conflagration is consuming an entire region of the world. Tensions are high -- and that is when bad things happen. Whatever the US does in the Middle East will be used as an excuse to kill Americans. As always, but especially now, keep the safety of your passengers and crew a top priority. Don’t cut corners.”
Hi Fred,
ReplyDeleteWow seems like there are more and more things to keep up with. I wish I had been in a Walmart when the EBT cards quit working, that would have been interesting.
Seems like the powers that be are doing a lot of "dry runs" , somethings up with that.
The financial situation just seems to get more unstable, I'm still waiting for TSTHTF.
Hmm , not sure I would have wanted to be part of that kind of madhouse , especially if security decided to get assertive !
ReplyDeleteLots of " beta " testing underway , testing for reactions , seeing what we might tolerate , seeing where they trigger points might be to have their will accepted !