Terrorismia vastaan - Venäjän puolesta

Suomen islamilaisen puolueen julkisuuteen tuonut Abdullah Tammi ilmoitti lauantaina eronneensa puolueen puheenjohtajan paikalta. Tammen ja puolueen hallituksen muiden jäsenten välille oli tullut kiistaa, kun Tammi otti kantaa terrorismia vastaan.

Tammi piti joulukuun alkupuolella tiedotustilaisuuden, jossa hän korosti islamin väkivallattomuutta ja tuomitsi terrorismin voimakkain sanankääntein. Erityisesti hän keskittyi puhumaan Tšetšenian tilanteesta. Tiedotustilaisuuden lisäksi Tammi esitteli mielipiteitään nettivideoissa YouTubessa.

Puolueen hallituksen jäsen Sauli Ingman vahvistaa, että Tammen eroon johtanut kiista liittyi tiedotustilaisuuteen.

"Tilaisuuden sävy oli liian yksipuolinen. Tammi tuomitsi Tšetšenian terrorismin, mutta ei Venäjän valtion terrorismia Tshetsheniassa. Hän ei myöskään tuonut esiin terrorismin syitä. Tällainen yksipuolinen terrorismin tuomitseminen herätti hallituksessa kritiikkiä", Ingman sanoo.

"Puolue ei sinänsä kannata terrorismia, mutta sitä pitäisi käsitellä tasapuolisesti ja tuomita paitsi yksityinen, myös valtion terrorismi."

(Helsingin Sanomat, 19.12.2009)

Israelin vahtikoirat Amerikassa

Every appointee to the American government must endure a thorough background check by the American Jewish community.

In the case of Obama's government in particular, every criticism against Israel made by a potential government appointee has become a catalyst for debate about whether appointing "another leftist" offers proof that Obama does not truly support Israel.

A few months ago, boisterous protests by the American Jewish community helped foil the appointment of Chaz Freeman to chair the National Intelligence Council, citing his "anti-Israel leaning."

The next attempt to appoint an intelligence aide, in this case, former Republican senator Chuck Hagel, also resulted in vast criticism over his not having a pro-Israel record.

American Zionists are urging Obama to cancel Hagel's appointment because of what they call a long and problematic record of hostility toward Israel.

The president of the Zionist Organization of America, Morton A. Klein, described Hagel's nomination as such: "Any American who is concerned about Iran's drive to obtain nuclear weapons, maintaining the Israeli-U.S. relationship and supporting Israel in its legitimate fight to protect her citizens from terrorism should oppose this appointment."

Republican Jews have also protested Hagel's appointment, citing an incident in 2004 when Hagel refused to sign a letter calling on then-president George Bush to speak about Iran's nuclear program at the G8 summit that year.

In August of 2006, Hagel refused to sign a letter requesting the UN declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

In a speech at the conference of self-declared "pro-peace, pro-Israel" lobby J Street, Hagel spoke about his views on the issue of Israel and the Middle East.

"The United States' support for Israel need not be - nor should it be - an either-or proposition that dictates our relationships with our Arab allies and friends. The U.S. has a long and special relationship with Israel, but it must not come at the expense of our Arab relationships," Hagel said.

The latest round of heated debate has been over the nomination of Hannah Rosenthal to head the Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism in the Obama administration.

Rosenthal, who is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, served as a Health Department regional director under the Clinton administration, and held positions in different left-leaning Jewish organizations.

Between 2000 and 2005, Rosenthal was the head of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs; she was also the executive director of the Chicago Foundation for Women. In recent years, she has served on the advisory board of the J Street lobby.

The president of Americans for Peace Now lauded Obama's appointment of Rosenthal. Even Anti-Defamation League chairman Abraham Foxman came out in support of Rosenthal's appointment.

"This appointment signals the continued seriousness of America?s resolve to fight anti-Semitism," Foxman said in a statement.

