Winds of War

With American/NATO, Iranian and Russian warships playing chicken, it appears a missing plug in, in today’s language, is the only thing missing.

Syria could be it. Israel could be the decider

There is increasing evidence that the Putin Regime wants to match arms with the U.S., a battle it lost long ago and is not likely to win again.

Clearly it is a way to guarantee his election to a second presidential term. Only time will tell whether the tactic can be dropped once the victory is won.

Critics of expanding relations with Moscow would say we have already given away most our leverage. Last December Moscow was allowed in the World Trade Organization.

Retired CIA station chief Robert Grenier, writing for Al Jazeera, said, “Any conventional war involving Israel, the US, Iran and perhaps other regional powers would be a limited one. Military efforts to degrade Iranian nuclear capabilities and defence infrastructure will surely not include an attempt at occupying the country, nor at forcibly removing its government. Even the US would not be capable of doing so, even if it were so inclined. Nor is war likely to induce either the Iranian regime or its people to capitulate on their nuclear program, regardless of its ultimate intent. Instead, armed intervention is far more likely to swing the Iranians more solidly behind their government and its nationalist agenda, even if that agenda were temporarily set back.”

I recall France once rather ominously pointed out  that it has a very dirty bomb that could be used and keep property damage limited.

Should strong force be needed to drive Syria’s Assad from power could that cause Iran to step back. Would Russia attempt to forcefully block the West, not if its recents signals are accurate.

Assange Russian TV Show

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange plans to host a show on Russian TV in March. The show will be taped in the United Kingdom so the long-running case of alleged sexual assault against Assange in Sweden would not necessarily interfere.
However, it wasn't clear how shows taped weeks in advance could be timely.

Ria Novosti, the official Russian news agency, confirmed plans for show.
It was an embarrassment for the U.S. media, coming on the same day that Reporters Without Borders lowered its ranking for press freedom from 20th to 47th.

Assange’s appeal of an extradition order is scheduled for a hearing in England’s high court on Feb. 1. The authencity of the allegations have has been challenged by Wikileaks and many others. Some consider it a U.S.-influenced attempt to discredit Wikileaks for the release of negative inform about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Assange has been under house arrest in England for more than a year.

The show will have ten half-hour segments with many outside guests, the channel Russia Today said. It will be called “The World Tomorrow," the station said.

“Guests of the show’s host and creator Julian Assange will include politicians and revolutionaries; people, who in his opinion, will form tomorrow’s agenda,” the channel said.

“We are proud and delighted that our channel will premiere Julian Assange’s project because the RT channel has gained a worldwide audience that's disappointed by the mainstream and has become open to new angles, making this show fitting for the purpose” RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan said.

U.S. viewers likely would have to watch the show on the Internet or via satellite, barring a decision by commercial American television to pick it up.

Wikileaks said on its Web site that this is timely because some in the U.S. Congress were pushing legislation which would virtually shut down the free flow of information on the Web.

“Upheavals and revolutions in the Middle East have started an era of political change that is still unfolding," WikiLeaks stated on its website. "In the West, the deterioration of the rule of law has demonstrated the bankruptcy of once leading political institutions and ideologies. The Internet has never been so strong, or so much under attack.”

Syria: Growing Pressure for Military Intervention

Pressure for a military intervention in Syria is growing as President Bashar al-Assad sends out mixed messages on his intentions.

One member of the Arab League, Qatar, has called for troops to be sent in to stop the regime’s killing of Syrians opposed to Assad. Qatar played a leading role in support of ousting the late Muammar Gaddafi.

“Today, I say again to President Assad of Syria: Stop the violence. Stop killing your people. The path of repression is a dead end,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said in a  a conference on democracy in the Arab world held in Lebanon on Sunday.
"The lessons of the past year are eloquent and clear. The winds of change will not cease to blow. The flame ignited in Tunisia will not be dimmed. Let us remember as well, none of these great changes began with a call for a regime change. First and foremost, people wanted dignity," he said.

Assad, promised a referendum on a new constitution in March and said he was issuing a countrywide general amnesty for those involved in protests. However, he also said he would use an “iron fist” to suppress his opponents, who he said were backed by Western governments and media.

 The Guardian reported Assad vowed "God willing, we will be victorious … We are nearing the end of the crisis." Supporters cheered him at the end of what was described as a rambling 100-minute speech at Damascus University.

Russian media, which had roundly condemned the Libya intervention, was more reserved on the Syrian situation. Moscow, however, continues to oppose sanctions. The U.S. has indicated support for intervention if the bloodshed does not stop.

Arab media carried a wide variety of reports ranging from Assad would install a new government in February to Moscow refusing to support Damascus because the death toll was too high.

The U.N., relying partly on human rights organizations, says 5,000 have been killed by Assad’s troops. The government claims up to 2,000 soldiers have died.

Although Syria’s military is stronger than the forces Gaddafi deployed, the country is much smaller geographically and is surrounded by much stronger armies, including Turkey.


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Moscow Staggered By Democracy Protesters

Photo Ria Novosti

The Russian news agency Ria Novosti, BBC and France’s Le Monde had virtually identical headlines Saturday on how Moscow was overrun by opponents of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Ria said tens of thousands, the BBC thousands and Le Monde called the crowd immense.
Rallies were reported across the vast nation.
The usually cautious New York Times headline read:  Vast Rally in Moscow Streets Is Challenge to Putin’s Power
It brings to mind how the Occupy Wall Street movement hasn’t died across the Atlantic.
People won’t take no for answer any longer. Former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, who stood up to the Army and Communist Party to end their rule, urged Putin to resign.
On Sakharov Ave., named after the nuclear scientist dissident, they held banners that called for “free elections” or blew red whistles, Ria reported.
Neverthless the Kremin has shown no sign of rerunning parliamentary elections. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton boldly effectively called them rigged in favor of Putin’s United Russia party.
The protesters also want new rules to prevent fraud in place before the presidential elections. Law does not permit a president to serve three terms in a row. So the presidency was lent to Dimitry Medvedev, who will likely become prime minister.

Even with the alleged rigging, the United Russia’s share of the vote was knocked down from 64 percent in the last vote to 49.9. Putin denies the claims.

He will have a billionaire among opponents, but his regime has not flinched at putting billionaires in jail.