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RANCHO MIRAGE (UNITED STATES): As Syrian peace talks in Geneva appeared to flounder, US President Barack Obama vowed to step up pressure on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
Obama’s remarks came as he hosted Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the Sunnylands retreat in Palm Springs, California, to address issues including the flood of Syrian refugees into Jordan.
The US leader said both he and the Jordanian king “recognize that we can’t just treat the symptoms” of the Syrian crisis.
“We’re also going to have to solve the underlying problem – a regime led by Bashar al-Assad that has shown very little regard for the well-being of his people.
“We are going to need a political transition in that region.” “We don’t expect to solve this any time in the short term so there are going to be some immediate steps that we have to take to help the humanitarian situation there,” Obama said.
“There will be some intermediate steps that we can take to apply more pressure to the Assad regime, and we’re going to be continuing to work with all the parties concerned to try to move forward on a diplomatic solution,” he said, without specifying what those steps may be.
At the meeting Obama pledged $ 1 billion in loan guarantees to Jordan, as well as a renewal of a five-year memorandum of understanding.
The current five-year package, worth $ 660 million a year, expires in September.
The funds are aimed in part at helping Washington’s Middle East ally cope with the flood of Syrian refugees and its loss of natural gas from Egypt, White House officials said.
King Abdullah said the Syrian crisis and the rise of extremism are his country’s primary concerns.
Jordan has borne the brunt of much of the humanitarian overflow, with nearly 600,000 Syrian refugees on its soil, straining its infrastructure and finances.
The United States is the largest aid donor to Syrian refugees, so far donating $ 1.7 billion to the cause, according to the US Agency for International Development.
A senior administration official said that the $ 1 billion guarantee will make it easier for Jordan to access capital markets and borrow money.
“It’s a signal to the markets of the strong confidence of the United States in Jordan, of our partnership, and of our intention to be there as a partner for Jordan in the long term,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Concerning Syria, Washington has been trying “to work with and press the Russians to understand that the status quo is not serving their interests either,” the official said. “They are much closer to the parts of Syria than we are that are becoming increasingly ungoverned and dangerous.”
The official blasted the Russians for having “a pretty sorry record having twice double vetoed with the Chinese quite anodyne” UN resolutions.
But he said Washington and its allies “could conceivably reach agreement on a humanitarian resolution” with them.
Such a resolution could be “strong in terms of the obligations and expectations that it would impose on the regime to improve humanitarian access,” but not necessarily include more sanctions or a threat of force.
The Russians “can’t have it both ways,” the official said. “They can’t say they’re in favor of negotiations in Geneva and a transitional government guided by full executive authority and humanitarian access, and have a happy Olympics, and then be part and parcel of supporting this regime as it kills people in the most brutal way.”
The meeting with the king of Jordan – whose nation began a two year term in the UN Security Council in January – is the first of a trio of meetings between Obama and key Middle East leaders in the coming weeks.
On March 3, the US president will sit down at the White House for his latest encounter with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has made no secret of his skepticism over an interim deal that Washington and other world powers reached with Iran on its nuclear program.
Then at the end of March, he will travel to Saudi Arabia to meet King Abdullah, who shares Netanyahu’s doubts about Obama’s Iran strategy.
In the lead up to, and during major bloodshed in 2010, when Thaksin Shinawatra deployed some 300 heavily armed professional mercenaries (HRW’s “Descent into Chaos” PDF page 62) in Bangkok in a failed attempt to violently seize back power, there were several drive-by attacks on his political opponents (BBC, AFP, AFP, ). Open violence has been a hallmark of Thaksin’s dark reign over Thai politics since taking office in 2001, and is one of the main reasons protesters seek to oust him and his influence permanently from Thailand’s political landscape.
In 2003 he conducted a so-called “war on drugs” that saw nearly 3,000 innocent people extrajudicially murdered in the streets. Half of those killed, according to Human Rights Watch, turned out to have nothing at all to do with the drug trade. The following year Thaksin Shinawatra would oversee the brutal crackdown on protesters in the nation’s troubled southern provinces that had, prior to his administration, seen a 20 year lasting peace. Protesters would be hogtied and left to suffocate in the back of cargo trucks. 85 would die in a single day. Thaksin’s brutal approach to addressing unrest in the south was cited for the gradual increase of violence and loss of life (NYT).
Also, throughout his first term in office, According to Amnesty International, 18 human rights defenders were either assassinated or disappeared.
The most troubling aspect of Thaksin Shinwatra and his supporters’ brutality and tendency toward violence is that is seen as wildly popular by his electorate who continuously return him to power despite his overt criminality, absolute illegitimacy, and dangerous abandonment of basic human rights. Violence is expected to continue to plague the current political conflict as the regime comes closer and closer to finally collapsing.
