France has taken the responsibility for supplying Syrian rebels with money and artillery on behalf of the US, which is not interested in soiling their hands before Novembers presidential elections, professor Engdahl told RT.
The aid reportedly started flowing last Friday, to five local authorities in the so called “liberated zones” located in three provinces — Deir al-Zor, Aleppo and Idlib- according to a diplomatic source cited by Reuters.
These actions will not lead the country out of the conflict, but rather drag it into far more bloodshed, says geopolitical researcher researcher and author of Full Spectrum Dominance, F. William Engdahl.
RT: Why is France getting so involved in Syria — what’s Paris seeking to gain by supporting the rebels?
William Engdahl: I think France is being a very dishonest peace broker in this whole process. And I think they are acting as a cat’s paw, if you will, for the US State Department and Pentagon until after the US elections. Obama does not want to get involved in what will be an extremely messy conflict directly in Syria until after the US voter is over. I think France is playing this hitman role and the idea of giving heavy artillery to these so called buffer zones is the most cynical thing imaginable. It is going to create civil war; it is going to create bloodshed — anything, but peace. So, this is just one of the most dangerous moves of the whole Syria engagement by NATO in the last 18 months.
RT: Will direct French assistance be enough to tip the scales of the Syrian conflict?
WE: Well, I think if you look at what the Muslim Brotherhood is being reported doing since they took the presidency in Egypt, you will see that the Syria opposition is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood, the same organization, and their long-term agenda is introducing an al-Qaeda or Taliban like fanatical Islamic Sharia law in Syria and ending the tolerance of different religions which has been the trademark of Syrian life for decades under the Assad family. In general there are reports from journalists inside Syria over the last few months of the so-called opposition, in many cases they are al-Qaeda or Mujahidin that have been boarding from Saudi Arabia or elsewhere proving weapons, that they have beheaded civilians and blamed the atrocity on the Assad government. I don’t know what you could call the equivalent of the recognition of a government in an exile or building government in exile. Perhaps if the Russian government were to recognize the Ku Klux Klan as a government in an exile and provide it heavy artillery so that they could go against Washington or something like that. It is just absurd.
RT: If France is leading, championing the lead into Syria, what are they gaining?
WE: That’s a good question. Historically France’s elite, going back to the Napoleonic era if you want, has always tended geopolitically to punch above their weight. And I think since Sarkozy and the French military backed Sarkozy the way to get France back in the NATO game as a player that they have tended every single time on major international decisions to punch above their weight with catastrophic consequences for France. With the syrian adventure Hollande- Fabius [French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius] and the government is engaged in, is going to back fire in the face of France and certainly of the world if it comes to World War III by miscalculation. This is the most dangerous thing I have seen in 37 years of analyzing geopolitical developments.
(Reuters) – Turkish fighter planes and attack helicopters struck suspected Kurdish militant positions in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq late on Wednesday in a major air-and-ground operation, security sources and witnesses said.
The offensive, which involved at least 2,000 ground troops and 10 F-16 warplanes, underscores a growing cycle of violence in the mainly Kurdish southeast of the country – a development Turkish leaders have linked to the nearby conflict in Syria.
“Around 2,000 soldiers are involved in the operation. Cobra helicopters … are bombing targets on the Kato mountain,” a security source told Reuters, referring to a location in southeastern Sirnak province, which borders Iraq and Syria.
Up to 10 F-16 fighter jets had also been sent from a nearby base in Diyarbakir to support the operation, the source said. At least one soldier was killed and two wounded as the first clashes started with ground troops.
There were no reports that Turkish ground troops had crossed the border, although Turkey has sent soldiers into the region in the past.
Residents across the border in northern Iraq, from where the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) commands its operations against the Turkish state, said warplanes had also bombed the remote area of Dwele inside Iraq but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Among the huge challenges and problems facing hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees are in the Arab countries especially in Jordan and Gulf , a very nasty problem : Rich old men from Gulf offer to marry poor refugee minor girls for money.
