‘We were handcuffed at gunpoint’ – flight engineer of Syria-bound plane [video]
Russia Today
October 11, 2012
Turkey says the Syria-bound passenger plane, that was forced to land in Turkey, was carrying Russian-made munitions. The Moscow airport that dispatched the flight insists there was no illegal cargo onboard. F-16 fighter jets intercepted the flight on its way from Moscow to Damascus, which was carrying 37 people. RT’s Tom Barton reports.
Also, RT talks to author and journalist Afhsin Rattansi
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[hat tip: Alexander Higgins]
New Border Regime is Taking the U.S.-Canada Partnership to the Next Level
by Dana Gabriel
BE YOUR OWN LEADER
October 9, 2012
The Beyond the Border deal announced in December 2011 represents the most significant step forward in U.S.-Canada cooperation since NAFTA. Dual action plans are further transforming trade, regulatory and security relations between both countries. Over the next few years, various cross-border initiatives will be rolled out, with some beginning as pilot programs. The U.S. and Canada have laid the framework for a new border regime which is taking their partnership to the next level and pushing the continent closer to a fully integrated North America security perimeter.
The Department of Homeland Security and Canada Border Services Agency recently announced the Phase I pilot of the Entry/Exit program which is part of the Beyond the Border action plan. It will include collecting and exchanging biographic information of third-country nationals, permanent residents of Canada, and lawful permanent residents of the U.S. at four selected land border ports of entry. A fact sheet stressed how this, “is an important step as both countries move towards a coordinated entry/exit system that will strengthen border and immigration programs, support law enforcement, and accelerate the legitimate flow of people and goods into Canada and the United States and across our common border.” The Canadian government is also advancing plans to use biometrics for immigration and border security that would bring them in line with the U.S. and other countries. The perimeter security agreement called for implementing, “systematic and automated biographic information-sharing capability by 2013 and biometric information-sharing capability by 2014.” A North American biometric identification system could be used to restrict, track and trace our movements.
On October 4, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Transport Canada officials announced the extension of the expedited screening initiative, TSA Pre✓™ which will now include lanes for Canadian NEXUS members at 27 participating U.S. airports. Canadian Minister of State For Transport Steven Fletcher explained that, “The Government of Canada and the United States are delivering on commitments to include Canadian NEXUS members in designated TSA Pre✓™ lanes as part of the Beyond the Border Action Plan.” He went on to say, “This will mean smarter and faster air travel for Canadian NEXUS members traveling within the U.S., while maintaining a high level of aviation security.” TSA Administrator John Pistole acknowledged that, “The inclusion of Canadian NEXUS members in TSA Pre✓™ is an important step in further harmonizing the security screening process between the U.S. and Canada.” Under NEXUS, pre-screened travelers are granted expedited access across the border, by air, land or sea. As part of the perimeter security deal, both countries are expanding and integrating trusted traveler programs.
The Next-Generation pilot project which would permit U.S. agents on Canadian soil is on hold while legal issues are being resolved. The security perimeter agreement stated that both countries would, “create integrated teams in areas such as intelligence and criminal investigations, and an intelligence-led uniformed presence between ports of entry.” The plan which is a land-based version of the Shiprider program was scheduled to be deployed this summer. Allowing U.S. agents to cross the border and pursue suspects into Canada poses a threat to sovereignty and could infringe on personal privacy laws. The pilot project is part of the process of acclimating U.S. policing activities in Canada and could later be expanded.
Last month, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency established a pre-clearance initiative pilot project on import re-inspection activities for fresh meat. This is tied to the Beyond the Border deal and is aimed at streamlining meat inspections at the U.S.-Canada border. Just as the joint program was being rolled out, XL Foods in Alberta, Canada announced a massive recall of meat products due to E. coli contamination. This came on the heels of a letter from the Safe Food Coalition to the USDA citing concerns that food safety could be compromised and requesting that the border inspection pilot be halted. Some of the potential tainted meat could have been shipped to at least eight U.S. states. In a press statement, the Executive Director of Food & Water Watch, Wenonah Hauter pointed out that, “the Obama Administration and the Harper Government in Canada have been plotting to eliminate the very border inspection program that tipped off authorities that there was a major problem brewing with the products originating from the XL plant.” Plans to further deregulate food safety inspections could lead to more trouble in the future.
In September, Transport Canada and the United States Coast Guard launched a pilot project that will include joint Port State Control inspections of non-Canadian and non-U.S. flagged vessels in the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway. Rear Adm. Mike Parks, Commander of the U.S. Coast Guard Ninth District described how, “This initiative is in keeping with President Obama’s and Prime Minister Harper’s Beyond the Border Perimeter Security Initiative protecting the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway region, which provides common access to the heart of North America. Our goal is to make vessel inspections more efficient and facilitate American and Canadian business on both sides of our shared border.” The program is outlined in the Regulatory Cooperation Council action plan and establishes a, “safety and security framework for the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway that will align the two countries’ regulatory requirements. This pilot project will look for efficiencies in order to reduce duplicate inspections and impediments to trade.” When completed, recommendations will be made on whether to form a permanent binational foreign vessel inspection program.
NAFTA partners, in conjunction with multinational corporations and influential think tanks are pushing for deeper North American integration. As far as the upcoming U.S. election goes, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are both committed globalists and have no intentions of upholding the constitution or protecting what is left of American sovereignty. The notion of real choice is now even more of an illusion. Minus the Democrat and Republican rhetoric, it’s essentially the same policies, same agenda, and the same team. It doesn’t matter who wins the presidency, the path towards a North American Union will continue.