(Haaretz, 4.12.2009)

CENTCOM: valtiomahti jota Obamankin on toteltava

It is not just that generals such as Petraeus and McChrystal dominate the public face of military leadership in America today. The real problem is that the organization they represent, CENTCOM, dominates the entire U.S. military—and, by extension, the U.S. military-industrial-congressional complex—as no other unified command has done in U.S. history. Even at the height of the Vietnam War, the demands of the Military Assistance Command-Vietnam (MACV) on the U.S. military establishment had competition from U.S. European Command, U.S. Strategic Command and U.S. Pacific Command, because of the Cold War. Today, the only show in town is CENTCOM, given that its theater of operations encompasses the principal zones of operation in the “war on terror.”

The requirements of CENTCOM drive nearly every aspect of the U.S. military today, including training, procurement and operations. Even strategic nuclear forces have had their work impacted by the need of CENTCOM to strike deep underground targets associated with Iran’s nuclear program. Given the inherently militarized nature of the “war on terror,” CENTCOM has supplanted the Department of State as the “face” of America in terms of official interaction between the United States and the nations of an area of operations ranging from Africa to Pakistan.

CENTCOM therefore dominates issues such as economic assistance and other nation-to-nation interaction not normally associated with military operations. The combined military-diplomatic-economic activity associated with the work of CENTCOM provides it with unmatched leverage at home and abroad. While not intended as a direct result of the “war on terror,” CENTCOM has morphed into a virtual nation-state, operating largely independent of traditional checks and balances associated with the functioning of unified military commands.

Despite the command’s unprecedented power and influence, it would not have been all that difficult for Obama to stand up to the pressures brought to bear by CENTCOM in regard to Afghanistan. He is, after all, the commander in chief. The fact is, Obama opted out of any serious opposition to the plan for the most base of reasons—politics. Any serious effort on the part of Obama to meaningfully contest the CENTCOM-backed surge in Afghanistan would have triggered a contentious political struggle with both the military and Congress at a time when the president is pushing for passage of health care reform, the centerpiece of his domestic policy agenda. The reality is that, yet again, American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines are being sacrificed for the political advantage of an American politician. This was a charge that was all-too-popular during the administration of George W. Bush. That such an accusation can so readily be applied to Barack Obama, after only a year in office, underscores the magnitude of the failure of leadership and imagination he has exhibited when it comes to the Af-Pak surge.

This lack of imagination was most evident in how the president sought to justify the Af-Pak surge. “This is the epicenter of violent extremism practiced by al-Qaida,” he said in his West Point speech. In addition to his gross oversimplification of the Taliban in both Afghanistan and Pakistan and its relationship with al-Qaida, Obama felt compelled to press the same fear-induced 9/11 buttons that were the trademark of his predecessor. “It is from here that we were attacked on 9/11, and it is from here that new attacks are being plotted as I speak.”

(Scott Ritter, "Our Murderes in the Sky", Truthdig, 10.12.2009)

USA:n ydinpelotteen muuttuminen epäuskottavaksi pakottaisi Australian hankkimaan omansa

A dramatic deterioration in Asian security could push Australia to acquire nuclear weapons, a strategy that it abandoned four decades ago, a new study says.

But Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) analyst Dr Rod Lyons says such a decision certainly isn't close nor is it inevitable.

He said the 2006 Switkowski report on nuclear power suggested it would take Australia at least 10 years and probably 15 to bring the first civil reactor into service.

"It's true that Australia might be able to conduct an emergency nuclear weapon construction effort in rather less time, especially if it were to focus on uranium enrichment to provide a uranium 235 bomb," he said.

"In that case, we wouldn't need to build a reactor. But enrichment is still a highly challenging exercise."

Australia flirted with the nuclear weapon option up until the late 1960s, with a 1968 cabinet paper costing a bomb program at what now seems a modest $150 million. Signing the non-proliferation treaty in 1970 closed off that option.

Dr Lyons said for Australia to swing back to a course it abandoned in the late 1960s would mean a huge - and reluctant - change in strategic policy.

"That course would be taken only with extreme reluctance and it's certainly not one that Australian governments have done much to prepare for over recent decades," he said.

Dr Lyons said Australian policies now aimed to achieve regional nuclear order as much as possible by establishing a benign strategic environment and by stressing non-proliferation, arms control and peaceful exploitation of nuclear technologies.