At A Political Statement, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us (See this article to learn more about Privacy Policies.). This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by A Political Statement and how it is used.
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Like many other Web sites, A Political Statement makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user"s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.
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A Political Statement has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.
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According to the Hong Kong magazine Frontline, a Chinese political news source, the Chinese Communist Party will collapse entirely by 2016. According to the report, this collapse will be triggered by the reverse in cash flow that is currently taking place in the country, with large sums of money actually now moving out of China.
If this truly is the case it could be entirely possible that China is just the next stop on the central banking looting spree. Regardless of the background politics at play, there are many indications that China will be going down with the US Dollar, the Euro and the rest of the world economy.
Of all the challenges facing China the most dangerous three are the real estate bubble, shadow banking, and local government debts, because of how pervasive and large-scale they are, says Dr. Frank Tian Xie, a business professor at the University of South Carolina Aiken.
It is important to remember that a collapse isn’t always a bad thing, sometimes this is just what the people need in order to topple an authoritarian regime. This situation gives the general population an upper hand that they wouldn’t usually have. Also many times the population needs to see a regime fail, in order to cut through the propaganda so they can understand that they are are being oppressed. The report also mentions that corruption will play a vital role in this collapse, which again ties in with the idea that maybe the people will be better off without the current power structure.
Although it has been unreported in the media China has been experiencing large strings of protests, riots and revolts. China may have a reputation for being the home of some extremely obedient people, but many westerners would be surprised to believe that there is far more defiance and resistance in a place like China than there is in the United States.
From all accounts it seems that the local police had some sort of racket going on, and were stopping citizens to make sure all of their papers were up to code.
It has even been suggested that these police were forcing fake registrations on the people to collect extra loot on top of their already astronomical pay from the state.
When a car tried to run away from one of these checkpoints to protect themselves from the police, they were chased until a crash occurred.
After the crash onlookers gathered and many called for an ambulance, but for over an hour there was no response.
What has obviously happened here is that the onlookers saw that one of their neighbors was being attacked by the state, and they rushed to that neighbors defense.
In areas as repressive as China the tempers of the people are always just below the boiling point, waiting for something like this to happen at any moment.
Last year in China one family actually refused to leave their house when they were told to move so a road could be built through their property. In response the government surrounded their house with a highway and threatened to tear it down until they eventually gave in. Now many residents living in areas that face similar problems are beginning to fight back against this land theft, and share their stories with the world.
There have been many other circumstances where villagers have fought back against having their land seized through imminent domain.
A mass protest by villagers in the south-central province of Hunan is the latest of several similar incidents drawing attention to land acquisitions for development projects being exploited by communist officials.
More than a thousand Hui Muslims from Pingfeng Village, Shaoyang City, protested in front of the municipal government building on Feb. 25, demanding that authorities hold the relevant officials accountable for a recent land acquisition during which villagers were attacked with batons.
One of the villagers, Mrs. Ma, told The Epoch Times that the protesters held up banners and photos taken of the villagers being beaten. “We waited for over an hour and no officials came out to meet us, so we went into the office building and were met by at least a hundred police. Then finally an official came out to meet us.”
The protestors stated that the land was forcibly taken, and more than a dozen people were injured. Supported by the villagers, the families of the victims demanded that the municipal government investigate the local law enforcement department and punish the perpetrators. However, they were told to wait for the outcome of the government’s investigation.
According to Mrs. Ma, the beatings occurred on the morning of Jan. 10, when over a hundred Shuangqing District government staff members, policemen, and urban management officers arrived in police vehicles, and commenced a hostile land acquisition. “They came to the village and beat whoever spoke up with police batons, injuring 14 people; seven were even hospitalized,” she said.
In addition to the political and economic concerns that come along with communism, there are also issues with the massive amounts of pollution,censorship and many other issues surrounding the ever present police state. All these factors and more could play a role in the demise of the current Chinese regime, and this is actually a possibility that is more realistic than most people think.
J.G. Vibes is the author of an 87 chapter counter-culture textbook called Alchemy of the Modern Renaissance, a staff writer, reporter for Intellihub.com and Executive Producer of the Bob Tuskin Radio Show.You can keep up with his work, which includes free podcasts, free e-books & free audiobooks at his website www.aotmr.com
Iran Elections 2013 Is the Regime Beginning to Collapse Under Its Own Weight
The Iranian resistance is set to reiterate its demands for democratic change and a non-nuclear Iran in an upcoming grand gathering in Paris on June 22. The event will echo the Iranian people’s slogan seen in graffiti and signs throughout Iran stating “my vote is for the overthrow” of the regime. This will coincide with Iran’s presidential election masquerade.
The internal divisions and infighting within the ruling circles of the Iranian regime has reached unprecedented levels just weeks before the upcoming presidential elections.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has moved against political rivals Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, disqualifying them from standing in the upcoming elections.