Related articles by Dana Gabriel
Paving the Way for a U.S.-Canada Economic and Security Perimeter
Laying the Foundation for a North American Security Perimeter
Implementing Beyond the Border Perimeter Security Initiatives
A Perimeter Approach to Security and the Transformation of the U.S.-Canada Border
Dana Gabriel is an activist and independent researcher. He writes about trade, globalization, sovereignty, security, as well as other issues. Contact: beyourownleader@hotmail.com Visit his blog at Be Your Own Leader
War Crimes in Bani Walid 10 Oct – Military Explained – a little Graphic [video]
108morris108
October 10, 2012
With the Misrata militia 40 Kilometers away – their firing is pretty inaccurate – and the ability to hit them – when you cannot even see them is difficult – if not impossible.
The last 30 seconds of the video has graphic images.
Bani Walid Council Member Explains – Historical & Foreign Players Make the conflict [video]
108morris108
October 10, 2012
Voice recorded on 10th Oct. Video from the 7th of Oct when Bani Walid was hit by Grad rockets, like most days.
False Flags Over Iran [video]
by James Corbett
BoilingFrogsPost.com
October 9, 2012
That the warmongers are so desperate to frame Iran for any and every attack taking place in the world is worrying, to be sure, but at the end of the day, perhaps there is something hopeful we can take away from this. The fact that the Patrick Clawsons and Gary Harts and Dick Cheneys of the world are dreaming up their provocations and incidents to justify an invasion of Iran means that, at the very least, some measure of justification is still needed to embroil the NATO powers in another war. Once again we find that it is the people who hold the power, and it is the people who must be convinced about the need for this war. Here in 2012, now 9 years after the debacle in Iraq and 1 year after the debacle in Libya, are going to need more convincing than ever that it is necessary to deploy the war machine yet again for another round of military adventurism. And now that the mainstream media has expended whatever was left of their credibility pimping the “weapons of mass destruction” propaganda, the so-called political elite realize that nothing less than a spectacular provocation will do to rouse the public’s ire.
CONTINUE WATCHING: http://ur1.ca/aif4j
TRANSCRIPT AND SOURCES: http://www.corbettreport.com/?p=5852
Chossudovsky: Turkey Already Waging War on Syria [video]
Global Research TV
October 8, 2012
Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey has told his country to prepare for war against Syria relying on an unproven shelling that landed in Turkey from Syrian territory.
The Turkish military has fired mortar shells into Syria for the fourth day in a row after a number of projectiles slammed into the southern border province of Hatay.
Press TV has interviewed Michel Chossudovsky, Centre for Research on Globalization, Montreal, about the recent steps Turkey has taken and how the plan for NATO involvement inside Syria may unfold.
What follows is an approximate transcript of the interview.
Press TV: Five days of military strikes and now the Turkish prime minister is calling on his country to prepare for war.
With the way things have gone so far, would Turkey had come to this regardless of the mortar that fell in from Syria?
Chossudovsky: Well, this has been a hidden agenda for quite some time. The war on Syria is already de-facto because Turkey is supporting the Free Syrian Army; it’s training the rebels; it’s allowing for the influx of mercenaries through its territory; it is providing logistics to the terrorists inside Syria; and it has Special Forces also within Syrian territory.
And I should say that the military high command has concern that it’s supporting the Muslim Brotherhood as well involved in insurrection. So the war is de-facto.
The incident is being used as a pretext when in fact even according to the Western media, we do not know who is behind this shelling incident inside Turkish territory.
The Ankara government blames Damascus; it blames the Syrian armed forces, but if you look at some of the press reports emanating from the New York times on the one hand and the German media, there is absolutely no proof that these shots were actually done by the Syrian governmental forces.
And they could have been done by the Free Syrian Army. They could also be used deliberately as a pretext to enable Turkey to proceed to the next phase of this war.
Now what is also of course very disturbing is the fact that Turkey as a member of NATO may well invoke Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, which stipulates that an attack on one member is an attack on all members. It’s the doctrine of collective security and this might be the first step for a NATO involvement.
Press TV: That leads me to my next question, do you think that through this escalation of this conflict we are going to see direct NATO involvement, because we are already getting reports that NATO artillery and weapons are already being used by the Turkish military in their shelling?
Chossudovsky: Well, it’s clear that Turkey is already involved. Turkey is already involved inside Syria.
Now what I think is possible is that Turkey is going to demand the formation of some kind of a buffer zone, which essentially means the occupation of certain border areas of Syria. This has been on the drawing boards of military planners for quite some time. Turkey has territorial aspirations as far as Syria is concerned. But it is more than that.
The coast line, which links Turkey to Lebanon and Israel going through Syrian territory. This is also an objective, to gain control over that coastline.
In other words, we have to understand that Turkey is a major military power in the region; it is involved in the conflict; it is supporting mercenary fighters inside Syria; and there is the distinct danger of military escalation not only in terms of Turkish regular forces, which are now entering officially into Syrian territory, but also that this might extend to a subsequent NATO involvement under the doctrine of collective security.
Originally aired on PressTV, October 8, 2012
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/08/265596/turkey-has-territorial-aspirat…