But should the regional approach change, with a rising prevalence of the technologies that could lead to nuclear weapons, Australia might need a different approach.

Dr Lyons said a number of scenarios could lead to a more worrying Asian nuclear order.

One is a weakening of US nuclear capabilities and loss of confidence in US nuclear deterrence. In such an environment, nations such as Japan, Korea or even Burma could develop nuclear weapons.

(Yahoo!7 News, 14.12.2009)

Venäläiset ja Chuck Baldwin levittävät huhuja sisällissodan valmistelusta Yhdysvalloissa

According to an obscure report in the European Union Times (EUTimes.net), "Russian Military Analysts are reporting to Prime Minister Putin that US President Barack Obama has issued an order to his Northern Command's (USNORTHCOM) top leader, US Air Force General Gene Renuart, to 'begin immediately' increasing his military forces to 1 million troops by January 30, 2010, in what these reports warn is an expected outbreak of civil war within the United States before the end of winter.

"According to these reports, Obama has had over these past weeks 'numerous' meetings with his war council abut how best to manage the expected implosion of his Nation's banking system while at the same time attempting to keep the United States military hegemony over the World in what Russian Military Analysts state is a 'last ditch gambit' whose success is 'far from certain.'"

The EU Times article continues by saying, "To the fears of Obama over the United States erupting into civil war once the full extent of the rape and pillaging of these peoples by their banks and government becomes known to them, grim evidence now shows the likelihood of this occurring much sooner than later."

The Times story goes on to say that there are "over 220 million American people armed to the teeth and ready to explode."

The Times article concludes by saying, "Though the coming civil war in the United States is being virtually ignored by their propaganda media, the same cannot be said of Russia, where leading Russian political analyst, Professor Igor Panarin has long warned that the economic turmoil in the United States has confirmed his long-held view that the US is heading for collapse."

Many of us would be inclined to pooh-pooh such a story, but then there is this column from Bloomberg.com entitled "Arming Goldman With Pistols Against Public," written by Alice Schroeder. According to Ms Schroeder:

"'I just wrote my first reference for a gun permit,' said a friend, who told me of swearing to the good character of a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker who applied to the local police for a permit to buy a pistol. The banker had told this friend of mine that senior Goldman people have loaded up on firearms and are now equipped to defend themselves if there is a populist uprising against the bank."

There is no doubt that the American people have good reason to despise these international banksters epitomized by Goldman Sachs. Even one of Goldman's poster-boys, Henry Paulson, US Treasury secretary and former Goldman CEO, admitted that the American people were fed up. Schroeder quotes Paulson as saying, during testimony to Congress last summer, "[People] were unhappy with the big discrepancies in wealth, but they at least believed in the system and in some form of market-driven capitalism. But if we had a complete meltdown, it could lead to people questioning the basis of the system."

Schroeder correctly opines, "There you have it. The bailout was meant to keep the curtain drawn on the way the rich make money, not from the free market, but from the lack of one. Goldman Sachs blew its cover when the firm's revenue from trading reached a record $27 billion in the first nine months of this year, and a public that was writhing in financial agony caught on that the profits earned on taxpayer capital were going to pay employee bonuses."

Schroeder concludes her column by saying, "And if the proles [proletariat: plebs, working class, peasants] really do appear brandishing pitchforks at the doors of Park Avenue and the gates of Round Hill Road, you can be sure that the Goldman guys and their families will be holed up in their safe rooms with their firearms."

So, do Wall Street and Russian analysts know something that we don't know? Is this why George W. Bush initiated USNORTHCOM to begin with? Is this why Barack Obama is beefing up USNORTHCOM? This would help explain the reports of all those potential detention camps that have been constructed (including the abandoned military installations that have refurbished security fences, guard towers, etc., around them). Has the American people's disgust with these crooks and thieves within the federal government and Wall Street reached a boiling point?

(Chuck Baldwin, "Is Obama Really Preparing For Civil War?", Chuck Baldwin Live, 11.12.2009)

Lontoon lapsisotilaat, eli kaikkien sota kaikkia vastaan

Shooting incidents in London have almost doubled compared with the same period last year, prompting grave concerns that gun crime in some areas is out of control.