At first it started as rumors some thought that were spread by El Assad regime regarding how men marry poor Syrian refugee minor girls using their families’ need for small amount of money but sadly enough it was confirmed by Jordanian Press. It seems that men from the Gulf head now to Jordan to find young cheap brides at the refugees camps. A Saudi writer called Mohamed El Assamy wrote about that disgusting practice in a Saudi newspaper angrily revealing that there are prices for the girls range between 500 SR and 1000 SR !!!!!!
These men are using the poverty and extreme need of those Syrian families mainly from working class seeking refugee in the worst conditions ever. I will not speak about the role of the UN but I will assume that there are laws in Jordan banning the underage marriage. If those men want to help the Syrian refugees and their women for real , they would donate and help in improving the conditions of the refugee camps in Jordan.
Unfortunately it happened before during the war of Bosnia and the invasion of Iraq. It is a déjà vu for what happened to Iraqi refugees.
The largest swarm of synchronized drones to date was organized by Ars Electronica Futurelab to take flight in the evening skies of Linz, Austria. The fleet of 49 quadrocopters demonstrated a pixel presentation of changing lights and formations.
Drones apparently have gone from being conspiracy theory, to media acceptance that Congress has approved drones in American airspace, to a means of artistic expression in less than a decade.
Do you think that the demonstration video below is “creative and beautiful,” as noted by one technology writer? Or do you think it is a creepy indication of a near-future of autonomous drone swarms with deadly intentions of a military nature? Please leave your opinions in the comment section below.
As the controversy of the use of drones for illegal assassinations and overseas surveillance the Pentagon reveals plans to make drones available to 66 countries.
RT – The use of drones might be raising questions within the United States, but overseas the demand is mounting. The US Defense Departments says they are preparing to make unmanned aerial vehicles commercially available to 66 outside nations.
If approved by Congress and the US State Department, the Pentagon could soon be peddling the remote-controlled war machines that have become a hallmark of America’s overseas wars to dozens of its allies. It’s a not deal that’s likely to be cut without a sound, however, as the use of UAVs has become one of the most debated issues regarding the US military at home.
Last year, however, the DoD put together a list of 66 countries they hope they will be cleared to sell drones too, and today the Defense Department says they are just as eager as ever to get the ball rolling.
Countless watchdog groups have condemned the use of drones, calling the aircraft responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians. As recently as this past weekend, a US-led drone strike in Yemen was reported to cause fatalities for no fewer than 13 civilians. Even so, adding UAVs to the wish-lists of other countries could be a consideration favored by much of Washington, especially those who have feared than planned budget cuts will nix billions from the Pentagon’s budget over the next decade.
Last year, US weapons exports amounted $66.3 billion worth of deals thanks to sales to the States’ allies, the largest figure ever to come through arms sales. Just last month, a Congressional Research Service report claimed that 2011 was “the highest single year agreements total in the history of the US arms export program,” and that trend could very well carry over, especially if UAVs are added to the list of inventory available to the allies.
To Reuters on Wednesday, Northrop Grumman Corp CEO Wes Bush says that the Obama White House is working to make it easier for his company and others to deal drones as part of their international arms exchange, but roadblocks remain in place, regardless.
“I wish we were further along in getting that done. It’s slow, it’s painful, but we’re doing the right things to move in that direction,” Bush tells Reuters.
Earlier this year, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency deputy director, Richard Genaille, told attendees at the ComDef 2012 conference, “We don’t really have a comprehensive U.S. government policy” on drone exports, but one was indeed in the works.
“It hasn’t moved quite as fast as we would like, but we’re not giving up,” Genaille said.
In May, Turkish President Abdullah Gul told the state-run Anadolu Agency that the White House has expressed a “positive stance” over the sale of UAVs, and “They are trying to convince the Congress” before an agreement is made.
Last month, the US-based marketing firm Teal Group estimated that “UAV spending will almost double over the next decade from current worldwide UAV expenditures of $6.6 billion annually to $11.4 billion, totaling just over $89 billion in the next ten years.”
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia – Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says he’s cutting ties with Iran amid worries about the safety of Canadian diplomats in the country.
Baird says the Canadian embassy in Tehran will close immediately and Iranian diplomats in Canada have been given five days to leave.
He says he’s worried about the safety of diplomats in Tehran following recent attacks on the British embassy there.
He’s also warning ordinary Canadians to avoid travel to Iran.
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