The move represents a decisive split in the ruling establishment of the regime, and heightens tensions between rival camps, leaving the potential for volatile consequences in the wake of this purge. Regardless of the outcome of the elections, this move represents an undeniable blow to the power base of the regime, and an encouraging sign for those fighting to overthrow the ruling theocracy.
Jacques Mallet du Panonce famously stated “the Revolution devours its children.” But in this case, Rafsanjani who was famously nicknamed “the pillar of the system” and once revered as a stalwart of the founder of this regime, Ayatollah Khomeini, was a key player in securing Ali Khamenei’s position as the Supreme Leader, now finds himself being pushed out of the regime he helped create. Rafsanjani was appointed as chair of the Expediency Council by Khamenei himself, and as a member of the Assembly of Experts has a direct say as to fitness of the Supreme Leader; yet the regime has devolved to a point in which it is unable to respect its own structures and power sharing arrangements.
Historically, the ruling establishment within the regime has been able to settle internal disputes rather quietly amongst its key players. The fact that Khamenei has been unable to prevent Ahmadinejad’s camp from putting forth Mashaei as a candidate, despite the fact that Ahmadinejad’s entire political career was formulated by Khamenei, shows just how weakened the Supreme Leader has become. As a result of this desperate state, Khamenei was forced to disqualify both Rafsanjani and Mashaei through the Council of Guardians, creating an embarrassing public spectacle and delegitimizing the regime as a whole.
The reality is that the regime’s rank and file are no longer a homogeneous entity, and since the discord and chaos of the 2009 elections, many of them have lost faith in Khamenei’s judgment as the unquestioned leader of Iran.
Faced with the current dilemma, Khamenei was forced to “pick his poison” in deciding whether to share power with Rafsanjani and thus accept growing opposition within the regime and risk being seen as weak, or making a surgery and purge and risking the threat of radicalizing the opposition. Both present very serious challenges to his survival. The showdown may amount to political suicide for him, but more importantly may mark the beginning of the disintegration of the Iranian regime as a whole.
Similar infighting in 2009 resulted in candidates openly exposing each other’s crimes, and harshly condemning the past and present failures of the leadership, a spectacle which opened up a crucial window in which 30 years of grievances were aired by the public. The split in the leadership was utilized by the populations to voice their discontent with the regime as a whole, with the chants of “down with the Supreme Leader” becoming a rallying cry.
The once sacred post of the Supreme Leader has yet to recover from the de-legitimization of 2009, and Khamenei has continued to lose confidence by those desperate to keep the regime alive.
The present situation has once again validated the opinion of the people that elections in Iran are a meaningless farce, and that the overthrow of the regime remains the only viable alternative.
The most organized Iranian opposition movement, i.e. the National Council of Resistance of Iran under the leadership of Maryam Rajavi and the PMOI, have always focused on a regime change. The wishful thinking of Western governments and their failed policy of engagement with the mullahs with a hope of moderation have only extended the life of this regime. This resistance, who for years has highlighted the regime’s incapacity for reform and has remained steadfast in its demands for a democratic secular republic in Iran, is the only option for a free and stable Iran.
The United States, Kerry said in a statement issued this week, is “strongly committed to resolving” differences with Iran.
“Despite the difficult history of the last decades between the United States and Iran, there is an opportunity to work diplomatically to reduce tensions and address the mistrust between our two countries, to the mutual benefit of both of our people,” Kerry said in a statement reported by the Washington Times.
The statement was released Wednesday, the same day WND reported Iranian scientists are working on nuclear warheads at an underground site previously unknown to the West.
The source is a high-ranking intelligence officer of the Islamic regime, according to the report by Reza Kahlili, an Iranian insider turned CIA spy who has written “A Time to Betray.”
Kerry’s comments, on the occasion of the Iranian-Persian new year, were a continuation of a traditional statement to the Iranian people.
“Many Americans will join you in celebrating” this year, it said. “I’m proud of the Iranian-Americans in my own family, and grateful for how they have enriched my life.”
He only alluded to the tensions that have built over Iran’s apparent efforts to build a nuclear bomb.
“We sincerely hope Iran’s leaders choose to fulfill their obligations to not only the international community but also to their people so that Iran can begin to take its proper place in the community of nations, and the Iranian people can have access to the same opportunities and freedoms enjoyed by others around the world,” he said.
“As President Obama has said, we are strongly committed to resolving the differences between Iran and the United States, and continuing to work toward a new day in our relationship.”
According to Kahlili’s source, that new day for Iran will include nuclear weapons.
His source, who has been assigned to the Ministry of Defense, not only revealed the existence of the weapons plant but provided details.