Scotland Yard has admitted a 17% rise in overall firearms offences, although the Metropolitan police chief, Sir Paul Stephenson, has put that down to a blip.

Stephenson last week dropped a plan to put routine armed patrols on the streets, saying that although gun crime had risen it was still lower than two years ago and he was not willing to sanction such a dramatic departure from the principle of unarmed policing. However, the true scale of the increases is contained in figures being presented on Thursday to the Metropolitan police authority.

They reveal that the number of actual shootings has almost doubled from 123 to 236 in the last six months compared with the same period last year, a rise of 91.8%. Serious firearms offences have risen by 47% across the capital.

Those discharging the firearms and those being shot at are young teenagers involved in "respect shootings" to settle petty disputes with little thought of the consequences, say police and community leaders. More and more such shootings involve a gunshot to the leg, echoing the punishment attacks meted out in Northern Ireland. Detectives say that pointing a gun at the shin or knee is a deliberate tactic to avoid any chance the victim will die, risking a 30-year mandatory sentence.

Those working at local level in the capital say the number of incidents reported is only a fraction of what is taking place.

"Gun crime has never gone away," said the Rev Les Isaac, who works as a street pastor in south London. "Firearms are being discharged more or less on a daily basis in some parts of London."

He added: "Those using the guns have got younger. These children are unpredictable, they have access to guns and they are willing to use them."

Instead of relatively expensive guns from eastern Europe, the past weapon of choice, the younger perpetrators are using cheaper shotguns and converted handguns as they are easier to procure and ammunition is more readily available.

The figures contrast with those nationally, where gun crime is still falling in known hotspots. On Merseyside, gun crime is down by 27%; nationally, firearms offences have fallen by 5%.

Pastor Nims Obunge, a member of the independent advisory panel that works with Trident – the Met unit that investigates gang shootings – said the motives of the perpetrators had changed.

"We are not just dealing with drug turf wars here. We are talking about young teenagers who no longer use their fists to settle disputes. They say, 'I can get access to a gun, why would I not use it?'"

(Guardian.co.uk, 3.11.2009)

Euraasian kolme suurta, joilla on maailmanherruuden avaimet käsissään

The foreign ministers of India, China and Russia stressed on Tuesday the increasing influence of their countries on the world stage and said they had all weathered the economic crisis well.

Ministers from the three countries said that during talks in the Indian technology hub of Bangalore they had found common ground over issues ranging from climate change to trade, security and development.

Their joint statement vowed to pursue a further "deepening and strengthening" of trilateral cooperation to ensure peace and stability in the region.

"Despite the impact of the international financial crisis, the pace of development of the three countries has improved, contributing to faster growth among them," it added.

The meeting of the countries -- normally grouped with Brazil as BRIC -- brought together Russia's Sergei Lavrov, India's S.M. Krishna and China's Yang Jiechi.

Yang said afterwards the participants were all major emerging countries that "have the same or similar positions" on matters of key international concern, which included drug trafficking, organised crime and oil and gas deals.

(Yahoo! News, 27.10.2009)

Eurooppalaiset sankarit Afganistanin sotakentillä

Italy has angrily denied a UK newspaper report that it paid Taliban fighters in Afghanistan to keep the peace.

Italy's defence minister said his country was planning to sue the Times newspaper over the claims.

French forces took over the area unaware of the policy, leaving them unaware of the risks, the paper says. Ten soldiers were killed within weeks.

In France, opposition socialists demanded the defence minister should answer questions on the claims.

The Times' report, quoting Western military officials, says the policy was operated by Italian secret services in Afghanistan's Sarobi area, east of Kabul.

Warlords as well as Taliban commanders were paid, the paper says, with the amounts running to tens of thousands of dollars.

France took over control of the region in 2008, apparently believing it to be a low-risk area, the paper says, as only one Italian had died in the previous year.

But within a month of the French take-over, 10 soldiers were killed and 21 injured in a mountain ambush.

An unnamed Afghan army officer also told French news agency AFP that Italy had paid the Taliban to avoid casualties.

