Chossudovsky: “War on Iran would mean World War III” [video]
Global Research TV
January 30, 2012
The military build-up and economic sanctions against Iran are designed to unleash a global war from the Mediterranean to China with unpredictable consequences, warns Michel Chossudovsky, Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization.
Tensions between Iran and the West are close to crisis level. With massive help from the western media, Iran has firmly become embedded as the root of all evil in the minds of many westerners.
The author of the book Towards a World War Three Scenario, The Dangers of Nuclear War told RT that “The issue of Iran’s nuclear weapons is a red herring, but this red herring could lead us to a WWIII scenario.” He also recalled all the American military bases with nuclear weapons close to Iran’s borders.
Michel Chossudovsky recalled that a couple of weeks ago, America’s Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta quite categorically stated to CBS that Iran neither possesses, nor is developing nuclear weapons. Panetta did not rule out that there are still diplomatic means to cut Iran’s Gordian knot.
But considering the US military preparations around Iran, this statement rather looks like a deceptive maneuver.
Last week, EU nations adopted an unprecedented set of sanctions against the Islamic Republic..
These include a complete embargo on oil supplies from Iran, and are expected to come into force in July.
“What we are witnessing here is a build-up towards a military confrontation. These sanctions constitute the staging of a military agenda,” feels Michel Chossudovsky. “In turn, we have massive deployment of US military hardware, troops going to Israel to be stationed in Israel, more troops go to Kuwait, [American] naval forces are entering the Persian Gulf.”
Michel Chossudovsky believes that “What the United States wants now, including its allies, is some kind of a green light which will give a human face to a war.”
On Monday, the UN nuclear inspectors started a three-day mission to examine Iran’s atomic activities.
Tehran says the talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the first in more than three years, will prove its nuclear program is purely peaceful.
With the visit of the IAEA inspectors, Iran is playing a diplomatic card, believes Chossudovsky. The IAEA is not politically controlled, so once it confirms Iran’s nuclear program has peaceful purposes, this should undermine the aggressive intentions of the West.
The US needs a contrary statement from the IAEA to use this for transition to a new — military — stage in the Iran drama.
“This war has already started. There are drone attacks, there are special [American] forces inside Iran and there is financial warfare,” considers Michel Chossudovsky.
Plans to invade Iran emerged immediately after the invasion of Iraq, Chossudovsky informs, with military preparations begun around 2005, so by now everything should be ready and in place for a full-scale military conflict.
“The WWIII scenario is unthinkable. This war would extend from the Meditarranean to the Chinese border. It could possibly include Russia and China,” Michel Chossudovsky concluded. “We could find ourselves at a very critical crossroads.”
Originally aired on RT, January 29, 2012
http://rt.com/news/us-iran-ww3-chossudovsky-025/
‘Regime change path to bloodshed’ – Churkin to RT [video]
Russia Today
February 7, 2012
In the light of recent UN Security Council fallouts, RT spoke to Russia’s ambassador to the body, Vitaly Churkin.
He says that piling pressure only on the Assad regime gives unilateral advantages to the rebels, who are also to blame for inciting violence in Syria.
And while Russia made mediation efforts in Syria, some nations sought to further isolate the Arab country, by withdrawing their ambassadors en masse.
President of the Arab Lawyers’ Association, Sabah al-Mukhtar, they are just careless about the bloodshed.
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‘Hysteria’ over Russia veto after West jumps the gun at UN [video]
Russia Today
February 7, 2012
Russia and China are facing a barrage of criticism from some Western and Arab states for their decision to block the latest UN resolution on Syria. Moscow has already dubbed the reaction ‘hysterical’, saying the resolution took a biased approach to resolving the civil conflict. RT’s Sara Firth was in Syria when the diplomatic showdown began.
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Video: Huge crowds welcome Russia FM Lavrov in Syria
Russia Today
February 7, 2012
Syria could get another chance at a diplomatic escape route from its continuing political crisis, as it hosts a Russian delegation. A last-ditch delegation to Damascus bearing a personal message for Bashar al-Assad from President Medvedev has been welcomed by thousands of people lining the streets of the Syrian capital.
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Flour bomb video: French pres hopeful gets a bagful
Russia Today
February 2, 2012
A woman threw white powder, apparently flour, on the leading candidate in France’s presidential elections during a campaign appearance. The woman ran to the side of the podium where Socialist Francois Hollande stood. Bodyguards who jumped in to protect Hollande also got under dusting.
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Destination dialogue: Russia eager for negotiations in Syria [video included]
Russia Today
February 7, 2012
The visit of a Russian delegation to Damascus has raised hopes of talks between the Assad government and the opposition. Experts say Moscow is eager for negotiations in Syria, while the West is only interested in toppling the government.
Richard Heydarian, a Manila-based foreign affairs analyst, has told RT that Russia will put a lot of pressure on the Assad regime for any kind of resolution of the problem. He believes the Russians feared that the UN draft resolution, if accepted, could become a pretext for some sort of military intervention. Moscow, he said, will do its best to solve the crisis.
“What Russia will try to do right now is use all kinds of leverage and influence it has on Bashar Assad and the Syrian regime, to make sure there will be a political process which will [ensure] a smooth transition, perhaps, towards a post-authoritarian scenario,” Heydarian concluded.
Jeremy Salt, associate professor of Middle Eastern history and politics at Bilkent University in Turkey, thinks that the interests of many countries are intersecting in Syria at the moment.
“Part of the problem in Syria is that there are too many different agendas: the Western agenda, the Saudi agenda which is shared by Qatar.”
“But they all converge at one point,” he explained. “They want to remove the Syrian government. Their cause is bringing down the Syrian government. It is not really reform – it is about destroying the Assad government.”
Salt says the Western powers are interested not in promoting dialogue but in prolonging the crisis in the country, while Russia and China are pushing diplomacy in Syria because they cannot allow a Libyan or Iraqi scenario to take place.
At the same time China’s and Russia’s interests in Syria are different, Professor Simon Shen from the Chinese University of Hong Kong explained to RT.
“Unlike Russia, China doesn’t have any particular interest in [Syria]. However, as for the region on the whole, China is very concerned with the regular supply of oil. That, basically, is number one priority in Chinese foreign policy,” he told RT.
“But Syria is not just Syria. From a Chinese prospective, [the situation around this country creates problems] for Iran, because if Syria falls, then probably, the next target will be Iran – and China had expressed very clearly that it doesn’t want any new hurdles to be placed upon Iran in terms of its oil export,” Shen explained.
source: http://rt.com/news/russia-promotes-dialogue-syria-727/
Video of Norway killer Anders Breivik in court hearing
Russia Today
February 6, 2012
Anders Breivik, the Norwegian extremist who admitted to killing 77 people last July, told a court that he deserves a medal of honor for the act and demanded his release. Survivors and relatives of Breivik’s victims sat in on the court session, the last in a series of preliminary hearings before his full trial begins in April. Breivik said he had attacked “traitors” who he claims embrace immigration as part of a plot for the “Islamic colonization of Norway.”