The site of about 100 square miles has two facilities built deep into a mountain along with a missile facility that is surrounded by barbed wire, 45 security towers and several security posts.
The source said Gen. Ahmad Vahid Dastjerdi, who works in the supreme leader’s office to protect the regime’s information and counterintelligence, manages the site. His deputy, Hojatolislam Ramezani, was appointed to the protection of intelligence at the Defense Ministry after several leaks about the country’s nuclear operations.
It is built about 375 feet under the mountain and accessible by two large entrances reinforced with concrete, has 12 emergency exit tunnels and spreads around the mountain.
According to the WND report, the Iranian source said the site has a capacity of 8,000 centrifuges and currently has three operational chambers with 19 cascades of 170 to 174 centrifuges enriching uranium. As of three months ago, the source said, there were 76 kilograms of 20 percent enriched uranium stock at the site and 48 kilograms of over 40 percent enriched uranium.
Though the regime has long succeeded in enriching uranium to 20 percent, which is 80 percent of the way to weapons grade, enriching to over 20 percent would be a clear sign of an intention of building a nuclear bomb.
The most significant information provided by the source is that the regime has succeeded in not only enriching to weapons grade but has converted the highly enriched uranium into metal.
Moreover, the source said, successfully making a neutron reflector indicates the final stages for a nuclear weapons design that would be a two-stage, more sophisticated and much more powerful nuclear bomb.
Regime scientists are also working on a plutonium bomb as a second path to becoming nuclear-armed, the source said, and they have at this site 24 kilograms of plutonium, which is sufficient for several atomic bombs.
The scientists are at the last stage of putting together a bomb warhead, he said, and the scientists in their design for a plutonium bomb are using polonium and beryllium, which would serve as the trigger for the bomb.
GoogleEarth 12-2012 Image, Close up of the two entrances into the Quds nuclear facility
The regime is building its Shahab 3 ballistic missiles there using compressed composite carbon material, which originated at an American company, he said. The company manufactures advanced composite materials and structural parts. Iran purchased the carbon material through an intermediary in Turkey, the source said. The material makes it possible to have a longer missile range with larger warheads.
Overhead images clearly show this site has over 380 missile depots and launching pads, facilities that can house large ballistic missiles, most likely Shahab 3 and possibly North Korean Taepodong II (ICBMs). The source added that this missile site is the center of the regime’s defensive and offensive strategies and supports other missile sites: the Imam Ali near the city of Khoram Abad in the Lorestan province and the one in Tabriz in the province of East Azarbaijan – to be used in any attack on Israeli and U.S. military bases in the Middle East.
Experts said the evidence was cause for alarm.
Peter Vincent Pry, executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security, an expert on nuclear strategy and weapons who served on several strategic congressional commissions and in the CIA, reviewed the imagery and human intelligence (HUMINT) and called for a congressional hearing.
“The newly discovered underground complex looks like the kind of enormous complexes built by the USSR during the Cold War and by Russia today,” Pry said. “Heavily hardened and fortified and supplied with huge amounts of electric power, by what appear to be 765-kilovolt electric power lines, the imagery suggests a top-priority military site. Nuclear-weapons programs consume vast amounts of electricity.”
GoogleEarth 12-2012 image, missile silos, the size suggests large ballistic missiles such as Shahab 3 or the North Korean Taepodong II (ICBMs)
Fritz Ermarth, who served in the CIA and as chairman of the National Intelligence Council, reviewed the imagery.
“There is much work to be done by imagery analysts on the photos Reza (Kahlili) has produced,” he said. “For example, is spoil from the tunneling visible? Does it tell us how extensive the tunneling is? But taken as a package, this imagery strongly suggests that Iran is working on what we used to call an ‘objective force.’ That is the objective of a deployed force of nuclear weapons on mobile missiles, normally based in deep underground sites for survivability against even nuclear attack, capable of rapid deployment. … They do suggest that Iran is working the problem of becoming a nuclear weapons power in a serious way, not just playing around for a few nukes on the shelf.”
Ambassador Henry Cooper, the former director of the Strategic Defense Initiative and chief negotiator on nuclear and space treaties with the Soviet Union, said Iran’s “apparent interest and investments in underground systems are clearly coupled with its programs to develop and potentially employ weapons of mass destruction in the face of armaments that may be deployed against them, whether by Israel (‘the little Satan’) or the United States (‘the Great Satan’).”
“Most notable is the fact that Iran has already demonstrated its ability to launch satellites into low earth orbit,” Cooper said. “When they also gain confidence in their nuclear weapons, they can then use those launchers to place nuclear weapons in earth orbit and detonate them over wherever they wish, creating an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that could level its strategic playing field with all of Western civilization. This is perhaps their ultimate asymmetric weapon. Far-fetched? I wouldn’t bet (against) it.”
