The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.
SHORT VERSION (Iranian Press TV)
Striking evidence of the use of American EPW (Earth Penetrating Weapons) nuclear weapons in Syria has come to light. Experts say the proof is irrefutable.
LONG VERSION (Veterans Today, with videos)
Analysis shows Syria came under attack by Israel using, not just nuclear weapons, but an American nuclear bunker buster bomb, one of several supplied to Israel to use against Iran, one of the last acts of the Bush/Cheney administration.
Kofi Annan: Africa plundered by secret mining deals
Tax avoidance, secret mining deals and financial transfers are depriving Africa of the benefits of its resources boom, ex-UN chief Kofi Annan has said.
BBC 10 May 2013
Firms that shift profits to lower tax jurisdictions cost Africa $38bn (£25bn) a year, says a report produced by a panel he heads.
“Africa loses twice as much money through these loopholes as it gets from donors,” Mr Annan told the BBC.
It was like taking food off the tables of the poor, he said.
The Africa Progress Report is released every May – produced by a panel of 10 prominent figures, including former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Graca Machel, the wife of South African ex-President Nelson Mandela.
African countries needed to improve governance and the world's richest nations should help introduce global rules on transparency and taxation, Mr Annan said.
The report gave the Democratic Republic of Congo as an example, where between 2010 and 2012 five under-priced mining concessions were sold in “highly opaque and secretive deals”.
This figure was equivalent to double DR Congo's health and education budgets combined, the report said.
China-North Korea: Update. China's Foreign Ministry declined Wednesday, 8 May, to confirm the Bank of China's closure of the account of the North Korean Foreign Trade Bank. In response to a question at Wednesday's news conference, Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, “For specifics, please refer it to competent Chinese authorities.”
Sources of the Daily NK reported that since 7 May, “other Chinese state banking entities including China Construction Bank have apparently ceased business dealings with North Korean financial entities as well. The banks did so in accordance with guidance handed down by the China Banking Regulatory Commission, and as such is actually a policy of the Chinese government.”
Comment: If the Chinese are exerting economic pressure against North Korea as punishment for refusing to listen to guidance, some reaction by North Korea should become evident soon. Such action would represent a strategic change in China's relationship with North Korea. More on this later.
Huh?
Will China Become the New Mideast Mediator?
Good thing I have access to CCTV-English (Chinese state television) for international news or I would have totally missed the scoop that Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu has frozen new settlement activity in the Palestinian West Bank. CCTV-English is a free channel on Freeview, New Zealand’s free digital hook-up.
I suspect this relates to China recently surpassing Australia as our most important trade partner. It looks like World War III is about to break out any day now in Syria. Thus what I like most about CCTV-English is that they have a correspondent in Damascus (unlike US networks, the BBC or even Al Jazeera) with sources among rebel groups and the Syrian military. .
Two nights ago, I was really intrigued to learn that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in China at the time of the Israeli air strikes on Syria. So was Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. This was no accident, as China’s new president Xi Jinping was very hopeful the two leaders would take up his offer to mediate a meeting between them.
Israel’s Export Imperative
Netanyahu was in China hoping to increase exports to the world’s second largest economy. Given that 40% of Israel’s GDP is based on exports, Bibi is keen for trade with China(Israel’s number 3 trading partner) to reach $10 billion over the next three years. While also interested in increasing exports, Abbas is more interested in economic aid China has offered, as well the likelihood their intervention could shift the stalemated peace process.
China’s new president Xi Jinping has issued a four point proposal for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to a statement issued by Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying: “The immediate priority is to take credible steps to stop settlement activities, end violence against innocent civilians and lift the blockade of the Gaza Strip in order to create the necessary conditions for the resumption of peace talks.
Continue reading “Mini-Me: Israel Finally Has a Master — China”
I visited Levantine Syria [1] for three memorable days in 2008 and was struck by the welcoming, friendly nature of the Syrian people, their effusive pride in Syria’s multicultural heritage, and a pervasive atmosphere of optimism. I had the impression Syria was emerging from the darkness of the Hafez Assad dictatorship. To be sure, his son, Bashir Assad, had inherited the deeply entrenched thuggish Ba’athist machinery and ruled as an autocrat, but it seemed also that he was a struggling reformer of sorts, perhaps a well-intentioned young man in over his head. Based on my limited conversations with the locals, I sensed (perhaps erroneously) the average person on the street was empathetic to his problems and willing to give him a little time to sort things out. Without exception, everyone I talked to on this subject said he was far better than his father.
Syria: For the record. Multiple internet monitoring services reported that Syria has dropped off the Internet. One reported it is a total blackout for the country of Syria. Supposedly this has happened at least once before, prior to the start of a government offensive.
Israel-Syria: Israel is not getting involved in Syria's civil war, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Tuesday, but said Israel would not permit the transfer of arms to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Yaalon did not mention the Israeli air attacks in Syria over the weekend.
Comment: Israel has shown that it will protect its interests and that the Syrian Integrated Air Defense System is penetrable. On the other hand, Iran has demonstrated the ability to use its proxies to drag Israel deeper into the Syrian uprising and thereby expand the fighting and ease pressure on the Asad government.
It is not clear that Israel is prepared to accept a Sunni fundamentalist regime in Damascus. Israel knows it can live with an Alawite government. The air attacks serve its short term interests in hobbling Hezbollah, but they also remind Arabs that the larger struggle is with Israel.
The Iranian foreign minister admonished Arab leaders today by asking the question, in paraphrase, why are Arabs fighting Arabs when Israel is the enemy?
Afghanistan: A compilation of open source reports on all types of security incidents in Afghanistan in April 2013 indicates a more than 70 percent increase in incidents compared to March. In March 667 incidents were reported, compared to 1145 in April, which marks the start of the 2013 fighting period.
Security conditions remain the most dangerous in the Pashtun provinces of eastern, southeastern and southern Afghanistan.
Comment: The spike confirms the start of a new Taliban offensive, as announced last month. The level of attacks is just over half the number of incidents reported in June 2012, which was the peak of the fighting during US military surge. IEDs remain the most commonly used weapon, accounting for more than 30 percent of all incidents.
Iran-Syria-Israel: Iranian Deputy Chief of Staff Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri said Iran will not allow Israel to harm the security of the region, and that a response will be made to the Israeli aggression in Syria, Ynet news reported 5 May.
Comment: Jazayeri provided no clues about the nature of the Iranian response, but his language in translation conveys specific intent to retaliate in some fashion. That is stronger than Syria's response.