"We knew that Italian forces were paying the opposition (fighters) in Sarobi so they would not be attacked. We have information on similar agreements made in the western Herat province by Italian soldiers under Nato command there," he said.

"A lot of Nato countries with troops operating in the rural areas of Afghanistan pay the insurgents so not to be attacked."

(BBC News, 15.10.2009)

Tanskan(kaan) valtio ei kykene enää hallitsemaan omia alueitaan

Kööpenhaminan jengisota on taas leimahtanut liekkiin. Viikon aikana välejä on selvitetty pääkaupungin kaduilla ampuma-asein viisi kertaa.

Jengisodan näyttämönä on useimmiten ollut Nörrebron kaupunginosa, jossa asuu paljon maahanmuuttajia.

Torstaina poliisi päästi menemään kaksi nuorta miestä, jotka olivat ampuneet autoilijaa joka ei suostunut pysähtymään maahanmuuttajataustaisten nuorten "tiesululla".

- Emme usko, että todisteet olisivat riittäneet miesten vangitsemiseen. He ovat silti yhä epäiltyjä, sanoi poliisin edustaja.

Hänen mukaansa keskiviikkona sattunut ampumavälikohtaus oli poikkeuksellinen, sillä pakoon yrittänyt autoilija oli myös maahanmuuttaja.

Nörrebrossa vastakkain ovat useimmiten maahanmuuttajajengit ja Hells Angelsin kaltaiset jengit. Jengit taistelevat reviireistä ja poliisin mukaan taustalta löytyy usein huumeita, naiskauppaa ja suojelutoimintaa.

Maahanmuuttajanuoret ovat alkaneet suojella omia alueitaan vapaaehtoisilla partioilla, jotka pysäyttelevät ajoneuvoja estääkseen "vihollisten" pääsyn alueelleen.

(Ilta-Sanomat, 15.10.2009)

Esimerkki suomalaisten välillä hitaanlaisesta käsityskyvystä

Suojelupoliisi on ryhtynyt selvittämään, liittyykö venäläisten Suomessa tekemiin suuriin maakauppoihin järjestelmällisyyttä.

MTV:n uutisten tietojen mukaan suojelupoliisi kartoittaa nyt myös sitä, miten kaupat kytkeytyvät Venäjän poliittiseen johtoon.

MTV3:n 45 minuuttia -ohjelma kertoi jo marraskuussa 2008 maakauppoja Saarijärvellä ja Sastamalassa hieroneesta liikemiehestä, joka kytkeytyi yritysjärjestelyjen avulla Venäjän presidentin neuvonantajaan Leonid Reimaniin ja rahanpesusta epäiltyyn IPOC-rahastoon.

MTV:n uutisten tietojen mukaan suojelupoliisi on vähin äänin ryhtynyt selvittämään myös strategisten alueiden läheisyydessä tapahtunutta maanhankintaa.

Strategisilla alueilla tarkoitetaan esimerkiksi varuskuntia, lentokenttiä ja tärkeitä tele- ja tietoliikennemastoja.

Venäläiset liikemiehet ovat ostaneet vähintään kymmeniä maa-alueita strategisesti tärkeiden kohteiden liepeiltä. Tarkkaa tietoa kauppojen lukumäärästä tai laajuudesta ei ole kenelläkään, sillä Suomen viranomaisilta puuttuu maakauppojen seurantajärjestelmä.

(MTV3.fi, 15.10.2009)

Venäjä käyttää ydinaseita heti kun tarve vaatii

Russia will insist on the right to pre-emptive nuclear strikes against aggressor countries in its new military doctrine, the head of the country's Security Council said Wednesday.

Nikolai Patrushev told the Izvestia newspaper that his country would reserve the right to a nuclear first-strike in draft military guidelines currently being prepared for the Kremlin.

Previously Moscow has indicated it would use nuclear weapons in the case of a nuclear attack, or a major war.

Russia's ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, said that the new doctrine was unconnected to the current negotiations with the US on nuclear weapons' reduction, and was purely as a deterrent.

According to Patrushev, nuclear weapons could be used in case of a nuclear attack, but also in "regional or even local wars."

(newKerala.com, 15.10.2009)